This was the view from our hut. It had taken us about 3 hours to get here, and the rest of the day was free. We took it easy, later meeting some of the tour group people (who were actually very nice and had a good sense of humour – laughing at people who would not buy black and gold, for instance [available in supermarkets here], or who wore mossimo hats). It was only much later – too late – that I realised I was sunburnt. It happens quite quickly, up so high, and with intensity; J soon had a few blisters appear on his hand.

As the sun began to go down, it got cold quickly. The sky clouded over, but it didn’t rain. Thomas and some of the tour group guides had a fire going in a little shed; it was a tiny shanty-thing, with hay on the floor and a fire in the middle: very biblical. Although it was smoky it was also warm, and we huddled in there for a while. The plan was to get up early am and hike, so after another dinner of noodles it was bed time. The alarm was set for 12.15am, but I was awake for a while before it went off. I went outside to the toilet (away from the hut, around a hill) (and it’s a practical detail but a girl has to use it when it’s there; it’s so much easier for boys!), and found that we had been really lucky with our timing: the sky was clear, there was no wind, and it was almost a full moon (that’s right, easter…).

It was very light, and hushed. I felt a hum of excitement. The tour group had actually left at 12; looking to the lake’s left, I could see a little moving trail of flickering lights. They softly inched their way forward. I went back and woke up j and after a bush biscuit (I ate them all weekend; so good!) Thomas came in, and at 1am we left. Everything was quiet and alive.

Looking at the photo above, we walked around the left of the lake, and up the left side of the waterfall. Above the waterfall was another lake, which we also skirted, before climbing up and along ridges, moving rightish, waaayyy out of shot. (note: don’t use these directions; hire a guide). Just after the second lake I think it was that we caught the tour group, and overtook them – not to see them again until dawn.

The climbing from here was mainly on or between clods of grasses. This changed as you approached the top of a ridge, where it was a lot rockier. Gradually the grasses became more infrequent, and rocks dominated. I had borrowed a little torch, and whilst it was helpful in the early stages (lower down there were more shadows), when the batteries went flat after 3 hours I no longer needed it: the moon light was strong and clear.

Whatever the terrain, Thomas was bloody nimble! At one point he startled me by suddenly leaping forwards, running up ahead and then running down behind. Was he mad? Were we going way too slow? Nope – he’d been chasing a kuskus, a possum-like animal. He’d caught it – with his bare hands! I was impressed – and borrowing j’s stick he rapped it hard but quick on the head three times to kill it (after someone took some photos). Good kill, I thought; not too painful or prolonged. But then we walked a bit and Thomas roughly whacked the thing on a rock a few times, to make sure it was really dead, and I swallowed my words. He tied it to a bush, and on the way down hours later he collected it to take back for cooking.

The climb went onwards, rockier and rockier. At one point I appeared to reach a critical altitude, and started shouting out the names of best bands and albums and songs of all time. I didn’t get much encouragement, so I soon quietened down – but if there had been a response I could have done that for hours! Thinking otherwise helped me to just keep on walking, I guess.

Sometimes we had to scramble up rock faces, make a few leaps, watch out for ice (as we neared the top only), but it was quite an accessible mountain to climb – because your movement kept changing, sometimes you’d climb hard upwards, other times you’d skip along a path, then you’d pick your way gingerly through landslide-threatening rubble before getting toeholds in big rocks and pushing your way from one to another. There was never too much of one type of climbing to feel too exhausted – not to say I wasn’t very tired, but a much smaller mountain (huashuan; china; 2000something m) I found a lot harder.

And soon, much sooner than expected, we were there: at the peak of Mt Wilhelm. J and Thomas graciously let me stand on the top first, and I was full of smiles. Getting to the top of a mountain is so satisfyingly literal – it ain’t no metaphor. Look around! And I did; it was clear, but, unfortunately, still not very light. We had arrived at 5am, instead of 6. And so we got off the very peak and sat down behind some rocks, and waited, and quickly got colder and colder. I fantasised about a bowl of coffee made by Gianni. J, on the other hand, had reached his critical altitude and was making some rather inflammatory comments which won’t be repeated here.

Last year J had made the climb, but it took him and the fellows he was with 5.5 hours. This time we’d done it in 4. I think there are two reasons for this: one, the competitive streak: always just behind us was the tour group; we had to beat them! Two: hiking with a girl. We weren’t hurtling along at top speed, but slow and steady wins the race. I will take credit for that.

Just before six, the first of the tour group haggle climbed up to the top, and the rest came in dribs and drabs. [my camera was flat but j has posted some photos.] We could see an amazing amount of PNG.

And the rest, well, it wasn’t really the sweetest decline. Climbing down was fine for an hour or so, but then I simply wanted to get off the mountain, and energy levels sagged, and we walked on and on, getting sunburnt again.

Eventually, by some type of miracle, we reached the huts, and stopped and had a nap for an hour. Ate the boiled kaskas (the prime bits we were given had claws attached; I tried not to look; meat ok, bit like underdone lamb). Then we resumed walking, going down another few hours until we reached Martin’s. I took one more photo before the camera quit; j was about ready to punch me at the idea of a photo, and that was why I couldn’t resist doing it.