Rinjani Reflections

A common perception people have of mountain hikers is that when these hikers return home, they suddenly become (or at least appear) full of life wisdom. While I don’t think any study has been done to confirm that perception, I believe the perception may be valid. There is something about mountain hiking that makes us think deeper about life, and it probably comes from the similarity between life and the features of a hike.

When we hike a mountain, most of us have one specific goal: to reach the summit (although, ultimately, our goal should be to return safely). So do we in life; we have goals we want to achieve. There is a long journey that we have to endure between our goal and where we are.

Now that I have just returned from Mount Rinjani, what lessons have I learned from reflecting on my Mount Rinjani experience?

On pace

Go with a pace that works best for the situation

When you move, you mainly have two options:

• To move at a pace that you can continuously do, or
• To move at a fast pace that requires you to rest regularly.

When I climbed Mount Rinjani, I found that both options worked for me in different scenarios. For example, when I ascended, it was better for me to climb fast (while prioritizing safety, of course) and take a quick break once I ran out of breath every few minutes. Climbing slowly would tire my leg more in the long term, even though I might not need to rest as often.

However, when it came to walking on flat terrain or descending, I found that being slow but consistent was better for me because my legs and breath could keep up, and I didn’t need to rest for at least one hour.

Choose what works for you.

People overtake each other

Still on the topic of pace, I realized that when I was hiking, I only focused on people when they overtook me during my rest. It was easy to think that everyone had left me behind. But later, I learned that people rested at different points than us throughout the hike, so we would keep overtaking each other.

Were there people I never overtook back? Yes, for sure.

When I reached the top, did I think of them? Not for a second. My mind automatically focused on celebrating my success in reaching Rinjani’s summit because that was all that mattered there, that I made it after sweat and sore legs.

And what if you can’t make it to the top? You can always try again. It’s better to stop at your limit and come back later than to force yourself and put yourself in danger. It’s a bummer not to be able to summit (I failed to summit Mount Semeru in 2015), but remember, even if we all want to reach the summit, our fundamental goal in a hike is to return safely.

So yes, go at your own pace because there is no need to compare.

On preparing ourselves

You need every part of your body. Be balanced.

The two guys who went with me to Rinjani were muscular and lean. But one of them only trained his upper body, leaving his lower body thin. I didn’t think it would be a problem until he got a cramp on his calf within the first 30 minutes of our hike. He quickly tore out his feet, forcing him to frequently stop on our ascent. At the end of the first day, he decided not to attempt the summit attack, a wise decision considering his condition. We learned that the problem was not on his health when he still struggled on our way down through the Torean trail.

Just as we use every part of our body for hiking, we have many pillars in our life: finance, relationship, health, etc. If there’s anything to learn from my friend’s struggle, it is how we should balance every pillar to keep our life on track.

Get rid of unnecessary pressure

My way up and down — excluding the summit attack — could be divided into two main phases: when I walked with my injured friend and when I left him (he was taken care of by our guide). When I walked without my injured friend, I walked much faster.

Well, I didn’t have to follow my friend’s slower pace, so that seemed… obvious? But I also could walk for much longer before I needed to rest. My legs (especially knees) felt sore when I went down the Torean trail with my injured friend. However, when we passed the trail’s most dangerous cliff, and he had to take a longer rest, he asked me to go ahead with other trekkers, and not long after, my legs somehow felt much lighter.

I shared this with my guide, who later told me that seeing my injured friend added psychological pressure on me. I worried whether he would be fine, and when he was not within my sight, I could focus only on myself, so the reduced pressure made the trek easier for me.

And I think that’s an important lesson to have. I understand that sometimes we can’t just avoid certain pressure/burdens (family, relationships, etc.), but when we can take unnecessary pressure off our shoulders, we should do that.

Find people with the same pace

When my injured friend asked me to go ahead with other trekkers, there was another hiker who had just passed by. I decided to walk with him, and the walk with him was delightful. One main reason why the walk was pleasant was our similar pace. We did not have to force ourselves to walk faster or slow down because how fast we unconsciously walked was the same. As a result, we could walk for 1.5 hours to the nearest checkpoint without any stops.

And that’s perhaps what it means when people say, “if you want to go fast, go alone; if you want to go far, go together”

It’s much easier when you enjoy the journey

Still on the same story, my legs felt much lighter — and the walk became easier — because I enjoyed the walk. The idea was repeated from the beginning of our hike by our guide. He kept saying that what mattered the most was our mindset. If we stayed positive, we would reach the top; but if we didn’t, it would be much more difficult.

And that’s pretty much accurate. When you enjoy the journey, staying positive is much easier even if it is difficult. During the ascent, especially when climbing through the seemingly endless Bukit Penyesalan (Hills of Regret) or the ultimate boss The Letter E, it was so easy to question your decision to climb Rinjani and to give up; but when we divert our focus towards the view, the goal, or whatever that makes us enjoy the journey more, we will get the boost to keep going.

A happy heart is good medicine and a joyful mind causes healing, But a broken spirit dries up the bones.
- Proverbs 17:22 AMP

Use any protective measures you need

One thing that I worried about the most before the hike was my ankle. I had injured my right ankle twice and could not afford to injure it again at Rinjani. Therefore, when deciding whether I should buy a pair of trekking shoes and which ones I should buy, I quickly focused on the mid-rise and top-rise shoes because they provide good support to my ankle. There were moments when I didn’t step well — especially when descending — but the shoes helped ensure my ankle wasn’t stretched too much.

The guy I mentioned above? He weighed 120 kg (265 lbs), and his main worry was how his knees could support his body. He put on the best knee pads he could get and survived Rinjani without any knee issues.

This aspect teaches me about having protective measures in life: savings, insurance, etc. They may not be needed, but they will make sure to protect you when things go wrong.

On reaching the summit

It is lonelier up there

When we started at the bottom, many people were with us. Most people were still going when we reached Pelawangan Sembalun, the closest campsite from Rinjani’s summit. When we did the summit attack, though, fewer and fewer people stayed as we went higher. Even some of our closest friends decided not to continue.

That seemed to be like life. The destination is often much less crowded than the origin. Some people prefer to stay in the middle of the path, and that’s perfectly fine. If we want to get to the final destination, we have to be ready for the “lack of crowd” and the ability to make new friends along the way will be very helpful.

The wind is stronger up there

The Indonesian proverb “the taller the tree gets, the stronger the wind it will experience” is valid. The wind is stronger at higher altitudes, and to put it into mountain hiking context, it gets more challenging when we get closer to the summit because the wind will push us more. We have to stand on our feet more firmly not to get swept away. Take the right steps and step firmly.

You won’t be at the peak forever

As much as we enjoy being at the peak, we will feel enough and want to go down, either to rest or find another peak. When we go down, we will meet aspiring hikers who are still striving to reach the summit, and it is time to leave a legacy:

• Leave the summit in the same condition as you first find it.
• Descend carefully, don’t damage the steps that can help the next hikers ascend
• Encourage your “successors” to keep going.

So do we in life. Sometimes it is time to move on to another chapter of life. When we do move on, leave the chapter on good terms and help people who want to reach the chapter get there.

And I hope that it is the way I end this post.