Dear PW Fellows
Yes, Try Try Again definitely led towards Success. We tried last time from Nadi Bangla side but due to certain extraneous factors have to postpone the trek but ...and this word "BUT" consistently reminded us to think about the MKM.
https://www.pakwheels.com/forums/hiking-trekking/225228-trek-musa-ka-musalla-winter-warm-up
Trek Dates of present summit: 1st May to 3rd May 2014
The Great Dilemma: A great and continuous debate among the team members was lasted before the finalization of the tour plan. Last time we didn?t succeed to summit MKM from Nadi Bangla side due to certain extraneous factors, so, the team members have the opinion to take this trek into action if there is a chance of more than 90% to scale it. When we calculated the Pros and Cons, it comes out 50% some time and 90% some other timesL. Some well known trekking tour operators also cancelled their trek plans of the same destinations in same dates just due to high level of snow on the trekL. Even our guide Mr Aslam advised us to delay the trek a 10-14 days more but we only have the option of ?FIRST MAY?. So, finally we declared to all members to pack up for the MKM. We also have a SECRET B PLAN in our mind. Yes a secret one, because we can expect the psychological effect on team if we disclose it before time. We decided to get first hand information from Munda Gachha and kept the first days trek for our analysis. In case we find it hard to scale it we kept an option to come back to Munda Gachha till night and start for the plan B. Every person to whom we meet on our way and at Munda Gachha seems to tell us ?R U CRAZY?; ?MKM pe to bohat baraf he, wahan to abhi hum bhi nahi jata?. People of Munda Gachha also declared to our guide that ,No way, this gang can reach up at the top of MKM right now (our guide disclose these remarks to us when we scaled MKM). A couple of friends want to do this trek with us but as we were uncertain about the trek so, we couldn't take the risk to take some beginner with us, so without mentioning their name I solemnly apologize from them. And then the story came into action....
Our Route:
- Mansehra to Shinkiari to Munda Gachha: on rented Hiace
- Munda Gachha to Jacha: Jeep Trek
- Jacha to Dhor to Bakki to Jabbar to Khori to Gali to MKM
Trek Conditions:
- Munda Gacha (1670m) to Jacha (1870m): A jeep trek about 3 to 4 km
- Jacha (1870m) to Dhor (2050m): A moderate hike of ups and down. About 1.5 hour trek and have a beautiful camping side.
- Dhor (2050m) to Bakki (2360m): A continuous steep hike. 2 to 2.5hour trek and have a beautiful camping place.
- Bakki (2360m) to Jabbar (2630m): A continuous steep hike. 1.5 to 2 hour trek and have a beautiful and lush green camping place.
- Jabbar (2630m) to Khori (2800m): A moderate hike of about 1.5hours. Beautiful camping side. We camped at 2880m at the end of the village.
- Khori (2800m) to Gali (3133m): A steep hike all the way. 1.5 to 2 hours trek. It is also called the Base camp of the MKM.
- Gali (3133m) to MKM top (4076m): First half an hour is a gentle walk and then all the way to top is a continuous hikeL. About 5 to 6 hours trek.
In all the three days of trek we encountered heavy rain and hail storms on the trek which interrupted our pace but couldn't stop us .
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/83515974@N07/14193153875" title="DSC_5716 by hmrashid, on Flickr"><img src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7386/14193153875_0c922e0bd8_c.jpg" width="800" height="530" alt="DSC_5716"></a>
The Team:
Helping Hands:
- Aslam: our guide and quite reasonable person for this trek.
- Khalid: A regular companion of our SSG group
- Hanif: A darvaish of his own nature
Cost: Per person cost is Rs 4400 from Mansehra to Mansehra
So, some teasers before the formal start of the trek