Mt. Rinjani

When we went to Lombok over Christmas break, Brian got an idea to climb Mt Rinjani with Tate and a group of fathers & son's before we left Indonesia. And he did it! Here is his FB post after completing the 3 day hike: 

I just recently completed one of the most physically challenging but mentally rewarding experiences of my life. My son Tate and I climbed Mount Rinjani with several other father son teams. Rinjani is Indonesia’s second tallest volcano (still very much active). It was amazing to see Tate push himself to the limits and beyond (screaming muscles and blisters upon blisters). We hiked a total of 33 km (20 miles ish) and climbed 3600 meters (11,800 feet) of elevation gain (and 11,800 feet of descent, which was worse). It was painful but spending 4 days with my 16 year old, without screens, was priceless.

First day the flew to Lombok and stayed overnight in a no frills hikers hotel. The next morning this was their transportation to the hiking start spot-

Well, that was the transportation for all the necessary gear actually! The would have guides and sherpas to carry the food, water, camping gear for the entire trek. Brian & team got to ride in the back of open trucks- 

These pictures are in no way in oder. Brian was quite disappointed that the other dads allowed their kids to use their phones when they had breaks.

They finished the hike on Easter Sunday. The food crew- who were all probably Muslim- created these little bunnies for them- 

I am told that these pictures don't do this hike justice when it comes to how difficult, steep and unsafe the trek actually was!

What a beautiful spot for a break-

Seriously, how do you hike across this terrain-

Meet Erik. Sadly his son Jon hurt his knee at school 2 goofing around just 2 days before this hike, so he sadly had to stay home. Tate said Mr. Erik was incredibly encouraging! 

Another father son team- Chris & Lorenzo- were also supposed to be on this hike- until Lorenzo broke his elbow and had to fly to Singapore for surgery last month!

The sherpas and all the stuff-

Brian said that this rock/gravel mixture was brutal and constantly shifting underfoot as they tried to go up-

Not a bad spot to camp out on night #3-

The kitchen tent-

This is NUTS-

Looks like the camera is turned on its side to capture this shot, but it's just the angle-

Brian could not believe they were setting up camp on night #2 right along this ridgeline-

Nothing in Indonesia ever felt safe, but this was especially surprising to the dads- 

Up, up, up!

They woke up in the middle of the night to go to the summit for sunrise on Easter morning and the temps were hovering right above freezing. 

Camping spot- 

Brian said he was afraid for the boys to go out of the tent to pee over night because there was only a few feet on each side of the tent and if they stumbled, down the mountain they would have gone. 

Apparently everyone rushes to get to this ridge to set up for the night so they are "close" to the summit in the wee hours of the morning-

The sherpas kept a faster pace than the hikers so that they could get ahead for each break or stop to set up tables, chairs, tents and make all the food-

where's the path?

The sherpas did this entire hike in FLIP FLOPS! They carried two bundles on a bamboo pole across the back of their shoulders. One of the boys tried to carry the gear for a short distance and really had a new appreciation for these guys-

Making lunch and trying to find the shade. It was HOT AND HUMID!

Check out the apple swan-

And check out Mark's busted boot on day 1! Oops. 

"Can't go over it, can't go under it, gotta go THROUGH it!"

Snack time-

Will you please check out the chicken hanging upside down on the edge of the pole-

The sherpa's brought chickens that were still alive on day 1 to eat on day 3 because it was HOT and there was not refrigeration, so they needed to be killed right before cooking. 

Up he goes in FLIP FLOPS-

I can not imagine the weight of all this gear- 

Cows too-

The van actually overheated on the way from the airport- hopefully not a sign of other bad things to come!

There she is- 

Dinner at the hikers hotel on night 1- 

Thats chicken btw! "Kampung Chicken" or village chicken, 

Off they go in the back of the truck- 

I don't think I have ever prayed for my guys safety as much as I did over these 4 days! And it worked. A few killer blisters and a wet phone, but nothing big- praise God! 

What I don't have a picture of was the villa that they stayed in their final night, before flying home the following day. After they finished hiking- the last day it poured down rain- they were headed to a luxury villa for the night- hot showers, comfortable beds, in residence massages and delicious meals cooked for them. The villa that Erik found was actually on the cover of a travel book- it was that luxurious! And boy did they deserve it.