Trip Reports

Stok Kangri - 21 July to 4 August '17

Trekking towards Stok Kangri base camp, with the mountain in the background

Written by Leader Harry McAulay, August 2017

This trip has evolved over the years and is now honed to deliver a great package that includes some culture, a great trek and a fantastic objective in the shape of Stok Kangri. As with all places Ladakh has changed over the years and the number of tourists reaching this far flung destination has rocketed. However Ladakh has enough space for all and although one will see others on your journey it is not in any sense crowded.

Most of us met up at Heathrow with the exception of Julie our dynamic pocket rocket of an Australian whom was already out in Ladakh trekking through the Markah valley. The journey out is tiring, however, it is made as painless as possible with a welcome respite in Delhi prior to a short flight the next day into Leh; where the acclimatisation starts in earnest.

With our full compliment we spent the next few days visiting the world heritage site of Alchi Monastery and then the Warila Pass, besides spending time in Leh. After that it was off to the trek, which takes you over some great passes and gets you into some fantastic remote mountain spots. We saw Eagles, Griffins, Marmots and Blue Sheep plus glimpses of numerous other birds and up to the Warila pass caught site of Urial Sheep, which look more like deer than sheep; from the way that they move.

Finally into base camp, which unlike the last time I was here was not as congested. This made for a much more pleasant environment, it also helped that the weather was much more clement.

Then base camp. The slope behind camp up onto the ridge always looks much forbidding than it actually is; we all shot-up it in less than 30 minutes, which boded well for the rest our time on the mountain. We stuck to our itinerary and the rest day at base camp set us up in great stead for our alpine start on summit day. The weather that day, was not the greatest, however we persevered and the gods took pity on us and what had looked like a poor situation morphed into a great one. All of the group were pleased that they had not been aware of the scale of the main slope as they tackled it in the early pre dawn light. The slope takes one up to a ridge which is the final push to the summit. All of the group reached the Summit in great style; at times there would have been the odd bit of doubt however by this time we had bonded so well that the combined energy from one another was all that it took for the demons to be banished.

As one member of the team pointed out, there are three parts to a great expedition. The first is that all the party reaches the objective. The second is that all of the party gets back down safely and the third is that that all of the party remain friends. Each of those boxes where most definitely ticked.

My thanks go to Ann, Andy, Dewi, Gosia, Pawel, Richard, Peter and finally Julie, whom as I type this is on yet another adventure, cycling from Leh to Manali. I did say that she was our pocket rocket. We all started as strangers with a common goal and ended as great friends, having shared a wonderful experience.

Thanks must also go to our ground agents, who once again were flawless in the service and support that they provided. « Previous report | Next report »

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