Friday, 26 July 2002
Today has been an eventful day. We had to pack up the camp at Skinmang.
Oh, it is about 9:00 pm right now and we are listening to U2's "Angel of Harlem" on Yasir's equilibrium machine.
Well, we left Skinmang at 11:30 am or there about. It was slow getting going. We have had a beautiful and clear day. I suppose that made us sluggish - warm sun and all. Today I carried close to 34 kg. But all the time I was carrying it I figured I had an exceptionally light pack.
Anyhow we followed a path along the moraine of the glacier. Eventually we hit a lake. The whole lake area was beautiful - glaciers, high peaks and smack in the middle of it all a lake. Because of our late start we reached the lake at about 2:30 pm. Had our usual canned hunter beef lunch. Everyone was really sluggish then - including myself. It really was such a beautiful spot and there were suggestions that we camp there. I was having none of that. We had been moving so slowly anyway, I figured we ought to go as far as we could today. Anyway, I threw a mini tantrum and feel lousy about having done that. Hassan was not having a good day and my attitude probably put him off a bit. In fact it probably put a few people off.
Once on the glacier the walking got substantially easier.
However having walked hardly 30 minutes on the glacier, Yasir, Qazi and
Hassan who were ahead of the rest of us scattered. Then I heard a crack
travel to my left. Everyone shot to the left of the glacier. In fact that
is where we are camped. That was awful. I just shudder to think what would
have happened had a crevice opened up under those three.
alis description of the route to camp 1 from skinmang
Saturday, 27 July 2002
Today we set out from HBC and have headed up the glacier further. This
place is truly out of this world. I really can't explain how spectacular
this place is. Yasir and Hassan are good photographers, so I really hope
their pictures do this place justice.
Anyhow, we headed up from HBC and are a significant portion of the way to Skam La. Tonight we will pack up and head toward Skam La and cross - all assuming the weather is good.
Oh, yeah, that was quite an issue till this morning: weather. So far so good and I hope it holds.
The portion of the glacier we covered today was snow covered. This made walking significantly harder than before. We had enjoyed a nice pavement-like, crisp, icy glacier to walk on until this morning. We walked about an hour or so when the glacier started becoming snow covered. Then we all roped up - got quite a load of our backs: tools, axes, tents. However, walking became significantly more difficult. It was tough but I think I have had harder. Walking was difficult for all of us. Yasir kept getting the rope stuck in his feet while M. Ali kept complaining that Sinan, who was ahead of him on the rope, was walking too fast. Eventually we switched Qazi and him, so now M. Ali was directly behind me. By the end I was pretty exhausted and found that dragging my feet was a whole lot easier.
I wonder what will happen tonight.
I am tired. At roughly 5000m that isn't made easier. I must admit that I am not doing as badly as I thought I would - head rushes are actually kind of fun! (although I was disturbed to find out from Sinan that head rushes are actually killing our brain cells - eeek: better save what I have left!) The group as a whole is doing well. Everyone's spirits are high - especially Sinan!
We are camped bang in the centre of the glacier and are looking directly at the ogre. What an awful looking mountain.
It was pretty cold today. My feet are cold but hopefully
not wet. My boots are wet but I think they don't let moisture in.
description of our camp site on the nobande and the route to skam la
Sunday, 28 July 2002
Well, we didn't get to attempt Skam La. The members in the other tent
shouted us awake at about 12 midnight - but no one bothered to actually
check the weather. Then at 12:45 am I looked out of our tent and saw the
bad news - a near white out. I suppose in my half sleepy state it didn't
strike me as the end of the world. It was so ironic this turn in affairs:
the weather had been perfect up to this point and at the time we want
to cross it goes bad. We'd been lured here and now the weather turned
against us. I checked again at 2:05 am: still bad. I fell asleep after
that but I didn't get much sleep.
