Hopar Glacier

An active glacier in the mountains off the Hunza Valley in northern Pakistan, running down from the base of the peak above to the valley floor where visitors stand. Harry, who likes glaciers and says so, rates the drive in as the best road he has ever been on for views.

Getting there

The approach runs along a river with sheer cliffs on both sides and a steep drop, and in the last stretch it stops being a road at all — loose rock and a minor track that the car takes anyway. His own summary is that you have to risk it to get the biscuit.

You park at a hotel and walk. Harry expected an hour’s trek; the first view of the glacier face is about five minutes on foot and the viewpoint about ten. It is a walk rather than a hike, and there are sheep and cattle on it.

What it is like

The viewpoint sits above the glacier looking up its length to the mountain it comes off. There is green tea to be had at the top — mountain green tea, drunk looking out — and the thing Harry says he will remember is a sound rather than a view: ice breaking off and falling into the frozen water below, which carries as a low echoing boom like a distant explosion.

The surrounding mountains are a source of stones, rubies among them, which people collect locally.

Practical facts

• Reachable and worthwhile in winter. Around −7 to −9°C in the evening and about 2°C in the day in early January; with the sun out Harry called the temperature near perfect in four layers.
• The final stretch of road is genuinely rough, and a driver who knows it is part of what you are paying a tour for.
• It is a short walk, not an expedition — no special equipment appears in the video.

Harry’s tips

• Go light. He deliberately left the gimbal and two of his three lenses behind and carried one camera, a drone and spare batteries, because hauling the full kit up a hill is what usually ruins the walk for him.
• Don’t be put off by winter — see the temperatures above.
• Stop for the tea at the top and stay long enough to hear the glacier move.

Source

• Crazy Glacier in Hunza Valley🇵🇰 — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KR2_um8_8GE