Thale La and Mashabrum BC Trek

Arrive in Islamabad. A representative of Karakorum Adventures will meet you outside the customs and immigration area at the airport. This representative will answer questions, brief you on the immediate arrangements, and escort you to the hotel in Islamabad. Discover the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi. Rawalpindi is an old British -era settlement and Islamabad is the capital city and administrative centre built sometime after the partition of India in elevation in 1947. The cities are Located at about 1,500 feet in elevation in the hot and steamy plains of Pakistan’s upper Punjab. You may wish to explore Rawalpindi by wandering among its many and varied bazaars, or visit the imposing Shah Faisal Mosque superbly situated at the foot of the Margalla Hills. This mosque is one of the largest in the world, with room for 15,000 worshippers inside and 85,000 in the courtyard.

We rise early to be at the airport in time for our flight to Skardu. If the weather is good, we’ll be treated to one of the finest views available in the world of aviation, as we thread our way up the largest congregation of mountains of Karakoram, Hindukush, Himalaya and Indus River gorges, third longest in Asia and one of the deepest in the world. To our east is K2 (2nd highest in the world and Nanga Parbat (killer mountain) and countless peaks and glaciers. It is sometimes possible to catch a glimpse of K2 in the distant before our dramatic landing at Skardu. On arrival, we are met by our local staff with jeeps and make the short transfer to the hotel. SKARDU is the administrative capital of Baltistan and gateway to the high peaks of Northern Pakistan. We have some time to explore the town and enjoy the hustle and bustle in the peak season of tourists here. Sightseeing in Skardu and surrounding areas during the day. For those seeking a good overview of Skardu, or a place from which to photograph the sunset, Kharfocho Fort is an ideal spot. If the flight is unable to operate because of bad weather, we will resort to travel by road on Karakoram Highway (KKH) to Chilas. The drive is compensated by the beautiful scenery along the Karakoram highway and Indus gorges. The journey on the Karakoram Highway is most exciting and thrilling. It is a monument to the engineering feast and one of the most spectacular roads and the world’s highest metalled border crossing. It connects Pakistan and China stretching over a distance of 1300km between Islamabad and Kashgar, winding through three mountain ranges and following the ancient Silk route along the Indus Valley to the Chinese border at Khunjerab Pass. We pass through the historical town of Taxila, beautiful hill station of Abbottabad, quake-affected lush green towns of Mansehra, Shinkiari and finally meet the great Indus on Thakot Bridge. From there onward the road snails along the bank of the Indus with contrasting landscape after every two kilometres. We pass through Besham, Dassu, Komila and Shatial to arrive at Chilas with many rocks carving and inscriptions along the way left by Chinese pilgrims and ancient travellers of 5th century A.D. CHILAS was on the ancient caravan trail over the Babusar Pass into India. The drive through the Indus Gorge is guaranteed to knock your socks off! The view after crossing the Rai Kot Bridge of Nanga Parbat is without any parallel. Standing at around 1,000 m. you see a mountain which rises to above 8,000 m! This is the largest land escarpment in the world. This is also where the three greatest mountain ranges meet; Himalaya, Hindukush and Karakoram.

This day may be needed to complete the KKH road journey from Chilas to Skardu. Alternatively, leaving Skardu today will enable us to enjoy an extra day of trekking.

Today after breakfast drive alongside the Indus River to the beautiful valley of Khaplu, which lies at the banks of Shyok river. After a small break at Khapolu, we continue our four-hour journey through several small villages towards Hushe, the highest village in the area at an altitude of 3000 meters.

Today we leave the last inhabited village Hushe. Porters are assembled to carry our luggage for the next section of the journey. For the remaining portion of our journey, we rely on our porters who carry our food and equipment and sustain our grand trek.

After an easy and scenic walk crossing Honboro and Aling rivers takes us to Parbisan, a beautiful spot on the edge of tamarisk wood forest.

Resume trek from Partisan, by walking through the dense tamarisk jungle and later cross a bit difficult glacial moraine to arrive at the campsite. The campsite is surrounded by willow bushes and other wildflowers

Walk: 05-06 hrs, Grade: Moderate, Altitude: 4150 M

Today we arrive at the small grassy patch below the cliff face, which serves as the base camp for Masherbrum Peak.

Walk: 05-06 hrs, Grade: Moderate, Altitude: 4800 M

Today is a rest day at Masherbrum base camp to enjoy and photograph the beauty of surrounding mountains.

Walk: 05-06 hrs, Grade: Moderate, Altitude: 4800 M

Retrace back our trail to Hushe.

Walk: 08-09 hrs, Grade : Moderate, Altitude : 5558 M

A jeep journey along narrow mountain roads passing small farming settlements leads first to Khapolu and then towards Thalle Valley from Doghoni and drive up to Tabssa, a beautiful scenic place in Thalle Valley.

Drive: 07-08 hrs.

Trekking through the small shepherd’s settlements, we arrive in Brangsa for overnight in camp.

Walk: 05-7 hrs, Grade: Moderate, Altitude: 3700 M.

We cross the Thale Pass at 4572m and descent into Shigar Valley and camp at Shaqiall.

Walk: 05-7 hrs, Grade: Moderate, Altitude: 3700 M.

We start trekking with a steep descent to Bangma Harel, shepherded cattle place.

Walk: 05-7 hrs, Grade: Moderate, Altitude: 3700 M.

Today we resume trek with a gradual descend up to Shigar, beautiful and the widest valley in Northern area, famous for its variety of fruits and farms.

Walk: 04-05 hrs, Grade: Moderate, Altitude: 3000 M

Today we leave Shigar early morning for Gilgit. After a free morning at Shigar, we drive by jeeps to Skardu and onwards to Gilgit following the course of Indus and Gilgit Rivers.

Drive: 08-09 hrs,

Today While driving towards Karimabad, the capital of Hunza Valley, we cross several villages of Nagar & Hunza valleys. We make a spectacular stop at Rakaposhi viewpoint, revealing the grandeur and beauty of the mountain.At Karimabad, Ultar, Hunza Dome, Bublimating, Spantik and Diran are famous peaks surrounding us while Rakaposhi at 7788m dominates the whole panorama. At Karimabad, we visit the Baltit Fort Museum.

Today our trek follows a series of moraine ridges which run along the centre of the glacier. We trek along 3 or 4 hours until we reach a point where the glacier becomes contorted, at which point the route finding becomes quite tricky as we work our way off the glacier and up to another pleasant meadow in a green ablation valley named Mango, giving us a fantastic views down the valley and where yak herders from Askole live in summer.

Drive: 08-09 hrs,

We continue along the glacier on a somehow more difficult trail by working our way through a maze of jumbled boulders to reach the central moraines which provide an easier route along the centre of the glacier. Hispar pass can be viewed while walking on the trail. We will establish our campsite in a grassy area dotted with bushes, very near the junction of Biafo and Baintha glaciers. Maybe lucky enough to spot mountain ibex at nearby crags.

Drive: 10-11 hrs

Transfer to airport for onward destination