Camping at Rakaposhi Base Camp for a day. A thread (guide). 1/n

I'll keep on adding to this thread before/after the hike. I'll try to note the tweets when I'm at the Base Camp and tweet one I'm back.

It'll take us 1 hour to reach Minapin in car and about 5 hour hike to reach Rakaposhi Base Camp. It's prep day today, packing my tent, sleeping bag and mat, water bottle, some snacks etc. Trying to keep the load on my bag minimum so that it's easier for me to hike.

Ok guys. I'm going to continue the thread now that I've recovered from post trek aches woke up 6 and left for Minapin in a hi-ace, we booked it for 6k from karimabad to Minapin. Got to Minapin at 7:30, where we met our porter who was going to stay with us throughout the trip.

We only had our backpacks on and the rest of our things, tents, sleeping bags, food etc was to be on the porter( they have donkeys). We started our hike from Minapin at about 9am on a bright sunny day! This is right at the starting point.

It took us about 4.5 hours to reach The Shepherd Huts. My friends from Karachi needed small breaks every 10 mins :p so I hiked on their pace initially but I understood that I needed to continue on my own pace or it'll frustrate me, so did that. That's one of the shepherd hut.

U get refreshing lassi at the huts. It's a pretty nice place next to rest and chill before you start the hike towards Hapachun Camp, which eventually gets you to the Rakaposhi Base Camp.took us about 2 more hours of hike with enough breaks to reach the Hapachun Camp.

Here some of the beautiful views I came across while hiking towards The Hapachun Camp. The pictures don't do justice.

The Hapachun Camp. Took a 30 min tea break here. Tea/food is available here, you need to pay for it. Had the best tea of my life because I was extremely tired but excited to get to Rakaposhi Base.

It was here that @gilmour_wendy and I chatted about the beauty of GB, my inspiration for her and our future trekking plans. It was an honor to have met her in person. She is an amazing human being and a fast hiker(she knows why I said this :p) Not my best picture but worth it.

It was another about 4 hours to a point where you could see The Rakaposhi Glacier. It took in longer because we lost the track and took the hard way up. Literally the slippy mountain area and sea-buckthorns were the only things we walked on because there wasn't anything else.

You get to the cliff (Rakaposhi Glacier) after about 8 hours hike (time can vary) it took us longer because we were a group and we had first time hikers from Karachi with us and we took our time in taking pictures, snacking, lying down in middle of the trek, almost giving up :p

Once you get to the cliff, it's a game changer, the temperature drops and freezing breeze hits you. Remember we had backpacks? Yeah so we took our topis, jackets, scarves because it was getting colder and colder with the up hike. view from the cliff, this isn't the Base though.

It's another 20 mins to The Base. You're walking adjacent to the mighty glacier it's scary and intimidating but so surreal. If you slip you end up on the glacier or in the glacier :p dead to be exact!

The Rakaposhi Base. Right after we got there. It had started getting dark and we needed to set our tents and start making dinner. Yeah I cooked karahi, it was delicious or maybe we were hungry :p

The night in the tent wasn't the best :p, the porter was chatting with my friends outside and I could hear all the scary stories about Snow Leopards and Micheal who died on the glacier but apparently comes back to life every now and then at night :p

But the stars.Uf the stars and the sky so beautiful that night. One cud feel that if you try to pluck a star, it was possible. It loked near and beautiful. It was a cold night but I couldn't resist myself in keping my headside of the sleeping bag outside the tent and stargazed.

Dropping some pictures from the next day at the Base.

Woke up. Brushed my teeth with the glacier water!!! had tea and parathas/bread. Some of us hiked another 30 mins to get to the viewpoint of Diran Peak, some went on to the glacier for a snow fight. Here are some pictures from the viewpoint.

We started our trek back at about 2pm. Took enough breaks and we were in Minapin at about 7:30pm. So the journey back was shorter but harder because it's literally down the hill.

Just some dos and donts for your information: 1.take a Porter with you, it's important because they helped with carrying the things and showing you the way and they know the area. I suggest don't go with your operators, just take the porters because that they earn some living too

2. Apply lots of sunblocks on every bit of the skin that's exposed, it's never enough sunblock because you are at a higher altitude and the sun hits you directly. 3. Keep your backpack minimal, a water bottle, a jacket, a cap etc and some sugary snacks.

4. You can't do a bonfire, please stick to the rules, let the place be beautiful and don't ruin it. 5. Don't throw your trash, keep rubbish in your bags. 6. Respect your porter. 7.Don't forget to take a matchbox :p you'll need it to light your gas heater to cook or die of hunger.

I'm here if you need any information. This gets us to the end of my adventurous camping at The Rakaposhi Base Camp. Here is a picture of me posing before starting the down trek. I hope you had fun. I've plenty of videos but cannot post all those here. Pakistan Zindaabad!