Almost a few days big city city like Solo, Jogja become dim because of the decrease of sunlight caused by volcanic dust issued by Mount Kelud which is hundreds of kilo in the east. Even the dust fell to the city of Bandung. Some airports in East and Central Java must be shut down. Little memory to remember how terrifying Kelud the deadliest mountain on the island of Java.
Still ringing in memory at least in the last 10 years Kelud volcano has been erupted as much as 2 times the first of 2007 that changed the face of kelud at that time, and I have also written a little note about it
And in 2014, Kelud finally burst his most intense anger. All the contents of his stomach he catapulted and even according to experts kelud eruption 10 times larger than Mount Merapi. It is unbelievable how big the eruption at that time, village village in the west kelud washed out by volcanic ash. Thousands of people must evacuate and chaos ensues. It was that anger that changed Kelud's face to this day, and I wanted to greet him again.
"Haahh..hahhhh ... .breakkk" Jalal stopped his steps with a panting breath.
"Ahh it turns munggah iku abot yooo mountain .." (It turns up the mountain is heavy yes) joked Jalal smile wryly.
"Alon alon ae ... sing must be a struggle will be paid ning duwur kono lal" (Slowly slowly, surely the struggle at this time must be paid up there), timpalku encourage traveling companions who try to grab the first mountain.
Yes indeed after the entrance of the forest in the Village Path Tulungrejo we were both directly hit by incessant climb incline. But the dense path that makes up the natural canopy keeps us excited to move. 30 minutes passed but Kelud seemed to want to test both our mental and determination at the time. suddenly there was a cloud of ambush and instantly it was raining heavily.
"Continue lahh ... cook will surrender down" shouted jalal with passion flared.
With the steps we managed to reach the 1st post. A simple post that stands on a flat plot of land with old wooden buildings but still looks solid. Very fitting for a moment shelter from the rain. Minutes after time passed but the rain seemed still reluctant to pass. But for sure our determination has been unanimous, we will continue to step though with a splash of rain as hard as anything.
After the post 1 line directly uphill sharply as if giving a warning if the journey ahead is still challenging. Step by step, step by step we are increasingly walking up. The forest also appears to be docked and dense especially plus heavy rain increasingly makes the atmosphere more challenging climbing.
The atmosphere of dense and humid forest makes Mount Kelud climbing track is an ideal habitat for pacet. And that we can prove when walking we often meet pacet pacet attached to our shoes, but fortunately not yet to suck our fresh blood both. Not only that along the path of climbing I met a worm that I had never seen before. Long, big, the tip of his head red and creep very quickly. Ahhh that's the biggest scourge in the climb this time, because I am amused with the creeping animals like this strange worm.
Along with the redanya the rain lane seems increasingly sloping. The former vegetation of large tree trees has now turned into a human-high shrub. It seems we are already at altitude. And sure enough we finally saw the sign post 3 Pos, this is the ideal place to set up a tent before tomorrow to Kelud. In total we walked 3 hours from the forest entrance to the post 3.
Pos 3 is an ideal camp ground because it is located on a flat ground that can accommodate many tents with a view open directly to the top of Gajahmungkur, Mount Kelud. From a distance we can see the traces of Kelud eruption in the past which makes this Mountain has irregular shape.
Morning is the perfect time to start from the camp ground to the crater area of Mount Kelud. With consideration of sunny weather and fresh air temperature. Right at 6 am I and Jalal began walking with armed daypack containing drinking water and some snacks.
Kelud this morning showed his sweetest smile. The weather is so bright that it shows all the beauty it has, unlike the previous day that looks always grim. Range of mountains around Kelud was visible with dashing. Mount Buthak and Mount Arjuno seem to stand haughty and challenge anyone to visit climb them.
As the plains at heading 3 meet the end of the lane and then fall sharply downwards. It needs vigilance when it comes down to it because of the narrow and rocky path, ready to derail our feet. "Dragon Backlinks" was the writing on the signpost that greeted us as soon as we reached the bottom of the descend.
An interesting name I thought, and indeed presented the path ahead that we were going through. The path curves up and down with the left right ravine and culminate on the left side of the Elephant Peak Mungkur. Dragon line is a path that has a very interesting scenery. How not left, right, front and back ready to pamper us with a fantastic view.
It did not feel that both of us spent much time in this Dragon Line. one by one eye lens was aiming object with background interesting scenery. One of two steps we stopped to capture the moment. Toh Kelud will not run anywhere, no need to hurry up and we enjoy all that we can on this trip.
When the back of the dragon has met the edge of the path began to change. Small gravel with sand mixed greeting the end of our footsteps. The path then climbed sharply to the cliff on the left side of the Elephant Mungkur Peak. Starting from here we must watch out for steps so that feet do not slip fall.
"Woowww ... feels on another Planet" I gasped when he reached the rocky end of the hill. Kelud which was once green is now dried up, the vast lands overlap with some peaked peaks challenging the sky. The barren, sandy, rocky plains seemed to block the climbers who wanted to get to the crater lips.
Jalal and I turned to the right side following the little path that has been there. At first it seemed sloping and it was easy to walk until we finally stopped at an inner cliff with a high cliff to the right that was blocking. I was puzzled as to how to reach the cliffs on the other side.
I tried to climb down the crawl, but the guts were not strong enough to get into it because I probably would not be able to go back upstairs. Looking to the right side of a steep cliff with mossy rocks seemed impossible to pass. I had time to think about ending this journey, but the crater lip just a few dozen yards ahead of me became more encouraging. I can not stop here, I finally picked back to crawl up and picked a mossy path sliding down the edge of the cliff. Scary, because the chasm on the left is ready to welcome me and Jalal. We walked together very slowly, the sweat began to pour down with adrenaline is increasingly encouraged.
Slowly but surely we could finally reach the cliff beyond the overdraft. With a still trembling leg I stepped away from the point that I consider the most extreme on this trip. 5 minutes walk finally we both arrived at the lips of Kelud crater. Me and jalal sat looking at the beautiful Kelud Crater green in front of us.
Your face has indeed changed. The lava dome that used to be the main dish of Kelud tourism has now disappeared with the green crater lake with high barren cliffs cliffs as its walls. Once again imagine how terrible your eruption was in 2014 ago.
However, two years later, Kelud has started to wiggle again, visible on the opposite side where we stood visible several tractors and escavators who seem to start to organize kelud crater that began to be filled with water again. It was not clear what the purpose of the activity was, but as I narrowed my eyes and examined a bit I realized that the activity was possible to reactivate the water tunnels that existed since the Dutch era. Because indeed the crater water in Kelud this must always be controlled debitnya. If it will not be very dangerous if suddenly Kelud back wrath, kelud can spew a water bomb ready to hit village village around it.
Above 1731 meters above sea level is the place where Jalal and I greet the most deadly mountains on the island of Java. Seeing the green crater of Kelud mountain, stumbling between the sand sand and jurangnya is an euphoria that we can be proud of above this height. especially for Jalal this is the first ascent, hopefully from the climbing process to achieve standing here is a learning to forge yourself to be better again.
And one more thing I can emphasize, the height of Mount Kelud is not the ultimate goal of a climb. Our journey is not over yet, because our ultimate goal is to return home safely.