Broghil Valley and Karomber Lake

Broghil Valley is one of the most beautiful valleys of Pakistan's North with the magnificient Karomber Lake at 4100 meters as its major charm



Basic Info
Trek Name: Broghil Valley and Karomber Lake (also known as Along the Wakhan Corridor trek)

Range: HinduKush

Maximum Height: 4200 meters

No. of trekking days: 7-8

Trek starts from: Kishmanja (Yarkhun Valley)

Trek ends at: Mitrandas (Ishkoman Valley) or Darkot (Yasin Valley)

Total no. of days (Islamabad to Islamabad): 14

Best season: July through September

Reaching starting point
From Islamabad, one can reach Chitral by road or by Air. From Chitral, jeeps can be hired or public transport can be taken to reach Mastuj which is on main Gilgit Chitral road. From Mastuj, a jeep has to be hired for a long 10-12 hours journey up to Kishmanja from where this trek starts

Day 1: Kishmanja to Ishkarwaz(Broghil)
Duration: 4-5 hours

From Ishkarwaz, cross the flowing stream through a log foot bridge and continue south along with the river bed to reach Garamchashma. From this point, one leaves the river bed and turn left. The path ascends very smoothly till one reaches a small pass. From this point, there are two options to reach Broghil. One can climb right to reach Chikar which is the base of Darkot glacier from where one can reach Showrsheer the other day bypassing Ishkarwaz. If one continues towards southeast, the valley opens up with vast stretches of different small but colorful flowers. The stage ends at Ishkarwaz where there are posts of Chitral scouts and police where one has to register.

Day 2: Ishkarwaz - Showrsheer via Lashkargaz
sDuration: 7-8 hrs

A couple of hours walk away from Ishkarwaz is Garhil. Inhabited by a few households, Garhil is one of the most beautiful spots of the whole area in terms of landscape. After crossing Garhil, one walks beneath the Darwaza pass and reaches Lashkargaz. Darwaza pass is another way to enter into Agfhanistan's wakhan corridor. Before Lashkargaz, the main attraction of this day is a series of small but beautiful lakes with changing colors. In total, these are five different lakes just adjacent to each other. Every few kilometers on this path, one comes across a new pasture which is used as the grazing land for yaks. Lashkargaz is the place where traditional polo festival is held each year where wakhi people from the whole region participate.

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Day 3 Showrsheer - Karomber Lake
Duration : 4-5 hrs

It is a very gentle walk up to Karomber that climbs very smoothly. One passes through small settlements on Rabat and Lale Rabat before reaching the Karomber pass at 4200 meters. Karomber lake is further half an hour away from the pass at 4160 meters. There are some camping sites maintained along the lake. Porters normally stay in open sky small huts built above the lake. They must be provided a water proof sheet as a protection against snow and rain.

Day 4: Karomber Lake - Swinj
Duration: 3-4 hrs

This is the easiest day of the whole trek with a very gentle walk of few hours. One enters into the Karomber valley after crossing Karomber lake which does not enjoy the greenery and beautiful landscape of that of Broghil valley. Swinj is inhabited by Gujjar people. They come from Imit during summer months with their livestock. They are not as friendly as the wakhi people and must be treated with caution.

Day 5: Swinj - Sohktarabad via Chittiboi Glacier
Duration: 7-8 hrs

This is one of the longest day of the trek included with it is the crossing of Chittiboi glacier. Glacier crossing takes around 2 - 2.5 hours. The crossing itself is not very technical however donkeys with load struggle on it. At sokhtarabad campsite is maintained along with the police post where one must register. The post comes under the jurisdiction of Ishkoman police station.

Day 6: Sokhtarabad - Virgoth Or Chota (small) Yasin
Duration : 5-6 hrs

Soon after leaving Sokhtarabad, one has to cross the Sokhtarabad glacier [2013 update - we didnt come across the glacier instead had to cross freezing cold & a furious Nalah (stream), rope is recommended]. Virgoth which is the destination of this day is undoubtedly the best camping site of the trek but it comes with a price which is "Shuttargurdan". It is the name of the difficult mountain one has to cross with very narrow, steep and scary path. The original path used to go along with the river however in year 2007, glacier blocked the way of the river and there is no apparent way to cross it. One has to be very careful on this narrow path as any wrong step can take one down to thousands of feet down into the river.

2013 update

Shuttargardan is tough so better option could be that cross the river from Sokhtarabad (was knee deep or bit more but really cold as it comes out of Chittiboi glacier), walk on the other side to Chilinji Glacier & then cross Chilinji (on its outer edge) & descend on Virgoth side (River flows under Chilinji so we cross river on glacier), Shuttargardan is just opposite to Chilinji.

Virgoth is a really nice camping site however another option could be to cross Virgoth Glacier (immediately after Virgoth) & camp at Chota (Small) Yasin Jungle. This camping site is also equally good & almost like Virgoth (though jungle is not as dense as Virgoth.

Day 7: Virgoth - Mitrandas Or Borath
Duration: 6-8 hrs or 10 hrs in case of Borath

If one starts early, it is also possible to reach Mitrandas the same day however Pekhin is the other option if one can't. It is probably the worst of campsites of the whole trek and feels more as one is coming from the campsites of virgoth and sokhtarabad. After leaving Vrgoth, one has to cross the glacier that takes 30-40 minutes and ends at Yasin village which is another pictersuqe village and is very much similar to virgoth. An hour walk from Pekhin takes one to the river. One can cross the river on foot if water is not high or there is an alternate route available over the cliff on the left which is not very difficult however is narrow where donkeys with load struggle [2013 - In August we didnt find any water on this side of river apart from small off shoots which can be crossed by jumping over them]. Just before entering Mitrindas you've to manage atleast 3 freezing streams, fold your trousers & get through them - freeeeeeezing]

Although there is a jeep road till Mitramdas, jeeps are generally not available there unless already arranged. One has to walk further couple of hours to Borth to find one. From Borth the jeep can be taken to Gahkuch which is the capital of Ghizer and is a big town. Regular transport is available from Gakuch for Gilgit.

[2013 update - on last day of trek everyone wants to complete trek ASAP so Pekhin is a clear No. We started from Chota (small) Yasin at 7 and were at Pekhin around 11 & 3 more hours to Mitrindas. If you are lucky you may find Jeep in Mitrindas (not much chances though unless pre-arrangement is done). We walked 3 more hours to Borath to get Jeep which took us to Imit PWD rest house. Jeep Cost Borath to Imit was PKR 4,500].

Trek Options
Other Options.

Trek Organizer
Hunza Explorers

Mobile: +92-321-4364658

Email: info@hunzaexplorers.com

Website: www.hunzaexplorers.com