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Published: February 28th 2016
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An adventure into the Katlang mountains of Mardan in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan Katlang, a subdivision in the Mardan District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, is located to the northeast of the district on a distance of about twenty kilometres. It has a lively bazaar, offering a variety of items, and, transport to remote parts of the subdivision. To the east of Katlang Bazaar, one can see a jagged-skyline, thrusting upwards in awe and wonder. These lofty mountains can be seen from Nowshera, Charsada and even beyond. Rising steeply right away off the plateaux, it stretched over a wider area to the northeast, and ridged up slightly to the south. Jamal Ghari, a site having Buddhist remains, offers a magnificent panoramic view of the western face of the mountain.
Having been dwelt in Mardan for years, and casting glance at these mountains every day; I often used to walk to a sugarcane field, and cast a curiously intent look on the southern face of the mountain. It was early 2000, when I felt the subliminal effects of those mountains, and fancied how to have a shot on the southern face leading directly to the summit.
However, it wasn't until December 2005, when finally we stepped at the summit after a difficult climb via the southern flank.
We, a triumvirate of three young adventurers, had a plan of attempting the mountain, which if successful, would make it possible for us to scramble up to the summit just short before the evening. We set out on December 4, 2005 to attempt the mountain that used to throwing down the gauntlet whenever we gaze at it.
We travelled by a mini-coach from Jaber Nehar to Fersh where the road bifurcates – one leads to Katlang, and the other to Jamal Ghari. Following the road up to the village of Jamal Gari which is famous for Buddhist remains, we, after a little journey, arrived at the southern flank of the mountain.
Having been already decided to attempt the long craggy-ridge leading to a massif of summits; no sooner had we ended up at the base of the mountain than we're at odds with each other. One of us, being a spirited dude and ebullient personality, suggested the western ridge to be attempted, a difficult and dangerous climb indeed.
I didn't know what's got into him. However, the rest resisted, and successfully brought the other around logically. After being convinced, and witnessing the massive drop of the route, he gave in to our persuasion. For our small party, the only feasible route was the eastern ridge, which wasn't so vertical. We would have not gone up so far had we attempted the western ridge put forwarded by one of our mates. Once atop the eastern ridge, it divulged on us that the western ridge was challenging, and technically more demanding, and far beyond our capacities.
Days were short, and when we arrived at the so-called base camp, it was already 10:30 am. So it was clear that time constraint would be the main hurdle in attempting the whole massif crowning many peaks. Yet, we're determined to make every effort our bodies allowed. We'd a rucksack, filled with our gears, and carried by us in turn.
Lacking camping gears, we'd turn around plan in our minds, that's to retreat down in time to reach our homes before darkness fell. After negotiating a demanding pitch, we scrambled up to a saddle overlooking the couloir we
got through. Cold as it was, the steep climb sweated us, we took our load off at the lee of a rock to rest, and recuperate from the exertion.
Sipping tea at that commanding position, and looking down the ravine, we activated the timer of our typical camera to shoot us. The wind was blowing gently as we began to climb the second pitch.
Later, when we nudged up a gully dropping vertically, distant views of Sawal Dher, Katlang and its suburbs, Jamal Ghari, Ghondo, Babozo, and even Rustam became visible.
Views beyond these places couldn't be seen due to fog. We edged up a steeper gully clinging to bushes grown over the rocky ridge. The ridge was so precipitous and narrow that it made our hairs stand on end. As we doddered up yet another pitch nervously to a pyramidal structure on the ridge seething with crows whirring overhead, we were drawn up by an immense drop almost a thousand metre. The drop began to whirl around our heads. Looking down off it was so terrifying that we clung onto the bushes very tightly. Negotiating it was out of question,
and we were to traverse it to continue on the climb otherwise we couldn't push for the summit. We crawled back cautiously hanging on to bushes, and arrived at a col which we were to get over.
Once arrived at the col, we rested for a while, had a skimpy meal, and planned for the upcoming summit push. Seeing a sheer slope, we roped up because had any one of us fell down, the rest would resist the fall. It was almost three o'clock when we made it to the first peak hiding the main summit. At this juncture, my mates were dead-tired, and wanted to turn around, but I managed to persuade them to carry on for yet another hour or two. They agreed unwillingly, and, I, had to drag them up so that they couldn't fall behind. We get moved up a steep couloir leading to the summit. As the sun was setting down, we, after an arduous climb, finally made it to the summit. Bushed and drained off, we lied down among the rocks beneath some trees grown over the summit.
A light wind was blowing while the setting sun was
glinting up the whole massif, and we're plonked down facing the horizon where the sun was setting down. Having magnificent views in every direction, we'd our last light meal before retreating down. Beyond the immediate massif, were the mountains of Babozo and Buner, but not clearly visible in the fog.
Perched on the summit, we talked about our next move whether to turn around on the same route, or descend straightly to Katlang. Being exhausted, we weren't strong enough to follow the same route we got through. It was narrow, craggy, steep and too long for our drained off bodies.
Therefore we agreed to descend to Katlang, but this route descended steeply into the valley downwards. Fortunately, that route had shrubs grown over most of the route, and it gave us relief while climbing down the mountain. Hanging to long bushes and descending, we'd often catch a whiff of the pressed whippy sapling twigs. It'd already dusk now while we're trudging down a slope to the valley. Descending the slope was very difficult, it was taxing on our knees as well as our whole bodies. Our bodies were aching all over, particularly our knees were excruciatingly painful. Pushing too far our bodies on those precipitous ridges, had telling effects on our dehydrated physiques.
After a strenuous descend, we finally arrived at the flat ground, and came across a shepherd on the way down. Thirsty and dehydrated, we're in search of water, and asked him about water. He pointed to a hut, a little downward from where we were. We quenched our thirst at the hut, and then proceeded down to reach Katlang Bazaar. As we're hiking down, a fierce dog appeared from nowhere, and began chasing us to a point where we could throw back pebbles on it. With small stones we repulsed the dog otherwise it'd have bitten us. Gasping following a quick run, we'd to rest for a while to catch our breath. Ached, spent, and in to the bargain, chased up by a fierce dog at the end of our adventure, we shuffled down a slope, and then followed a path leading to Katlang Bazaar.
Turning up at Shakar Tangi on a bridge, spanning a canal, and issued off Swat River, we sighed with relief. Soon we arrived at the bazaar, and luckily, we got on to a van travelling to Mardan. Quite late in the evening, we turned up at our homes in Jaber Nehar.
Unfortunately, we hadn't a digital camera to fully document our adventure, and relied on a typical camera which would often become headache for us. It didn't perform well, and most of our photos lost when we developed our film later in Mardan.
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