Northern Extreme, Trango Towers.

[W.11]

has some body seen free jumping from trango towers??

 

[W.11]

Post #7 with the BBC video is one of the most amazing videos of high altitude wild-life I have ever seen. Not only you see the 'Markhor' (the Ibex?) but also snow leopards hunting them. Wolves can be seen as well. Never knew there were wolves in the high mountains of Pakistan. Amazingly beautiful places, safely tucked away from the prying eyes of world tourism.

I think Pakistan would be better off by regulating its pristine places like Bhutan does. I know, there is potential loss of revenue but there are some places which are just too beautiful to be 'developed'. Charge premium for those who still want to go there.

Thanks for starting this topic.

the conservation methods must be applied, also the urbanisation must be avoided, as you saw, the growth of popl, leaves the collision between wild animals and humans, so the habitats are actually decreasing

we should not charge premium, but the population must be avoided in wild areas

 

[Meengla]

jami, did u hear the grass grow \ <-^_^-> /

Ahh, Siri Paye!

Waaaayy back in 1990 I -walked- UP from Kawai (?) (main Naran Road) to Shogran in off-season (I think it was either late April or early May--don't remember). I was alone. With a backpack and one of those small containers of milk (Milk Pak?) to satiate my thirst! It was a quite an uphill climb for my unused, city legs (from Karachi). Shogran was basically empty. I checked into a hotel. The next day I decided to see Siri Paye. I remember it was quite a hike. I ran into a few (may be 2-3) American women hiking toward Siri Payee. There were no other hikers. Just me and those women. They got excited when I told them that I was planning to go to the States next year for higher education. I think one of them was from MN or Winsconsin
Oh, I remember, trying to show them how to balance themselves on some ice along our hike. They must have thought: 'Look at this south Pakistani man who has rarely seen snow, trying to impress us American women'. At least that's the impression I got by their looks. I don't remember if we reached Siri Paye or what was it like. But Shogran was one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen anywhere.

Please continue on...

 

[Safriz]

Youd be glad to hear that a considerable stretch of that road has been completely washed away by the floods, its not even jeepable anymore. And before the floods it wasnt exactly a road but a jeepable track. And while it was there trips to fairy meadows still werent very common. But im talking about the track which passes through Tato. It breaks off to the south from the KKH after Chillas. Its a good 4-5 hour drive from Chillas. Just before the trucker's road which links the KKH directly with Astor through Doian and Dashkin. It leads straight to the Fairy Meadows. 1 to 2 days trek (depending on how good a trekker you are). I am not aware of the road/path which goes from before Chilas. Does it go off from Kohistan or after it? Either way I must say that that track must be a very very long route to the Fairy Meadows. I just came back from Nagaparbat about 2 weeks ago, my second time there. Fairymeadows, rupal, rama and diamir. Had an avalanche bury our tents half way up on the first morning at the base camp. But the trash is something which I wasnt really able to find. I am a very, I repeat very frequent visitor up north and I have to say that these places are still very much untouched and unblemished. The locals there are surprisingly well aware of keeping the places free from trash and the fact that only the few who are seriously in love with the north ever visit the places has also helped (due to the long distances). And this is how it should be. Our people are too idiotic and senseless to be let anywhere near these treasures. But I have to say that the resort which they have built there is pretty impressive. Its impact on nature there has indeed been minuscule. The wooden huts towered over by The Killer Mountain present a sight themselves. Maybe when you went there some idiots had visited the place just before you? Im fairly certain that Gilgit Baltistan is very much preserved and safe, for now. It is KPK which has been and still is being ravaged. Kalam and Naran are two very obvious examples. Though Naran is still not ruined by any means but that might not be too far in the future. I remember when the road starting from Balakot was nothing close to a road. A dozen khokas and a couple of not so fancy hotels, everything untouched far from the reaches of our people. Then they built this pretty impressive road up till Naran to Batakundi to Jalkhad with plans of linking it up with Chillas through the Babusar valley. With the road now built and the traveling distance already pretty short Naran is now regularly "flooded" with tourists when compared to the number of people who used to visit it before. Saifulmalook is nothing like what it used to be. It has been ruined. Too many khokas and a huge parking area for jeeps has turned the lush green image of the place I had from before to dirt brown.........Havent passed through Kalam since 7 years so havent really seen the ruin there.

