K7 Central - 2023 Trip Report

[Priti]

Charakusa, Pakistan Summer 2023

 

Edited Sunday at 11:07 PM by Priti
Removed

[olyclimber]

Wow, what an adventure!   And great pictures! That is so awesome you guys are getting those grants from the AAC and CalTopo.

I've primarily been a Gaia GPS user since I have a ton of data in there, but came across CalTopo (I had used it a long time ago, but its way better now) a couple months ago and was super impressed with it and have been using it more.

Thank you so much for sharing your story here, and congratulations on a great trip to an amazing place.

[olyclimber]

This is an awesome picture.  Is that a sun dog?

 

[willgovus]

pretty unreal, that arch is really cool.

[mthorman]

Thanks for the report!  It looks so beautiful over there.  I love Caltopo.  There are so many great features and it can help so much in the planning of a trip.

[Priti]

I'm not sure it was a sundog, it was just a rainbow I guess from ice crystals in the air! Pretty unreal!

 

The next day there was another wild optical solar thing

 

 

Edited November 18, 2023 by Priti

[JonNelson]

This is really intense climbing. I'm grateful that you could be composed enough to get these amazing pics. And thanks for writing up the account here. 

 

About the "atmospheric displays": 

What Olyclimber wonders about: it is not a sundog. Sundogs are white spots either side of the sun, slightly higher in elevation when the sun is high, and sometimes a bit reddish at the outer edge. Those colors are most likely part of a "circumhorizontal arc", a very beautiful display. Happens when the ice crystals are quite small and hang in the air perfectly stable, like a hexagonal plate on a table.  I can't tell from the pic, but I'm guessing that the arc should be about 50 degrees below the sun. 

The above two pics by Priti: The top one is also a circumhorizontal arc. One of my favorite ice displays. 

The bottom pic is really amazing though. The oval around the sun is a "circumscribed halo". Rare to see it so distinct. The line arcing through the sun is the parahelic arc. It is due to reflections off the sides of ice crystals. Also rare to see it extended so much. Perhaps it went clear around the horizon to make one large circle? (I've seen it do that once.)  And then there is that strange bottom "hump" below the sun. I've never seen it myself, but it appears to be an excellent case of a Parry arc. 

All of these are due to small ice crystals. So glad that you noticed it and took pics. Keep your eyes peeled and get more pics like that if you can.