Naltar Valley and it's lakes including Satrangi (rainbow) lake and Blue Lake

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Photo ofNaltar Valley and it's lakes including Satrangi (rainbow) lake and Blue Lake

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Karakorum Diary

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Trail stats

Distance: 28.87 mi
Elevation gain: 2,185 ft
Technical difficulty: Moderate
Elevation loss: 6,040 ft
Max elevation: 10,713 ft
TrailRank: 62
Min elevation: 10,713 ft
Trail type: One Way

Moving time: 3 hours 27 minutes
Time: 4 hours 30 minutes
Coordinates: 5631
Uploaded: November 6, 2023
Recorded: October 2023

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near Khaot, Gilgit-Baltistan (Pakistan)

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Itinerary description

There are five Naltar Lakes lakes in the Naltar valley, known as Satrangi Lake, Halima Lake, Bodo Lake, Dhudia Lake, Pari Lake, and Blue Lake, at a distance of 13 kilometers (8 miles) from Naltar Bala.

We got to visit only two... Satrangi Lake and Blue Lake as we reached there late in the day. Also these were accessible via jeep and rest demanded hike.
Jeep charges were high and mafia there does not let more than 6 people sit on the vehicle even though the slope is not that steep but they argue it is. We got a 6 person jeep with Rs 16,000 charges.
Jeep was actually prado and exact definition of "khatara". I was so slow that every other private vehicle, jeeps and even bikes over took it. Our driver said "the diesel engine are not efficient on the altitude". we were pretty late already and his slow vehicle lost precious sunlight.

The Naltar Valley is a valley situated about 34 kilometres (21 miles) from the city of Gilgit in Gilgit−Baltistan, Pakistan.
Naltar Bala (upper) and Naltar Paain (lower) are two villages of Naltar valley. The Naltar Expressway connects Naltar with Gilgit via Nomal and Faizabad. A road from Nomal goes through the 'Silk Route' to China.

In winters Naltar offers skiing on Pakistan's longest track.

Naltar has several small hydro power plans which supply the electricity to the valley and adjacent areas including Gilgit city.

Waypoints

Rainbow Lake

It's rather a swamp From the look of it, it would feel like a small dirty pond which is full of algae and surrounded by fungi. Even it looks 3-4 feet deep at max. But I was told that this was the deepest and the most dangerous of all the lakes there as the bed of the lake was of soft deposits and layers of algae. So if you try to go in the lake, the swamp will swallow you. I went around it and climbed us a rock to have a good view of the lake. It does offer you different colors, from green and yellow to cyan. Due to shallow depth it reflected the sky resulting in "not to impressive" photographs.

Blue Lake

2nd lake we visited in Naltar. We were told this was the last lake accessible via jeep, rest of the lakes were accessible via hike. Also it was sunset time when we reached there so after it we came back. It's a shallow lake, and you can cross it by walking. From the look of it, it looked 5-6 feet deep in the mid. Lake's water is crystal clear. You can see it's bottom and the trash people have thrown in it. Due to scarcity of sunlight, I was not able to get good pictures of it but I did get to dip in it. Was was cold and freezing. Color of lake was absolutely gorgious.