Back to the topic: Alhumdulillah I have had the good fortune of having stood in the shadows of these towers. The Great Trango tower is the highest), the Nameless Trango Tower is the 2nd highest and the Monk tower is the third highest. The most fascinating is the Namless Tower. It really is a proper tower jutting straight up in to the air up till more than 6,200 meters. Its safe to say that its a sight that knocks all your senses right out of you. An interesting fact about this tower is that it was never named and was hence called the nameless tower. And now, paradoxically, its name has now become the Nameless Tower. This tower is the one from which the then worlds highest ever base jump was recorded.

To me anything unnatural in the wilderness destroys the fun..Even if its a well built hotel or cottage..If go to the wild for wilderness and pure nature,i want just that...
In areas as beautiful as fairy meadow..even a single plastic bottle makes a very bad impact if you are a real nature lover..

Good to know that the road is gone..nature has claimed back her territory...
And good to know that you have extensive experience of traveling in the Northern Pakistan..You may start a travel guide thread?will be useful to many.

BTW i found your Zippo

 

[krash]

To me anything unnatural in the wilderness destroys the fun..Even if its a well built hotel or cottage..If go to the wild for wilderness and pure nature,i want just that...
In areas as beautiful as fairy meadow..even a single plastic bottle makes a very bad impact if you are a real nature lover..

Good to know that the road is gone..nature has claimed back her territory...
And good to know that you have extensive experience of traveling in the Northern Pakistan..You may start a travel guide thread?will be useful to many.

BTW i found your Zippo

The travel guide thread is one which I have long been wanting to start along with a thread detailing many of my trips with videos and pictures and another thread which Ill keep a secret for now Its only time that has held me back. But ill do this work soon inshAllah.

Im going on a weekend hike uptill Ansoo lake on the 7th and then in July i have plans for Snow Lake. The Snow Lake trek is bound to frikkin AWESOME!

ps: Where where where did you find my Zippo????? Iv checked with every tobacco shop and zippo supplier in Lahore and have been unable to find it

 

[Windjammer]

Check out the size of the Pine Cones found in the Kaghan/Naran areas.

 

[aks18]

q?? bike ke motor kharab ho gye i mean engine

when did u take karumber lake pic??

nahi yar aik dost ko chutiyan nahi mil rahi thin job say tou is liye next year jain gay bikes par INSHA ALLAH , karomber lake ki pics july 2010 ki hain .

 

[aks18]

Well it depends on allot of things:

1) How many are going.
2) How are you going to get there.
3) Where do you get your guides and portars from.
4) How many guides and portars will you need.
5) How long you want the trip to be.
6) Are you just planning for fairy meadows or would you like to see other places around it as well.
7) Are you planning to camp or stay at the huts/resort.
8) What time of the year you are going.
9) How good can you trek.
10) Do you have the gear you'll need.

If your serious about going then I can guide you allot. I can help you plan your trip and give you contact numbers for guides as well. The minimum you'll need to spend is 15-25. You can plan and manage the whole trip and logistics yourself or you can have a guide give you a complete package and all you'll need to do is get to place A. I bought an eight day package for 6 guys from Gilgit to fairy meadows then all around Nangaparbat then back to Gilgit for 20k each. We went to Gilgit by NATCO.

ps: Like I said the jeep track is f**ked. You will have to trek. Nothing with wheels can pass through there. You can hire horses but at many places you'll have to get off of them too.

yar you are puzzling all him just give them simple details , take natco from pindi till raikot bridge fares are 1670 rupee now days , than from raikot bridge to tato village jeep will take you in 2500 rupee jana n 2500 rupee ana :p , when you reach tato village you have to trek 3 hours to reach meadows , than stay there wooden cottages n camps are available , electricity is also available there wooden hut rents are different some are 1200 sum are 1800 camps food is little expensive mark your estimates maximum and make tour with 5 to 6 guys 10,000 will be enough for fairy meadows .

 

[krash]

Following are a few pics from some of my treks/climbs/hikes. Hope you guys like them.

