Written by: Muhammad Umer Farooq
Posted on: March 06, 2024 | 
| 中文
First break on day one of the trek
From the Karakoram Highway (KKH) we turned onto a track going towards Shimshal, which descended initially, reaching a small check-post. After clearance, we continued our journey along the river side and I noticed a handful of camp settlements along the river. These people were working hard to gather gold from the sandy water of the river. The 3-4 hours drive now, used to be a 2-3 days trek earlier for the people of Shimshal, even when it was something as basic as getting medical help. The remoteness of this valley, and the description of Shimshal as the valley of mountaineers, excited me enough to challenge myself to scale a height beyond 4,900m. However, as the day light faded, the driver turned on his headlights and steered the vehicle through sharp turns. During this part of the journey, I was filled with anxiety as the headlights showed strange shaped humongous rocks on the side of the jeep track. I had not been to this valley earlier, but going past these huge rocks, my first impression was that this place has a lot of scree slopes with loose rocks. We reached the Shimshal village around 9-10 pm that day, and slept at a guest house.
Schpudeen campsite
The plan for the day was to successfully reach Zargabeen campsite at 4,000 meters. The group had its breakfast and started its trek crossing central Shimshal. We crossed the suspension bridge over the river, in order to go to the other side of the valley. When we reached the other side, we trekked straight for a while and I could see a small area with plantations above the river bed, and it is in that direction that our guide took us in. Our first break was under the shade of this grove of trees, where we took a brief break before continuing further.
As we crossed this small area of trees, the landscape turned barren and brown, and towards Zargarbeen we could only see scree slopes. The next few hours were challenging, because there was an ascent, and that too on slopes that were prone to landslides. On some spots there was no trail at all, because of the loose gravel and stones. We had to keep moving, hoping that if we lose grip and slip on our current step, the only way to save yourself from an injury is to get a grip on the next step. There was no other access to the Boissum Pass!
Zargarbeen to Schpudeen in low clouds
Towards 4 PM we finally reached Zargarbeen, which was a plain field where the locals were able to play football. Exercising at such high altitudes builds their stamina. The team prepared for lunch, while we set up our camps in order to get some rest, and prepare to move towards the second camp site next morning.
Plan for the day was to reach Schpudeen at 4,600m. When I woke up in the morning and stepped out of the camp, everything was different than before. The entire place was covered in a white blanket of fresh snow. It was a splendid sight! After the scree slopes and barren trek of yesterday, this was a pleasant change as the landscape looked more beautiful.
Schpudeen area
After breakfast, we began our trek surrounded by low clouds. There were towering mountains on both sides, and we had to ascend between these. As we moved ahead on the trek, the temperature was rising and the fresh snow was slowly melting, leaving beautiful patches of snow and land. Looking behind, one could see Zargarbeen covered in low clouds, and all we knew was that we were between tall mountains, but we couldn’t see a thing!
By noon, the fresh snow that had covered the entire valley in the morning had completely vanished, however, luckily the trek was also better than that of the last day. The dreadful scree slopes were now left behind. So far, I had enjoyed day 2 of the trek the most, because the change in landscape overnight, and then a beautiful trek in low clouds in relatively safer conditions was wonderful. Schpudeen itself was a mesmerizing campsite, with a view of the pointy snow-covered peaks of Pamir. The weather had cleared by the time we reached Schpudeen campsite, from where Schpudeen Pass trek can also be done, but we were here for Boissum.
Zargarbeen campsite after snowfall
The plan for day 3 was to do a day trek to Boissum Pass and get back to Zargarbeen by the day’s end. When I came outside my tent, I discovered that it was snowing and the visibility was poor. We were going to attempt the Pass, but I was preoccupied with the thought that the bad weather should not cheat us out of making it to the Boissum Pass. We began the trek and descended a little towards a slow river stream, and walked next to it for a bit after turning right.
Schpudeen campsite
We had to ascend on what looked like a rocky dry stream, covered with fresh snow. Luckily, I don’t remember this part of the trek to be dangerous as my shoes still had a good grip. A few hours into the trek, the weather started clearing up. We were walking closer to a wall of mountains covered with fresh snow that was glistening because of the bright sun.
Boissum Pass, 4,900 m
On asking the direction from our guide, we came to know that we have to climb this beautiful little summit before getting a glimpse of our destination. We went into deep knee snow on some sections of the climb, and it made me breathless, but the view at the top was spectacular. If I had the option to go ahead towards Chafchingol Pass from here, I would definitely have done so because of the view. The view from Boissum Pass was of a snowy dream land with beautiful slopes covered in deep snow, which were far more dangerous than how charming they looked. Boissum makes me think of doing Chafchingol Pass, and I will someday with the blessings of the Almighty, return here to explore this valley more.
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