American trekkers are preparing to walk the not so popular Kapa Kapa War Trail in the Southern Region in October this year.
The trail was conquered for the first time by five well-seasoned trekkers in October 2016 led by expert trekker Peter Gamgee on a 17-day expedition.
Gamgee, from the Getaway Trekking Company, completed the track alongside his son in 2011 and has also walked the famous Kokoda Track 12 times.
The Kapa Kapa Trail was used by American soldiers during World War II in 1942 under the command of General Douglas MacArthur during a battle to defeat the Japanese on the northern beaches.
The trekkers will commence the 220km journey at Gabagaba Village, Central Province and will cross the rugged Owen Stanley Range to the north side of the Peninsula in Northern Province.
Among the trekkers will be American author James Campbell and his daughter.
Campbell has written the book “Ghost Mountain Boys” which is about the 126th/32nd Red Arrows who walked the trail.
In 2006, Campbell followed the footsteps of the Ghost Mountain Boys across PNG and shot a documentary film in the process.
Gamgee told Loop PNG that Campbell is also attracting interest from a US Discovery Channel, National Geo and some forensic archaeologists to put together the trip starting around October 9.
He expects to have some relatives of the 126 soldiers, and also a couple of current National Guards from Michigan and Wisconsin where the soldiers originated.
Kapa Kapa Trail runs roughly parallel and 30 miles southeast of the Kokoda Track and passes through about 20 villages including Itokama, Arapara, Jaure, Natunga and Bofu.