Ascent to Parkachik la

The beginning of this ascent is in the village Panikhar, where you have to decide how to make this ascent. Each variant has its pros and cons. If you are staying here overnight, you can go into the pass without backpack, but you will need to go back later this day. Or go with backpack, cross the pass and descend to Parkachik on the other side of the ridge, or even camp in the pass and wait for the sunrise. This in turn can be quite exhausting, if you are not yet well acclimated.

The route itself is not difficult for orientation: first you have to go through an oasis of Panikhar to the river Suru and find here the only bridge that leads across it. The way is more than obvious then –  straight up along herders paths. The pass on the ridge is clearly visible.

Looking south, you can admire the wall of Himalayas separating Kashmir from Ladakh.

The ascent itself leads along relatively comfortable, although „endless“ slope. View of the Suru valley improves with each vertical meter. This view comes after about an hour and a half from the river. You can see here that there is a lot of greenery compared to the rest of Ladakh. The reason is bigger precipitation caused by the proximity of the main mountain ridge.

After about two hours of the ascent you will finally be rewarded with a wonderful view of the Himalayas from the pass Parkachik. Directly against you will be glacial pyramid of Nun.

The ridge directly against you will give you an impression of a rock crown. The majestic peak of Kun is a little bit hidden behind it, but this entire panorama is very impressive.

After you catch the breath in the pass, you can continue on along the ridge further to the south. Although you will need to ascend another almost 300 altitude meters, the views will be even better than from the pass and you will see other mountain giants of the Himalayan ridge.

If you do not want to return the same way back, you need to descend to the village Parkachik on the other side of the ridge.

If you look back, you will realize how beautiful Suru valley is.

If you ascend high enough along the ridge/far from the pass, nice view of the south to the mountain wall separating Kashmir from Ladakh will open. Unfortunately, the weather worsens mostly from this direction.

Before you set out for a relatively long and monotonous way back down to Panikhar, admire Nun for the last time, the highest mountain in the Himalayan ridge in the state of Jammu-Kashmir.