Izzy Travel Notes

The Idenburg Lake Is Just Steps Away..!

Heavy snow restricts us from being able to move freely. Moreover, we must be careful not to step and fall in between sharp stones covered with snow. Slowly, we slip through the gap down the steep ridge. “The lake is in sight ..!”, one of the trip member at the front yells. Yes, that is the Idenburg lake, our destination of this trip. Located at a steep valley on the side slopes of the snow-covered Ngga Pilimsit peak, the beauty of the lake and its surrounding scene made all of our effort trekking down the snowy slopes of Sudirman range since dawn paid off..

Ngga Pilimsit, also widely known as Idenburg, one of the peaks in the Sudirman range. Standing tall at 4,730 meters above sea level, it is part of the Middle mountains, one of range of mountains that run along the island of Papua, Indonesia, from east to west. Heinrich Harrer, an Austrian mountaineer, made the first ascent to this peak in 1963, which was part of an international expedition to climb at several peaks of the mountains, including the highest peak Puncak Jaya or Carstensz Pyramid (4,884m).

Thick fog greets us as we start walking from Kaimana Dump* toward the mountain slope. The snow this time is also quite thick, makes the journey becomes slower. And since this is a photo hunting trip – my main hobby – we also so often stop to take pictures here and there, although the thick fog of course make photographing the landscape is even more difficult. Over time, I am starting to lower my expectation and hope to get good pictures as so far the weather was not too friendly. But some of my trekking mates do not seem too concerned too much with the weather as they’re busy taking selfie pictures along the trek..

Trekking Down The Slopes of Sudirman Mountains..

But, it turns out that mother nature is being kind to us. As the sun is slowly rising, the fog is also dwindling. The sky is getting clearer. The beautiful scenery along the trekking path to the lake Idenberg with large rocks and grass weeds, covered with snow, becomes more apparent with the blue sky and the morning sunlight. Eventually, the trekking becomes even slower now as we stop more frequent to take more pictures of this beautiful landscape.

And taking selfie pictures, of course.. 😀

After around 3km trekking down the slopes of the mountain, across the rocky hills while avoiding the sharp rocks and snow-covered slit, finally the Idenburg lake, lies on 4,313m above sea level our final destination of this trip, is starting to reveal itself. Located in a large steep valley just below the towering peaks of Ngga Pilimsit, the lake that is formed from the rain and melted snow looks so beautiful from a distance. Fatigue is no longer felt, as we are all awed by the beauty of landscape in front of us ..

This is not Alps, nor McKinley, nor Andes. This is Ngga Pilimsit, Papua, Indonesia..

Additional notes:

• Kaimana Dump is a working area near Grasberg open mine, part of PT Freeport Indonesia COW area
• I just replaced the Idenburg photo with watermarked image after I found out the original image was used without my knowledge & my permission