Trip Reports

K2 Base Camp and Ghondokoro La - 27 Jul to 18 Aug '19

Hushe Valley
Trip Report

Written by Leader Paul Donovan, August 2019

Members of the Spantik expedition and the K2 Base Camp & Gondokoro La trek met at Birmingham airport for a c.7 hour flight to Islamabad. We took in the Faisal Mosque (what a building), a money exchange, the Daman-e-Koh viewpoint, then headed to the Monal Restaurant for a spot of lunch whilst admiring the vista over the city. The remainder of both teams joined us throughout the day to await news of tomorrow’s flights, following today’s aborted flight, due to the weather conditions.

With fingers crossed, we awaited the Skardu flight boarding call, which was on our planned day. We were not disappointed! A great flight followed, with some great views of the mountains - Nanga Parbat & Spantik! Our descent path was clear - relief, we had landed in Skardu so could make plans for the next phase of out trek. Our fingers were crossed again the next day as we awaited our final team members. Success, they landed & after a relaxed lunch, some sightseeing was had - Satpara Lake & the Buddha Stone, which dates back to the 8th & 9th century.

The next phase of our journey was about to begin, starting with a 6 hour ‘road trip’ to Askole & the start of our trek. What an exciting ‘road trip’ - very little tarmac, lots of undulation, many suspension bridge river crossings, the odd stream fording and road building! That’s enough excitement for one day! Let the trek begin. As we had lost a day of our itinerary, our plan was to make up some time & head for Jola Camp 3,150m, which proved to be an 8 hour trek but has helped us catch up - some spectacular views & terrain along the way. We were blessed with clear skies, great trails & our first glimpse of Trango Towers as we headed into Paju Camp, looking forward to a well earned acclimatisation/rest day. After hanging out in Puja Camp for the day, taking in the vista, it was time to get up close with Trango Towers as we negotiated the snout of the Baltoro Glacier. Beyond Liligo our trail became impassable across the river, despite checking out a few crossing points, so it was back onto the Baltoro Glacier for an interesting two hour diversion before arriving at Khoburtse Camp. A great day! Moving up the valley began to give us glimpses of Broad Peak, Mustagh Tower & Gasherbrum IV. Truely amazingly! It’s these glimpses that are driving us on day by day as we seek out these impressive peaks. Sat in Khoburtse Camp, we didn’t think it could get any better. How wrong we were. The Baltoro Glacier valley just keeps giving. Heading towards Goro II Camp, we get our first views of Masherbrum & Gondokoro Ri, as well as getting to see more of  Gasherbrum IV & Broad Peak. The trail over the glacier to Goro II Camp was pleasant, a welcome break from the boulders of the previous days. As we headed to Concordia Camp, we caught glimpses of Gasherbrum II, after which the full extent of Broad Peak revealed itself too. Within 30 minutes of camp, we had our first sight of K2, albeit with a top hate of cloud but that cleared throughout the afternoon offering us its majestic presence. Concordia was just magical & worth all the effort to reach it. An impending bad weather spell, force us to reconsider our itinerary - continuing as planned could leave us caught in this valley, having to retrace our steps to Askole; heading directly to Ali Camp, then onto the Gondokoro La & into the Hushe valley would give us the opportunity to explore the Hushe valley. Choices needed to be made. We chose plan B & made the most of the good weather. The trail to Ali Camp along the Vigne Glacier provided us with great views back over the Karakoram Peaks. We were now well placed to cross the La ahead of the bad weather. A midnight start enabled us to reach the La just as the sun was rising - what a special time for us all - the Karakoram Peaks were just lined up for us all to see with the sun glinting off their tops & the view into the Hushe valley was amazing which Trinity & Laila Peaks standing out! The descent to Huespah was physically challenging, yet rewarding - 500m of fixed ropes over steep loose terrain was followed by moraine after moraine before eventually arriving at our camp to relax & bask in the glory of our achievements. Thank goodness for the rest day that followed, albeit, it rained all day.

The rain continued into the next day & our descent to Gholong Camp. The trail provided some scrambling opportunities high above the Gondokoro Glacier just as the rain stopped & the sun came out. Gholong Camp offered us a lush green meadow on which to relax for the afternoon & evening before moving onto Saicho, an idyllic site alongside a series of streams & the Charakusa River. From here it was onto the village of Hushe for our final stop along the trek. We had time to explore the village and nearby Masherbrum valley before returning to Skardu by jeep along mountain roads.  As we descended alongside the Shyok River, the valley just opened up to provide us with some spectacular scenery. The Shyok River runs into the Indus and so we ended our journey following the Indus back to Skardu. A brief overnight there saw us on an early flight back to Islamabad and going our separate ways.

I must say thank you to Javid  and Hagi, our two guides who have looked after us throughout the trek and whilst in Skardu.

Thank you also to Zaheer, our cook and the kitchen team - great food throughout!

Congratulations to all team members - Nev, Steve, Kathryn, Misba, Stuart, Don, Martin and Laura, on all their achievements during the trip and thank you for putting up with me for 23 days.

Llongyfarchiadau Pawb (Congratulations all)

Paul Donovan

More photos here: https://www.jagged-globe.co.uk/trek/i/k2+base+camp+trek.html#photos

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