Wilderness in the Karakorum

The blissful silence of nature gives a freshness to our spirit whether it is the wilderness in the Karakorum, Himalaya, Tundra, Alaska, Arctic plains and even the vast deserts of the sub-Saharan Africa because absorbing the nature in any form gives the person a self-satisfaction regardless of the superficial form of the landscape.

How to enjoy the wilderness?

Well, enjoying the wilderness and tranquility have no limit and no specific set conditions. Some people prefer the sunny beaches, some prefer the woods, some prefer the rocky mountains having glaciers in the backdrop, and some prefer the scorching heat of desert because it gratifies them than anything else. For some people, the gurgling and gushing sound of water gives satisfaction and for some, the tweet of birds in the wood is something to enjoy. For some the water tumbling down from the rocky outcrop looks all inviting and inspiring. In a nutshell, there are hundreds of ways for enjoying the nature and it all depends on one's preference. 

What did I witness in the rocky mountains of Karakorum? 

A few years back when I was at home during summer vacations I had many plans in mind but this was important in own way because I wanted to experiment something new. Hiking and photography in the wilderness of rocky mountains of Karakorum were not new for us because since our childhood we had been doing this, even before the arrival of smartphones when photography was not that easy and one had to carry many things: a camera, few films, few pairs of dry cell batteries and many other things.

In every summer we would stuff our backpacks with things easy to carry like cookies, slices of bread, and dry fruit, as climbing mountain isn't that easy therefore we needed to keep the backpacks light. Along with, every person would carry about one or two kilograms of flour because we would stay in the mountains for about a week and the cookies and other things wouldn't be sufficient for such a long time. Other things like meat, butter, milk and cooking utensils didn't need to be carried along because we would borrow or buy these things from the shepherds who live there during summer.

The privilege was that we didn't need to board on any vehicle for hours  long travel and then reach the point to start the journey towards the destination; our valley is at such a location that anyone can roam in the Karakorum mountain ranges provided one is experienced and determined to climb the rocky mountains which are packed with glaciers and sheer rocks at interval.

The other day I got up early morning and when I looked at the sky it was full of stars and the dawn was in the making. Took shower, put on the mountaineering fabrics, boots and ate breakfast hastily because we needed to move towards the destination before sun rose. When done with the breakfast I looked outside and noticed it was the breaking of the day. The sun was rising, the beams of sun rays could be noticed passing from the east to west, and I could see the gleaming icy peaks in the west.

Well, we started our journey and our aim was to cover maximum distance before the sun shone on us. For half an hour we walked horizontally and from there onward we followed hairpin turns uphill. For two to three kilometers the surrounding landscape was covered by different species of the bushes and about 3 kilometers or so had covered we reached a place where the mountain was densely covered by juniper forest. We were now some 14,000 feet above sea level and breathing the cold breeze of air amidst the juniper trees having sight of some mighty peaks of Karakorum was an amazing scene to enjoy. There was a spring and the shepherds had built a resting platform  around the spring.