Climbing on Mount Kerinci

Kerinci can be climbed from the village of Kersik Tuo, 6 or 7 hours away from Padang by car or bus. The climb and descent normally takes 3 days and 2 nights, if you choose to go to the summit. You may also choose to go up only till Camp 2 or 2.5, skipping the summit attempt which is a night climb; and take 2 days and 1 night instead.

As of November 2007, the alert level for Kerinci was raised to Level 2- Orange, due to black smog seen coming out of the crater. But climbing the volcano is still relatively safe and allowed; though you may not climb any further than 1 km to the crater.

Kerinci's terrain consists of thick jungle, it can get muddy and slippery even if there are only mild drizzles, which may occur occasionally even during the dry season. To climb the volcano you need a guide, for there have been rare cases of people disappearing after attempting to trek alone.

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Volcanic activity of the Mount Kerinci

Kerinci is more active than most Indonesian volcanoes, with nearly annual phreatic eruptions. Kerinci last erupted in 2004, and continues to spew clouds of sulphurous smoke, with plumes reaching as high as 1,000 m (3,281 ft) above the summit. While there is farmland in the area, and a tea plantation on its southern slope, Kerinci, being located in an Indonesian national park, and perhaps out of respect for its frequent growlings as well, sits in an area that is sparsely populated by Indonesian population-density standards.

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Geography of the Mount Kerinci

Kerinci is located in Province of Jambi, the west central part of the island, in the Barisan Mountains, near the west coast, and is about 130 km (81 mi) south of Padang. It is the most prominent feature of the terrain of Kerinci Seblat National Park, with pine-forested slopes rising 2,400-3,300 metres above the surrounding basin, and a cone 13 km (8 mi) wide and 25 km (16 mi) long at the base, elongated in the north-south direction. At the summit there is a deep 600 m (1,969 ft) wide crater, often partially filled by a small crater lake on the northeast side of the crater floor.

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Mount Kerinci

Mount Kerinci (also spelled Kerintji, among several other ways, and referred to as Gunung Kerinci, Gadang, Berapi Kurinci, Kerinchi, Korinci, or Peak of Indrapura as well) is the highest volcano in Indonesia, and the highest peak on the island of Sumatra. It is surrounded by the lush forest of Kerinci Seblat National Park, home to the endangered species of Sumatran Tiger and Sumatran Rhinoceros.

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