Just another small stroll in the mountains

An update to this trip can be found here.

Some people reading my blog might have noticed that I enjoy going on treks. Those I have been doing have been quite popular which means that there are a lot of other people and therefore an established infrastructure with huts, tea houses and eateries. Despite being far away from everything you could always rely on being close to something established if you needed a break or shelter. Everest Base Camp is a good example of this.

Then there are treks that are not very occupied by tourists, far away from everything so you have to camp and be self sufficient with regards to food. I haven't really done some like that ignoring the acclimatization treks of some summits (e.g. Aconcagua and Elbrus) so it must be time to do something along those lines.

This trip will take me on a 3-week trek in the Karakorum mountains, culminating with reaching K2 base camp - depending on conditions, obviously. There are barely any tourists in the area so it's going to feel very away from everything, combining with only being able to camp and bringing our own food. We will of course have porters, otherwise I might have skipped this...

Oh, yeah. Combining this with the trip to Iran I might be able to give the border security in the US a small heart attack.

10th - 11th of July

Flying out of Copenhagen and going to Islamabad, having some time to see the city after arrival.

12th of July

Plane to Skardu at 2500m, where we will be staying at a simple hotel. If the weather is bad the trip is done by bus. Afternoon is spent on sightseeing.

13th - 17th of July

The start of the trek will be relatively gentle, while the distances are 12-20km per day the ups and downs during the days are not that bad, usually less than 500m either way. Nights will be spent at Korofon (3075m), Jhola (3150m) and Paiju (3420m) where we will have an acclimatization day.

18th - 22nd of July

We'll start off heading towards Horbose (3795m) followed by Urdukas (3900m) which will be reached after a relatively short day. Then we're heading to Goro (4295m) and Concordia (4500m) which will be the furthest camp. Here we'll have an extra day where there are several paths we can take, among others a trek to K2 base camp, but also reaching Broad Peak base camp or walk towards Gasherbrum I ("Hidden Peak") so you get to see that, too.

23rd - 28th of July

From Concordia we will be making our way back down towards Skardu passing by Shachspong (4100m) before reaching known places Horbose (3795m), Paiju (3420m), Jhola (3150m), Askole (3000m) and in the end Skardu where we will have the first night since being here last time in a hotel.

29th - 31st of July

Again; depending on weather we will either fly back to Islamabad or take a jeep via Chilas. Having returned to Islamabad we will take a flight home on the last day.

Very excited about this trip - there are some great views of mountains you won't see other places (or at least with great difficulty) and it's in an area I have never been before. And the lack of people that can be seen on other treks will just make it more special.