Retour
25 June 2004 Goro II Camp
Last night the fog looked ominous, and sure enough it was snowing in the morning but for our porters, at least, were past the point of no return and to surprised cries of "what, we are trekking in this?", our 100 or so porters descended to pick up the loads.
The worry for me (Jamie) was the porters had been given an equipment allowance, rather than the socks and sunglasses, and of course few had sunglasses, but they all had friends coming down the trail who would soon enough be out of the snow, so now at camp about 60% of them have battered glasses. We have a few tender eyes, but no real snow blindness - yet.
It is frustrating to be in the middle knowing this would happen (it was obvious from the weather forecast way back in Skardu) but being unable to persuade the guide, sirdar or porters of the need. The general attitude is happy-go-lucky rather than meticulously organised.
Tomorrow will be the biggest test for our porters, it is a long 6-7 hours in good conditions and then they will race back down to Goro II, having left all their supplies here.
With a good guide (Jalal) we have faired far better than any other expedition we have met, we have all our gear with us and the majority of food, and are moving at a pace we want. Roland's Broad Peak mixed team have climbing equipment scattered from Askole to Urdukas and this morning their porters refused to leave Goro II camp so we will share the trail with them tomorrow, if the weather is kind.
