Trek in Himalayas: Mayali Pass

Mayali Pass has an mysterious aura sorrounding it. Situated at ~5200 mts above sea level it is one of two high altitude passes that connects Gangotri to Kedarnath. The other being Audens Col at around ~5400 mts. The mysterious aura is due to the fact that, not many people attempt to go there and of the few groups that attempt, success is not guaranteed to all. Very fickle mountain weather, over 6 days of no contact with any civilization and the high altitude makes it a barrier for amatuer hikers or first timers. We attempted to do this (after calculating that we have sufficient experience to go there from our previous treks to ~5000 mts in Himalayas) after mid September when the weather gods are reasonably happy. For this trek always be on watch for weather updates around this area as in the previous year couple of trekking groups had to rescued after getting caught is severe snow-storm for 2-3 days. This time we went through Indiahikes. Indiahikes would arrange our trek gears (sleeping bags, tents), guides, porters, other equipments etc at Ghuttu where Ghuttu in Garwhal Himalayas would be the starting point. This time it was group of 6 (Raghuram, Karthik, Hariharan, Kautilya, Vijaykumar and myself).

16/9/2011 (Bangalore-Delhi-Haridwar)

Landed at Delhi by 7.45 pm after taking the 5 pm flight from Bangalore. After dinner we decided to proceed to Nizamuddin to catch the 11.55 pm train to Haridwar. All was well till 11.20 pm when we decided to check which platform the train arrives. OMG ! Ticket said that the train leaves from New Delhi station which is 10 kms/30 mins from Nizamuddin. All of us ran (with our 10 kg rucksacks) to Nizamuddin entrance, caught a taxi (single taxi for all 6 of us!) and arrived at New Delhi station at 11.55 pm. Trains in India usually leave 5-10 mins late, however it was not the case that day and we promptly missed our train. Took 2 autos to Kashmir Gate in Delhi and

payed over the nose for 6 seats in a bus to Haridwar amidst sudden heavy downpour. Decided against punishing our guy s who had booked the train tickets but didn't read the ticket correctly !

17/9/2011 (Haridwar-Rishikesh-Ghuttu)

A bumpy journey with hardly any sleep brought us to Haridwar by 7 am. Haridwar to Ghuttu is ~175 kms and takes 6-7 hrs over the hilly route. Immediately we caught a bus to Chamba and then another one from Chamba to Ghansali.

Chamba to Ghansali comes under the perilious journeys with winding narrow bad roads, steep landslide prone slopes but great views of the Tehri dam. Arrived at Chamba by 1 pm to have a good lunch. Made contact with our guide and he had arranged for a Jeep to Ghuttu. Another 35 kms of perilious ride and we were in Ghuttu by 4 pm. Decided to stay at the GMVN guest house which had been booked by Indiahikes. Met our guide Jaipal Singh who is 60 yrs old. Ghuttu will be the last place to have power and better to charge your camera batteries etc

18/9/2011 (Trek: Ghuttu/1525 mts - Reeh/2100 mts)

Ghuttu is a small village on the banks of river Bhilangana. We were to have a guide, a cook, 4 porters for the next 8 days of our trek.

Ghuttu to Reeh is 10 kms and there is jeep track all the way till Reeh. But don't ever take it easy. It is a tough climb from Ghuttu all the way till Reeh. We follow river Bhilangana keeping it to our right. The terrain will be mostly through forest but the tough climb is not easy on your body as it is yet to get warmed-up. Started Ghuttu at 10 am and reached Reeh by 2.30 pm. We won't open our tents yet as Reeh has a GMVN guest house and a nice place for our cook to cook food. Even though there is almost a jeep track, vehicles are yet to reach Reeh as some part of jeep track have vanished due to landslides.

19/9/2011 (Trek: Reeh/2100 mts - Gangi/2600 mts)

Reeh to Gangi is another 10 kms. A wandering Saadu (monk) gave us a piece of advice on how tough the terrain ahead is where people have even died. Left Reeh by 9am and immediately after Reeh we have to cross a cold stream.

