Expedition Trail 6

Trail 6: one of the many man-made trails made for tourists to scale the sides of the Margalla Mountains located outside of Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan. Situated between the beautiful Faisal Mosque and the scenic mountains, the trail has it's own parking lot which is closed off and on a Sunday with lovely weather, is a perfect cricket ground for visitors. Trail visitors are greeted by trees planted in memory of individuals of the Marker family (whoever the heck they are) followed by a Visitor's Information Center and a sitting area with swings and a bird watch tower (which looks more like a small tree house).

Faisal Masjid, with it's scenic background- the Margalla Mountains and the sky.

Trail 6 passes through the Kavani Valley and leads all the way up to Chak Jabbi in four miles. The trail includes a smooth track for mountain biking as well as sitting areas for hikers. A stream follows some part of the trail as well, so during your climb, you can listen to the gurgling of water or decide to take a break and dip your feet in too.

Cause dates are cool and posting articles as evidence makes you look professional.

My family and I had set out to conquer this trail and reach Jabbi. We started this expedition with the clothes on our back, the shoes on our feet and a bottle of water. The start of the trail was smooth, easy rise and had several signs along the way asking visitors not to litter and to carry back their garbage. Further along the trail came a sign saying "Jabbi" and leading to another trail and that's where the rise became a bit steeper and the environment gave off a feeling of being in a jungle, isolated.

Nice sitting area, right?

The trail was quiet with birds chirping and was shaded by trees all around. The weather was good too so hiking seemed pretty easy and relaxing- coupled with the fact that we were stopping at every sitting area and stream to either: take a couple of pictures, have a hydrating drink or take off our shoes and socks and stick our feet in the running water.

My brother took off just one shoe.

We had crossed the 2.0 kilometer mark when the trail became really steep and climbing became tough business- especially since we lost the company of the trickling stream. We stopped and had a voting: Go on the last 2 kilometers and see Jabbi or head back? Majority voted on going back and ending the expedition. On our way, it was time for Zuhr and we could hear the adhan coming all the way from the masjid.

Doesn't this look tropical? Don't be fooled, this is in the middle of a mountain forest.

It was a great trip and an amazing experience. Even though the expedition turned out to be a failure since we didn't achieve our aim, we still had loads of fun! For anyone who is planning to be a tourist in Islamabad, you should definitely visit Faisal Mosque and swing by Trail 6  for some exercise too!