Shimshal, Chapchingol Pass Trek & Sonia Peak
Into the remote Shimshal valley, over the Chapchingol Pass and up Sonia Peak (6,340 m) — for the courageous and well acclimatized.
Where Hunza traditions live on
To find Hunza traditions still alive you have to travel to remote valleys like Shimshal, one of the most remote inhabited areas of the Karakoram. The road runs through the whole Hunza valley, and the trek leads past rugged mountains and through a narrow gorge that opens out at Shimshal village, where about a thousand Ismaili people live in hamlets among terraced, irrigated fields.
From Shimshal the route climbs to the high pastures, makes a three-day ascent of Sonia Peak and crosses the Chapchingol Pass down to the Koksil stream, rejoining the Karakoram Highway below the Khunjerab Pass.
Day-by-day itinerary
- Day 1
Gilgit to Passu
A five-hour drive up the Karakoram Highway.
- Days 2 – 3
Shimshal
Three hours by jeep to Shimshal (3,000 m), and a day to prepare.
- Days 4 – 7
To the high pastures
Trek via Zardgarben (4,075 m), Jafervask (4,602 m) and Perchodwashk (4,580 m) to War-e-Ben (3,597 m).
- Days 8 – 9
Chapchingol Base Camp
A rest day for the porters, then on to the base camp below the pass (4,084 m).
- Days 10 – 12
Sonia Peak
Three days to climb Sonia Peak (6,340 m).
- Days 13 – 14
Over the Chapchingol Pass
A hard crossing of the pass, 6 – 7 hours, down to the Koksil river (4,420 m). A spare day is kept in case of bad weather.
- Days 15 – 16
Hunza
Trek out to the Karakoram Highway and drive to Hunza. A full day for Altit and Baltit forts.
- Day 17
Back to Gilgit
Drive to Gilgit, where services end.
Photos via Wikimedia Commons: Shimshal valley — Spiture, CC BY-SA 4.0
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