If it rains crossing this can be very tricky with waist level icy-cold water flowing with great force. After this is a steep climb through the meadows for 2-3 hrs and we come to a place where you'll find some abandoned houses. Another 1-2 hrs of trek through the lush green meadows brings you to Gangi. Gangi a bigger village than Reeh is the last point of civilization in this trek. Arrived at Gangi by 2 pm and it started raining. It took another hour for the caretaker of GMVN guest house to arrive. We were entertained by rainbows after the rain. Evening we decided to stroll around the Gangi village. It is famous for a type of baby potatoes and our cook added some to our list of rations. We decided to distribute chocolates to kids and Karthik got almost mobbed by some aggressive kids of Gangi. You'll need a trekking pole for this trek and Gangi would be a nice place to get some make-shift wooden poles in case you are not carrying one.

20/9/2011 (Trek:Gangi/2600 mts - Karsoli/2900 mts)

A long trek day as even though the height gain is 300 mts the distance to be covered is 17 kms. Left Gangi by 9 am and soon there is steep descent after Gangi. It doesn't feel good. All the height lost by climbing down has to be gained soon after. There are couple of landslide zones and it needs to be crossed carefully.

Kalyani on the mid-way is the first place where you will see the glimpse of snowline and infact you'll see south face of Mt. Thalaysagar which is a very beautiful peak. We had seen its north face during our trek to Kedartal. Had packed lunch of rotis after an hours trek from Kalyani. After lunch, stopped for 30 mins on the way where our guide and porters found sheperds who were preparing some Barbeque stuff. We got to have hot tea made from that fire and proceeded. Reached Karsoli by 4 pm and it started raining. There was no place to camp amidst boulders and stones but our porter Mahajan found a dilapidated shelter further ahead. For the first time we experience the cold as we are out in the open without the coziness of bed, blanket and guest house. Our porters had started the fire and night we cleaned up one room and slept in that open room inside sleeping bags. Just a warning, heard this area has a good population of bears and sleeping in an open room is not at all a good idea !

21/9/2011 (Trek:Karsoli/2900 mts - Chowki/3500 mts)

Karsoli to Chowki is 10 kms and takes 6 hrs. Treeline vanishes from Karsoli onwards and we get more of boulders, loose stones and thin plants.

Watch out for a huge unaccessible waterfall to the right soon after Karsoli. Started by 9 am and reached a place called Tambakund by 12.30 pm where we decided to have our packed lu

nch. Between Karsoli and Tambakund, there is a steep, dangerous landslide zone and take help of you extremely skilled porters or guide to get through. You can camp at Tambakund, but we decided to proceed to Chowki after lunch which would be another 2 hrs. We climb a little and descend steeply to the right towards Bhilangana.

It is time to cross the gushing-torrential Bhilangana over a scary make-shift bridge. It started raining again and to get to Chowki there is some climb involved. Reached Chowki by 3.30 pm and it took some effort to put up the tents (the first time in the trek) amidst rains and hails. An early dinner and then to sleep but no hurry on the next day as it was a rest day to attend to our sore muscles, cramps, fatigue and also last but not the least to acclimitize to the altitude. Night would have touched 0 deg outside and we even felt the coldness inside our tent, courtesy a wet and leaky tent.

22/9/2011 (Rest/Acclimitization day at Chowki)

It is good to stop for a day at Chowi. The next camping place being Masartal at 4500 mts but involves a steep climb of 1000 mts from Chowki.

Your body needs to get acclimatized and Chowki is a great place to do that. It is also one of the finest meadows sorrounded by snow clad peaks to camp in Gharwal Himalayas. The panorama is a treat to your eyes - with Khatling glacier (where the Bhilangana originates) and Mt. Thalaysagar always in the horizon. Icy water is available from a stream nearby. If you are still in good spirits and physical shape a visit to the snout of Khatling glacier which is ~4 kms one-way can also be done. Heard from our guide that 10 years back the glacier was right near the Chowki. Effect of global warming! We decided to stay put in Chowki to prepare for the next two days of rigorous climbs. The general weather pattern till now was it would get cloudy by 2-3 pm, and would start raining by 4 pm. It would rain till 8 pm and then the sky would clear up then onwards. Had dinner outside amidst rain and finger numbing coldness.

