I Led this trip for Jagged Globe in August 2023 . This is a copy of the report written for the Jagged Globe Website.

It's easy to have an enjoyable and successful expedition to the mountains when the sun shines every day, especially in an area of dramatic and beautiful scenery with no other groups present. This is the third time that I have led this trek and each time I have been surprised that this undiscovered gem of a valley has not become more popular with climbers and trekkers.

This trip was designed to showcase some of the diversity of the Karakoram range and delivers on all fronts. Using the increasingly reliable flight to Skardu enables quick access to the mountains, not to mention spectacular views of Nanga Parbat. The improved road network enables easy transport between the districts of Baltistan and Hunza. Thus we were able to visit the rapidly modernising cities of Skardu and Gilgit as well as the historical sights of the Hunza valley. The return road journey to Islamabad gave a chance to travel the full length of the Karakoram Highway, cross the Babusar pass and see the Khagan valley. Entering the lowlands it was possible to see how different the industry and agriculture in Punjab is compared to that in the mountains.

The hiking starts from the sizable farming village of Hopar in the Nager valley, a little to the east of Hunza. Here we were able to see something of the agricultural life of the region. The grain crops (wheat, barley, millet) were being harvested and the bright orange apricots were spread out to dry in the sun. The village is popular with Pakistani day trippers who come to view the glacier close to the village, but few people trek into the mountains.

The trek is divided into two parts. The first visits the base camp for climbs on the west face of Spantik. Hardly anyone visits this remote location and there have only ever been a couple of attempts to climb the peak from this side. The name Spantik is a Balti word given to the peak by the people of Arandu who live on the east side of the mountain. The Hunza and Nagar people call the peak Ghenish Chhish and this is widely translated as Golden Peak. The daily distances on this trek are not large, however the trails are rarely used and often indistinct so progress can be slow. Many sections of the trail are easy and pleasant following ablation valleys through a landscape of trees, bushes and flower filled meadows. But other sections cross rocky scree slopes or boulder fields. The most difficult sections of the route are the multiple glacier crossings. These are ‘dry’ glaciers of hard ice often covered with a layer of small stones requiring careful footwork. The natural campsites all feature large level areas of grass close to good water sources. In most cases there were almost no signs of previous visitors. Of the 20 local porters accompanying us only two had visited this area before, even though it was only a few days walk from their village.

On arrival at Spantik base camp we were greeted by a large open meadow carpeted in a large variety of wildflowers. We had been keen to see wild ibex and Marco Polo sheep. However these elusive animals are adept at keeping out of sight and we had to satisfy ourselves with seeing tracks on the ground and faint trails on distant hillsides. Our outward journey had mostly been on the west side of the Barpu and Sumayer Bar glaciers. We started our return trip on the eastern side using a different trail and visiting new camping spots.

The second part of the trek climbs high above the glaciers to visit Rush Lake and climb Rush Peak. This gives bird’s eye views of the landscape that we had travelled through in the previous days. This is a more popular trekking destination and for the first time we met a few other hikers. We were glad to have made an early start for the steep climb out of the valley floor and reached the campsite at Chidin Harai before the arrival of the afternoon heat. The following morning we climbed past a large herd of yaks grazing by the shores of Rusk Lake (4,694m). This is said to be the highest alpine lake in Pakistan. Shortly after we were on the final rocky slopes leading to the summit of Rush Peak (5.098m). The weather was fine and sunny for the ascent but for almost the first time on the whole trip the sky was not perfectly clear. Several clouds were sitting on the tops of mountains in the middle and far distance. While it was possible to identify most of the nearest mountains it was not possible to see the further peaks such as k2 and the other Baltoro 8000m peaks.

Pakistan does very little to promote itself as an adventure tourism destination. It would be fair to say that the government has other priorities and is content to leave the field for private tour operators to develop. In Western counties Pakistan is more often likely to feature in the news due to natural disasters or political upheavals. It is rarely thought of as a tourist destination. When we had our post trek debrief some members of this trek group confessed to having had some reservations about visiting Pakistan before traveling. But when we talked through the details of the trip the comments were:

• Overall the trip met or exceeded expectations in every regard.
• The general friendliness and welcome from the Pakistani people was better than expected.
• The roads were much better than expected: ‘the road surface on the Karakoram Highway is better than the M6!’
• The vehicles were more comfortable than expected.
• The hotels were better than expected.
• The standard of food was better than expected: in hotels, in restaurants and on the trek
• The scenery was better than expected: especially the variety and quantity of wild flowers in the grass meadows
• The local staff were more welcoming and helpful than expected.
• We managed to pack a lot into 2 weeks and it felt that we had been away on a much longer trip.

It was also said that the difficult parts of the trail were more challenging than people had expected and I promised to update the notes for future trips to emphasise the fact that you need to be confident of your footwork on difficult terrain to enjoy this trek.

As I said in the first words above, the sun did shine every day, which is a bit of a shock for most people from the UK. So perhaps if it had rained a lot the team might not have given such a glowing appraisal.

Travelling to and from Pakistan, getting to the mountains and back (by two different routes), and achieving a significant trek all in 2 weeks from the UK is always going to present a few challenges. However the travel all plans worked well from domestic flights to several road journeys. The team achieved everything in the planned itinerary without ever feeling stressed or rushed.

Thanks to the following without whose efforts this trip would not have been possible:

Ghulam Mohammad for his assistance navigating the rather daunting Pakistan Visa application process.

Manzoor Hussain : Hunza resident, and professional driver. Owner of a ‘classic’ red Willys jeep and a Toyota HiAce minibus (set up with 8 comfortable seats rather than the normal 12). He provided all the road transport for the group was also ‘guide’ for the group on the road journey from Hunza to Islamabad at the end of the trip.

Mohammad Sharif & Rizwan Ali: trek guides (plus Sharif’s son Sarfraz who providied an additional vehicle to transport supplies and staff between Skardu and Hunza)

Jamil: cook

Jaffar (sirdar of the Hopar porters) and the 20 Hopar porters who carried all the group kit for the duration of the trek

And finally to the team (Bob, Gill, James & Hilary) for their positive attitudes and good humour throughout.

David Hamilton UK 10^th September 2023