A warm and dry trekker is a happy trekker
View at Rinjani’s summit
It was supposed to be the easiest part of the four-day, three-night hike. A 600-metre descent from the top of the Rinjani crater rim to the crater lake, where our deluxe tents, a hot meal, and hot springs were waiting for us.
We planned to set off at 12 noon, having already been delayed by a slow descent from the summit. Then, just as we picked up our packs, it started pouring. After waiting for 30 minutes or so, we decided to push off because it didn’t seem that the rain would let up.
The way down was probably the least well-maintained part of the entire trail. Covered in loose rock, poorly marked and very narrow in some parts. Because of the rain, we had to watch our footing too. At one point, we were further slowed down by one particular group of eight Chinese hikers, who moved extremely slowly, and yet refused to give way to us. It was probably nearly 5pm when we finally got to our camp site — I cannot verify the exact time as I took just one photo the whole afternoon.
It had been a long day that started at 2am, and our spirits had been sapped by the relentless rain.
But, we had our wonderfully dry tents to crawl into.
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