23/9/2011 (Trek:Chowki/3500 mts -MasarTal/4500 mts)

Morning heard that the only kerosine stove we were carrying was damaged on the way between Karsoli and Chowki and it would be a miracle if it works in the higher altitudes. Till Chowki we were using mostly wood to cook but wood will be no longer be available from Chowki onwards. So we got mentally prepared to suvive on raw Maggi, energy bars for next 3 days. You don't feel like doing anything till sunrays touches your feet which happened here at 8.30 am. Left Chowki by 9 am for the 1000 mts climb ahead. Initially we climb gradually but once the meadows part gets over it is a very steep climb leaving behind beautiful grasslands of Chowki.

You'll need a break for every 2 mins and you'll also begin to feel the effect of thin air. There are some slippery inclined surfaces you have to cross and it is not good to have shoes which don't have good grip on wet surfaces as Hari found out. He slipped and fell while crossing one such and had a knee injury. It was worrisome as going either back or ahead is 3-4 days from civilization. Just before Masartal is a steep landslide zone where you have to pull yourself up over loose stones and gravel over a 45 deg incline and a slip here can be fatal. Again take help of you support staff. Reached Masartal by 1.30 pm and all the fatigue and strain will be compensated by the panorama around. You'll see much more glaciers and peaks above Khatling and sunlight penetrating between clouds will make it look heavenly. In fact you can even see Audens Col and the path down, Jogin and Jaloni peaks if sky is clear. Our cook and porters had managed to fix the stove. Had an early dinner at 6 pm and retired for the day in anticipation for a very tough next day. Night temperature around was around -10 deg and definitely below freezing inside the tent ! It is rocky surfaces all around and we actually camp 15 mins before Masartal (lake).

24/9/2011 (Trek:Masartal/4500 mts - MasarTop/4800 mts - MayaliPass/5200 mts - Vasukital/4200 mts)

The D-day today- a really strenous as well as an exiting one as we plan to cross Mayali pass and go to the other side. It all depends on the weather and it looked clear.

Woke up in the morning to see thin layer of ice over the tent ! I could hardly eat few spoons of Maggi for breakfast as the altitude makes you loose appetite. Left by 8.30 am and our guide performed a brief puja at Masartal. Ahead of Masartal is a 60 deg steep climb of ~200 mts over large boulders to Masartop. After learning over previous experiences we were considered lucky as there was no melting snow over this large boulders this time which could make this climb a dangerous one. After 1.5-2 hrs we were on Masartop. Believe me, climbing like this at 4800 mts height with 8-10 kg rucksack on your back is not easy. Once at Masartop we get to see other side which was hidden till now and we see a melted glacier. Mt. Kedardome of which we would get a great glimpse beyond was covered by thick clouds. Another 30 mins over level ground we arrive at a place where we have to cross nearly a km strech of boulders and steep landslide zone. Be very careful over this zone. After negotiating this stretch we arrive and at the walkable part of the glacier, and for the next hour or so we walk on it. This glacier doesn't have too many crevices. You'll see snow and snow clad peaks all around. Clouds and sun play hide and seek game and it creates a breath-taking panorama. Once the glacier ends we have 200-300 mts climb over snow to reach Mayali pass. An ice-axe is a must to cut steps and keep a rope in hand just in case there is deep snow.

Some of us had few slips and falls and finally reached Mayali pass by 12.30 pm. Once at Mayali pass you get to see the Vasukital side (Kedarnath is still not visible) and the pics just don't do any justice to what you see. We also according to our guide became the first group to cross Mayali pass in 2011 as previous group had to go back due to excessive snow or landslides. But no time to regain your breath and admire the moment here as our guide Jaipal Singh was really in a hurry to get to Vasukital and we spent hardy 5 mins on the pass. There was not much snow patches on the other side and we halted for lunch (energy bars+dry fruits) soon after. We get to see Vasukital in the horizon, our camping site for the day. Once the snow patch ends, it is a steep descent over large and loose boulders. Very stressing on your ankles and also watch out for some loose boulders over where you place your feet. Nobody including the porters are spared of a slip and a fall here. It started snowing and this hell over the boulders continued for another 2 hrs till we reach a stream. Our campsite will be 15 mins from here and we camp a km before Vasukital in a beautiful meadow. Vasukital is considered sacred and locals avoid camping at Vasukital. After 2 days of lack of proper food and tiredness we got half-cooked dal kichdi which I could hardly eat couple of spoons. It rained heaving in the evening.

