Facts
| Elevation: | 1,580 m (5,183 ft) | Prominence: | 842 m |
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| Ribu category: |  Spesial |
Province: | Sulawesi Utara (North Sulawesi) |
| Google Earth: | kml | Other names: | |
| Rating: |   (1 votes) Add your rating
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Photos
 Lokon from the outskirts of Tomahon (Andy Dean, September 2009)
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 Gunung Lokon – old lava bed (Andy Dean, September 2009)
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 Gunung Lokon – old lava bed (Andy Dean, September 2009)
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 Lokon active crater (Andy Dean, September 2009)
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View a slideshow in our Picasaweb gallery
Bagging It!
Lokon is a twin volcano with the adjacent Empung and is located close to the pleasantly cool town of Tomohon, which is surrounded by agricultural land. All recent eruptions have originated from the Tompaluan crater which lies in the saddle between the two peaks – when most people say they climbed Lokon they mean they visited the crater and most guides will think you only want to go to the crater.
There is actually a Volcanological Centre in Tomohon where you can find out information about the activity of volcanoes in the area and obtain an English speaking guide – several guides have quite good knowledge about the history and geology of the area. However, all the guesthouses and hotels will also be able to provide a guide too. A good thing about the hike to Lokon is that it starts from wherever you chose to stay in Tomohon. You begin by wandering along pleasant country lanes with good views of Lokon, before you have to pass by a small stone quarry and start the climb up to the crater.
The route is along a (usually) dry river bed that is actually an old lave flow; this can be quite slippery because it is so smooth. It takes 2 to 3 hours to reach the crater lake from Tomohon. Most people stop at the crater rarely go to the summit, for a very good reason. The steeps slopes of the dome shaped Lokon mountain quickly become dominated by 8 ft tall grasses that are razor-sharp. You really need to wear some gardening gloves and long trousers. If possible, you should also bring a machete to hack away the worst of the grasses that will be encroaching on the narrow path. The true summit on the relatively flat top is hard to find because of the grasses, but a trail is identifiable that winds through to a high point.
Warning: there is another overgrown crater near the summit of Lokon, avoid this area and skirt around it to the left to reach the summit area. There is no view from the summit unless you cut away at the grass; the best views of Tomohon, the crater and the Bunaken islands can be achieved only part of the way up the slopes of Lokon. Return the same way you came.
Bagging information provided by Andy Dean.
Practicalities
| Getting there | Plenty of public transport from Manado. |
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| Accommodation | There are several hotels/losmen in Tomohon. |
| Permits | Not required but take a photocopy of your passport photo page just incase. |
| Water sources | Take sufficient supplies with you. |
We set out to bag Lokon the day before we planned to climb Gunung Klabat, thinking is was going to be an easy warm-up hike. Lokon is a very popular hike and getting to the crater is easy. We took a guide from our guesthouse – basically the gardener. Walking up the old lava flow channel is quite cool and it does not take more than 2 hours for a fit person to get to the dry and barren crater area. The crater is small but very deep with a small lake at the bottom, and is constantly puffing clouds of sulphurous smoke. The sulphur can be quite gagging if the wind changes direction – signs that the activity has recently increased are the dead trees surrounding the crater.
Our guide (the gardener) and other guides told us the summit was not accessible, but speaking some Indonesian we explained that “we wanted to stand on the highest point, that he could wait for us at the crater.” Intrigued that we were mad enough to try to climb to through the razor sharp grass to reach the summit (and having never climbed to the highest point), he came with us wearing only shorts and a t-shirt. Luckily he had a small knife to cut away some of the grass. We ended up covered in scratches and cuts, but once we started we had to carry on. In the end, we weren’t entirely sure we had made the summit! Descending is pretty fast because the flattened grass is quite slippy and you slide down. We got back to Tomohon having experienced a warm up for Klabat that was a little harder than we thought.
