Hi Kieth. I hiked the same route (Sembalun to Senaru) about a month before you in 2009 and I agree with your assessment of the campsite around the lake. The lake water looked OK for swimming when I was there, but the “famous” hot springs nearby are a little grim.

I did the route with only two nights camping, and I think you need to be quite fit to do this. The first day from Sembalun is 1,000m elevation gain (12 km hike) to the ridge. The second day becomes a real killer. You get up at 3:30 am to climb 1,000m to the summit for sunrise, then go back down to the ridge campsite. After a quick breakfast you drop down another 700 m to the lake where there’s not much time to hang around before climbing 700m to the other ridge. The best campsite is down in the lush forest, but your legs will probably not be enjoying descending by then. Luckily the final day down to Senaru is a nice gentle gradient and a great path.

Overall, I definitely recommend doing it the Sembulan to Senaru route, but if people are going to do it in 2 night / 3 days they should do a bit of training to prepare.

Hi hiked alone (with guide+porters) from Sembalun to Senaru in May 2009. I decided on three nights, one on the rim so I could do the peak the first night (challenging and spectacular!), the second at the lake so I could maybe swim or hike around to Gunung Baru (disappointing, garbage and human waste all over the place, water unfit to enter, tragic overall due to local polluters), and the third on the NW rim before descending to Senaru (a bit lonely perched up there with nothing much going on, but still scenic and you can see the Gilis from there). Overall, I loved the hike and suppose two nights is enough but would also be quite exhausting. Lots of beautiful photos from “up there.” I strongly recommend this trip for reasonably fit people.

I won’t spoil the beauty of this mountain .. but if you start climbing this mountain from Senaru Village, then you’ll see what i mean at Plawangan Senaru!

Amazing, simply amazing! No wonder this mountain got a lot visits from climbers around the globe! You should get your self at least 1 chance visiting Rinjani