25/9/2011 (Trek:VasukiTal/4200 mts - Kedarnath/3600 mts)

Morning sunrays had reached here early by 7.30 am to make us warm.

Kedarnath is 9 kms and we started by 9 am. The first stop was Vasukital. At 4200 mts Vasukital is a stunning and a serene lake. After a puja it is time to climb again ! To get to Kedarnath valley we need to climb 200-300 mts and then climb down. This climb is not easy as you are still above 4200 mts but on the better side we have a well laid out path. Lack of decent food for the last 2-3 days and exhaustion had screwed up my digestive system and this climb didn't make it better. Took 1.5-2 hrs for this climb and after some descent we get to see Kedarnath town. The Kedarnath town with the glacier and

Kedarnath massif behind looks amazing.

Kedarnath is still 800-900 mts below and takes 2-3 hrs to reach. Reached Kedarnath by 2.30 pm and found 3 decent rooms in a lodge for ourselves and porters. The caretaker of lodge showed us a decent restaurant and we gorged ourselves. It was also time to call our dear ones to convey that we were safe as we get mobile connectivity for the first time in 6 days.

26/9/2011 (Stay at Kedarnath)

It was our reserve day and we stayed at Kedarnath. Paid multiple visits to Kedarnath temple. The looming Mt. Kedarnath massif behind gives this temple a very majestic look.

Nothing much to do today except eating, taking rest and playing cards. Our guide and porters left by evening after some delay. Wit

h Kedarnath at ~3600 mts it is still bitter cold at night.

27/9/2011 (Trek:Kedarnath/3600 mts - Gaurikund/1800 mts, Gaurikund-Rudraprayag by road)

Paid another visit to the temple, this time to inner santum to touch the Linga. Left Kedarnath by 10 am for the 14 kms downhill pilgrim path to Gaurikund. We walk beside river Mandakini all the way till Gaurikund. Within minutes it started raining cat and dogs. Ponies are regular in this route and so is their dung on the path. The heavy rain converted it to fine paste over the pilgrim path. We had to endure it as it rained all the way till we reached Gaurkund. Had Maggi in a hotel there and then got a jeep to Guptkashi. Got another shared jeep from Guptkashi and reached Rudraprayag by 7 pm. Booked 2 rooms at the few lodges available and one room (not mine :) ) turned out to be buggy (bed bugs).

28/9/2011 (Rudraprayag-Rishikesh-Haridwar)

Visited the prayag (confluence) of Mandakini and Alakananda at Rudraprayag. We found out a bus that the conductor said leaves by 10, but it was 11.30 when it left. To make matters worse it was a slow bus. A puncture added to delay of a landslide that blocked traffic for more than an hour, we reached Rishikesh by 7.30 pm and Haridwar by 8.30. This was the third time through my treks that I was visiting Haridwar and knew where to eat and stay. You should not miss eating at Hoshiarpuri near Har-ki-pauri where I have tasted some of the best North-Indian delicacies. Our group was split now with only me & Karhik at Haridwar and proceeding to Delhi. Raghu, Hari, vijay stayed at Rishikesh for one more day while Kauti went to visit someone at Roorkee

29/9/2011 (Haridwar-Delhi-Bangalore)

An early train at 6.20 am from Haridwar brought us to Delhi by 12 pm. Decided to head straight to Airport to beat the Delhi heat and then onwards to Bangalore by the evening flight.

Pics are here

As said by everyone this trek definitely needs a prior ~5000 mts experience in Himalayas. On top of that a good fitness (like running 2-3 kms/cycling ~12 kms a day) is a must. But if you have successfully crossed Mayali pass you have every reason to feel proud of, as it is one of the tougher treks in Indian Himalayas.