Anyway, we woke up at 8:00 am roughly - attempted to make tea but both times the pot fell over. So we gave up, packed and left. The going was really hard for me. We were roped up for the snowy section. So we had to follow Hassan's pace and he wanted to get off the glacier as quickly as possible.
The weather today has been awful. On the glacier it boiling hot at one point - sun piercing through the clouds, snow falling and yet it was steaming. After that the weather just hasn't let up - rain, cold, wind.
Anyhow, we covered a fair distance today - we are almost at the campsite of the 24th of July. Tomorrow we want to push to Panmah or at least somewhere to the right side of the glacier (now we are facing the opposite, so what is the right side now was the left side while coming up).
My heels are giving me a fair amount of trouble. Hassan's right heel is also giving some trouble.
My sleeping bag is mildly wet - a bit damp.
Wednesday, 7 August 2002
Back at home. A lot happened in those last few days and what follows is
based on recollection.
The next day, Monday the 29th of July, was a nothing day. We stayed camped where we were. There was a near whiteout and we figured it was probably a better idea to stay where we were. The day was spent fantasising about what we would do next year. The fantasising got really out of hand - 50 people to Spantik, 200 porters, different cuisine every night depending on the theme that night - which ranged from an Italian night with dress suits and pasta to a South Indian night. Sounded interesting but very impossible! Of course there was the usual fantasising about food: Chapli Kebab!
The next day, Tuesday the 30th of July, we ambitiously planned to get to Panmah. However that was not to be. We walked really hard that day but surprisingly only got as far as Camp Yogi - a little beyond Shinshah Biaho. That was a disappointment - we'd fallen well short of out target. But I suppose we shouldn't have been disappointed - it was a big distance that we had covered. We had wanted to avoid getting on to the moraine that allows access to Skinmang, Shinshah Biaho etc. and head directly to Panmah. But at 4:00 pm or so in the evening we were no closer to crossing over to Panmah. By 4:00 pm we were pretty close to Shinshah Biaho - pushing for Panmah would have taken us into the night. So we decided to cross the moraine and go to Shinshah Biaho and on to Camp Yogi. Once off the moraine there was a tremendous sense of relief. That night we camped off the glacier - it was great to be off the glacier: no cold, no damp. We were camped on a nice sandy spot so it was incredibly comfortable (incredible of course being a relative term).
Upon getting to camp I sat down and started to sulk. One, we had not got to Panmah which meant that there would be some really hard catching up to do. Two, my heels were hurting in a bad way. I took off my shoes and socks and discovered that a very large area of my heels had been damaged- the skin had come off at a few points.
But later on, my mood lightened with Maggi Noodles and chicken (excellent combo Yasir!) and a series of Sardar Ji and elephant jokes.
Our spirits were high that evening. On the following day, we planned to get to Bulla.
The next day, Wednesday the 31st of July, started on an interesting note. Sinan was cooking breakfast - or at least he tried! He burnt the porridge - how do you manage to do that? But he redeemed himself by making some more porridge and some strong tea.
Yasir helped me out by bandaging my feet. That really helped.
Anyhow, by 9:30 am or so, we were on our way. The glacier crossing proved quite tough. It took us about 4 - 4.5 hours to cross. I found the crossing quite frustrating - although my feet were for a change, not doing too badly; the bandages were helping. After crossing the glacier we sat at the edge and had lunch - our last can of hunter beef.
I was a bit irritated knowing that we still had to cross the Domultr
glacier. That was an interesting event. Once on the glacier we came to
a a point where we would either have to retrace our steps and avoid going
near the river that starts in the Domultr glacier and exits into the Panmah
(literally) - or we would have to find some way to cross the river of
the Domultr. M. Ali volunteered to find a route over the river. There
was a long descent down to the river and most people weren't to optimistic
about there existing some crossing - but M. Ali insisted on going down
to try. After a long wait, in which we unashamedly placed bets on whether
he would actually find a route across, M. Ali eventually signalled for
us to follow - he had found a route across the river.
