to Base Camp

Finally at 8:30 after many anxious scans of the dull clouds I (Jamie) thought it wouldn't rain heavily again - a bit of a gamble, but one I was fairly confident of. So I gave the all go, and then it was up to the porters - the final say. They were keen, mainly because they don’t want to waste time, rather get back down ASAP to pick up another expedition team. We are three days ahead of the Field Touring itinerary and the climbers and porters are happy.

It was time for good byes as the GII team were staying a second day at Paiyu with a couple of people still noticing the altitude, minor sickness, and a tough decision for Mathieu. He had bad diarhhoea and wasn’t sleeping well but the real reason he was contemplating turning back was probably more to do with the realization that expedition hardships don’t get any easier with age, he began trekking back to Skardu today with their liaison officer.

On the trail the drizzle never turned to rain (luckily!) and by the time we reached camp it had stopped, although we still didn’t get any views. Damn, no Trango towers. We haven’t seen any mountains yet on this supposedly most spectacular of walks.

Ian and Sue both remarked how clean the campsites are; in years gone by the camping places were surrounded by "brown Mr Whippy's", logs of occasionally outrageous size, brown porridge and pink paper flowers. Now all the camp sites up to Urdukas have many toilets, sinks and even solar lighting, all looked after by a camp manager - a huge improvement. These camps were built last year by an NGO (non-Government organisation).

25 June, Goro II camp

Last night the fog looked ominous, and sure enough it was snowing the morning but for our porters, at least, were past the point of no return and to surprised cries of "what, we are trekking in this?", our 100 or so porters descended to pick up the loads.

The worry for me (Jamie) was the porters had been given an equipment allowance, rather than the socks and sunglasses, and of course few had sunglasses, but they all had friends coming down the trail who would soon enough be out of the snow, so now at camp about 60% of them have battered glasses. We have a few tender eyes, but no real snow blindness - yet. 

It is frustrating to be in the middle knowing this would happen (it was obvious from the weather forecast way back in Skardu) but being unable to persuade the guide, sirdar or porters of the need. The general attitude is happy-go-lucky rather than meticulously organised.

Tomorrow will be the biggest test for our porters, it is a long 6-7 hours in good conditions and then they will race back down to Goro II, having left all their supplies here.

With a good guide (Jalal) we have faired far better than any other expedition we have met, we have all our gear with us and the majority of food (fresh food to be brought up later), and are moving at a pace we want. Roland's Broad Peak mixed team have climbing equipment scattered from Askole to Urdukas and this morning their porters refused to leave Goro II camp so we will share the trail with them tomorrow, if the weather is kind.

26 June - to Broad Peak Base Camp 4825m

Light snow was falling but this didn't stop our porters who just wanted to get up and dump their loads. A few had to stay back due to various ailments but according to the sirdar we still had 108 (!) loads.

the last of the gray days?

It snowed lightly much of the way up, in a way perfect weather for our porters with sore eyes from yesterday (yes, even some who did have sunglasses).

After a tough walk we set up BC on snow. We put a tarpaulin between the kitchen and dining tent, we are still waiting for our second dining tent. Everyone is in amazing spirits, even without taking into account the difficult conditions.

What is it like at BC? News tomorrow!