Trek in Himalayas : Roopkund and Junargali pass

Date: June 12-21, 2009

Mission: Trek to Roopkund , the mysterious skeletal lake in Garhwal Himalayas at ~5000 mts above sea level.

Prologue:

Anybody who makes a mistake of venturing into Himalayas once are doomed. It beckons you forever. So after a successful trek to Kedartal last year, we decided to do Roopkund this year as Roopkund is considered similar to Kedartal in terms of difficulty, beauty, endurance required etc. We learnt that there are two main reliable guides to Roopkund. Mohan Singh Bisht and Narendra both from a village called Wan. With latter unavailable due to being hired by some other group, we decided to go with Mohan Singh and what a fantastic person he turned out to be. It was from Indiahikes and Indiamike where we got much wanted info about this trail. We had an overwhelming response this time and finally the number of enthusiastic people reached 11. It was slightly on the higher side as whenever the number exceeds 10 co-ordination, taking quick decisions etc takes a nose-dive for long amd moderate treks like this. Like last time we kept in touch with our guide Mohan Singh for close to 2 months before we started.

Roopkund has a very small window for trekking : June and Sept end to October. Even during this time the success is not guaranteed as bad weather is known to play spoilsport often. It is snow bound for most of the other periods. There are bones of 300-600 people dating back to 9th centure AD lying around the lake and research has shown that they died after being hit by cricket-ball sized hails ! The route most often taken is Lohajung-Didna-AliBugyal-BedniBugyal-Bagubasa-Roopkund-Bagubasa-Bednibugyal-Wan-Lohajung. The total circuit is approximately ~65 kms, where we start from Lohajung which is at ~2500 mts and reach Roopkund which is at a height of ~4900 mts in 3-4 days. The whole route takes 5-6 days and we somehow crammed it in our schedule and took only 5 working days off to get a total of 9 days including two weekends. We booked flight tickets to Delhi and back a few good months back to get descent discounts. Roopkund being a moderate trek needs good fitness and the usual yardstick is to jog for 2-3 kms daily at 8-9 km/hr for atleast 2 months before going there.

Day 1 (June 10): Travel Bangalore-Delhi, Delhi-Haridwar

It was Friday and we had a tight schedule of catching 7 pm Spicjet flight from Bangalore to Delhi after finishing our office-work and catch train to Haridwar from Nizamuddin at 11.55 pm. We calculated we would get 1.5 hr to reach from Delhi airport to Nizamuddin and hoped we won't get stuck in jams or taxi breakdowns ! Our calculation didn't go wrong and we were in Haridwar at 4.30 am on the morning of Saturday.

Day 2 (June 11): Travel Haridwar-Rishikesh-Lohajung (~300 kms)

This time in unision we decided to take a bus to Rishikesh which is 24 kms from Haridwar. From Rishikesh our next leg of 270 km journey to Lohajung had to be done in a jeep. As a rule in Uttarkhand a single jeep will take only 9 persons, so the latecomers amongst the 11 of us who signed for the trek (Hari and Aswin) were rewarded to come in another jeep shared by other travellers. After finding a jeep for ourselves and 2 latecomers we left to Lohajung by 7.30 am. Breakfast on the way was a light one to prevent motion-sickness on the circuitous way. We travel along the Badrinath road going via Devprayag, Srinagar, Rudraprayag and Karanprayag. Devprayag is a worthy halt to take a short break as the blue waters of Bhagirathi join muddy waters of Alakananda to form Ganga. After Devprayag we travel along Alakananda river and at Karanprayag we take a diversion towards Almora to go to Debal. There is no rule or whatsoever of how many you can stuff inside a jeep beyond Karanprayag. So 11 of us sat in cramped positions till we reached Debal by 6 pm. Lohajung where we had booked our lodge was another 30 kms and it was a late time to find another taxi to Lohajung. According to our jeep driver, the jeep with which we had travelled till Debal could not go beyond due to permit issues ! However he managed to get one, albiet for a little higher amount. It was pretty dark when we were approaching Lohajung. I was worried about the dry weather and scenery till now and was begining to think whether we came at the right season to Roopkund when suddenly our jeep was hit by heavy rains, hails and what not. Our bags including cameras on top of the jeep were completely drenched. Our heroic jeep driver managed to climb a narrow road to Patwal lodge at Lohajung in almost zero visibility conditions where we had reserved our rooms . Out of no-where our guide Mohan Singh appeared to remove our luggage from the top of the jeep amidst hails and rains. Mohan Singh along with his troops (1 porter+ 4 mules + 4 mule owners) were already waiting for our arrival. It was a damp evening and we retired for the day after few cups of tea, a stroll in the Lohajung village and a good dinner.

