| Mount Wilhelm is the highest mountain of Papua New Guinea. It is a rugged mountain with an excellent trail leading to its summit. The ascent crosses diverse and beautiful terrain, with open grasslands on the slopes between 10,000 and 12,000 feet, and glaciers and granite predominant in the higher elevations. The following travel details were provided in August 1999 by Rick Warnett and Terry Griffiths. Access to the mountain is quite easy unless weather is very bad - blizzard or heavy rain. The closest international airport in Papua New Guinea is Nadzab, with direct flights from Cairns Qld.Australia using Flight West. An alternative is Jackson's International in Port Moresby, with incoming flights from Australia, Singapore, Manila, Hong Kong using Air Niugini and Qantas airlines. Once in Papua New Guinea, one can drive three hours from Lae to Goroka, a very pleasant town of 8,000 or so located in a valley at about 5,000' asl. If you're coming from Port Moresby, you can catch one of two daily one hour flights to Goroka on AIR NIUGINI. In Goroka, excellent accomodation at the "Bird Of Paradise " hotel is available, as well as a range of less expensive lodges and hotels. The BOP costs about K150 per night, but offers excellent food. Light aircraft can he chartered to fly to Keglsugl airstip, about 8,000' asl or the intrepid can hire a helicopter from Pacific Helicopters in Goroka for a range of costs per hour. Count on about 900 USD per hour for a Bell 206, the flight out and back takes about 1.6 hours, but you can visit the summit without all the clobber otherwise required. Alternatively you can travel by road from Goroka to the base camp at the Mt Wilhelm Trout Farm, operated by Ken and Betty Higgins, together with their local assistants. Cost for a 4WD return trip (up to 6 passengers) is K300.00 (US$120.00), and is available through Norman Carver's Niugini Highland Tours, and can be booked via the BOP. This 4-5 hour trip proceeds along roads which cling to mountain sides (and sometimes don't) and winds up from 5,000' across the pass at 9,000' then down to Kundiawa and along a steep sided river valley to Keglsugl, then on to the trout farm and the Lodge. Accomodation here is about K45 per night (1998) and includes some of the world's best trout and fresh vegetables - no pesticides. A guide can be hired from the local area for about K50 per day and is definitely required to save wasted miles or becoming lost if the weather fails. Overnight exposure will result in death, unless you have alpine tents or find shelter. Visibility can fall to less than 3M and the rocky terrain is unforgiving. Eight people rest here, testament to the hidden dangers of what seems a Sunday walk. A walk to the lakes is usually completed on the first day and a short rest until about 2am made there. These are beautiful cirque lakes formed when glacial ice sheets covered PNG in the last ice age. The only permanent ice fields left on the island are in the Star Mountains in Irian Jaya, much more difficult to reach. Brown trout once lived in the lakes, but it appears too cold for even them to survive and none have been seen for many years. Snow trout may be used to re-stock the lakes, leading to the possibility of a fishing expedition to this extremely pleasant and relaxing place. There is a staging hut at a lake below the summit where you can overnight for K10.00 per person. From a 2am start, a walk with torches to see the way on moonless days, leads up the wall of the lakes, across a moraine strewn clay slope, under huge overhanging rocks and then upward past the tree and bush line to almost bare rock. The trail reaches about 14,000' and then levels out to traverse around several deep gullies. A short section along a ridgeline introduces the walker to the view that lies ahead, before descending to follow a well worn trail on the north side. The last kilometer passes several radio repeater sites and then the final ascent up a steep and rough pinnacle that is the summit of PNG's highest mountain. Arrival is usually time to be about 7am so that the clearest air and best views are available. A climb soon after heavy rain or a mountaintop storm will reveal the best views as all the moisture has been removed. After a two day blizzard in 1997, I was certain I could see well past Mt Lamington volcano some 450Km to the East. It was likely that the two peaks on the horizon were Goodenough and Fergussen Islands in Milne Bay !! Even individual trees on Mt Giluwe (itself 4,100M) could be seen. Views are enjoyed until 8-9am or until the weather starts to close in. Walking down is said to be harder than up, probably true. The return trip is usually back to the Lodge at Keglsugl or the Trout Farm, all in one day, This is usually about 7 hours. As radio technicians, it is easier to camp on site and accept the hardships, than walk up and down to the site each day. Alpine conditions are challenging for a few days and camping is possible in all but the worst conditions, as well, few others do this, so camping on Mt Wilhelm is much more interesting than simply walking up and down. I once spent 9 days in a small metal hut with 3 then 5 people while upgrading the facilities for my employer. This was tough and extremely interesting. Snowstorms in the tropics - not everyone's ideas of Papua New Guinea, but certainly some great stories and photos were made in that time. P.S. You can ring home from the summit by taking your analog cellular phone up with you. Keep the batteries warm, but access to the Mt Hagen cell system is possible and you can call anywhere in the world, or leave that unexpected message. Anyone who wants contact numbers, see below AIR NIUGINI Port Moresby +675-3273444 Goroka +675-7321444 Bird Of Paradise Hotel +675 7321144 Pacific Helicopters +675 7321226 or 7321126 Road Transport Niugini Highland Tours, Norman Carver Ph +675 7321603 Fax +675-7323302 Mt Wilhelm Trout Farm, Ken & Betty Higgins ISD access then 0145 112037 satellite phone. Rick Warnett +675 3257111 BH |
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