Dispatch 12 – Trek from Goro II (4305m/14,124ft) to Shigring (4733m/15,527ft)

Nick at Shigring just before sunset
Nick at Shigring just before sunset

Today, Akbar woke me up at 4:30am, I ate a quick breakfast, and we began trekking in fresh snow to Concordia (4585m/15,042ft). Akbar woke the porters early so they would arrive on time to Concordia. Once there, I had a tea with the K2EV rescue team while the porter loads were sorted into what we would need immediately and what we could do without for a day. Fida was successful in recruiting additional porters, however, due to the late hour of the day, they preferred to go directly from Concordia to Gasherbrum Base Camp tomorrow rather than climb with us to Shigring today. Once the equipment was sorted, we headed up to Shigring in knee deep snow. An hour or so into the trek from Concordia, the weather deteriorated and it began snowing quite hard on us. We were relieved to see the army post which is just 25 minutes from Shigring. Once we arrived, we waited an hour for the porters, set up camp, had a quick diner, and enjoyed the sunset over the Karakorum as the weather cleared just before dusk. Tomorrow is the last day of the trek to Base Camp.