Pastore Peak and K2 Base Camp

Your guide meets you at the airport, holding the company sign, and takes you to the hotel. The rest of the day is yours to recover from the flight and sort kit. The capital sits at the foot of the Margalla Hills and is a gentle place to start.

Night at Hotel, 540 m.

The morning flight to Skardu is one of the great mountain flights, with Nanga Parbat standing clear of the cloud on a good day. You land at the head of the Indus valley in the heart of Baltistan. The afternoon is free to walk the bazaar and settle in.

Night at Hotel, 2,228 m.

A free day in Skardu. Walk up to Kharpocho fort for the view over the Indus and the town, or take a short trip to Sadpara lake. Your team handles the last permits and checks the porter loads while you browse the bazaar for anything you still need.

Night at Hotel, 2,228 m.

The jeeps follow the Shigar valley and the Braldu river through Daso to Askole, the last village on the route, where the porters gather. From the end of the road you walk on beside the Braldu to Jhola, a green camp where the rivers meet and the glacier country begins.

Night at Jhola, 3,103 m.

A long day along the Braldu gorge with the rock spires of Trango Tower and Cathedral Peak coming into view. Paiju is a grove of trees at the very last of the greenery, and the last camp before the glacier.

7 hours on foot. Night at Paiju, 3,418 m.

A day to rest and let the body adjust. The porters bake bread for the week ahead, and you can walk up towards the base of Paiju Peak for a first look at the ice. The camp has good water and shade.

Night at Paiju, 3,418 m.

You step onto the snout of the Baltoro glacier and follow the moraine up and down towards Khoburtse. Trango Tower and Uli Biaho show their full height on this stage, and the walking is steady, with the rhythm of a long day in the mountains.

7 hours on foot. Night at Khoburtse, 3,788 m.

Two small side glaciers lead to Urdukas, a grassy terrace about 100 m above the main glacier. The Trango Towers rise directly across the ice, and the camp has one of the best views on the whole trek.

5 hours on foot. Night at Urdukas, 3,905 m.

Today you walk out onto the middle of the Baltoro and follow its central moraine past enormous ice seracs. Masherbrum (7,821 m) fills the southern sky. Goro II is the first night camped on the glacier itself, at the junction with the Younghusband glacier.

7 hours on foot. Night at Goro II, 4,285 m.

A climb up the moraine brings the great peaks into sight one after another. Then K2 appears, and the whole amphitheatre of Concordia opens in front of you, with Broad Peak, Mitre Peak, the Gasherbrums and Sia Kangri all around. This is the throne room of the Karakoram.

6 hours on foot. Night at Concordia, 4,512 m.

An early start takes you up the Godwin-Austen glacier on a faint trail towards K2, which seems to grow with every hour. You pass Broad Peak base camp and reach the memorial to Art Gilkey and the climbers lost on K2, then continue to K2 base camp at the foot of the pyramid. It is the day the whole trek is built around.

8 hours on foot. Night at K2 base camp, 5,125 m.

You retrace your steps from K2 base camp and cross the Godwin-Austen glacier towards Pastore Peak, which lies south-east of K2 and east of Broad Peak. The glacier crossing is a fine walk through the centre of the range, and the camp is a quiet one below the peak.

6 hours on foot. Night at Pastore base camp, 4,800 m.

Pastore Peak is a first Karakoram trekking peak with a summit day of about ten hours from base camp. Three days are set aside so your climbing guide can choose the best moment. The summit gives a view over the Baltoro, with K2 and Broad Peak close by, and you return to base camp afterwards.

Night at Pastore base camp, 4,800 m.

A day in reserve in case the weather wants one. If the climb has gone to plan, it is a day to rest, repack and enjoy the position of the camp.

Night at Pastore base camp, 4,800 m.

You retrace the glacier to Concordia and rest in camp, with the great peaks around you for another evening.

6 hours on foot. Night at Concordia, 4,512 m.

A less travelled route leaves Concordia and winds across the ice towards the foot of the Gondogoro La, with short detours to keep the walking on solid glacier. Ropes and crampons are shared out as needed. Ali Camp is a high base below the pass.

6 hours on foot. Night at Ali Camp, 4,800 m.

The day starts about 2 am, with headlamps and a roped team climbing to the pass in around three hours. At 5,585 m the whole Baltoro lies behind you, with K2, Gasherbrum I, Broad Peak and Gasherbrum II in one sweep. The descent to Khuispang on the Hushe side is steep and spectacular.

11 hours on foot. Night at Khuispang, 4,590 m.

Ropes and crampons are packed away and the walking turns easy. You drop off the Gondogoro glacier onto grass, wildflowers and the first juniper, with Laila Peak above. The green of the Hushe valley after days of ice is a joy.

7 hours on foot. Night at Saicho, 3,348 m.

A short morning walk brings you into Hushe, the highest village in the valley, with its two storey stone houses (animals below, family above) and fields of barley and potatoes. Jeeps then take you down the Hushe valley and across the Shyok to Skardu, where a hot shower waits.

4 hours on foot. Night at Hotel, 2,228 m.

A free day to rest, explore the bazaar and keep a day in hand before the flight south.

Night at Hotel, 2,228 m.

The flight along the Indus gives a last view of the Karakoram. The evening is free in Islamabad.

Night at Hotel, 540 m.

A free day to explore the capital or to rest after the mountain, with a celebration dinner to mark the climb.

Night at Hotel, 540 m.

Your guide transfers you to Islamabad airport for your flight home.

540 m.