#inylchek glacier

after a ride unlike any other…we landed, camped.  The next morning, we were picked up and taken away.  But not before splitting an absolutely terrible bottle of brandy with my guide. 

**Personal note..Sometimes I don’t like to finish posting a trip until I have another ready to go.  

…and I flew away to the sheep and horses.  We saw the same glaciers we had hiked on for the past six days, only this time from a birds-eye view which is funny because there are no birds in this valley. 

Everything looked so small from the chopper. There were times during the trek, though, that I wandered for hours at a time.  

The viewing Room

Top picture: The peak of Khan Tengri so rarely shows. It was an amazing moment at the end of my hike. Having arrived at the base camp the night before, there were a few alpinists who had come by helicopter.  They had been waiting for the weather to clear to make an attempt at the 7,100m peak and were tying knots and gathering supplies for their single day climb to the top. A climb, the camp master said, that takes most three days.

Amazing glacier formations were everywhere at the end of the valley, blocked in by Pogbeda (7,400m). A triple border. To the northwest, Kazakstan. To the east, China. Such a place to be.

Inylcheck Glacier, Kyrgyzstan. 

The Viewing Room

Rock and ice 

Rule every thought

and every step.

Kyrgyzstan

The valley continued. And I remain humbled to this day.

Kyrgyzstan. Inylchek Glacier

Seeing is to know, but that is not a feeling..A feeling is to do. Like a recipe. You cannot eat a recipe.

Cold, snow, and glacier wait ahead.

Inylchek Glacier.  Our first day on this 60 KM beast.  At first you only see rocks..then you realize that there are meters and meters of glacier below the valley floor. 

Inylchek Glacier, Kyrgyzstan

Such beauty and power channel through this valley.

First night in the valley and I honestly had no idea what to expect at this point. Three days’ hike passed and six to go.