23 Aug-2 Sep 2012: Heavens of Leepa & Neelum Valley, AJK - As Never Seen Before :)

[aesiege]

Ratt Gali Lake Basecamp !!!!

Now we will not go any further in the valley. Ratti Gali Lake is on right so we will leave main valley and climb up towards right.

If u carry on straight then u will reach Dowarian pass which will take u to Nuri Top area.

If u go a little ahead and then enter the left side valley then it will take u to Ratti Gali Pass which will end up at Burwai.

1308 by Sabrite, on Flickr

[aesiege]

you are right wapsi pe reh hi jata hai and dslr around the neck during trekking is very difficult. Hats off for your efforts and energy level and such a stunning photography.

Thx a lot bro

[badmashpappu]

hahaha ... Qari sahib will definitely enjoy your company again

Inshallah, lets pray all goes as planned

Read it Somewhere...
"The Adventure starts Where the Plan Stops"..
INSHALLAH every thing will be fine...

[aesiege]

Read it Somewhere...
"The Adventure starts Where the Plan Stops"..
INSHALLAH every thing will be fine...

hehehe yea its signature of @abas786 here on PW

[aesiege]

After watching this thread i can't stop myself to visit Neelam & Leepaa Valley as soon as possible:P

Mobeen Bhai superb work & good going,

People don't tag them Paradise for nothing

If possible, visit Leepa in September to see the best views.

[Raheeln]

in a day pack, whistle, face mask, sun burn cream UV, and water bottle is also a must................

[aesiege]

in a day pack, whistle, face mask, sun burn cream UV, and water bottle is also a must................

Vaseline and sun burn cream were in first aid kit and water bottle outside in side pocket. But no whistle though ...

[Raheeln]

i have few very good lists available with me, which is very helpful, as v can easily forget something...........

[emmaar]

I crossed the glacier while other members are descending to cross it.

1289 by Sabrite, on Flickr

How many members can you spot in this picture?

[emmaar]

Valley view which leads to Patlian Lake and Domail village in middle right side

The camping area is the lowest most green patch in this pic. You can see a local boy on extreme bottom left of the pic. After this green patch there is a deep passage for Dowarian nallah and then next green patch starts on which u can see village.

1293 by Sabrite, on Flickr

How much distant is Patlian Lake from here?

[emmaar]

Ture !!

Very tough to manage trek + photography with multiple lenses but results are so rewarding

For me toughest thing during trek is DSLR hanging around my neck which has weight of around 1.3-1.5 kg all the time. It is easy to move around for an hour or so but in full day treks, this 1.5 kg weight becomes tough to manage but now i am used to it

yaar mai ne aik cheez note ki hai keh tour ke beech mei agar koi location ya scenery drop kar do keh wapsi par kar lein gey to woh kabhi nahi hoti .... hamesha wapsi par miss ho jata hai

So, now i have made a thumb rule keh jo opportunity miley us ko avail karo !!

Very true and must be noted keh wapsi pe kuch baqi nahin bachta... TO SEE, TO CAPTURE....
Wapsi kay liye murr kay dekhna parta he aor wo jo kehtay hein na"Murr Kay Dekha To Pathar Kay Ho Jao Gae"

[aesiege]

How many members can you spot in this picture?

Quiz for all hehe

[aesiege]

How much distant is Patlian Lake from here?

10 km from this spot and altitude gain of 4000 ft to reach the pass then descend of 1500 ft till the lake.

[aesiege]

Very true and must be noted keh wapsi pe kuch baqi nahin bachta... TO SEE, TO CAPTURE....
Wapsi kay liye murr kay dekhna parta he aor wo jo kehtay hein na"Murr Kay Dekha To Pathar Kay Ho Jao Gae"

I get very lazy and choosy on return to take my camera out so better visit and capture everything while going uphill

[aesiege]

At this point, our guide did a stupid thing. He asked us to climb up straight so that we can cover more altitude in less distance and approach to lake will be easy.

But when we climbed up, he took us down to mini lake and we were again at same altitude where we started

This meant that we had to do a big climb again till main Ratti Gali Lake.

I realized this mistake when we were climbing up for the main lake again as a trek was running all the way to the main lake from the point we started coming down to mini lake.

And i was like @#!$@^^%@

Climbing up on very steep angled slope with style of locals ... zigzags of 4-5 steps right n left.

1309 by Sabrite, on Flickr

[aesiege]

The only open space in whole trek of 19 km is this basecamp area

The Y junction of valleys will be clear in the background soon.

1310 by Sabrite, on Flickr

[aesiege]

We finished the climb and u can see that right now we are parallel to main lake area as it is obvious from the waterfall going down to mini lake.

This is not the normal route to approach the mini lake but a short-cut to go directly to main lake while keeping on right side.

Now from this location, if we had moved towards right maintaining this altitude, we would have been at the main lake in 20 min or so without any more climb. But i didn't know whether there was any trek extending to main lake from here which was only visible once we started climb from foot of main lake hill.

1311 by Sabrite, on Flickr

[aesiege]

View becoming clear in the background as we were moving right towards Ratti Gali Lake

1312 by Sabrite, on Flickr

[aesiege]

The Y junction is visible now in the background.

If u go right of the middle dark mountain then u will reach Dowarian Pass and onwards to Nuri Top.

If u got left of the middle mountain then u will reach Ratti Gali Pass and onwards to Burwai.

1313 by Sabrite, on Flickr

[emmaar]

At this point, our guide did a stupid thing. He asked us to climb up straight so that we can cover more altitude in less distance and approach to lake will be easy.

But when we climbed up, he took us down to mini lake and we were again at same altitude where we started

This meant that we had to do a big climb again till main Ratti Gali Lake.

I realized this mistake when we were climbing up for the main lake again as a trek was running all the way to the main lake from the point we started coming down to mini lake.

And i was like @#!$@^^%@

Climbing up on very steep angled slope with style of locals ... zigzags of 4-5 steps right n left.

1309 by Sabrite, on Flickr

Is waqa'e kay baad Travelers k kuch comments bi add ho jatay to behtar na hota:)