Pakora Pass

Leave for Besham in the morning after breakfast. We’ll stop along the way for photography and lunch in Chatar. O/N hotel stay.

Drive 9–10 hours to Gilgit after breakfast, stopping along the way at the ”Junction Point of World Great Mountain Ranges” Himalaya, Karakorum, and Hindukush, as well as a vantage point for the ”Killer Mountain” Nanga Parbat. O/N Rest in a hotel.

Morning sightseeing and shopping. Leave for Naltar in the afternoon. It takes two hours by jeep along the Hunza River to reach its confluence with the Naltar River in the village of Nomal. This is a forested hill station between here and Naltar that is renowned for its biodiversity and stunning mountain vistas. The campsite offers a view of the Rakaposhi chain. O/N camping or motel stay.

Take the road up the true left (east) side of Naltar Gah from Upper Naltar (2820m), also known as Dumian. Ford a small brook at the beginning of Beshgiri, the Shina term for the recognizable red rocks (besh) east of the trail that are coated in red lichen (giri), in 13 and a half hours. A two-day path descends the Bichhar Gah to Sherqila in Punial across the valley from Beshgiri and proceeds southwest across a glaciated pass beneath Khaltar Peak (5591m).

Continue through a rich cedar, chir pine, and birch forest after Beshgiri. In 45 minutes, I found another side stream, which denotes the beginning of Bangla, a place so named because a ”bungalow” once stood there. To reach the real right (west) bank of the Naltar Gah, cross a footbridge. 

Continue for another 45 minutes to reach the first lake, Naltar Lake (3270m), at the end of the road, and the Lake View Hotel, which is made out of a large canvas tent with blankets for sleeping and a cabin for cooking food.

In 15 minutes, cross a footbridge to reach the Naltar Gah’s real left (east) bank after skirting the lake. Two more lakes are visible up the western side of the valley as you pass over a little hill, and the river ahead begins to braid. In 45 minutes, walk along the riverbed and cross a sizable side stream that rushes from the east to cross the wide area known as Shing. The Gujar town of Gupa is situated along the river’s true right (west) side where it narrows. Access to the settlement is provided by footbridges above and below Gupa, however, the main trail continues on the actual left (east) side. To reach the glaciated Chaprot Pass between Snow Dome (5029m) and Mehrbani (5639m), cross a large side stream coming in from the east after one hour. No one can pass through this pass due to the hanging glacier on the west side and the even larger one on the east. The huts at Lath and the first glimpse of the Shani Glacier’s end are 15 minutes past the stream and are located high above the river.

The track gets faint and is dotted with junipers as it skirts the northeast edge of the Shani Glacier, arriving at Lower Shani in one to 1½ hours as Pakora Pass comes into view. The word ”Shani” in Shina refers to a ”pure place where fairies dwell,” and in meadows like this, the flowers are what draw fairies in. Lower Shani (3690m), with herders’ cabins close to the glacier and a stream and grassy meadow. Observe the dogs of the herders. The imposing Shani peak (5887m), an extremely difficult mixed snow and ice climb, may be found to the south-west across the Shani Glacier.

The trail continues past huts in 45 minutes, signaling the beginning of Upper Shani, and the mountainside is covered in rhubarb and junipers. Cross a ridge above these cabins, then plunge straight down into the ablation valley. Cross a footbridge that is located right where the river passes through the glacier. The river is too wide and deep to cross farther up; do not cross above the true left bank. To reach the upper end of the level alluvial ablation valley, take a 15-minute walk along the riverbed’s true right side while keeping the pink and orange granite of the Shani Glacier’s lateral moraine to your left. This is Upper Shani (3797m), which is conveniently located in the lateral moraine’s protection and can be reached from Lower Shani in one to 1½ hours. Set up camp here if you haven’t already acclimated. Cross the little side creek and climb the steep, grassy, flower-covered slope where horses and yaks graze to reach Pakora High Camp. Continue walking through rockier terrain until you reach a flat area. One to 1½ hours from Upper Shani, take the true right bank of the wide, clear stream a short distance to Pakora High camp (4230m), which is indicated by a few crumbling stone shelters. In this incredibly lovely place, you can set your camp just before the stone shelters on either side of the stream.

A branch stream emerges from the west, south of a huge rock outcrop, behind the high camp. This stream is followed for an hour up a steep, loose rock slope by an unclear track that passes a few cairns. There are many minor snowfields on the east side of the pass, as well as a sizable crevasse-free snowfield towards the peak. In 30 minutes, cross the snowfield and arrive at the obvious Pakora Pass (4710m). Sentinel (5260m), a moderately challenging alpine climb, is located north of the pass.

Although the Pakora Pass has glaciers on its west side, any crevasses are lower down. In 15 to 30 minutes, descend across the snowfield and make your way to the north (right) onto the plainly visible grey lateral moraine. 30 minutes later you will reach the end of the lateral moraine’s thin track, which borders the Pakora Glacier (gomukh in Shina). In 30 minutes, cross the glacier’s width and make your way to the west, where there are some reddish rocks.

There are two ways to cross the glacier. To reach Pakora, the main trail descends a valley. The alternate path to Chatorkhand passes the rarely traveled, glaciated Hayal Pass. From the western edge of the Pakora Glacier, which is located 4230 meters above sea level and 3 kilometers to the west, mount the rock along the northern edge of the Hayal Glacier. On the Swiss map, the path is wrongly depicted as diverging at Pakora Pass itself. Walk down the lateral moraine high above the southwestern margin of the Pakora Glacier, which fills the upper valley, to reach Pakora. Continue two hours farther on a shaky trail to Lal Patthar (3690m), which received its Urdu name from the sizable reddish boulder amidst some junipers. Krui Bokht is the name of it in Khowar. Although there are a few potential tent sites close by and a boulder that shelters porters, this Camp is not ideal due to the sloping hillside and the far-off river.

Pass through a side stream in a narrow ravine after Lal Patthar. Continue down the valley for another hour through a stunning, dense forest of juniper, birch, and pine before crossing a footbridge (3750m) to reach the real right bank of the Pakora Gol. The footbridge is difficult to notice from the trail. Continue down the riverbed after the trail meets the river level and stroll for a short while to reach the footbridge. (Avoid climbing the obvious trail, which climbs around 50 meters.) After navigating the narrow trail across the river, one and a half hours from Lal Patthar, one arrives at the Gujar houses known as Jut/Uts (3390m), where horses, cows, sheep, and goats graze. In Burushaski, jut means ”grassy place,” and in Khowar, uts and means ”spring.”

As the canyon narrows, the fall from Jut to Pakora becomes ever steeper. Start early and bring water because the Pakora Gol may get scorching and dry on sunny days.

Descend and use an excellent footbridge to cross the river from the far end of the meadow. The trail is in bad shape and stays for an hour low down the riverbed on the true left (south) bank, passing beneath the Gujar towns of Gujarshal and Roghshal which are located high above. From the other side of the river, one can see Kuru, a town located above the meeting of the Kuru An Gol and Pakora Gol. See Ghizar’s Other Treks for a path that ascends this side stream to the Kuru An.

The down valley path contours a hillside covered in artemisia on a broad donkey trail while remaining on the Pakora Gol’s true left side. It often rests on exposed galleries and remains elevated above the turbulent river. Waterfalls cascade down both sides of the river as it plunges into a deep valley. In 1 12 hours, you will arrive at a side stream with a huge, lone willow. In 30 minutes, you can cross a plank footbridge to get to the real right bank of the Pakora River. Reach the Pakora centre and jeep road in 15 minutes (2220 m).