Today, after an extremely cold night, I struggled to wake up at 5:00am, packed up my equipment, and had a chilly breakfast in the kitchen tent with Akbar and our Sirdar, Yassid. I stayed up quite late last night to take pictures of the staggering number of stars that were visible in the moonless night after the Matam. The ceremony was truly enchanting. We sat in a circle on the glacier in the dark while Little Hussain sang about the death of Hazrat Ali and many in the circle wept aloud. The matam is a lament for his departed soul and commemorates his martyrdom and valor at Karbala. We completed the ceremony with the du’a and walked back to our camp. I really treasure these experiences. After everything was packed up, Akbar and I departed toward Concordia. The morning was cool and a breeze made the walk enjoyable. We arrived to Concordia where we took in the stunning views of Mitre Peak, Gasherbrum IV, Marble Peak, and Broad Peak. K2 was obscured in clouds, but soon we were blessed with a view of the summit. After more than 8 hours, we arrived to Broad Peak base camp at 15,717ft/4790m elevation. We set up our kitchen, then witnessed an enormous avalanche sweep the route below camp I on Broad Peak. We also were made aware that another of our horses had fallen into a glacial river and had been injured. The horse was sent down to lower elevation, and our things were salvaged, but this incident again drives home the point that this glacier is no place for these animals. The rest of the afternoon was spent relaxing and preparing for the departure of our porters tomorrow morning. The trek from Broad Peak base camp to K2 base camp is only 45 minutes long so we will have the remainder of the day to set up our base camp.