This is it - finally we leave BC. I must admit, that after 45 days here, we are all ready to head out, and this morning couldn't have come soon enough. Having said that, it certainly doesn't make the early start any more palatable, and we are up at 4.30 to pack up the last of our stuff, collapse our tents and have breakfast.

As we start walking out of BC for the last time (this time down the glacier rather than the 12+ times up), the weather is overcast and dreary. The mountain lies veiled in thick cloud, restricting any final parting glance, like some widow hiding behind a thick curtain. As we walk down the glacial moraine the mist rolls in thick swathes, leaving us damp and moist. The porters appear like ghostly spectres through the cloud and soon catch us up. Despite the moraine seeming like some intelligible jumble of leg-breaking rock and scree, the porters seem drawn to invisible trails which snake through the ever changing landscape. We follow them as they trace out the easiest routes which pose least resistance. We pass the site of Broad Peak BC, where only a few slightly unnatural circles of stone, or ice platforms belie any former human habitation. It has been clear for only two weeks and already the glacial action of the environment is already reclaiming the location as though it was a jungle rapidly encroaching on an ancient Mayan citadel.

We trek for several hours straight down the central strip of moraine of the Godwin Austin Glacier. Towards Concordia the glacier starts to become heavily affected by the convergence of the multiple glaciers and our straight line of travel rapidly becomes more circuitous as we struggle to pick our way through the maze of intersecting mounds of rock and ice, and make tentative crossings of hazardously fast flowing glacial streams.

I arrived at the ATP (Adventure Tours Pakistan - our expedition outfitter) Concordia camp at around 9.30am, where I collapsed into the tent and was rewarded with a very refreshing, and much needed cup of hot sweet milk tea, and a plate of biscuits. The rest of the team drifted in over the next hour or so, and we all had a bit of a break before the next stage of the day's walk to Ali Camp, near the base of the Ghandogoro La (Pass).

The second half of the day, which was a similar distance (approx 8-10 miles) was spent trekking up the Vigne glacier, which is an incredible wide flat glacier. The morning's snowfall has subsided, and at times the sun threatened to appear through the lifting cloud. The first of us arrived into Ali Camp (4900m) at about 3.30pm, thankful for finally being able to halt and make camp for the day.

Most of our bags and equipment had gone with the bulk of the porters down the Baltoro, and only about 20 or so (enough for some personal gear and the kitchen tent and equipment) would actually come over the Ghandogoro pass with us, as it was a treacherous and difficult crossing for all involved. Our reasoning for going this way is that it is about a third of the distance, and that when we reach Hushe (the main village), the route to Skardu by Jeep is a lot easier, quicker and safer. The only problem of course is going over the Pass itself, which is at over 5400m. The steep snow and ice covered route is roped for safety (a hand rope), but as you can imagine, the porters, with their heavy loads, sockless trainers and rudimentary clothes, still find it incredibly difficult and it can be extremely dangerous.

Ali Camp is a pretty insignificant camp, and once we arrived we all piled into a 12x12 ft box tent (no individual North Face tents anymore). From a similar tent the kitchen staff prepared us a delicious supper of soup, rice and vegetables (no great surprise there then), followed by pineapple chunks. Somehow, all 7 of us (Chris had gone down the Baltoro) managed to find floor space and tried to get an early night, as we'd be getting up quite early the next morning to cross the Pass...