[GaliWalker]

Part 1: Acclimatization Part 2: Dudipatsar Lake, Kaghan Valley Part 3: Ansoo Lake, Kaghan Valley Part 5: Fairy Meadows Lake Saif-ul-Maluk (Aug 13, 2011) Lake Saif-ul-Maluk is Pakistan's most famous lake. Located in Kaghan Valley and sitting at 10,578ft, but accessible by a rough, scary jeep road, from the nearby town of Naran, its beauty has become somewhat spoilt by its popularity. Despite this, the setting is drop-dead gorgeous. Mighty snow-capped mountains ring the lake, soaring up to 7,000ft higher. In still conditions the reflection shot of these peaks in Lake Saif-ul-Maluk has been the iconic photograph of Kaghan Valley, if not of the entire Northern Areas of Pakistan, for years. I'd visited Lake Saif-ul-Maluk three times before: once as a child, once as a teenager and the last time in blizzard conditions in winter, when I never even saw the frozen lake. This was to be my opportunity to photograph the lake for the first time. I was able to spend the entire day up there, just soaking in the atmosphere. In time, even the hustle and bustle around the lake, from other tourists, faded into the background.

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Babusar Pass (Aug 15, 2011) After spending four nights in Kaghan Valley, we were ready to move to the next stage of our journey. The escape would be over 13,691ft high Babusar Pass. I'd never gone over this before. In the past, people had related horror stories of how scary the jeep road was, but now the gravel road was supposedly much improved and "just fine". We had a leisurely start from Naran and enjoyed paved roads, interspersed with frequent rough sections where the road had been washed out by landslides or encroaching snow-fields. 1.5hrs later, after the town of Jalkhad, the paved portion was replaced by gravel. Despite this the condition, though insides jumbling, wasn't too bad. Only a few miles later we drove past magnificent Lulusar Lake, elevation 11,190ft. I had been really looking forward to this, since I'd been regaled with stories of its beauty since I was a kid.

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After Lulusar Lake, the road began to climb steadily towards Babusar Pass. The scenery got better and better: big mountains and sweeping valleys, as far as the eye could see. Just short of the top, we took a much rougher road down to the valley floor, in search of a lake we had been told about in Naran. We eventually found it, nestled beneath a barren peak. Quite pretty, but not of the caliber of some of the other lakes I'd seen so far on our trip. Well worth the diversion though.

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It was back up to Babusar Pass then. Here the scenery changed dramatically: gone was most of the greenery, replaced by much drier and rockier conditions. These dusty conditions and heat steadily increased, as we descended into Kohistan, to end at the substantial town of Chilas, elevation ~4,000ft, on the banks of the mighty River Indus.

[Sabahsboy]

Looks like a great deal of heavy duty hiking! Wonderful! Exhausting to think of it! The 7000 foot relief above the lake is certainly dramatic. Think: The Grand Teton soaring with out any interruption...The Tetons are so startling as they are, but the site presented here is ever more so! Like (maybe) Glacier National Park on steroids! Or, Jasper N.P., Canada.