Day 3 (June 12): Trek Lohajung-Didna-Tolapani (8 kms)

Contrary to the previous evening, it was a clear and bright morning and Mt. NandaGhunti which is one of the bigger giants visible in this trek was visible from the lodge itself. After buying our rations and a heavy breakfast at Patwal lodge we departed to Didna by 10.30 am. Our mules and their owners would leave shortly after us. Mule owners don't carry anything and their sole purpose is to direct the mules and assist in cooking. We had hired tents and sleeping bags from Patwal lodge. We walk along the jeep track towards Wan till we reach Kuling village were we descend to the valley towards right and climb again to reach the table-top village Didna. The descent is although welcome will bring in a realisation that whatever altitude is lost must be gained in a short time as Didana is slightly higher than Kuling. Raju who was the sole DSLR owner in our group had already placed his rucksack on the mules after compalining about the weight of DSLR he had to carry. We walk through numerous terraced fields, forest, streams on the way between Kulling and Didna. Vasantha who we all guessed was carrying the lightest rucksack put it on the mule during the climb to Didna. Didna village had few houses and is located on the slope of the Ali Bugyal mountains to give excellent views of Lohajung and Kuling village. There is an excellent spot to camp little ahead but our guide suggested to walk another 2 kms to Tolapani so as to aid our climb next day. We reached Tolapani at 2.30 pm and took a stroll around the village which consisted of couple of houses and retired for the day inside our tents after chat around the camp-fire and dinner.

Day 4(June 13): Trek Tolapani-Ali Bugyal-Bedni Bugyal (8 kms)

Today's trek had a steep climb through the forest to Ali Bugyal and then a gentle walk from there to Bedni Bugyal. After a hot tea and chapatis/rotis for breakfast we started at 9 am. Mules and their owners would follow us after unpacking the camp. The 3 km climb begins soon after Tolapani. The one advantage is we climb through thick forest which shields us from direct sunlight but humidity inside the forest and the steep climb takes a toll. The mules overtook us in no time and marched ahead. After 2 hrs of steep climb we emerged out of forest to be greeted by lush green meadows and huge valleys where we could see Lohajung village which we left yesterday and also Wan. This sight is something to remember and after a brief halt of photo-sessions we departed towards Ali Bugyal which was still ~1 km away and arrived there by 11.30 am. There were few wild horses grazing around here. People who take Wan-Bedni Bugyal-Roopkund route tend to miss this infinite golf-course like scenery at Ali Bugyal. Now the weather started to get a bit worse and Mohan Singh reminded us not to waste too much time taking un-necessary photos but to get to Bedni which was 2-3 kms ASAP. The route to Bedni from here onwards was walk on the lush green grass patch with gentle climbs and descents and we reached Bedni by 1 pm. Due to the climb through forest from Tolapani-Ali Bugyal I was in my shorts and not jeans. But the weather around Ali Bugyal was cold with strong winds blowing. I caught cold and arrived at Bedni a bit feverish. However there is a tea shop at Bedni where we get omlettes, maggi and even something what they claim as pastry which one should consider as a luxury and we washed it down with some hot tea. The tea shop even had a satellite phone which works for around 5 mins in an hour. 30 mins after we came weather turned worse and it started raining hails. One has to remember that from Bedni onwards it is an open grass land area with no trees and can just guess what would happen if we encounter hails. Bedni at 3350 mts above sea leval is also one of the most beautiful Alpine meadows in Uttarkhand and the scenary of lush green meadows and snow clad peaks in the horizon is a treat to eyes and mind. By evening the clouds cleared and gave us the magnificient glimpse of Mt. Trishul and Nandaghunti. The evening sunrays played hide and seek behind the clouds and illuminated Trishul which looked like it was glowing with fire. The night temperature was near zero deg and it was time to bring out our layered winter clothing consisting of thermals, sweaters and woolen jackets for the first time. Our guide and porters had cooked our dinner of chapati and curry inside the tea-shop, where dry woods were available. I took a dose of Diamox to acclimitize my body for next day's climb to Bagubasa before sleeping.

