Description
Pokana Peak nearly killed us, twice. Remote and rarely visited, the steep slopes and unrelenting scrub make any attempt to its summit a slow and arduous affair. The first time we wisely gave up mid-afternoon some 2km short of the high point, but made it back to camp with only an hour spent walking under head torch. The second time a year later, with a 'summit-or-bust' attitude, we made the summit by 5pm, briefly enjoying the warming glow of the sun beginning to settle over the remote peaks of the Prince Of Wales Range. The return trip would unfortunately involve several hours of attempting to push through the most impenetrable scrub we'd ever come across - in the dark - before admitting defeat and making an emergency bivvy until the next morning. We'd finally get back to our camp some 28 hours later.