Snow Lake, Karakorams (July-August, 2016)

Part III - The magnificent Latoks and Baintha Brakk, and a lovely ablation valley

July 31: Mango to Chiphon
6mi, 1200ft elevation gain, 3.8hrs

This was another lovely day of easy but increasingly spectacular hiking.

We were on the trail by 6:45mi, only to see all semblance of it disappear in about 5min, as we headed back onto the Biafo Glacier. Essentially, we retraced our difficult steps from the day before until we had regained the smooth ice in the middle of the glacier. Once there, it was smooth and easy travel. I donned my microspikes for the first half an hour or so, after which the icy surface became rougher and traction a lot better. I don't think I used microspikes for the remainder of the trip.







As we moved down the Biafo freeway we began to encounter the occasional crevasse. While these increased dramatically as we moved further up the glacier, for now they hardly impeded us as they were easily avoided by moving laterally. And if we were lazy, we would hurdle them.



This day we left the Biafo on the far (northeastern) bank of the glacier. Once again, our exit featured a jumble of icy fissures and unstable scree, before we managed to climb atop the lateral moraine via a super steep trail. The trail traversed ingenuously across a cliff face, over a headland and down to an absolutely exquisite campsite, Chiphon (elevation ~13,100ft), in an ablation valley. Flower filled meadows and a sandy beach, beside a wide braided stream, completed the picture postcard setting. Opposite us, on the far side of the glacier, soared the austere, craggy heights of Sokha Lumbu (18,600ft) and Tongo (19,370ft), while behind us the grassy slopes rose up to yet more awesome peaks.

















Originally, we were supposed to camp further up the valley, but some of our supplies, which had been shipped atop mules, had yet to reach us. Thankfully, these arrived that evening so everyone was able to relax and enjoy the surroundings.

Aug 1: Chiphon to Baintha
2.25mi, 300ft elevation gain, 1hr

After an extremely wet and windy night, the morning of the next day dawned bright and beautiful, as is so often the case following a storm. We took full advantage of the pleasant conditions by rambling along the beautiful ablation valley, past small lakes and through flowery meadows to the nearby campsite of Baintha (elevation ~13,450ft), right beside a series of lovely lakes. What a contrast to the hike to-date!









I spent the remaining part of the day climbing up the slopes (along with my personal porter, Zamin, who was keen to join me sans pack) to get a good feel for the valley; basically fooling around to get some elevation gain in (around 800ft worth) and acclimatize myself for the later part of the trek. (I was also able to scout the start of the route to the Latoks for the following day.) Coming back to camp I was informed that we'd just missed seeing an Ibex, which had been hidden from our line of sight behind a rock, but had been visible to everyone else who had been following our progress.







Aug 2: Latoks
5.5mi, 750ft elevation gain, 4hrs

One of my main objectives for the Biafo Glacier trek was to be able to see Baintha Brakk (23,900ft) and the Latoks (23,442ft), which comprise some of the toughest rock climbing challenges. Baintha Brakk (aka the Ogre) in particular, is famous for one of the great survival stories in mountaineering: In 1977, on the first ascent by Chris Bonington and Doug Scott, the latter broke both legs just below the summit in an abseiling accident. It took Scott and his partners (he was joined by two others who were not part of the summit bid) 7 days to get down, during which Bonington broke 2 ribs, and another 5 days for relief to arrive.

This day was ear marked for a side trip up a side valley, to get to see the great mountains up close and personal. With our guide, as well as Zamin, who once again was keen to join us, we headed up the lush green ablation valley for 45min, past a series of some really pretty lakes, strung together like pearls in a necklace, to the mouth of the Baintha Lukpar Glacier.



