Pos 5 and Pos 7 of Bambangan route are are good shelters to camp in. But do not erect your tent inside the shelter(s) because actually the hikers without tent would be dis-advantaged. Another ethic, please be quiet for you do not want to disturb our exhausted friends’ sleeps.

Around the summit you could easily lose your way without a guide or waypoints. Guci route is longer but the trek is clear and you would not be lost.

Hi, we were supposed to climb slamet this wek end with a guide who had checked conditions but upon arrival, the local forbid us to climb from bambangan. Reason was the risk of bushfire.
Don’t think this was a set up from the guide as he proposed me slamet over sumbing. Went for this one but pissed off by bambangan…

Hi Dan,

Do you have GPS coordinates for batu raden routes ?

Thanks much

Unfortunately not – maybe try asking on the Indonesian yahoo groups like highcamp and pangrango…..

Thanks Dan! Really appreciate it

Hi Dheva
It is always best to take a guide.
You could try Wondo 081391569356
or Irsyad 085726290005

Actually I have another question to ask… :p

If we dont use guide and rely on our GPS and map, do you think is advisable…?

Thanks
-dheva-

Hi Dan,

Thanks for the very useful information. We plan to hike Slamet this christmas and based on your advice, experienced guide is essential.

Appreciate your advice on recommended guides (name and contact number would be great) as we plan to ascend from Bambangan and descend to Baturaden.

Thanks much
-dheva-

Hi Dan,
just returned from the Baturaden trail to Slamet. The Bambangan route was closed these days, presumably for stronger than usual activities of the volcanoe.
The Baturaden trail is clearly the longest one compared to Guci and Bambangan. It took me 10 hrs uphill and 7 downhill. In addition, we had 6-8 hours rain, including in the early evening hours when we had to build tent. Lesser experienced trekkers should calculate with eleven to twelve hours trekking upwards, through extended and beautiful stretches of untouched mountain rain forest, with quite some birds and monkeys. I started at 7h from my hotel in Purwokerto by motorbike, at 8h I was on the trail. It is clearly advisable to stay in one of the many Baturaden resorts to be on track at 6:30 or earlier.

On the trail there are five so-called “pos”s, with some smaller additional campsites in between. None has any shelter or other facilities. The last water supply is at Pos 2, about 2 1/2 hours after starting from the Baturaden Nature Park. There you should make sure to have 5-6 liters of water. After Pos 3 it is getting more and more steep. Pos 5 is just below the tree line. The last stretches before Pos 5 are easy walking on an extended saddle. There is no flat campground to find on Pos 5, except some small area at the very upper end, beyond the last trees, but still protected by some high grass.

As you walk nearly all way on rarely used paths in a vital jungle the trail is strongly overgrown. We did not need machetes, but we were wet all tour long, even when the rain stopped. Each of us had “invited” 8 to 1o leeches, around the feet, not on our necks.

From Pos 5 it is another 500m in altitude, between 1:20 hrs and 2 hours to the peak that is visible from Pos 5. It is mostly firmer ground, but with some parts of loose ashes. From Pos 5 you reach the caldera, leaving the big cut in the crater rim to your left, and looking into the huge crater against the rising sun at sunrise.
Best
Wolfgang

Hi Dan, appreciate your infos on Slamet very much, as this is one of the few peaks on java that i did not climb yet. And the infos on the Java Lava website date back to 2006. I plan to go to Slamet May 17 or 18 till 19 or 20. Can you recommend a porter/guide, with hp/E-mail possibly? As I don’t speak bahasa indonesia some basic english is more important than the starting point. Although from your description the best starting point appears to me Bambangan. I understand that the train to Purwokerto starts from Gambir station every morning.
Best regards
Wolfgang Piecha