rinjani june/july

I hope to be in Lombok in June and July. During that time I hope to climb rinjani. I'd like to know what kind of clothes I should bring. I have been as high as Senaru and I don't recall it as being that cold. Also, does the guide service provide tent and sleeping bags? Anyone with experience? I'd appreciate any info you can give that you might think helpful. Thanks, Tom

Sorry Tom, I'm too old and lazy to do anything so energetic on my holidays
When researching holidays in Lombok for family/friends (somehow I became the "expert") I have seen lots and lots of websites that explain the different deals you can get with Rinjani treks. They all have lists of what you need to bring, and what they provide. Google rinjani trek should bring up the top 3.

I do know that a number of people have died from exposure climbing Rinjani, no guide, no warm/rainproof clothes. If I was going up that high, I would expect it to be cold. Senaru is 600m above sea-level, and the temperature is just a welcome break from the heat below. You would be trekking to 2000m to the crater lake, and potentiall 3700 to the summit. Much colder than Senaru.

Tom,

I am picking up the thread from Freogirl.

I wonder if you are to climb Mt. Washington, you will be suitably dressed. I thought Mt. Washington elevation will be comparable to Mt. Rinjani.

If I can speak generally, the weather at Lombok sea level is hot and humid requiring the type of clothes sold at shops like REI i.e. breathing type. (The closest I have been to Mt. Rinjani is Aik Bukak that you might find in a Lombok map). When you you start your trekking, you should be factoring the wet or humid cold weather. Again I would think LL Bean or REI will have suitable gear for you.

You might also probe folks like Freogirl about the effects of weather conditions during your visit to Mt. Rinjani. You should pay attention to the minimum safeguards available in wildnerness areas of an under developed country like Indonesia.

By the way, will you be taking precautions for Malaria?

Josi

Nope no malaria meds for me. Probable for my 17 yr old daughter though. I have had malaria. Contracted in Lombok. I will live in Lombok eventually so it is pointless to take meds. Prevention. I am aware that it will be cooler than lower altitudes. I am just wondering just how cold it could possibly be. I have a good goretex jacket that is designed more for snow but would suffice. I just think it may be too much. I will check the sites and see what they say. I was hoping to find someone who has done the trek first hand. I try to stay away from REI as much as possible. Good stuff but hard on the finances. Thanks for the input. If anyone's out there with first hand info I'd love to hear it. Tom

Tom, try posting on Thorn Tree indonesia branch. There are more likely to be people who have done the trek there. I asked my husband who has done it lots of times, he said camping around the lake he wore a jacket all the time even in the middle of the day. But he is from Lombok, and wasn't used to cold weather.

Hi Tom,

I climbed Rinjani in juli 10 yrs ago and I would advice you to bring a warm sweater and jacket.
When you climb during the 1st day its very warm but when you arrive down by the lake it gets cold during the evening and night. You start the climb up to the summit at 3 am and you'll need a warm jacket the higher you climb the colder it gets.
We arrived up in Senaru one day ahead of our climb and rented the porters up there. They provided us with tent, sleepingbags and also brought the food we needed.

Mimpikami did you hire porters from a guide service. I checked google and the two sites I saw looked well prepared but the one that had prices posted were a bit pricey. They said 10-13 deg celsius at summit at night. That is 50 deg. farentheit.Something I would want a jacket for as a precaution certainly. In case of wind or rain. I laughed about the lokal husband using a jacket. I see lokals using jackets in the lowland when I can hardly stand a t shirt. My wife and son recently returned to lombok leaving the USA in peak winter. They are suffering from the heat. I will try the thorntree site you sugested. Thanks, Tom

Tom, keep in mind you will have porters, so if you take a big jacket, you are not going to have to lug it all by yourself.
Just thinking about whether the local you were having a laugh at, I said he wasn't used to cold weather, but actually that isn't quite right. He had just come back from living in Sydney for several years, including living in a tent fruit picking in frost country. But I know what you mean, I see locals wearing parkers on motorbikes in the middle of the day that I would only wear in the middle of our mild winter. I would die if I had to wear a jacket like that in the heat.

We hired porters in Senaru , no guide, as my xhusband had been up Rinjani many times before, guiding himself. Right across from the traditional village you'll see a small restaurant "Bale Bayan", there is also some rooms to rent . Many guides and porters come there looking for customers. You negotiate the price with them, give them a nice, reasonable offer. It's hard work for them to carry all equipment and food down to the lake. You really don't need to use the expensive guidecompanys you find online. The guides and porters up in Senaru are very very experienced.
I said in my previous post that you start for the summit at 3 am, sorry a slip of memory. You start at midnight. Have also been up on Kintamani, Bali and then we started at 3 am.

Thank you Mimpikami. I used to hike the Sierra Nevada mountains when I was very young. Carried a 20 kilo backpack starting weight for a week in the back country. Started doing that at 11 or 12 yrs old. Must have been nearly 50% of my own body weight. Looking back I don't know how I did it. I would at least use porters or a guide since I have never been before. We had reliable maps and trails where we were. That is very useful information you posted and it is appreciated.