We took a right up a ramp comprised of a jumble of boulders; part of the lateral moraine of the Baintha Lukpar Glacier. As we crested the top of the ramp, we were awestruck by the amazing view of Baintha Brakk (both west and east summits) and the Latoks group. Latok II, in particular, was even more impressive than Baintha Brakk from our perspective, rising knifelike up to the sky. One of the most spectacular mountains I'd ever seen. We wandered up the lateral moraine - not descending to the glacier - through flowers and meadows, drinking the views and atmosphere.






Latok II




Baintha Brakk (The Ogre)


Ogre's Thumb

On the way back to camp I lingered past the lakes, not wanting this magical day to be over.

Part V - Riverdance on the return

We'd lingered on the way up to Snow Lake, so as to budget plenty of time for acclimatization. Early on, I'd thought that all our hiking days were way too short. However, there had been so much to see that I'd been pretty happy with the pace heading in. Now that it was time to head back down, the gloves came off. We had used up 8 days of hiking; we were going to only consume a little over 3 days for the return.

Aug 6: Karpogoro to Baintha
14mi, 250ft elevation gain, 6.25hrs

As if to say goodbye, Karpogoro whipped up an amazing sunrise for us that morning. After taking photos of it in camp, I headed off before everyone, since on the way in I'd spotted a nice shooting location at a snow-melt pool, located near the beginning of the Karpogoro boulder field.





















I packed up my camera gear as the porters reached me, after which we raced down the glacier together.





The porters' Riverdance

A few words about the porters: I loved my time hiking with the porters. Since I'd also booked my previous Karakoram trip with Vertical Explorers I was already familiar with some of our porters when I started. e.g. Sardar Hasan - the porters' manager and chief rolled into one - had stayed in touch with me since my first trip. Once he learned that I was coming he had specifically insisted on joining us for the Snow Lake trek, which he had last been on 15yrs ago. It was surprising how quickly I was able to make friends with the rest of them.

Since I was a bit quicker than the remaining clients I hiked mostly alongside the porters, while our guide stayed with the others. This was an extremely fun as well as eye opening experience for me. The more time we spent hiking together the more it sunk in that I was in the company of some of the finest athletes I'd ever seen. As far as I could tell, our porters only needed to stop to rest their shoulders, because of the heavy loads they were carrying. They maintained the same speed on the flat bits, where I could keep up with them, as they did on the harshest of terrains, where I would always drop back. Crevasse jumps, hopping ankle twisting boulder fields, negotiating steep and loose climbs or descents, traversing knife-edged icy ridges…nothing slowed them down. Whereas I would be knocking rocks right and left as I strained to keep up with them, they floated serenely over them, all the while wearing an assortment of sneakers or sandals. Watching them move was like watching poetry in motion. (Incidentally, when I asked they told me they were so smooth because their thin footwear allowed them to feel the terrain better, whereas my boots didn't. I think they only said this to be polite.)



Here's one of my favorite moments while hiking with the porters. This was on our first day of the return. The porters were pushing it, as was I. We were heading down the glacier, where the terrain was flat so I could mostly keep up. Yawning crevasses had us haring right and left in avoidance, or picking an optimal line so as to make jumping them easier. I was with a group of 4 other porters. Due to the heavy loads they carried they had their arms crossed over across their chest, to hunch their shoulders. They were singing as they sped down the glacier. A 3ft wide crevasse appeared ahead of us. While I paused to take stock, none of the porters did. Like a well oiled machine each porter moved right or left to pick his line and soared effortlessly and smoothly over the crevasse, without a break in his stride. All the while, the singing continued and the arms remained crossed. The Riverdance of the porters. Oh yeah, in contrast I did my best impression of an embarrassed duck while conducting my own crevasse jump.

Aug 7: Baintha to Namla
11.75mi, 550ft elevation gain, 6.5hrs

This was another long day. It was easy enough to begin with, but the last 2hrs were on the harshest terrain of the day: negotiating the maze of the churned up portion of the lower Biafo, just below Namla. Think of a rumpled ice rink and then try to negotiate it on roller skates. This was how it felt trying to walk atop the unstable boulder strewn deck of the glacier.





