This is a really nice mountain, close to Westport where we spent our summer holiday. Mt Rochfort is nearby too but has a longer 4WD track to access - next time.
Weather forecast was Ok for the morning and early afternoon with a very light SW but a change to Westerlies and rain forecast for the afternoon.
The mountain is accessed from the historic mining area of Denniston Plateau, a destination worth visiting in it's own right (I took Francie back there the following day). "Myra's track" starts opposite the Coalbrookdale walk entrance and is a marked bush track but you need to keep your wits about you as it is easy to lose.
 |
| Track start at Coalbrookdale |
Main bit to watch is not far from the start where you emerge onto a MTB road and it is not clear where Myra's track restarts on the opposite side. I cast around for a while before finding it
 |
| Track continues up to right of the MTB track to the right of the three boulders (red arrow) |
It's a good climb, the sign says 2 hours and that's what it took me with a couple of breaks. The climb is quite technical in places, it's not just a walk up a hill. There are quite steep sections with limited foot/hand holds. Care required as there is a lot of moss around (I slid down a bit on my backside coming down).
A very old trig marks the summit. Activation zone is large with plenty of room to set up.
I chose to use an overhanging boulder as shelter from the sun so ended up with a fairly unique set-up.
 |
| Pack used to keep wire off the rock which seemed to help tuning! Yellow wire is counterpoise. |
Scenery was spectacular as you expect on the West Coast - Denniston Plateau and Tasman Sea on one side and mountains around the remainder
I fired up the KX2 on 40m SSB and worked a bunch of other activators and NZART activity day stations. Knowing that Mark ZL3AB was going to be tricky on anything but 60m (he was only 90km away but the other side of the alps) I went there and worked some Christchurch chasers and then Mark popped up with an excellent signal! 30m was next and worked Dan ZL4DVG on a neighbouring West Coast summit and then headed to 20m for VK1MCW, VK4TJ and VK2IO/P.
A few more on 40m and at 2330z I noted the cloud rolling in from the Tasman Sea and wind rising.
I decided to have lunch and be ready to work a few after the rollover and then pack up and get down the track. This strategy worked well as by 0008z I had 6 contacts in the log and it was time to go.
Descent was OK apart from the above-mentioned slide and slight worry about losing the track in low cloud, dense bush and with a low cellphone battery... Next purchase will be a dedicated GPS unit!
Mt William is a nice summit and I'd recommend visitors to Westport activate it.
Getting there:
Drive to Denniston (30 mins from Westport) and take the Burnetts Face Road (shingle but OK for 2WD) to the start of Myra's Track (Coalbrookdale Walk is right opposite). Park just before the bridge and walk over it to find the track start. There is another parking area available: instead of taking the hairpin turn, go straight ahead and park. 5 min walk back to trail head - better option for Campervans!
Permission not needed - conservation land but be aware this is still an active mining area, watch for trucks.
4G coverage (Spark) on the summit and Westport National System Node (I could trigger the tail but no-one heard audio from me - maybe faulty)
Time: 2 hours ascent (with breaks), 1 hour descent.
Mark ZL3AB was activating Mt John (Observatory) and there was a relatively unobstructed path so I decided to take my portable 2m 3 element yagi. Lucky there wasn't many branches overhanging the track!
