Four Eight Thousand Metre Base Camps

Your guide meets you at the airport, holding the company sign, and takes you to the hotel. The rest of the day is yours to recover from the flight and sort kit. The capital sits at the foot of the Margalla Hills and is a gentle place to start.

Night at Hotel, 540 m.

The morning flight to Skardu is one of the great mountain flights, with Nanga Parbat standing clear of the cloud on a good day. You land at the head of the Indus valley in the heart of Baltistan. The afternoon is free to walk the bazaar and settle in.

Night at Hotel, 2,228 m.

A free day in Skardu. Walk up to Kharpocho fort for the view over the Indus and the town, or take a short trip to Sadpara lake. Your team handles the last permits and checks the porter loads while you browse the bazaar for anything you still need.

Night at Hotel, 2,228 m.

The jeeps follow the Shigar valley and then the Braldu river through Daso to Askole, the last village on the route. Orchards and stone houses line the lanes, and the porters gather here for the walk ahead. Jeeps stop where the road ends and the walking begins.

Night at Askole, 3,015 m.

The trail runs beside the Braldu, crosses the snout of the Biafo glacier and drops to a lunch stop by the Korofon river. Jhola is a green camp where the Braldu and Dumordo rivers meet, the gateway to the glacier country.

6 hours on foot. Night at Jhola, 3,103 m.

A long day along the Braldu gorge with the rock spires of Trango Tower and Cathedral Peak coming into view. Paiju is a grove of trees at the very last of the greenery, and the last camp before the glacier.

7 hours on foot. Night at Paiju, 3,418 m.

A day to rest and let the body adjust. The porters bake bread for the week ahead, and you can walk up towards the base of Paiju Peak for a first look at the ice. The camp has good water and shade.

Night at Paiju, 3,418 m.

You step onto the snout of the Baltoro glacier and follow the moraine up and down towards Khoburtse. Trango Tower and Uli Biaho show their full height on this stage, and the walking is steady, with the rhythm of a long day in the mountains.

7 hours on foot. Night at Khoburtse, 3,788 m.

Two small side glaciers lead to Urdukas, a grassy terrace about 100 m above the main glacier. The Trango Towers rise directly across the ice, and the camp has one of the best views on the whole trek.

5 hours on foot. Night at Urdukas, 3,905 m.

Today you walk out onto the middle of the Baltoro and follow its central moraine past enormous ice seracs. Masherbrum (7,821 m) fills the southern sky. Goro II is the first night camped on the glacier itself, at the junction with the Younghusband glacier.

7 hours on foot. Night at Goro II, 4,285 m.

A climb up the moraine brings the great peaks into sight one after another. Then K2 appears, and the whole amphitheatre of Concordia opens in front of you, with Broad Peak, Mitre Peak, the Gasherbrums and Sia Kangri all around. This is the throne room of the Karakoram.

6 hours on foot. Night at Concordia, 4,512 m.

An early start takes you up the Godwin-Austen glacier on a faint trail towards K2, which seems to grow with every hour. You pass Broad Peak base camp and reach the memorial to Art Gilkey and the climbers lost on K2, then continue to K2 base camp at the foot of the pyramid. It is the day the whole trek is built around.

8 hours on foot. Night at K2 base camp, 5,125 m.

You retrace the glacier to Concordia with K2 now behind you and the Gasherbrums ahead. A short day with a long rest in camp, and the evening light on Mitre Peak is worth waiting for.

6 hours on foot. Night at Concordia, 4,512 m.

A two hour walk on the moraine of the upper Baltoro brings you to the camp at Shaghring. Chogolisa, the Snow Dome peaks and Baltoro Kangri stand over the glacier, and the camp has long views of the ice.

3 hours on foot. Night at Shaghring, 4,650 m.

You reach the base camps of Gasherbrum I (Hidden Peak) and Gasherbrum II, in the quietest corner of the glacier. Expedition teams are often in residence, and the chance to wish them luck and share a cup of tea is one of the pleasures of the day.

6 hours on foot. Night at Gasherbrum base camp, 5,150 m.

A relaxed walk back down the glacier to Concordia for a rest day in camp. The four base camps are done, and the evening has the air of a celebration.

6 hours on foot. Night at Concordia, 4,512 m.

A less travelled route leaves Concordia and winds across the ice towards the foot of the Gondogoro La, with short detours to keep the walking on solid glacier. Ropes and crampons are shared out as needed. Ali Camp is a high base below the pass.

6 hours on foot. Night at Ali Camp, 4,800 m.

The day starts about 2 am, with headlamps and a roped team climbing to the pass in around three hours. At 5,585 m the whole Baltoro lies behind you, with K2, Gasherbrum I, Broad Peak and Gasherbrum II in one sweep. The descent to Khuispang on the Hushe side is steep and spectacular.

11 hours on foot. Night at Khuispang, 4,590 m.

Ropes and crampons are packed away and the walking turns easy. You drop off the Gondogoro glacier onto grass, wildflowers and the first juniper, with Laila Peak above. The green of the Hushe valley after days of ice is a joy.

7 hours on foot. Night at Saicho, 3,348 m.

A short morning walk brings you into Hushe, the highest village in the valley, with its two storey stone houses (animals below, family above) and fields of barley and potatoes. Jeeps then take you down the Hushe valley and across the Shyok to Skardu, where a hot shower waits.

4 hours on foot. Night at Hotel, 2,228 m.

A free day to wash, rest and wander the bazaar for souvenirs. It also keeps a day in hand for the flight back to Islamabad.

Night at Hotel, 2,228 m.

The flight back along the Indus is as good as the one in, with the peaks of the Karakoram on the left. The evening is free in Islamabad, and many groups end the trip with a celebration dinner.

Night at Hotel, 540 m.

Your guide transfers you to Islamabad airport for your flight home.

540 m.