Trekking/ Hiking In Pakistan, Karakoram Range - Elevation: 28,250 Feet
Northern Pakistan, where four great mountain ranges converge (the Himalayas, the Karakoram, the Hindu Kush and the Pamirs), is one of the few places on Earth that seems to redefine the concept of scale. The region boasts five of the world’s 20 tallest summits (including K2 and Nanga Parbat), and more than 50 peaks over 23,965 feet. The Karakoram Range, with its notable absence of commercialization, is among the world’s most spectacular and untrampled trekking destinations.
Getting in amongst these behemoths is a trip unto itself, as the Karakoram Highway winds precariously along the crumbling gorge of the mighty Indus River. The road, which claimed at least 500 lives during the 20 years it took to construct, is narrow, and many trucks and buses each year make a long fall into the gorge. But the risk is worth it, for once you’re in the midst of these granite crags, nothing else will ever seem big again.
A trip up the Gondogoro Valley from the remote mountain village of Hushe is a good introduction to the area. From Rawalpindi, an overnight bus—punctuated by ceaselessly blasting horns and ear-splitting Pakistani music—will transport you up the highway to the bustling trading town of Gilgit, as long as the road has not been blocked by one of the frequent landslides. (Flights from Rawalpindi to Gilgit are possible, but flight schedules are unreliable.) From Gilgit, you can arrange transportation to Skardu, a smaller, dust-bowl of a town that is the jumping-off point for mountaineering expeditions to nearby peaks, like K2. A three-hour Jeep ride finally takes you from Skardu to Hushe, with its stone and mud houses and no indoor plumbing or electricity. Local men greet you and politely but insistently offer their services as guide, porter, cook or all three.
After a night spent in a small guest house, or camped in one of the fields surrounding Hushe, you set out on foot with your guide or porters. A straightforward hike along a well-worn trail (used by local shepherds in summer months) takes you into the teeth of some enormous mountains, including the dramatic, pointy shard of Layla Peak. Two days trekking up a rubble-covered glacier brings you to base camp, from which you can take an optional, more technical, trip across snow slopes and up an exposed ridge to Gondogoro Peak (18,536 feet), that provides stellar views of the surrounding summits. For this option you will need crampons, an ice axe and some experience in glacier travel. Another offshoot is a day trip up to Gondogoro Pass that involves an equally challenging climb including leaping over crevasses. From the pass you can catch glimpses of K2, Broad Peak, Gasherbrum III and a shattered world of sheer verticality.
Counting rest days, round-trip up the valley, including the two climbing options, can take as long as 10 days. There are outfitters that offer this trek, but it’s easy to organize independently. Guides and porters are readily available for hire at Hushe, but not food which you must buy beforehand in either Gilgit or Skardu.
OUTFITTERS
ADVENTURE TOURS PAKISTAN (ATP), PAKISTAN
ATP has been running trekking tours to the country’s major mountain ranges since 1989 and caters to tourists, mountaineers and scientists. Adventure Tours Pvt. Ltd is the leading tour operators in Pakistan established in 1989 to foster the needs of mountaineers, trekkers, geologists, explorers, earth scientists, anthropologists, and tourists of other interests. ATP has dedicated professionals and explorers to provide quality oriented services to adventure seekers and cultural enthusiasts. Besides routines trip our emphasis has always been on genuine exploration of new and untouched areas for nature lovers from the four corners of the world.
International Liaison Office
ADVENTURE TOURS PAKISTAN
P.O.Box # 1780,
Phone # +92 51 22 60 820, 22 52 759, Fax # +92 51 22 64 251
Head/Camp Office
Near K2 Motel, Hamid Ghar Road, Skardu, Baltistan,
Phone # +92-5831-52249
Web: http://www.atp.com.pk/
KE ADVENTURE TRAVEL, UK/USA
With offices in the UK and Colorado, KE has traveled the Karakoram for 18 years. Trips range from light trekking to serious mountain climbing.
Gondoro La - Trek the High Route to K2, Pakistan -Trekking 27 days
An exceptional and ambitious trekking adventure holiday walking in the Karakoram Mountains of Pakistan across the Gondoro La to K2. This very exciting trekking holiday, from the delightful Hushe Valley across the Gondoro La (5585m/18320ft.)to Concordia and continuing via the Baltoro Glacier to Askole, is one of the finest high mountain trekking experiences on earth. This great trek to Concordia via the Hushe Valley and the Gondoro La is one of the most ambitious of our Pakistan departures, traversing a remote mountain pass and including several tough trekking days. We have given this trip the STRENUOUS grade to reflect the sustained nature of the trekking and also to take into account the quite committing pass crossing. Trekking and climbing holidays make up by far the biggest of KE Adventure Travel's activity holiday categories, with more than 190 different and contrasting itineraries They are combined as a single activity type on account of their similarities. KE Adventure Travel has one of the most extensive and renowned portfolios of trekking holidays worldwide.
KE Adventure Travel
32 Lake Road, Keswick, Cumbria, England, CA12 5DQ
Telephone: + 44(0)17687 73966, USA/Canada Toll Free: 1 888 630 4415, Brochure Line (UK only): 017687 71700
Fax: +44(0)17687 74693
Email: info@keadventure.com
Web: http://www.keadventure.com/
FOOTPRINT ADVENTURES, UK
With 21 years of experience in the world’s best outdoor destinations, Footprint Adventures is one of several British tour companies offering various nature and wildlife trips around the globe. Footprint Adventures is a specialist tour operator, offering a wide range of adventure holidays for trekkers, walkers, naturalists, wildlife enthusiasts, overland travellers and birders wishing to take advantage of a fully arranged program but not always want to be part of a large group. Footprint Adventures are full members of the Travel Trust Association with a membership number of R704x. The Travel Trust Association exists in order to protect you, the customer, with 100 percent financial protection and has been doing so for over fifteen years. Adventure Travel is for Trekking, Birding, Wildlife, Cultural Camping, Overland Safaris and Adventures...
Footprint Adventures, 5 Malham Drive, Lincoln, LN6 0XD, UK
Tel + 44 (0) 1522 804929
Fax + 44 (0) 1522 306156
Website: http://www.footprint-adventures.co.uk/