These underexplored trails lie within the shadow of K2

The path to the bottom of Amin Brakk, a fantastic wedge of vertical rock that’s earned comparisons to El Capitan, doesn’t a lot begin because the neighborhood slips away—up from the barley fields of Kanday village, previous apricot bushes and rock-walled potato plots, into terrain that will get a bit steeper and stonier with each step.

We’re certain for the tip of the Nangma Valley, a roughly 16-mile path that terminates in a glacial cul-de-sac rimmed with sky-piercing spires of granite (some unnamed, many unclimbed, and most over 16,000 ft tall) in Pakistan’s Karakoram Mountains. 

We weren’t, fortunately, making an attempt to summit them. Our ambitions had been easier: A four-day trek to its base and again, with sufficient time to linger over tea subsequent to rivers the colour of polished slate, hint the arc of avalanches tumbling down far-off peaks, and transfer by a panorama nonetheless largely untouched by tourism. 

For many years, trekking in Pakistan has been synonymous with K2. As the second-tallest mountain worldwide, it has lengthy drawn elite climbers to its glaciated flanks, the place reaching the summit requires permits, porters, and superior alpine talent. But past the shadow of the Karakoram’s most well-known peak lies an unlimited and under-explored community of trails, together with alpine valleys formed by glaciers, summer season pastures utilized by herders for generations, and granite-walled corridors like Nangma that stay largely unknown outdoors the climbing world.  

That obscurity is starting to fade. Pakistan’s newly free e-visa system, expanded home flight community, and improved safety within the northern areas have made once-daunting logistics way more manageable. At the identical time, worldwide outfitters like Intrepid Travel have begun providing guided, absolutely supported (with porters, cooks, and tenting gear) mountaineering journeys, bringing the Karakoram onto the radar of extra informal trekkers.

During my journey into the Nangma Valley, the path revealed itself in layers. It started as a mild path winding previous potato plots and apricot orchards, the place kids waved from stone-walled fields, then climbed into alpine meadows grazed by goats and scattered with wildflowers. Higher nonetheless, the panorama shifted to moraine and granite, with easy log bridges spanning braided rivers spilling chilly and fast from the glaciers above. By the time you attain base camp, the valley ground ranges right into a broad plain of boulders and grass, edged by sheer granite partitions and ignored by glaciers that creak and calve within the afternoon solar. It was in that thyme-scented meadow dimpled with the faint hoof prints of pasture-raised cows that we arrange camp within the late afternoon. As the solar sank, the partitions round us flared orange, glowing like cathedral home windows. Then the celebrities got here in absurd abundance, flung throughout the sky with theatrical generosity.

There was grandeur in spades. And silence. And the sensation—rarer than it needs to be—that you just had, for a short second, wandered someplace fully unspoiled.

Beyond Nangma: Where else to hike in Pakistan 

Pakistan, lengthy overshadowed by neighboring trekking giants like Nepal and India, is experiencing a gradual however regular revival of worldwide trekking curiosity. New infrastructure and a wave of homegrown journey tourism startups have opened entry to trails that had been as soon as thought-about difficult to succeed in.

The Karakoram Highway snakes by Gilgit-Baltistan and acts because the backbone for numerous aspect treks, from the gentler routes of Hunza to the high-altitude expeditions of the higher Baltoro. Here are just some to contemplate past the Nangma Valley.

(6 of the world’s most distant locations to check your inside adventurer)

Best hikes for rookies 

Ondra Poygah hike

Set within the Hunza Valley, this moderate day hike blends sweeping alpine vistas with centuries of cultural historical past. The mile-long stone staircase—1,655 steps in whole, the longest and highest in Pakistan—results in Ondra Fort, perched above Gulmit village. There, hikers are rewarded with commanding views of the Karakoram peaks and the aquamarine Hunza River snaking by the valley ground. Along the best way, apricot orchards and remnants of Silk Road watchtowers anchor the hike within the area’s layered previous.

Passu Glacier hike 

The Passu Glacier Hike is a half-day tour that begins close to Passu village, threading by apricot orchards and over suspension bridges earlier than climbing onto the glacier’s lateral moraine. Gravel ridges and icy streams demand cautious footing, however the payoff of the roughly four-mile hike every means is immense: A direct view of the stark white Passu Glacier framed by the serrated Passu Cones and Shispare Peak.

(Our ancestors walked these trails a whole bunch of years in the past. Now you’ll be able to too.)

Challenging and multi-day treks

Masterbrum Base Camp 

The Masherbrum Base Camp trek is one in every of Baltistan’s most accessible multi-day hikes, usually accomplished in about 5 days round-trip. Beginning in Hushe village, the path follows the Hushe River previous wheat fields and stone homes earlier than opening into broad alpine valleys. The first evening is normally spent at Shaieshcho camp, a grassy flat the place herders graze their animals. From there, it’s a gentle however manageable climb alongside the Masherbrum Glacier to succeed in base camp at roughly 14,000 ft. Here, Masherbrum—often known as K1—rises in an ideal white pyramid to 25,659 ft. Unlike the grueling expeditions to K2 or Concordia, this hike is low on technical issue however excessive on reward, providing intimate glimpses of village life alongside commanding views of one of many Karakoram’s most spectacular summits.

Rakaposhi Base Camp 

From the village of Minapin, a 7.7-mile trail to Rakposhi Base Camp ascends by juniper forests and wildflower meadows to a broad, windswept plateau at 12,000 ft. The climb takes two to 3 days, with Hapakun, a grassy subject, serving as a halfway campsite. At the highest, trekkers stand earlier than the 25,551-foot summit of Rakaposhi, one of many world’s best mountain reliefs, and may discover aspect trails alongside the Minapin Glacier earlier than returning.

K2 Base Camp  

The K2 Base Camp trek is Pakistan’s most legendary hike, a high-altitude, two- to three-week expedition that begins in Askole and traces the Braldu River into the icy coronary heart of the Karakoram. The route follows the Baltoro Glacier (one of many largest outdoors the polar areas) previous storied camps like Paiju and Urdukas earlier than reaching Concordia, the place 4 of the world’s 14 highest peaks ring the horizon. From right here it’s a remaining push to base camp at about 16,900 ft, straight beneath K2’s towering south face. It’s a route that’s extremely distant and logistically advanced—however for seasoned trekkers, few locations on Earth are extra awe-inspiring.

(This is the longest mountaineering path in Central Asia—right here’s what to know earlier than you attempt it)