Nabi, our lead porter was a wizard in reading this terrain and avoiding getting cliffed out, so I stuck to him like glue. Consequently, we reached Namla an hour ahead of the rest, then relaxed and watched with some amusement as the rest (porters, and even our guide and clients) tried to extricate themselves from the maze.





I spent the rest of the day exploring the slopes above Namla. We were treated to a superb light show on Bullah Peak that evening.









Aug 8: Namla to Kaiser's Polo Ground
4.5mi, 500ft elevation gain, 2.75hrs

Instead of finishing off the hike in Askole, we decided to stop a few miles of flat walking shy, at Kaiser's Polo Ground. This would still leave us plenty of time the next day to make it to our jeeps and onward to Askole, whilst providing us with a lovely location to camp in.

After enduring the first 1.5hr of our day, in traversing the last of the lower Biafo's difficult ice dunes, it was back on trail. I cheered as we hit the trail, but soon realized that I'd forgotten how hard this part along the lateral moraine was: Lots of up and down, loose dirt traversing and talus hopping ensued, before we crested Snum La - Sky Pass - and reached more regular trail. In just a few more minutes we were at Kaiser's Polo Ground, our home for the night.





That afternoon, as thanks to the porters (13 of them), I took over the kitchen tent and cooked some omelets for them. I can't tell you how much pleasure that gave me.

Aug 9: Kaiser's Polo Ground to Askole
4.5mi, 550ft elevation gain, 1.75hrs

Our last day of hiking: A wide, flat trail, super easy and fast. Askole - civilization! - was a sight for sore eyes. However, we only had time for a cup of tea before piling into our jeeps for Skardu.



Conclusion and logistics

This was my second trip in the Karakorams, the World’s most beautiful mountain range. Obviously, comparisons with my first visit, to Concordia and K2’s basecamp, were to be made. Everyone else on the Snow Lake hike said who had done both said that this one was better. For me, it was a draw: the K2 trek has the better mountains (basically because they’re taller), but the Snow Lake trek has more variety (more lakes, more greenery) and is more photogenic. The K2 trek is slightly more strenuous, but the Snow Lake trek is far more dangerous. Either way, one can’t go wrong in one’s choice of trek. The only problems with either of the treks…? Budget a few months afterwards, to get over withdrawal symptoms!

As before, I scheduled my trip with the Skardu/Islamabad based company Vertical Explorers, who basically deals with foreign clients. The strength of this company is the wonderful porters and guides they employ: helpful, respectful and with the clients best interests and safety in mind. We encountered some logistical issues, but really none worth mentioning on the trek itself, so overall I was very satisfied. Since I had booked my trip from the US, I possibly paid about a third more than if I had tried to arrange it through a Pakistani company who deals with local Pakistani clients. However, the price was extremely reasonable anyway, and I would have had to jump through many more hoops if I had attempted the latter option. (If you are interested, the prices are available for each trek on the Vertical Explorers website: http://www.vepakistan.com)

The most aggravating parts of the trip are the drives to and fro Skardu, especially when there is a flight available. Unfortunately, there is a lot of uncertainty around that flight, which makes relying on it a non-viable option, especially when you are on a tight inflexible schedule. The reason is that Skardu has a small airfield, too small for jet aircraft to land on. Thus, the planes which fly to and from Skardu are propeller driven ones, which can’t fly over all the mountains that cover the northern part of Pakistan. They must fly through some of the valleys and thus are at the mercy of the weather. There is almost always a long backlog of passengers waiting for their flights out of Skardu. My take: suck it up and stick to the drives; who said trekking in the Karakorams would be a picnic?

Thanks, christopherrobin. I'd been working up to this trip since late last year, mentally and physically preparing myself. Now, for a few weeks I'll probably go through the motions of doing some local hikes, basically to stay in shape, so that by the time fall comes around and I'm over my withdrawal, I'm not out of shape.