Sallam:
Alhumdullilah i have completed my winter survival trek after a lot of delays. finally our group of three made it to fairy meadows on the last weekend. the arrangements were mainly made by Salman Zakir of Lahore..... he and his cousin Umair (a first time trekker) joined me on NATCO.... towards raikot bridge.... after a few stops for Convoy management we reached Raikot at about 1 pm where our host Sabir Sb was waiting for us at Raikot Serai hotel. we immediately left for tato in jeep to complete a hellish jeep ride of about 45 mins. i think that this jeep track is one of the most dangerous if not the most dangerous in Pakistan. at this time the conditions were overcast and rain was eminent and we started our trek at about 3 pm on Friday the 19th of Feb. the trek was partially covered with snow patches about 4-6 inches but the main obstacle was the unique ice formations over the trek which were very slippery. it was like ice skating really....
soon after we crossed the cabins and entered the forest it started to snow with moderate speed.... it was actually the first time i encountered snowfall in a winter survival trek. we reached Fairy Meadows at abt 7 pm. and our room was ready and heated b4 us... we got rid of our gaitors and shoes and were treated with tea. then sabir prepared roast chicken and dinner that we had with us (packed food)....after dinner we had discussions which were mainly prayers that the weather would clear tomorrow as it had started to snow quiet heavily. well we prepared to go to bed and had a good night rest. the next morning we were surprised to c clear skies and Nanga Parbat itself in all its glory.... we were mostly taking photographs running around in snow here and there.... pata nai mausam kab dobara kharab ho jay... we got a few hints of foul weather as well along the way but overall the weather was stable.... it had snowed about 1.5 feet during the night and we faced around 3.5 feet of snow at fairy meadows.... the weather was not cold on Saturday. we had breakfast and after that sat for a few hours on the balcony of our hut to enjoy the views of the Killer mountain.
after having a mid day coffee break we packed up and geared up for our return journey.... the return journey was tougher because of the soft and deep snow all the way... we had to trail blaze most of the times. reached back in about 4 hours as well.... we got in our jeep and reached back to Raikot bridge at about marghrib time.... from here we got a lift from a local of Chilas "sadam hussain" he had to leave us at chilas but when we learned that the KKh was blocked at Loter just b4 Dassu due to a major rock fall sadam bhai kindly took us to his home where we stayed the night. sadam was a generous man and he treated us very well, booked our seats in NATCO the next day as well and dropped us of at the ADA as well....
we left at about 8.30 am and hoped we would reach pindi by 9 pm but our dream was soon spoiled by the rockslide of Loter. the massive slide has not been cleared the day b4.... with hundreds of vehicles stranded on both sides ppl were waiting and shouting at the FWO guyz to step on it... this patch took abt 10 hours to clear after blasting and a further two hours to clear the traffic block. we reached pindi at about 10 am next morning.......
total cost = Rs.8500 per head
room rent at FM = Rs 4000 per day
jeep fare = Rs 7000
Guide = Rs 1000 per day.