Snow Lake

It is amazing to know that Snow Lake is not a lake itself but a high altitude glacial basin at the feet of mighty ranges of Karakoram. It is over 16km wide as a leader of the Biafo and Hispar glaciers. The 1^st foreign visitor Martin Conway gave this name in 1892. He says that "beyond all comparison with the finest view of mountains it has ever been my lot to behold, nor do I believe the world can hold a finer".

The Biafo and Hispar glaciers meet at the point of Hispar La that arrangement is of the greatest concentration as a glacial ice beside Antartica.  This vast ice river connects two primordial mountains the Hunza in west among Baltistan in east. Another great mountaineer explorer Eric Shipton describe Snow lake as ’the last blank on the map’. Due to its remoteness from all the populace areas of northern Pakistan, it is a stronghold shelter for wild animals like Himalayan bear, ibex, markhor and the snow leopard. This area is savior for the lives of these animals.

At immense height the Biafo and Hispar glaciers are having pointy daggered  peaks, these include Kanjut Sar, Distaghil Sar, Makrong Chhish, Latok group, Latok II, Latok III, Latok IV: and Baintha Brakk/The Ogre . The only Ogre was climbed in 1977 by Britons Doug Scott and Chris Bonington when they had an epic descent with Scott breaking both of his legs and took a week to reach Base Camp.

The trek to snow lake starts by following the K2 Base Camp trail to the Biafo Glacier in the west. The path  follows free rocky moraine ridges on the glacier for the next few days. The basic campsites are Namla, Mango and Baintha which  located in grassy areas behind tangential moraines. From Baintha camp there is another option of taking the wide ice highway making the walking relatively easy as compared to the rocky trek.

If you are one of them who worried about the security issue in Pakistan, I do must say that it is complicated at the border of Afghanistan and down south. But the way from Islamabad is saved and sound. But the permit is required. Take some cheap flights to Pakistan and definitely you will be far enough away from these areas. The native people are very friendly and hospitable.