Five days from Hopper to one of the highest alpine lakes anyone walks to — 4,694 metres, and frozen until late June.
Rush Lake sits above the Barpu glacier at 4,694 metres. The walk in goes from Hopper through Barpu Giram and Hamdar, crossing glacier ice on the second day, and then climbs to Rush Pari peak above the lake for a view that takes in Spantik, Malubiting, Miar and Diran at once.
It is a serious trek. The altitude profile is genuine, the glacier crossing needs care, and weather at the lake is unreliable even in August. Previous multi-day trekking experience is expected, and the operator will ask about it.
In exchange you get one of the few places in the Karakoram where you can stand on a shoulder at nearly 5,000 metres having walked every step of the way.
01
Rush Pari peak, above the lake, with four 7,000-metre summits in one sweep.
02
Two hours on ice with the guide roped ahead.
03
4,100 m, on grass, with nothing between you and Malubiting.
04
A profile that earns the view rather than driving you to it.
Drive to Hopper, then descend to the glacier and cross to the far side before climbing to the summer settlement at Barpu Giram.
Long climbing day along the lateral moraine to the pastures at Hamdar. Altitude starts to be felt from here.
Early start to the lake, then up the shoulder to Rush Pari at 4,694 m. Spantik, Malubiting, Miar and Diran all visible. Back to Hamdar for the night.
Retrace the moraine down to Barpu Giram. Easier day, and the appetite comes back.
Cross the glacier and climb to Hopper, then drive out to Karimabad by mid-afternoon.
Included in the price
Not included
Prices vary by date: high season costs more, and the shoulder weeks are the quietest on the route.
4.7
from 1 review
Viktor Ivanov
Bulgaria · Travelled July 2025
The glacier crossing on day one is not casual and day three is seven hours with the last part above 4,500. Do not book this as your first trek. If it is your third or fourth, the view from Rush Pari is one of the great ones.
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