Aziz Ahmed Jamali
Assignment at Awaran was my first introduction to mud volcanoes. I fell in love at first sight after seeing the cool vents situated near Levies check post of Shirin Farhad across Jhaoo Luck, west of Bela town.
After sharing images on social media, I was soon joined by nature lovers to explore more. Muhammad Mehdi Hussain, then Director of Karachi Astronomical Society (KAS), went ahead with mapping on Google Earth more than one hundred active mud vents in Awaran, Gwadar, and Lasbela. He was glad to know that I had personally visited a few sites.
Mud volcanoes are neither violent nor warm; the vents ooze out methane bubbles with a mixture of mud and seawater that flows out and dries before reaching anywhere far. As a result, the dry part stands out as unique in the shape of the volcano (a relatively conical top and grey mud slurry flowing down, at times shining due to sunlight) One of the sample tests reveal that the liquid has a pH level of 8.2 and Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) 14500; similarly chloride 7000+, Sodium 3000+ and Sulfate 2500+.
The liquid oozing out of mud vents is not fit for drinking; observation tells that only the mountain goats to come around mud vents searching for water in an extreme drought situation. Trekking around vents warrants consultation with people one can get astray in the wilderness. No population survives near these volcano sites; their mudflow is not only sour like seawater, but it also corrupts the sweet water sources in its vicinity.
As we came to know that a young boy Bilal Abdul Ghani had visited a site Naakhti Dhoro (2012) and that Mehdi Hussain summited another high caldera of mud vents with a committed group of Karachiites (2014), we were incited to explore further. The ignition on our quest came from an image clicked by Syed Maaz; it shows a high mud vent, situated at 1350 feet above sea level, pointing up in the air like the tip of a pencil. Seeing the shape, we named it Pencil Top and aimed to summit it sometime.
Gathering few like-minded friends, we did a few (recce) trips to find a suitable way up The Pencil Top because it is surrounded by high impassable mud hills. First, we tried a trek from the North but we were soon obstructed by a sheer wall which seemed non-negotiable. Yet we found a Mud Well signifying that a huge vent is situated nearby. Next, following a different dry stream, we tried from the West i.e. Phor Valley end; there we ended up in tunnels of mud glaciers over which we could not hike without danger or equipment. Yet another time we trekked from Southeast but the tricky terrain hampered the effort. We had to hold further attempts and kind of dropped the idea until next winter since it is very hard to trek that terrain in the summer heat.
Thereafter, in September 2017, we thought of attempting Pencil Top under the moonlight. Since it was shorter notice, five-member could confirm availability for the unique adventure. Sara Saiyed of Karachi Khanabadosh volunteered to join. Abdul Qadir Jamali, an officer of the Forest & Wildlife Department, came in from Quetta; he had worked out a possible approach(es) on google earth. My friend Makbool Durrani also succumbed to altruistic pressure. Tariq Mengal then an administrator at Lasbela endorsed the idea and joined at Uthal. As I was gathering these good fellows, I had in mind another recce trip and least expectation of summiting it.
At 11 pm on 5th September, we began the trek with lesser hopes; it took us two hours to cross the mud glacier spewed by Mount Mehdi mud volcano as we proceeded on a shepherd’s route from Nakhti to Phor Valley. For the next one hour, we augmented our search for a route until we reached a small stream that flows into an old mud glacier.
As the moon rose higher and the night passed, I could observe Sara falling silent and the laughter of Makbool and Tariq decreasing; yet all were consistently moving ahead despite the fact that Sara had sprained her ankle. Qadir seemed well ahead of us and we had to know his position by calling him; then, suddenly we felt that he had disappeared. We sat tired and chatting until I mustered the courage to go look after Qadir; it was a 50-degree gradient in the direction I had last seen him going. I crawled up some 200 feet above to finish the first part when I was surprised by someone flashing torchlight on me from above; it was Qadir teasing me from the tip of the Pencil Top. What a sight!
“Vow” was my exclamation; and I shouted down to other members that we had found the tall citadel, the so-far unsurmountable. Maqbool, Sara, and Tariq we so happy to know about the revelation. I went down to encourage them for the summit push; it was a narrow crack in the mud hill that led up as the only safe way. First Tariq crawled up, followed by Sara and lastly Makbool who had to struggle a lot. All of us were up the Pencil Top by 4 am; it was a great feeling in the cool wind and an awesome ambiance under a full moon. We celebrated the success by drinking sherbet (Jam e Shirin) which I had especially carried with me.
Pencil Top is an active mud vent at 1350 feet above sea level with an amazing tall tip, rising 12 feet high, while the crater is very small (3 feet in diameter). Mudflows out in all four directions; on the three sides, it falls into an abyss while on the western side, it flows steeply into a ravine. That’s why only the western side offers a way up.
Summit success aside, we had tried a lot more in previous attempts; we owe it to all members who joined for the quest earlier. Some of them particularly missed not being able to join the summit attempt including my brother Saddam and friends Abdul Hannan, Abid Ali, Azam Khan, and Sardar Saeed.
I did a brief meditation atop the mud vent as other members waited for dawn break. Rest mode and Sufi songs continued until the sunrise. We enjoyed views of surrounding mud hills and mud well etc. We found the least possibility of an alternative route to ascend Pencil Top except with equipment from the northeast. However, one can explore reaching summit push points from Phor Valley and southwest as well (yet to be tried though).
We commenced descent by 6:30 am and has a short break at a water pond en route. Sara collected few samples of seashell fossils (this area had been ostensibly under seawater in the distant past). Day heat was scorching especially while trekking through the long mud glacier on return. As I poured water on the heads of our fellas, they were glad to bow before me as if it was a holy blessing from a Saint.
Bearing more perspiration, we reached back to vehicles at 11 am and proceed to Hassan Hotel on the highway. Local people saw us with interest and surprise; all of us were sleepy except Sara who won’t admit I guess (maybe the pain in her ankle kept her awake). We parted near Uthal zero point and drove to various destinations.
Pencil Top, an assumed impossibility, was done and dusted, and the myth busted ultimately.
Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article are those of the author and Balochistan Voices not necessarily agrees with them.
Share your comments!
