Northern Extreme, Trango Towers.

[Windjammer]

The Trango Towers are a group of dramatic granite spires located on the north side of the Baltoro Glacier, in Baltistan, a district of the Gilgit-Baltistan region of Pakistan (formerly Northern Areas). They are part of the Baltoro Muztagh, a subrange of the Karakoram range. The Towers offer some of the largest cliffs and most challenging rock climbing in the world. The highest point in the group is the summit of Great Trango Tower, 6,286 m (20,608 ft). The east face of the Great Trango Tower features the world's greatest nearly vertical drop.

 

[Safriz]

No roads should ever be built to access these gems of nature....so that these places can remain untouched..
I used to go to Nanga parbat base camp in my teen ages..It was foot path off Karakoram highway before chilas , if you coming from Mansehra...Then we had to walk for a day and a half to reach one of the most beautiful places on the Planet "Fairy meadows"....
Green meadow in front of a white towering mountain and a river flowing at mountain base..Glacial ice would slide down in the river occasionally..Blocking the river and suddenly it all went quiet as the river stopped flowing,,and then a loud band when the river broke the ice dam and the same familiar noise of the river...This phenomenon was repeated few times in a day...
Wild horses grazing the grass and occasional mountain goats...All area as natural as it could be..

Then came the owners of "Shangrila" hotel of Satpara Sakardu and built a resort and a private road all the way from KKH to Fairy meadow..
The area got raped..Empty crisp packets,plastic bottles and garbage left by tourists all over the place......

Previously when we endured suffering and pain to see the place ,that was because we valued the natural beauty of the place and did everything to leave it that way..Never left even a toothpick behind..all garbage was brought back with us and disposed in the town.

http://fairymeadowscottage.com/gallery.htm

 

[Windjammer]

Sadly I had the same experience in Kalam, first time i went, if you got up early, you would witness the magical blue mist hanging over the Pine trees,
Went back after about five years, and most of the Forest has disappeared and Kalam didn't appear any different than Mingora.
However mercifully, places like Trango are beyond every one's reach and remains untouched.

 

[Safriz]

Sadly I had the same experience in Kalam, first time i went, if you got up early, you would witness the magical blue mist hanging over the Pine trees,
Went back after about five years, and most of the Forest has disappeared and Kalam didn't appear any different than Mingora.
However mercifully, places like Trango are beyond every one's reach and remains untouched.

So true..I was a regular visitor of Ushu and utror valleys of Kalaam..The forests were ancient and majestic..Trees hundreds of years old and some may well be thousands of years old were cut for timber...
I can compare it to what they do in Sweden..I used to live in Norbotten which is their northern most province,is empty and they use it for growing conifer forests for paper industry..The trees are genetically modified and grow quicker than natural trees..For each tree they cut they plant at least two saplings.Their forests are sustained and despite extensive logging their forests are expanding.
But there is something missing....There are no grand ancient trees and all are young trees...It looks so unnatural looking at miles upon miles of same age..same size monotonous trees..
Unlike the REMAINING conifer forests of Pakistan where you see variety,age and grandeur .. Honestly these are some of the last remaining natural conifer forests .. and should be conserved..Human planted trees can never be the same..can never give the same scenery the naturally grown forests give..Its never the same.

 

[Windjammer]

 

[Windjammer]

So true..I was a regular visitor of Ushu and utror valleys of Kalaam..The forests were ancient and majestic..Trees hundreds of years old and some may well be thousands of years old were cut for timber...
I can compare it to what they do in Sweden..I used to live in Norbotten which is their northern most province,is empty and they use it for growing conifer forests for paper industry..The trees are genetically modified and grow quicker than natural trees..For each tree they cut they plant at least two saplings.Their forests are sustained and despite extensive logging their forests are expanding.
But there is something missing....There are no grand ancient trees and all are young trees...It looks so unnatural looking at miles upon miles of same age..same size monotonous trees..
Unlike the REMAINING conifer forests of Pakistan where you see variety,age and grandeur .. Honestly these are some of the last remaining natural conifer forests .. and should be conserved..Human planted trees can never be the same..can never give the same scenery the naturally grown forests give..Its never the same.

I hear you, however it's heartening to see that some prime spots in Northern areas have been preserved and well looked after.
Mahodand Lake is one such magical place.

 

[Pioneerfirst]

 

[Safriz]

I hear you, however it's heartening to see that some prime spots in Northern areas have been preserved and well looked after.
Mahodand Lake is one such magical place.

hope it remains like that...

one of the rarest threads on PDF.... something positive about Pakistan

 

[krash]

No roads should ever be built to access these gems of nature....so that these places can remain untouched..
I used to go to Nanga parbat base camp in my teen ages..It was foot path off Karakoram highway before chilas , if you coming from Mansehra...Then we had to walk for a day and a half to reach one of the most beautiful places on the Planet "Fairy meadows"....
Green meadow in front of a white towering mountain and a river flowing at mountain base..Glacial ice would slide down in the river occasionally..Blocking the river and suddenly it all went quiet as the river stopped flowing,,and then a loud band when the river broke the ice dam and the same familiar noise of the river...This phenomenon was repeated few times in a day...
Wild horses grazing the grass and occasional mountain goats...All area as natural as it could be..

Then came the owners of "Shangrila" hotel of Satpara Sakardu and built a resort and a private road all the way from KKH to Fairy meadow..
The area got raped..Empty crisp packets,plastic bottles and garbage left by tourists all over the place......

Previously when we endured suffering and pain to see the place ,that was because we valued the natural beauty of the place and did everything to leave it that way..Never left even a toothpick behind..all garbage was brought back with us and disposed in the town.

Fairy Meadows Cottage

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.

 

[Kambojaric]

Im patiently waiting for the day il be able to go trekking in N. Pakistan. Its beyond beautiful. Inshallah some day

 

[Areesh]

By looking at the picture of the trango tower I feel like it actually also represents the mindset of Pakistani nation. Standing straight, tall and strong despite the harsh conditions. The never bow down and never give up behavior.

 

[krash]

One clarification: The Trango Towers arent one, two or three towers but a series of many granite towers. The pic posted above is of the Nameless Tower.

 

[Windjammer]

 

[aks18]

i am leaving for fairy meadows on 8 july

 

[DESERT FIGHTER]

i am leaving for fairy meadows on 8 july

Im also thinking of going there in july with my frnds........ Also can u tell me abt the total expenses of the trip .. n should we take an suv or car.. Thanks in advance!