Hiking can be very fun activity if you do that with your friends. Climbing the summit of a mountain can also be big challenge and unexpected experience. Nonetheless, this activity is getting more and more popular today. One of the popular mountain in Indonesia that every hikers dream to reach its summit is Mount Prau. It’s located in Dieng Plateau, East Java Indonesia. It has around 2565 meters in height which challenges every hikers to reach its top.
Mount Prau also offers a wide savanna stretched from west to east in its summit. There’s also some hills and trees where people take some rest. Mount Prau is the highest summit in the Dieng Plateau area. There are three tracks that leads to its summit which are Praten route, Patak Banteng route, and Kenjuran route.
Since Mount Prau is pretty much challenging route, there are some tips that should be noticed before you decide to climb the mountain. Here are some important notes to notice, especially for beginners:
1. Have Deep and Comprehensive Preparation
Climbing mountain isn’t a simple sport that can be prepared in a night. It needs weeks or even month to get ready either physically or mentally. Preparation can be done with looking for some information about the mountain that you will climb, like the weather, type of land, water resources, and other primary important information regarding the condition in mountain.
There are also financial planning and physical planning. Financial planning is needed to arrange the cost needed for your travel since hiking is also part of vacation, then it needs financial capital to cover all the needs as well. Physical exercise is also important in preparation time to familiarize yourself with tough condition and exercise your body to endure your stamina during hiking.
Preparation is the first and the most important thing to determine how your journey will be. If the preparation goes well, the hiking will be fun and safe as well.
2. Create Itinerary
This is also important part of preparation. Itinerary is a detailed plan of vacation, in this case hiking. It draws from where you and your group will depart and at what time you will start hiking the mountain. It also determines the route that your group will take since every mount has several route to reach its summit.
Itinerary needs to be made in order to keep the hiking activity goes to plan, also it won’t make your hiking activity feels messy and out of time. You can make simple itinerary by making a rundown just like you usually make in school activity or work event.
3. Complete Your Hiking Equipment
After knowing the track and the route that you will take. It’s time to determine what equipment you will bring. Usually, people will bring standard hiking equipment, such as special boots for hiking, a tent, sleeping bag, cooking utensils, nesting, and other stuff. If there are personal stuff that needs to bring, don’t hesitate to carry it on your bag if you feel it important to your safety and health.
Don’t forget to also prepare the right outfit depending on what route and climate you’ll face. So that your body keeps hydrated and warm.
4. Order the Logistic Management
Food and water resource is important to be prepared because you’ll not spend only one night in the mountain, but also two and three days. So determining who will bring what food and what drink is essential. But remember that you can also prepare your own meal to deal with some problem while hiking.
5. Take Care of Hiking Licence
In Indonesia, especially when you want to hike a preserved mountain, you need hiking licence before entering the gateway. Please make sure that you have hiking licence before hiking so that you can be listed in visitor list in the office. If not, you could probably considered as illegal hiker and if something bad happens to you, official can’t track your presence since you are not in the visitor list.
The licence can be directly accessed online or in the mountain’s office before entrance a few days before hiking begins.
6. Adapting with Climate
Making yourself comfortable before hiking the mountain is essential thing to do. Its purpose is to make yourself familiar with the cold or heat that can be very extreme while you climb. Staying a few hours in a hiking camp before hiking can help you to familiarize yourself with the climate. Playing card games, chatting with other hiker, eating your snack can be some options to kill the time.
7. Follow the Itinerary
The purpose of itinerary is to guide you and make your hiking time much more effective. For the beginners, it might be very hard since the track can be very extreme. If you feel you need to rest, you can tell your party leader to take some times to rest. If you feel not in well condition, you can also tell your party leader. The point is, hiking isn’t easy activity and if something wrong with your body, you can share it to your group member. Don’t keep the ego because if something bad happens, it will add your party more burden.
Trust to your party leader and be confident to yourself.
8. Don’t Leave Any Rubbish Whenever You Are
Mountain is not trash can. It’s natural beauty that needs to be kept its sanitation. There must be a lot of food that you and your party bring to keep yourself awake and energize, but don’t forget to bring your rubbish with you. Then after going back to entrance, you can throw them in to the trash can that has been provided by the official.
At least try to not polute natural resource or it will hit you back one day
9. Send Your Recent Condition to Your Closest One
Either your parents or someone you can trust, as soon as you get a phone signal, try to contact someone to notify that you’re fine and healthy. It will make your family or other close people to you feels relieve and grateful. If not, you’ll leave them in constant worry and doubt since they don’t know how you have been for two or three days in the middle of the mountain. So keep your contact with your family or friend close to notify that you’re doing fine in the mountain.
10. Take a Bath
This is the most important thing after finishing your hiking. After you arrive in basecamp, you can directly go to bathroom and wash your whole body after days not washing anything to your body. The fresh feeling of water is considered as the best feeling behind reaching top of a mountain.
Since your body has been in contact with every material that’s on the mountain, it’s much recommended to take a bath directly before you go home and take some rest. It also can clear your mind after worrying all the time whether or not you can make it back from the summit.
11. Eat Food
Before you go home, it’s recommended to take some rests in your favourite restaurant and eat everything you want as a reward after give all your energy to reach the top of a mountain. It’ll feel worth it after the effort you had done. Don’t forget to save some money to take a road back to home. If not, you’ll probably go home with your feet since you have no money left to ride public transportation.
Hiking can be very fun activity if it’s planned correctly. It can be one experience of a lifetime because of its challenge. Now that you have read all the tips for beginner hiker, you are ready to plan your first hike. Don’t be afraid and good luck!
