Chapter 10 - The Throne Room of the Gods - Hike to Concordia

Dawn over our camp in Gore II with Gasherbrum IV in the background.

Adil stretches in the morning sun in front of Masherbrum...ready to take over Concordia.

Adil starts his walk.

Anisa is bundled up and on the way to Concordia. The path got more twisted passing between the ice pillars.

Meandering among the pyramid maze.

Ignacio and Adil started a little late and pass us walking briskly.

Anisa had a runny nose and borrowed my bandana which she made copious use of.

Asif and Ibrahim walk by with our later starting porters. We would pack our bags and leave them by our tents and go for breakfast. Ayubs crew would take down the tents, the kitchen and load our bags and start after us, overtake us in short order and get to the next camp and set everything up before we would even get there. These guys were tough!

Khalil and Murad wanted their picture taken in front of Muztagh Towers. The peak of this 23,872 ft mountain is covered in clouds.

Anisa not feeling so good with stomach cramps. Rich does a quick evaluation, but it wasn't until two days later that we figured out the simple explanation

Khalil does his victory salute.

Pista passes us again.

An emrald green river on the glacier as it skirts around an ice pyramid. The scale is misleading.

The river meanders around.

Layers of ice above the river.

I think this is one of the Gasherbrums, but can't remember which way I was facing when I took the picture.

Rich waits patiently while Anisa works on her snacks.

Anisa finds a mushroom rock to sit on. She had to pick one with a view.

Snacking and admiring the view.

Looking back towards the Masherbrum glacier.

Looking back down the way we had just come. The Baltoro glacier spread as far as the eye could see.

Anisa feeling much better and ready to march again.

Murad had been telling us that we will see the Army camp shortly before we get to Concordia, so it was nice to see the Pakistan flag appear since it only flies above official sites. I guess there is a law against private citizens flying the flag...according to Adil.

We spot the camp in Concordia. You have to see this in full size by using the option in Smugmug. You can also see the pony that is heading out for Queen Anisa's entrance into camp on her horse!

Golden Throne or Baltoro Kangri is 7312 m or 23,990 ft.

Anisa on her pony rolls into Concordia. She had been asking Ayub if she could ride the horses so she could tell her riding instructor that she had ridden on the Baltoro. Ayub was kind enough to send the pny back so she could ride the last few hundred meters into camp.

A pretty happy group that had gotten there earlier. We would typically roll into camp spaced about 45 minutes apart after. This spread of pace was not a big problem at this stage because we were mercifully shielded by clouds but later it caused us problems and we had to change our schedule to compensate.

Anisa and Iza take a breather in the rarified air.

Two very happy guys that made it to Concordia. We had planned this for so long that it was hard to believe that we were all standing there. Adil is sporting the cool logo that Erin made for our group.

Anisa, Jeff and I in front of the Golden Throne.

I was very proud of the brother and sister on this accomplishment. My biggest regret was that Linda was not with us to see this. She would have liked it in real life, but I also knew that going as far as she did was well beyond what her medical condition would allow and could have been dangerous for her.

Still wrapped in gauzy cloak, we catch glimpses of K2's peak above the clouds. Normally your eye does not even go up that high because it is in the clouds so it always came as s surprise to me to see ground way up there where it had no business!

We get overshadowed by Broad Peak which is the 12th highest peak in the world at 8051 m or 26,414 feet only about 500 meters shorter than K2.

Jeff in front of Broad Peak which is the 12th highest peak in the world at 8051 m or 26,414 feet only about 500 meters shorter than K2.

Jeff before Baltoro Kangri or golden throne. On the other side of that mountain is Indian Contol of the Siachen Glacier. This is where the Pakistan and India fought the Siachen War, the highest battlefield in the world. More soldiers were killed from the altitude, weather and the terrain than enemy fire.

Adil's face lit up in the mess tent by reflected light with K2 in the background.

As usual, we get a bunch of porters from the other expeditions. Rich very graciously always provided care while we would grouse amongst us at how the other expeditions were so cavalier at following rules. The guidelines that the Ministry of Tourism gave us list the health care of porters as the expeditions responsibility. This guy had been cooking ghee or fat on the pan when it caught fire and gave him second degree burns.

Celebration time! Ibrahim, our cheerful and fun loving assistant cook dances with K2 in the background as the other porters sing and clap.

The musicians. Jerry cans became drums. The singer on the right had a great voice, but everybody would join in the chorus.

Asif and another porter clap in accompaniment.

We get a quick picture as K2 clears partially.

I tried to get everyone in fron since we didn't know if the weather would close in and we may never get to see the mountain again. Here Iza and K2.

Matthew with the girls.

Adil and Tanya and deep conversation.

Meesha and Anisa launch into a commercial enterprise. They decide to make memorabilia of slate from Concordia with K2 written on it. I think they tried to sell it to other people. Not sure if they had any other buyers except Iza who made them make her a complicated flower. Kept them busy for hours! The very nice steel tool disappeared. I am sure it has found good use in the valley.