Bara Broq trek (December 2010):

Bara Broq(4300 meters) is a 4 day long trek. Bara is the name of the village behind which this mountain is located and Broq means "top". Bara Broq has two lakes up there. The first one at around 3100 meters and the second one at 4200 meters. Very few people know about these lakes and even less people have ever visited them. The Barah village is located in between Skardu and Khaplu. Approximately a good 6-7 hours drive away from Skardu. The mountains of Siachin and Masherbrum(7821 meters. Pakistan's 11th highest peak. Wolrd's 22nd highest peak. It is also known as K1) can be seen on this climb. We started off with 13 people and only 4 reached the final point.

This is what I woke up to after the first night's trek:

The river is where we started off from:

Start of the 3rd days trek. We had to climb straight up from the frozen stream onto the adjacent mountain side. The climb onward was going to be difficult but thanx to the snow season being late we did not need any clampons or ice-axes:

The mountain which you have seen in the last five pics stood right infront of Barah village with the river in between. Behind this mountain Masherbrum(K1. 7821 meters) stood hidden. We were climbing the mountain right behind Barah village.

Climbing up from the stream onto the mountain side and moving around the BarahBroq we lost sight of the valley and the mountain in front of it. The cliff wall ending into rocky slopes you see on the right is the BarahBroq peak comming straight down to the stream. Our day 2 camp(youll see it in the next few posts) was besides the stream on the left side where you can see the stream turning. Bet you cant make out the camp. This should give you an idea of the heights we were climbing:

We kept on climbing until we climbed higher than the BarahBroq peak and from behind it rose Masherbrum(K1):

 

[krash]

BrrahBroq continued:

Masherbrum(K1):

Zoomed in pic of the Masherbrum. You can see the Masherbrum(K1) sister peaks in the background and in the foreground you can see the top of the mountain infront of Barah Village (The mountain which was hiding Masherbrum before):

Here are some clearer pictures of the view. All the peaks of Masherbrum are visible in the background. The sandy slopes which end in a cliff wall on the right is the top of BarahBroq. And the smaller peak in the middle, between the BarahBroq peak and Masherbrum, is the mountain infront of Barah village(I wish I could tag the pics like in fb):

The first lake. We reached this lake on our second days trek at lunch time. Its surface was completely frozen and our attempts of breaking the ice with huge rocks failed every time:

Day 2 camp(3600 meters). This point is where the track(if you can call it that) ends, the villagers dont go higher than this. Onward its absolutely untouched. We camped here our second night and made it our base camp. The camp had Two cliff walls on either side turning which blocked any view of the outside world. Between the cliffs a stream wider than the Ferozepur Road was frozen. This is the stream you saw before from above:

 

[krash]

After having climbed up the BarahBroq peak we had to climb half way up the Toppe sister peak, traverse around it on its side and then climb back down into the basin in between Ghanche peak and Toppe peak. This basin was surrounded by sister peaks of Ghanche peak and Toppe peak on all its sides and the only way in was over one of the Toppe sister peak's side.

This peak isnt named its one of the sister peaks of the adjacent Toppe(cannon) peak. This is the sister Toppe peak we climbed:

At the base of Toppe sister peak:

Almost at the apex:

Half way up Toppe sister peak, at the apex(approximately 4500 meters):

Half way up Toppe sister peak, you can see the remaining peak behind:

Down on the opposite side of Toppe sister peak into the basin. You can see the sister peak of Ghanche peak right infront while the Ghanche peak itself is just peaking out on the left:

Ghanche Peak (Estimated at 6800 meters. Never been climbed or measured). On three sides it is surrounded by BarahBroq lake while on the last side it falls down to 2100 meters into the Ghanche valley:

 

[krash]

Racing against the light. On our way back down to base camp. Masherbrum is visible again in the background(hope you got the scale of this massive mountain from the pics):

Toppe(cannon) peak with the last rays of sunlight on our way back from Ghanche peaks. Picture taken from the opposite side from the basin on our way back:

Last day of our descent down from BarahBroq. A view of the mountain opposite of Barah village with the river in between. Masherbrum(K1) is now hidden behind it:

*Tomorrow ill give you the climb to Siling Peak (5800+ meters)*

 

[Windjammer]

USHU VALLEY

 

[Safriz]

@ krash, it would be informative if you would give details on the peaks/treks or even the general area vicinity. Thanks.

I second that..
Keep them coming krash...

 

[Windjammer]