Another early start this morning - breakfast of omelettes and fritters with jam at 6.30am and start trekking at about 7.15am. As we were walking out of camp, Wilky and I walked past a slope full of porters with their loads on their backs just sitting together. There must have been close to 200 of them, and it made for a perfect photo opportunity. Just as we were lining them up in our view finders, there was a shout, and en-mass they all jumped up and started charging towards us! Talk about getting caught in a stampede! We really had to hurry to try and get out in front of them, and not get caught behind this long train, where the narrow pathway made overtaking very tricky.

Today was our move from Paiju (3368m) to Ordokas (4011m), a distance of about 20kms (12 miles). As we left Paiju in the broadening valley, the giants of the Karakoram started to come into view - the Muztagh group, the Trango group, even Broad Peak occupied much of the horizon later along the trek. However, despite the awe-inspiring scenery, the trek proved to be far from enjoyable. As we approached and started walking over the moraine and ice of the Baltoro Glacier, we entered a region of an icy wilderness where the storm tossed surface of the glacier is covered by loose rocks. Today involved a significant distance, and also a significant climb, all over very tedious terrain. Walking on the glacier is slow and tiring and the safe route through the Baltoro wasn't always easy to follow as it ducked and dived and wound it's way through the ice ridges and around crevasses. This day is apparently the most tiring and strenuous part of the whole trek into BC (and I'm now very pleased to have it behind me!). As we climbed further up, we started to have to contend not only with the Baltoro itself, but with a number of other subsidiary glaciers frowning from the north and south between great rocky peaks. We were often having to climb up and down through a confusion of rocks and threading our way through the endless maze of giant boulders or scree slopes. On more than one occasion we lost the trail, and would have to backtrack, or go 'cross-country' to get back on it.
It was with a huge sense of relief that we trekked into Ordokas campsite, which is a good 300m above the glacier, and on a grassy slope - which I believe is probably the last greenery we'll see for the next 6/7 weeks.
I actually walked into camp with a porter towing a pair of goats - for whom this trek will be a one way trip. We've actually had a number of goats accompanying us up the valley, and every night there are slightly fewer. Last night for supper we had some delicious goat's liver! The first pair of goats that we'd come across we'd nicknames 'mutton' and 'chop', but they didn't last very long. As sad as it might seem, the promise of fresh meat seems to help us forget about these poor creature’s one-way journey.

For the first time on the trip, a number of us really felt the altitude when we got into camp today. I think that this 700m gain today, plus probably some dehydration from another scorcher of a day really took it's toll on us. However, as usual, 3 or 4 cups of hot drinks, a couple of paracetamol and a quick snooze for an hour has worked absolute wonders, and my minor head-ache and general spacedness are no more.

The next 3 days should be easier than today, with distances of only about 12kms and a few hundred metres of ascent. We are due into BC on Monday evening (In sha'Allah), at an altitude of 5100m.

So, I hope that you all have a good weekend, and spare a thought for us schlepping up the Baltoro over the next few days.