After this final glacier crossing I remember having a very pleasant walk
for the remainder of the day - up to Panmah, where we camped for the night.
In terms of our targets we were a day behind. We were out of food and
that meant that the next day would be long and hungry. We didn't bother
setting up the tents - but it didn't look like it would rain. We cooked
the last of our Maggi Noodles and soup. It was a good feeling to have
finally left the glacier behind.
Next morning, Thursday the 1st of August, we woke up (incredibly!) at 4:00 am. Hassan prepared some tea and we had the second last packet of biscuits and some of our remaining peanut butter.We set off by 5:15 am at a brisk pace, singing Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody".
By about 10:30 am we were in Bulla - making good time. The weather was good - overcast, so it stayed cool. After Bulla things got slow. The sun came out, and the Bulla to Jhola stretch is a particularly desert like stretch. The going got slow and tedious. I got thoroughly deprerssed during this stretch. At one point I got well ahead of everyone but soon after found a largish rock and just sat down. Eventually the others showed up - they had stopped to bum cigarettes off the porters of some Italian Group. We started off again and Sinan started talking in a very odd fashion to me (we were walking together for a bit). He was confessing to have misbehaved with M. Ali - for some reason I figured that Sinan had lost it and I started to talk to him in a very calming tone in case he decided to do something to me! of course he wasn't - but it indicates the state we were in.
The Bulla to Jhola distance is long - very long. It took forever to get to Jhola. After Jhola I felt a bit energised and Qazi and I shot off to Korophone. About an hour short of Korophone, I magically discovered some chocolate in my bag and shared it with Qazi.
At Korophone we met the LOs and quides of a Spanish team that had attempted to summit K2. One of the LOs, Captain Shahid, was kind enough to bring us some tea and biscuits, dried fruit, sardines and cheese. He also arranged for a returning mule convoy to take our loads.
The refreshments and the load off our backs felt good - a good end to
the trek. But Askole was some distance away and what started off as a
great walk from Korophone to Askole became a pretty rough experience.
We reached Korophone pretty late, thus we set out for Askole at close
to 6:00 pm. By my estimate we would reach Askole at 10:00 pm at the very
least. Others were more optimistic.
Getting closer to Askole, no one seemed to remember/recognise the route
or the terrain. By the time we got to Askole village it got dark - only
Yasir had his lamp handy at that time. A frustrating and slow walk through
the village began. I would stumble every few steps - I was getting quite
angry. Hassan could hardly see anything (his eyesight being a bit weak)
- Yasir took to guiding him. M. Ali eventually got his lamp out. The walk
through the village of Askole was long, slow and more than frustrating.
M. Ali, Sinan and Qazi's calm really impressed me - they stayed really
calm. I, on the other hand, was ready to break things - and at the same
time ready to break down. Eventually we got to the final descent from
Askole. This was another frustrating experience, as most of us didn't
have lamps.
Anyhow, we got down and collapsed near the army re-supply contractor's hut. They took pity on us and took us in - fed us fresh food and gave us some tea.
We had walked 17.5 hours. Quite traumatising!
My heels were in surprisingly good condition.
Next day, Friday the 2nd of August, we raced back Skardu. Burnt and haggard we walked into the Indus Motel and ordered lots of food.
Something interesting happened on the following morning, Saturday the
3rd of August. We were to leave by air for Islamabad. At 8:00 am we were
having breakfast. On the opposite table sat an American dressed as a Balti
and some sort of Pakistani guide with him. They discussed carriage, weights,
food, ammunition, etc: How does the Army get weapons and supplies to Siachen?
How much does a shell weigh? How many soldiers are up there? And many
other very "tourist" questions! CIA for sure. He did not look
one bit like a tourist. Looked more like a bureaucrat. His companion did
too - constantly scribbling down notes, goaties, plump from not doing
much apart from sitting behind their desks. Anyway, we then left for the
airport and flew back.