2. K2 Trek in Pakistan
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Day 13 - Urdukas to Paiju

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At this altitude you have to be constantly smothered in sun screen, even on cloudy days, to keep from being burned. You'll notice Ayub is looking a little red, as he had been using expired sun screen for a few days before noticing. With the weather clearing, it was more important than ever to keep the sun block on. Dad was always fond of taking pictures of us at inopportune moments to "document the whole experience". Turnabout is fair play.
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At this altitude you have to be constantly smothered in sun screen, even on cloudy days, to keep from being burned. You'll notice Ayub is looking a little red, as he had been using expired sun screen for a few days before noticing. With the weather clearing, it was more important than ever to keep the sun block on. Dad was always fond of taking pictures of us at inopportune moments to "document the whole experience". Turnabout is fair play.

Day 13 Urdukas PaijuExpedition 592010Expedition2146

  • At this altitude you have to be constantly smothered in sun screen, even on cloudy days, to keep from being burned. You'll notice Ayub is looking a little red, as he had been using expired sun screen for a few days before noticing. With the weather clearing, it was more important than ever to keep the sun block on. Dad was always fond of taking pictures of us at inopportune moments to "document the whole experience". Turnabout is fair play.
  • We left Urdukas early in the morning for another long hike to Paiju. This trip bypassed the camp at Khorbutse that we stayed at on the way up, and we have lunch again at Liligo, but heading in the other direction.
  • The gang heading out of Urdukas.
  • Looking back at camp across the glacial lakes. The port-a-poties shine like beacons on the hill in all their glory. Lampposts of civilization.
  • We take a quick break after the first climb. It looks set to be another beautiful day.
  • Urdukas on the right, Baltoro Glacier on the left, Broad Peak in the background. Yes, that mountain we passed on the day up to K2 is over 15 miles away and about 3 valleys over and still towers over the other mountains in the area. Amazing.
  • The Cathedral, stone cairn in the foreground, and Dad making his way along the trail.
  • The day got hotter as the sun rose. Meltwater started running fast and furious.
  • No sense of scale. This is part of the path along the mountain, again hopping from boulder to boulder. This was also on a steep slope, so no slipping.
  • Paiju Peak. 21,686 ft (6610 m)
  • Back on the sand dunes. One of the rarer terrain features was just straight up sand. It was like walking on the beach...in the middle of a desert in the beating sun. Not quite sure what causes such a fine sand in the mountains, and very localized too.
  • Ibrahim had been feeling bad all day, and it seems he had caught some kind of stomach bug. He was no longer his usual, blustery self, but was struggling to just make it into camp. Tanya went to go help him out and grabbed his bag for him. Definite role reversal.
  • The day was getting exceedingly hot, easily in the 90's. The worst was the lack of wind. It seemed the sun was just beating down on you. We stopped for lunch at Liligo, and Zahoor helped set up an impromptu sun shelter using a couple of walking sticks and Dad's tripod.
  • Again, the only real wildlife we saw. Funny looking birds.
  • The completed shelter.
  • Our porters take shelter in a cave overlooking Liligo while we have lunch.
  • Matthew also improvises a sun shelter out of his khafiya for Erin, who was really dragging that day (later we were pretty sure she was in the early stages of her sun poisoning). Tanya takes shelter too, staying hydrated.
  • Leaving Liligo after lunch, we finally sight the end of the glacier. Almost back down into the river valley.
  • More blue glacial pools.
  • The terrian is just as difficult going back as it was on the way up. We are just picking our way across a giant rock pile. Here Adil hops from stone to stone as he follows the group up the path.
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