Climbing Mount Kerinci,

Indonesias Highest
Volcano In Strong Winds
and Rain (Part 1)
by Brian Barry | Feb 12, 2014 | Adventure Travel, Hiking and
Trekking, Indonesia, Travel Blog | 2 comments

At the trail head- ready to begin the trek up Kerinci, Sumatra

Mount Kerinci (or Gunung Kerinci) is Sumatras highest peak,

Indonesias highest volcano and is still active, with eruptions
annually. Its located in the Kerinci Selabat National Park, which
is made up, mostly, of thick jungle and inhabited by the
endangered Sumatran tiger and Sumatran rhino. So, with all this
in mind, we decided to try to climb the 3,805metres to the crater
on the summit to stare into the depths of the volcano. After
much deliberation we agreed to take a guide with us for our
hike. People have gone missing in the past on the route trekking
alone, whether they fell into the crater, got attacked by tigers or

just lost their way, nobody knows and so we decided to play it

safe.

Noelle hiking through the dense Sumatran Jungle in Kerinci Seblat National Park

We had one shot at climbing this volcano and despite bad

weather reports we decided to go anyway, it was now or never.
From Bukkitinggi, we took a nine-hour jeep to the little town of
Kersik Tua where our guide, Een, met us and we jumped on the
back of his and his friends motorbikes and were whisked away
to his family home where we would spend the night before
beginning the climb the next morning. Een has climbed the
volcano dozens of times and knows the area extremely well and
so we were all ears during our briefing before getting an early

night. Our aim was to hike to camp three, pitch a tent and get a
few hours sleep before making the final ascent to the summit in
time for sunrise, weather permitting of course.

Beautiful flora in the jungle, Kerinci

Waking early the next morning, we were collected by motorbike

and the three of us whizzed through the tea fields surrounding
the base of the volcano until we reached the trail head. So far,
the weather was playing ball and although it was cloudy, it was
dry. As we disappeared into the jungle, the sky was no longer
clearly visible due to the high trees and after about thirty
minutes of hiking through the dense jungle, we felt the first few
drops of rain. We put on our rain gear and on we went, hoping it
was just a shower. Een pointed out various flowers and trees
along the trail as we pushed further into the jungle.

Noelle climbs up the steep path on the Kerinci trail, Sumatra

After a few hours it was clear that the rain was not going to let
up, it was coming down hard, the path was becoming
increasingly slippy and was beginning to get much steeper. In
places, the paths were completely washed away and for the next
few hours we climbed, skidded, slipped and scrambled along the
muddy trail as the rain continued to fall and the winds got
stronger. Een had a worried look on his face and we discussed
the possibility of turning around and going back. We knew this
was our one and only chance to climb here and so we all agreed
to continue and just hope the weather would clear. We could
hear monkeys howling somewhere across the valley, we
couldnt see much through the sheets of rain but at least it was a
bit more sheltered under the forest canopy than out in the
open. There was nobody else around; other than the monkeys
screams, the two of us, Een and a huge, bright orange leech the
size of my shoe sucking up the moisture from the ground, we
were all alone in the jungle in this terrible storm.

Giant red predatory ground leech

Hiking through the heavy mud, dodging flooded areas of the

path and pulling ourselves up by the exposed tree roots where
the path had disappeared, we finally arrived at shelter three. We
were happy to be here but now came the difficult task of
pitching the tent. Once we had found a suitable location,
providing as much shelter as possible, myself and Een got busy
clearing a space for the tent.

Brian and our guide Een clearing an area to camp at Shelter 3, Kerinci

Together we managed to get the tent up, stretched another

piece of canvas across the top, tied extra guide ropes to the
trees and bushes and dug some channels to keep the water
away from where we would be trying to sleep. With our shelter
up, we got in out of the weather, had something to eat and tried
to get some rest.

Muddy, Muddy trail to the volcano summit

With the winds howling outside and the rain still beating down,
it didnt seem likely that we were going to get the mind-blowing
sunrise we had dreamt of but we had come this far and we were
going to finish what we had come to do. Our plan was to wake at
2am and begin the hike to the summit. None of us slept much,
with the winds only getting stronger and the rain heavier
outside the light canvas walls of our little tent.

Our shelter for the night at camp three on the side of Mount Kerinci, Indonesias highest volcano

Climbing Mount Kerinci,

Indonesias Highest

Volcano In Strong Winds

and Rain (Part 2)
by Brian Barry | Feb 13, 2014 | Adventure Travel, Hiking and
Trekking, Indonesia, Travel Blog | 2 comments

Click Here For Part 1 Of This Story

Noelle and Een huddled together on top of Mount Kerinci, Sumatra in awful weather conditions.

