21 years ago - K2 Trek

We've been having a clear out and Mr C found old photos and slides which we thought would be good to use for a photo journal book of our trek to K2 base camp in Pakistan 21 years ago. If only Digital had existed then - he took slides and I had film.

This was our first major trek. We had read so much about the area in climbing books, it was unbelievable we could actually go - of course now getting to that area would be very difficult and probably dangerous. We had to go to a government department in Islamabad to get masses of paperwork for the journey by minibus along the Karakoram Highway with its scary drops down to the Indus, to Skardu where we got jeeps to Askole, the end of the track. After that it was a 6 day trek up the Baltoro Glacier to Concordia, passing Trango Towers and Mustagh Tower. At Concordia we had views of several 8000m peaks - Broad Peak, Chogolisi, Gasherbrums and of course K2 itself. We were lucky that the cloud disappeared as we headed to base camp so all day we had the most amazing views. We were about 16,000 ft. It was so hard to understand the scale with nothing but other high mountains all around, though eventually we saw some yellow dots which we realised once we got closer, were the tents of some Japanese climbers who were preparing for a summit attempt. They gave us a cup of tea. Imagine how honoured we felt.

Our journey back was hard - one of the flying foxes (orange box on a rope above the river) had disappeared and we had to walk further up the river to cross by a very dilapidated flying fox. After that it was a sheer cliff of 500 feet to climb - I am scared of heights but it's amazing what you can do when you have to. Our guides and porters had only flipflops and cut off wellies to climb in. We had no safely equipment as it wasn't expected we'd have to do this. Sometimes I couldn't reach the next hold and Mubarak, who was helping me, held his stick into the rock for me to climb on to reach. We were so exhausted when we finally reached camp.

When we left our team and I gave Mubarak my gear to wear, or sell on, and thanked him, he said 'It is nothing. It is my duty'. I often think of those wonderful Baltis and wonder what their lives can be like now.

This is me walking very slowly on the moraine to K2.