“What the hell am I doing here?”
“HOLD, HOLD!” suddenly someone shouted from above.
I stopped my steps, suddenly a rain of ash came from above. I turned around and covered my face. It took a long time for the dust to strike, then I looked up again. My body trembled at the sight.
A large black shadow appeared to emit clouds that were moving rapidly with the wind. He was right above me. It’s terrible.
“DON’T GO UP FIRST, ERUPTION DIRECTION HERE!” The person above shouted back.
The atmosphere became tense. It was two hours past midnight. Me and three friends stopped in the middle of this terrible sand track. It seems that all the climbers also stopped their steps.
I didn’t say anything. Sitting in the middle of a sand track with an elevation of about 60 degrees with strong winds plus cold air is enough to make me speechless. I ate some dates to just add energy. The moon and stars are really beautiful from this height of more than three thousand meters.
**
It’s moments like this that make me think, “What am I doing, anyway?”
I’m also surprised, mixed with disbelief, how come I’m in the middle of the night at an altitude of more than three thousand meters. Left and right abyss, let your guard down a little goodbye. Huge stones rolled on the brittle sand ready to pounce on anyone. And added si wedus gebel Mahameru who at any time can turn back towards this hiking trail.
What the hell are you doing here, mate?
This is not the only time such a question has arisen, several other destinations have also made this question appear by itself. And every time it appears, taste miss to the people closest to be doubled. Also gratitude to God, who still gives us breath to this day is very meaningful.
However, I think it’s moments like these that make the trip even more memorable and more memorable.
**
The cold penetrated the three layers of the jacket I was wearing. I’ve been waiting for almost half an hour, still no news from up there. Ash rain strikes again. Some climbers don’t want to take the risk and come back down.
Suddenly I remembered a student activist figure from the old order era, Soe Hok Gie, who died here due to inhaling the poisonous fumes of mahameru.
My feelings are getting mixed up. Either stay up or go back down. But so far, I have made up my mind to keep setting foot on the highest land of the island of Java.
“Come on, we’d better go up, rather than freeze here,” my companion said. Without answering, we started to walk again.
This semeru path is really ‘fun’. Every three steps you go, two steps fall. In fact, sometimes our steps become in vain, up three but falling three. I even sometimes walk on all fours, crawling. So that the footing is stronger.
Finally, there was a shout from above that someone had reached Mahameru, and they said, “THE WIND DIRECTION IS SAFE, CONTINUE!”
I smiled and got excited again.
I use this method: 5 steps walk, 10 seconds rest take a breath. If the throat is dry, take a sip. Repeat until you reach the top. No turning back!
However, I came back late this time to see the sun rise from Mahameru. Still a few dozen meters to go. I stopped for a moment to pray the dawn, and also immortalize one landscape the most beautiful in this country.
After the sun came up, the trail looked even more terrifying than it was in the dark last night.
The scorching sun began to warm the atmosphere. Around seven o’clock I finally set foot in Mahameru. The highest land on the island of Java. A portrait of God’s masterpiece for this land of thousands of islands.
Seen some people hug with emotion. Satisfaction showed on their faces for having conquered themselves and reached boundaries they rarely crossed.
Maybe this is what people look for when going to places like this. The search for identity and proof that we are indeed very small when compared to the Almighty above.
Thank you Mahameru.
🙂
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Of course, friends already know the tragedy of Andika, a UGM student who died on this mountain because he got lost when he came down from the Peak in 2009. He took the wrong path, because there were many forks which were a bit confusing, as well as bad weather which obstructed his vision. He twisted too much to the right and ended up falling into a 75-meter-deep ravine.
In order not to get lost, do the following:
- Don’t go down alone!
- Do the orientation first, the entrance to the arcopodo forest is the NORTH direction of the compass. In the past, there was a large cypress (single cemoro) as a benchmark, but now the tree has fallen.
For more details, try stopping by the discussion in this OANC Kaskus forum thread https://ipadguides.com/menuju-tanah-tertinggi-pulau-jawa
I briefly took the wrong path, so I turned a little to the right (even though the arcopodo sign was visible), and was forced to descend the sand valley to cross to the right path. I also met climbers who had strayed to the left. This proves that the Mahameru route is easy to outwit climbers.
Keep safe! 🙂
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