After a sleepless few hours, it was time. We left our shelter and
climbed the final metres out of the shelter of the jungle and
thats when the fun really started. Climbing Mount Kerinci by the
lights of our headlamps, we couldnt see more than a few
metres in front of us, the wind had reached speeds of 90km/hr
and the rain was stinging our faces. We were climbing towards
the 600 metre wide, open crater, there were sheer drops on
both sides of us as we did our best to negotiate the rocky
terrain. Hiding in crevices left from lava flows, we would take a
minute to catch our breath, the cold was taking its toll now and
we were at the mercy of the elements with no shelter to speak
of. We continued on, following the dim shadow of Een in front.
Now and then a gap would appear in the clouds and we would
see a few lights from Kersik Tua, far away in the distance and
then as quickly as they appeared they were gone again. Walking
doubled over, keeping a low centre of gravity, was our only
chance of not being blown over by the gusts which seemed to
be stronger than ever. My headlamp was suddenly whipped off
my head by the winds, gone forever and we were down to two
lamps. In the pitch black night, we could smell the sulphur from
the volcano in the air, we knew we were getting close and Een
confirmed it.

Brian and Noelle on the summit of Gunung Kerinci Sumatra after a hell of a climb

The darkness finally started to lift a bit and we could see a little
more but the storm hadnt eased yet and we were wondering
would we ever reach the crater. Een called us in behind a rock
where we took shelter. We were here, or at least we were as far
as we could go. Een explained that because of the weather, it
was not safe to go any further. We were just a few meters from
the edge of the crater but with the winds as strong as they were
and zero shelter, there was every chance we could be blown into
the volcano and that was a risk none of us were willing to take.
Pausing for a few minutes, we tried to take a few photos of us at
the summit but between the rain, having no feeling in our
fingers and the howling winds, they didnt come out as great as
we would have liked. The good news was that we had made it,
everyone was safe and we had succeeded, against the odds. The
bad news was that we didnt see a sunrise, we werent able to
get close enough to look into the crater and we still had to get
back to Kersik Tua.

Brian and Een celebrate in the gale force winds and heavy rain after reaching the top of Mount Kerinci,
Sumatra

Getting back to our tent, was step one and with the light growing
it was getting easier to cross the rocky terrain. It was only now
that we could really see what we had come through in the
complete darkness earlier and it was clear taking a guide had
been the right call. Without Een to follow, we would have been
walking blind and in this weather, we most probably would have
stepped off the edge.

Noelle climbing down the tricky, steep and very slippy Kerinci trail

By the time we reached the tent, the storm had all but stopped,
we couldnt believe it! The winds calmed, the rain stopped and
we took down the tent and ate breakfast, cursing the weather.
Unfortunately for us, we had no choice to go back up to the
summit. As much as we wanted to, we didnt have time; we had
to make it back to Kersik Tua and get on the last bus to Padang
in time to catch a flight early the following morning. As we
descended into the jungle and down the path, we could see the
bright blue sky through the leaves, birds were chirping, it was a
totally different place. Of course the path was still incredibly
muddy and we spent a lot of the way down on our backsides,
slipping more times than we can count! It was getting much
warmer as we descended and we stripped off layers as we went,
sweating from our efforts at staying upright on the slippy trail.

Looking back towards Kersik Tua on the way down from climbing Mount Kerinci, Sumatra

Making good time, we left the steep section of the path behind
us and were onto a more level area, gradually winding down
towards the tea fields where we had started the day before. We
rounded a corner, climbed over a fallen tree and a few moments
later, we walked out of the jungle into the open, where two
motorbikes were waiting to bring us back to Kersik Tua. We all
congratulated each other on finishing the trek in such tough
conditions. Een told us this was the worst weather he had ever
climbed Gunung Kerinci in and that if he had known the storm
was going to be as bad as it was, he wouldnt have brought us.

Brian coming down through the Sumatran Jungle on the descent from Mount Kerinci

Looking back at the volcano from the back of the motorbikes,

we could see where we had climbed; clouds sat on the top of
the peak and it looked postcard perfect against the blue sky. It
was hard to imagine the weather could do such a dramatic turn
around in only a few hours. Smiling from ear to ear, our muscles
aching and smelling like, well, like we had crawled through a
jungle, we enjoyed the motorbike ride back through the
picturesque tea fields with only one thing now on our mind. a
hot shower! Then we would be packed into a little jeep for the
bumpy seven hour drive back to Padang.

Mount Kerinci, Sumatra with the clouds hovering around the summit