Pangrango

From Puncak Pass to Cibodas via Pangrango summit

The Pangrango volcano at 3080m, is the highest summit in the vicinity of Jakarta, as the start of the trek can be reached in 2h only from the most traffic-jammed city on the planet (except on Saturday morning & Sunday afternoon). Best way is to take a taxi to Kpg Rambutan bus terminal, then every 15min a bus goes to Puncak (15kRp, ask Cianjur for the destination). Same for the way back, or you can take an Angkot/Bemo until Ciawi (10/15kRp), the toll road entrance, then a bus is only 1h to Kpg Rambutan (9kRp). 

Presented below is an alternative route to Pangrango summit with a start at Puncak Pass (or Gunung Mas, the summit nearby crowned by hundreds of antennas). This well defined trail from Puncak is not authorized by the Gede-Pangrango park authorities as the official entrance is in Cibodas, so do it at your own risks.

Official story

The trail starts at exactly 1400m, from Puncak pass (close to the highest point on the main road Cisarua-Cimacan), the departure point is quite easy to find as it is located on the South side of the biggest turn of the road - see the map below. The small road, then dust road, then track goes slowly up amid vegetable fields, with enough pondok kebun (garden huts) around to get shelter from the usual rain or even spend a quiet night. There is some water on this trek, at the start, next to the kebun, and at the end of the ascent, near the summit. So depart with at least 3 liters/person, and a lot of energy bars - see later why.

After a leisurely 2h from the main road, the track arrives at a forested hilltop at 1990m, which is an intersection of 4 paths, for Pangrango, go straight. The left path leads a bit backwards to Cimacan, the right path goes back to Gunung Mas, but via the tea plantations. You should follow strictly the crest of the ridge for around 1h30, at an altitude of 2000m. The progression is uneventful and rather flat, then the path will go up more steeply, it is another 3h to reach Pangrango top at 3080m.

The top makes a pleasant camping ground, there is a cement pillar at the true top, where an obvious path will lead you down first to the main camp ground between the 2 summits (Gede & Pangrango) in 1h30. From there, there are 2 paths to Cibodas. The main one is going through the spectacular & rewarding hot water springs (3h), the other one through Gede crater & summit which has better views than Pangrango, then to Cibodas (5h). See map below.

Real story

Starting at 6am, I was planning to do Puncak pass - Sukabumi, not via Pangrango but via the hot springs which should be easier. I took food for lunch only as I was planning to do it in 1 day. In my GPS, the route from navigasi.net was loaded, but routes don't include altitude, so I was not really aware of my mistakes early enough. It's only when my GPS was reading 3000m altitude, that I noticed something was wrong. 

Not to mention that at the intersection of the 4 paths cited above, I took the large right path which is leading back to Gunung Mas, then realizing the problem, I planned to cut through the jungle to join directly the Pangrango trek. Count 2h for a progress of only 200m.... I also encountered some baby snakes...

At this stage, at 1pm already, after 7 exhausting hours, I had finished all my food, but I decided foolishly to go up the path. So it's in total hypoglycemia that I arrived at the top of Pangrango 5h later calling for help. Luckily friendly local hikers heard me, realized my state of exhaustion and offered me all what they had, the unavoidable Indomie, but also Energen & coffee with condensed milk. Going down, at each camping ground, a bit ashamed of myself, I asked for some food, and I was always offered something: bengbeng & chokichoki bars, rice.... At the hot spring, it's a good point to have a full bath, so I had one - it was 7pm then... Some smart guys nearby were making gorengan (fried chicken & tofu) next to their tent, I told them it was smelling delicious, they offered me some. It's eventually with a full belly that I arrived at the Cibodas gate at 9pm, after a 15h non-stop trek from Puncak, no Rangers asked me anything, but I will not recommend this trek without a guide, even with the proper GPS track, mine is provided in the "GPS tracks" section.

Pics:

up: with the group of hikers who saved me from hypoglycemia at the top. Thanks guys!

down: Pangrango true summit, the cement pillar is invisible on weekends as thousands take turns for photos