Day 5(June 14): Trek Bedni Bugyal -Bagubasa (11 kms)

Today's trek was supposed to be the toughest, were we climb almost 900 mts from Bedni (3350 mts) to Kalu Vinayak (~4250 mts) before descending slightly to Bagubasa (~4150 mts). It takes 5-6 hrs and we were supposed to make a head start by 8.30 am. But as happens with a group of 11, it was 9.30 when we started and a look at the direction of Bagubasa showed deep cloud formation and prospect of bad weather. After a climb of 3 kms we reach Goda Lautani and our Goda's (Mules) which left 30 mins after us overtook us here. At the height of ~4000 mts the warmess comes from the sun rays and the moment it disappears behind the clouds, the temperatue plummets. It felt like we were trekking in freezing temperature aided by rain and occasional hails now. 3 kms trail from Goda Lautania to Pathar Nauchania is a level one and one of the finest scenary of deep lush green valleys and snow clad mountains one will get see. We reached Pathar Nauchania amidst strong cold winds and rain. By now I was feeling feverish and weak and Raghu was also feeling no better. We decided to wear Ponchos to protect from rain here onwards. Now me, Raghu and Vasantha formed the tail of our group and I felt sleepy and dizzy as the climb to Kalu Vinayak began. Every 5 mins of climb needed a rest and at mid-way I thought I could go no longer. I'm not sure what was issue with me: Altitude sickness or high fever and cold or Hypothermia or combination of everything. Mohan Singh seeing my plight decided to releive me of my rucksack. Every minute counted like an hour and after 2-3 hrs of torturous climb, I reached Kalu Vinayak at ~3 pm more than 30 mins after the head of the group had reached. Under clear skies Roopkund cwm, Trishul, Nandagunti would be all visible from Kalu Vinayak but not today as they were covered with thick clouds. I was hardly in a position to appreciate the scenary around Kalu Vinayak and reached Bagubasa which was 1.5 kms from here. At Bagubasa our campsite was no-where to seen and it seems we had decided to camp little ahead due to proximity of water sources and availability of level ground. The good thing when I reached our camp at Hunai-thar at ~4 pm was our guide/porters had prepared lime juice. I just remember me almost collapsing inside the tent and going to sleep. I thought this was the end of my trek to Roopkund as I would be in no position to reach Roopkund tomorrow. Many others had headache and a look towards Roopkund painted a gloomy picture with thick clouds and an imminent whiteout. I felt only slightly better when I woke up at 7 pm in freezing temperature to have dinner which was to be Dal-kichdi. We had made a bad choice for our food menu during this trek. Much of our rations was rice and owing to large number of people (17 inculding ourselves, guide, porters and mule owners) in the group and high altitude, rice don't cook properly and I could hardly eat few spoons of half-cooked Dal-kichdi. I took doses of Crocin pain-relief and Diamox and went into deep sleep again with fever and headache. Freezing cold with temeperature plumetting below -5 deg, onset of altitude sickness like headache, lack of appetite is what most of them face at Bagubasa and I was no different.