Two years ago, in the summer of 2009 I climbed Lokon with a couple of friends. We were staying in the Happy Flower Homestay at the foot of Lokon and it is over there that we got te idea to climb the mountain. This very friendly guide (named Jotje Lala) was at the homestay and he wanted to take us for a walk up the volcano. So, the next day we got up early in the morning (5am) so that we would reach the top before temperatures would start to rise too much. It was a very pleasant easy going hike. Before reaching the dry lava river bed you pass a little christian cemetery. Take a pause and enjoy the iconic pictures on the graves (you can also do this on the way down).
When we actually got to the dried out lava river bed, the first step was the hardest. We had to climb up on 3 meters steep wall. But after that you can enjoy an easy-going hike up on Lokon. You can easily do this hike on your own when you don’t want to hire a guide. But if you want a fun companion, who does everything within his powers to speak the best English he can (and even Dutch). And you like to support the local guides. Then I suggest you contact Jotje Lala (http://happyflowerhomestay.blogspot.com) or one of the other local guides.
i visited Tomohon Manado at North Sulawesi 2 years ago with 2 friends and a friend’s kid. We were at an Island called as Bunaken island where we did snorkeling, whales watching and island hopping before we proceed to Tomohon. Tomohon was located at a hill and it took sometimes for our truck to reached our Home stay, Happy Flower Home stay. we could felt the coolness on the way up . upon our arrival at the home stay, we were mesmerized by the flora surrounded the home stay and the cool breeze was so refreshing. it’s more or less like our Malaysia kampung except the weather was cooler. we were introduced to the local guide, Jotje whom was a very eager to introduce the Tomohon to us . we started our 1st Volcano trekking the next day, and before we reached the bottom of the volcano, Jotje brought us to local market where we could saw lot of surprises whereby marketer slaughtered dogs on the spot for selling . we were brought to a cave later where Jotje said it was a hideout of the Japanese during the world war. the Japanese soldiers hide their weapon in the slim tunnels. i could felt the eeriness when i step into the dark and deep tunnel. Jotje brought us to a lake which was formed after the volcano eruption thousand years ago. the lake was huge and i couldn’t imagine how big the impact was the eruption to the local . we trekked up to the mountain and the trekked was more or less like a normal mountain trekking except we would had to step our foot on the sides of the channel form by lava as it was very slippery. it took us an hour to go up to the Lokon peak. we lingered at a huge and chilling waterfall for awhile on our way down the mountain.
we trekked the second volcan, Gunung Mahawu the third day. The water at the volcano was crystal green and we could see there were lots of smokes coming out from the water surface. Jotje said volcanoes had 4 categories which were ranged from level one to four. I asked him why there were still had people wanted to stay there though they know the volcanoes will erupt anytime, as per him the people would know when the eruption and they will flee to the opposite sides where the lava won’t hit them. He also said the lava from the eruption was a source of living for them as the lava was great fertilizer to the soil. He was right, we could see lots of vegetables were plant along the terrain and most of them were big sizes. Jotje also mentioned that there was a god to in charge of a volcano. I couldn’t imagine how it was when there was eruption but I just think there were people whom did survive by making the most from the worst that nature had given.
Lokon’s getting rather active again….
http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/home/indonesia-raises-alert-level-at-volcano-near-major-city/452151
Nice, short piece in The Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/the-northerner/2011/jul/19/gunung-lokon-sulawesi-volcano-lake-district-blencathra-newcastle-university-geothermal
Shame it isn’t more detailed. As a great fan of Blencathra (also known more boringly as Saddleback), it’s lovely to see the two gunungs mentioned in the same page title, even if there’s very little in the blog itself about the beautiful mountain that is Blencathra. A fine sight on the main road from the M6 at Penrith to the lakeland town of Keswick, one route up the 868m high mountain goes via the notorious Sharp Edge ridge, a great scrambling route above a small tarn (lake) that has an air of Macbeth about it in misty conditions. You can almost hear the witches calling out ‘fair is foul and foul is fair’ around their cauldron.
If you’re ever in the area, you must stop off at the Old Crown pub in nearby Hesket Newmarket for a pint of locally-brewed Blencathra Best bitter. Ah, sweet memories!
you can sea information about lokon volcano eruptioa in http://happyflowerhomestay.blogspot.com.