They have a dream in their eyes, these two goras I’m accompanying. They have set their sights on a legend that now looms before us. It is the Latok peak, a rocky mountain that stands some 180 kilometers beyond Skardu on the Choktoi Glacier and 120 km west of the famous Baltoro Glacier. This peak is one of the most difficult climbs in the world and has yet to be successfully attempted from the Northern side. More than 20 expeditions have tried and turned back.

And now, Josh Wharton and Nathan Opp wanted to succeed where others have failed.

With a stiff and tall frame, short light brown hair and stern looks, Josh Wharton, the team leader, was dressed in a light-half sleeve shirt and a pair of shorts and slippers. Much taller and leaner, with long unruffled brown hair and a goatee, Nathen Opp, the other member of the team was dressed in a black long-sleeved shirt with shorts and a shabby pair of joggers.

This was Josh’s fourth visit to Pakistan – all previous visits had also been to scale Latok, a mountain that had become something of an obsession with him. Earlier he came here in 2009 with his wife, Errin, but didn’t succeed in summiting this coveted peak. Josh is a professional climber who works for Patagonia, a mountaineering company in the American state of Colorado. He has won the Ouray Ice Festival Mixed Climbing Competition consecutively for three years -- in 2009, 2010, and 2011. In short, he knows what he’s doing.

Nathan Opp, who hails from the American state of Montana, is also a professional mountaineer as well as an avid skier. In fact, he even brought his skis along for this expedition.

Four other members were to be part of this group but they backed out at the last moment.

As for me, I wasn’t there for the climb at all. I’m the Liaison Officer (LO), you see, and it’s my job to make sure that our foreign friends have as comfortable a time as possible. And so, the base camp was as far as I was going to go. But, as they say, it’s about the journey, not the destination.

And what a journey it was. Nanga Parbat was on our right and K2 on our left as our plane descended over Skardu city.

All the expeditions undergo various security clearances once in Islamabad, and later in Skardu, and it is the LO’s job to make sure this happens.

From there it’s a partly smooth and partly bumpy jeep ride to Askole. The bumpy part starts at Shigar, which along with being home to the famous Shigar fort, is also the last major town on the way to Askole. The metalled track then turns into a rough jeep-able trail with streams gushing down all throughout it. It’s a land of abundant apricot trees and on the left of the road flows the river Indus, swollen by the melting ice of the glaciers.

The long and vast valley of Skardu tapers off when one reaches Dasu — a small town where the vehicles stop to get registered at military and police check posts. Then there’s a terrifying moment as your jeep passes over shoddy wooden suspension bridges and your life, quite literally, hangs in the balance.

From Askole the climbers start acclimatizing themselves as they prefer staying in their tents than in hotel rooms. And then the hard part begins: a four-day trek from Askole to the Latok 1 base camp in which we had to walk on two glaciers, Biafo and Chaktoi. It’s tough, but it’s beautiful and we had plenty of candy to counter the sudden drop in blood sugar that walking at these altitudes causes.

As the altitude increases, so does the difficulty. There are places to rest, and places where taking another step seems impossible.

For the last day’s trek, one needs to start earlier as it is entirely a walk on the glacier. The higher the sun goes, the more the snow melts, resulting in boggy patches. It is a true test of nerves and endurance, as the glacier is a cascade of small ridges with long patches of ice, on which one easily slip.

Latok, with a height of 7,145 meters (23,600 feet) can be clearly seen from the base camp with its North western side towards us. Steep and tall was this unclimbed side of the mountain. Close to us was a camp of Bulgarian climbers who were also here to scale the heights.

It was Josh Wharton’s fourth and final attempt at this peak, and sadly it did not end in success. Nathan opted out and decided to return to the US, fearing that the climb was too risky. While he was upset with this decision, Josh decided that a solo climb was too dangerous and instead chose to attempt the Middle Sister, an unclimbed 5,800 meter rock spire a few hours from the base camp.

Now, you may have gotten tired just reading the story of this trek (and believe me there’s a lot that has been left out) but here’s the point: most of us Pakistanis have never even heard of these places, but here you have people from all over the world who have made climbing these peaks their ambition in life.