A Look Into the Past

Following the early 20th century explorations of

Fanny and William Workman up to the head of the Biafo glacier in Pakistan

This trip, sponsored by the Patagonia clothing company, involved retracing part of the 1908 expedition of Fanny and William Workman to the Karakoram Himalaya of Pakistan.

“In 1908, the Workmans returned to the Karakoram and explored the 38-mile-long (61 km) Hispar Glacier in the Hunza Nagar region; they went from Gilgit to Nagir over the Hispar pass (17,500 feet or 5,300 metres) and onto the 37-mile-long (60 km) Biafo Glacier to Askole.” (Wikipedia) We retraced the section from Hispar Pass to Askole

They recorded the events of this expedition in their book “The Call of the Snowy Hispar” which includes many excellent photos. Our purpose was to try and find the locations of some of their photos and re-create those photos 100 years later in order to document glacial recession. We were able to do this for several images.

Skiing Towards Mt. Workman.

Our destination is the triangular peak . We’ll take a left turn just in front of the mountain and ski up the valley, eventually gaining the snowy ridge to the left of the summit.

Getting a Shave in the Bazaar.

The gentleman with the straight razor to his throat looks a little concerned with my photography.

A Shopkeeper in the Rawalpindi Bazaar.

This man is selling grains, lentils and beans.

One of the Fabulous Pakistani Trucks.

These are the “semis” of the Pakistani highways. They’re everywhere.

A Truck Driver and His Amazing Rig.

Ibex Horns

Ibex are one of the staple foods of the Snow Leopard.

Girls will be girls

A meltwater stream on the Biafo Glacier

Judging from the picture in Fanny Workman’s expedition account she stood in this exact spot and made a nearly identical picture to this one. In 1908 the ice was much thicker and was higher up onto the valley walls.

On the way to the summit

Mission accomplished and we’re heading home.