Chapter 9 - Sleeping on the Glacier - Hike to Gore II

We were sad to leave Urdukas. Now we had to traverse the Baltoro again to get to Gore II which was going to be our first campsite sleeping on the glacier itself. By now, we knew going over the glacier was hard work and we were not disappointed. By lunch we had reached Gore I and were starting to see another vista of snowcapped peaks that we had not seen before like Masherbrum. We reached Gore II and were treated to our favourite tea time snacks, french fries. They were so prized that I had to divide them myself so everyone got a fair share! As we sat there eating, out one side of the tent we could see Masherbrum and the other side Gasherbrum. Wow.

Dawn at Urdukas Camp looking over the glacial lake wit the Trango Towers and Ulli Biaho in the background.
The sunrise progresses at Urdukas Camp looking over the glacial lake wit the Trango Towers and Ulli Biaho in the background.
Looking up the glacier towards Concorida. There were still many twists in the valley, literally and proverbially.
THe daily ritual of weighing that Khalil oversaw so that the porters saw they were being treated fairly.
A memorial at Urdukas to climbers who perished on Broad Peak.
Another Broad Peak memorial.
We start walking onto the glacier. We knew we were in for a tough day and were not disappointed.
The ponies approach, overtake us and disappear into the distance.
It seems by now were were moving faster than the russian. Maybe it was the shorts slowing them down.
Jeff silhouetted against the overcast sky as we walk over the many rises.
A few more ponies pass us. The Baltis made many clucking and grunting sounds to keep the animals moving.
We cross over the bare patches on the ice. I was never sure why there were any bare patches at all...or for that matter why any covered ones at all.?
The team crosses the ice.
Ignacio provides striking evidence that this land is for giants by standing next to the boulder which was out of all proportions.
A trekker going in the other direction. We always fondly greeted the folks going in the other direction.
A look at the far side of the Baltoro... the point where werewould turn right.
Looking towards out end point....which we can't see yet.
Straying a little close the etge, The trails always seemed to follow the most dangerous path.
The rest of the team coming along.
Up over the glacial hump.
More ponies.
The skies still do not look promising.
Murad the clown gets close to the edge.
Murad's favourite pose. It took the weight off his back.
Anisa looking at the brilliant scenery.
"Baraf", the pony nicknamed snow in urdu strolls by.
Anisa keeping an eye on the pony. She had been asking me for several days if she could go riding. I told her maybe one evening if the ponies were free and the ground was level. I passed the request on to Ayub, who as usual was ready to make Anisa happy.
A break. Those were always breathtaking by this time. The scenery was getting more and more dramatic.
pyramids of snow jutted out of the Baltoro in this stretch. These would dwarf a person if they stood next to them.
Catching Tanya in the distance. It was only when I was processing the pictures that I realized she was trying to find a private place behind a rock! I am so clueless sometime.
While we way, the "knock the cairn" game keeps going on except this time Ayub has built one on his knee and Murad is happily tossing rocks at him. And of course in the background I realized is Tanya trying to get away from us.
Erin and Murad taking great delight in throwing stones at Ayub .
Jeff takes what we called a "standing rest".
The snow sails were always sculpted with patterns or pitted by wind and rain.
I love this picture. Tanya posed in front of the rock drinking from her hydration pack, and only later did I realize she was in front of this skeleton of a horse that had died of thirst. Just brilliant.
Meesha looks a little grossed out by the carcass. We later found out this wasn't too uncommon. This is a desert, and sometimes during the Siachen war, trained mule teams would go untended to distant posts to deliver food and ammo and sometimes would not make it.
Graffiti on the horse.
Tanya on the skyline.
More pyramids.
We stop for lunch and Ayub takes time to chat with the porters and his crew. There would be a whole team that would stop for lunch carrying cooking equipment and make hot soup and tea for us. We were tremendously pampered.
Snow pyramid in fromt of Masherbrum, a 25,651 foot mountain originally known as K1 until people realized that it had already been named.
Jeff recovering with a nice hot cup of tea.
Ignacio looks over towards our goal.
An idea of the scale of the pyramids as Anisa tries to show how big it is.
The mountains around our lunch area at Gore I.
The mountains are simply huge.
The brits move out. They had stopped for lunch at the same place.