54 Climbing Mount Wilhelm
I climbed Mount Wilhelm over Easter, 1998. When Lae Explorers announced that they were leading an excursion up the tallest peak in Papua New Guinea, altitude14793 feet, I decided to be part of this expedition. It provided an opportunity to see a new part of PNG and would add to my teaching-research data base of slides and general information. I was interested in the PNG alpine vegetation of this mountain for comparative purposes with the 6000 feet alpine vegetation along Huon Gulf Coast in Lababia. There was also the personal challenge of climbing the highest peak in Papua New Guinea.
Papua New Guinea by spoolWhippits cco 1.0 creative commons 2020 Public Domain.
Central Papua New Guinea, Mt Wilhelm in left center of map. Papua New Guinea Tourist Map made by Gregory’s Publishing Company, Macquarie Park, New South Wales 2000.
The convoy of 4-wheel drive vehicles leaves Lae at 5 AM, Good Friday and in typical “Lae Explorer fashion,” drives “like hell” to get there. Unfortunately, I slow down the progress. We proceed through the colliding tectonic plate boundary that forms the broad Markham Valley and as day breaks, we begin our ascent from 1500 feet up Kassim Pass to 4000. The 60º F temperature is refreshing.
We stop for a short break at Yonke dam (source of electricity for Lae) before continuing along the winding road through Kainantu and Goroka. Refueling at Goroka, we head up Daulo Pass at 8000 feet enjoying the beautiful view looking back at Goroka. Roadside vendors selling strings of passion fruit entice us to stop.
At Kundiawa we turn off the asphalt sealed road and head north into 4-wheel drive country. Once we leave Kundiawa, the people become very friendly and wave and smile at our convoy. A hand wave or smile from us produces a joyful shout and the charming Chimbu smiles spread across their broad cheeks. We are now in the heart of Chimbu country; small compact huts dot the steep hillsides and occasionally cluster along the road.
Canyon road in Papua New Guinea. Photo by Rick Bein 1998,
Traveling up a narrow stream valley, we cross several iron bridges covered with logs serving as planks. We finally come to one with board planks and the local villagers decide that they deserved to benefit from this fine bridge and demand money. Our group leader tells them “This is a government bridge” and the police have been called over the radio! The villagers removed the branches that blocked the roadway over the bridge.
The one lane road gradually ascends the canyon walls, and the steep cliffs cause some of us to hold our breath until we cross over into another watershed. The ruts make for a rough and twisting ride, but the vehicles are well designed, and we continue upward.
At 3 PM we reach the air strip at the village of Gembogl and in a few minutes we are at Betty Higgins’ guest house, trout and rabbit farm. Betty is a successful businesswoman who sells fish and vegetables in addition to earning money from the guest house. T