Italian map of the Baltoro region, with our camp-sites.

Leaving Payu early (crossing the droppings-zone).

Spotting K2 from Payu, hidden behind another peak.

Stepping onto the glacier, here completely covered with moraine-rubble and -sand.

Noon and lunch at Liligo. We face the Trango Towers here.

The glacier-ice looks black here at Liligo. We stepped from the ice over the tiny ice-spur bridge in the lower center.

Balti porter. At this close a distance they smell strongly like sweat and fire-smoke. I guess they wash hardly ever. They walk without socks in plastic shoes, they carry their 25 kilo load plus their personal belongings mostly with a rope tied over their shoulders. They still go real fast, but they have to pause frequently.

View on Trango Towers with Lesser Trango Tower to the right and Uli Biaho left.

Trango Towers again, both Greater and Lesser. In beautiful weather.

View to Dunge glacier, one of the side-glaciers from Baltoro.

At the end of the day we reach the giant-rock covered meadows of Urdukas (4057 m), the last camp-site not on ice. In may the grass is still brown.

Almost all porters suffer nasty blisters on feet and shoulders. At the end of the day they ask for treatment for their blisters, injuries, head-aches, eyes UV-irritated etc. They all want treatment first, they all try to draw the doctors attention first, by calling, pulling my arm or shoulder etc. I lose my temper as they struggle for our attention, I shout at them. It's a shame. I carry only half their load, with state-of-the-art gear.

So I keep on mending the blisters. We give bandages, paracetamol, we advise them to have lots of fluid and to cover their eyes better.\

Here we are closer to the mountain gods; inshallah.

Leaving Urdukas. The porters received sunglasses today because snow will be met shortly.

Even up here the winter snow is melting rapidly in the 25 degrees and full sun.

Masherbrum (7821 m, at the left); formerly known as K1. Way back the Karakoram-summits were measured from far away and not known by name. They each received their K (Karakoram)-number.

In close-up even more beautiful. Still a lot of winter snow up there.

'The ice gets visible in a spectacular fashion. As does Gasherbrum IV (7925 m).

The glacier melts rapidly at day-time. So jump!

Ronald has a full porter's-load of camera's and lenses with him to take the best pictures. He even uses compressed air to clean-blow his camera after changing lenses or films. I considered that a little too professional. Back home I discovered all my slides carrying a prominent scratch-line!

Gore is a beautiful place with splendid views in all directions. The Pakistan military also have a big camp there.

Masherbrum with an evening-cloud onto the summit.

View Baltoro downstream.