Day 6(June 15): Trek Bagubasa-Roopkund-Junargali pass-Bagubasa-Bedni Bugyal (20 kms)

We were suppose to start by 5.30 am today since we needed to reach and return from Roopkund by 11 am as the sun softens the snow and the descent can get tricky once bad weather sets in by early mid-day. After a lot of effort when I woke up at 5 am, temperature was around -5 deg but it looked like a completely different day. Weather had completely cleared up and I was feeling good and energetic. Mt. Chowkamba near to Badrinath, Trishul and Nandaghunti are the prominent ~7000 mts peaks visible from Bagubasa. After a cup of much wanted tea, we started towards Roopkund at 6.30 am. It is a climb of 600+ mts in 3-4 kms but we were without our rucksacks. Our breakfast consisted of few dates and biscuits on the way. It doesn't take much time for the snow zone to begin. It'll start with few small glaciers to cross and the last 500 mts to Roopkund needed our guide to cut snow steps using his ice-axe to go forward. Across some slippery and long glaciers, one should be careful as you don't know which deep valley you will end up in if you slip. After this it is almost a 50 deg inclined climb on snow and shoes with a good grip on snow is a must. However Karthik doesn't seems to think so and like last year to Kedartal where he had to be aided by guide step-by-step during return, bought another pair of rubbish sports shoes this time and started slipping crazily. Everybody had a slip and here. Although not absolutely necessary our guide and porters were holding ropes towards the end and we reached Roopkund by 8.30 am. It was completely frozen and thick layers of snow around didn't reveal any of the bones it is famous for. Some 200 mts directly above Roopkund is the Junargali pass which further leads to Shila Samudra glacier, Homekund and Ronti saddle. After a brief puja by our guide/porter we thought we'll conquer Junargali pass to get closer views of Trishul. Only 6 of us were ready, I was one of them and was surprised myself as just yesterday I was down with fever and given up hope of reaching even Roopkund. We had to scale a steep slope of snow followed by a steep slippery vertical cliff to reach Junargali pass. The steep slope of snow inclined at 50 deg was aided by our guide and porters holding rope. Snow had just started softening and there were no safety clips to the ropes. So if we loose the grip on rope or the snow under our feet gives away we will disappear somewhere down and our bones will get added to the ones already present around Roopkund. The vertical wall after this was even more risky and there is no room for any mistakes. Any loss of grip on rope or feet where there is hardly any enough space for one foot, the result is falling down to Eternity at break-neck speed. That was what happened to Aswin's camera worth Rs. 20K. At almost the end of the climb over the cliff, the camera came off his shoulders and fell down, slid over the steep slope of snow and disappeared below. That was when we realized what would happen if one of were to make a small mistake. Luckily nothing happened and we were on Junargali pass by 9.15 am to get one of the best views on this trek. There is hardly enough space for 10 people to stand on Junargali pass and there is a sheer drop on the other side towards Shila Samudra glacier which takes another 3 hrs to reach. Mt. Trishul still towering 2 kms vertically above us looks to be within touching distance and just seperated by the vast snow fields but in reality was atleast 4-5 kms away. But this is not a place to sit and relax and our guide noticed the weather getting worse. He knows what bad weather can do to mere mortals caught at this place and we left to Roopkund after spending just 15 mins on the pass. The descent over the cliff was no easier than ascent. The descent on snow however was slightly easier as our guide taught us a technique of keeping backheel first to prevent slipping. We slided down the snowy slopes at the end and it took just 15 mins to descend to Roopkund while it had taken 45 mins for the climb. We immediately left to Bagubasa as thick clouds threatened to bring hails and snowstorm. Everybody had a slip and a fall over the snow which had started to soften by now. Porters and Aswin had a vague idea where the camera had disappeared and spent close to 30 mins searching it. Finally they found it, completely broken but with memory card intact. Reached Bagubasa by 11 am completely dehydrated and tired. Thre were no water sources on the way and the little we had carried were all consumed on the climb itself. By the time we reached Bagubasa, Roopkund was covered by thick clouds. Again I started feeling feverish and exhausted and was shocked to find that we were planning to trek another 11 kms to Bedni. I immediately took another dose Crocin pain-relief and had a hasty small lunch with buns, biscuits. We departed to Bedni by 12 pm and I along with few others who were also in pretty bad shape, put our rucksacks on mules. One the way back, we and our guide offered puja to Kalu Vinayak for successfully and safely reaching not just Roopkund but also Junargali pass and started the descent to Pathar Nauchania and Bedni. Weather was not as bad as during the climb this time and I could finally appreciate the beautiful landscape along this stretch. Sun was playing hide-and-seek behind the clouds and the rays coming between the clouds illuminated the deep valleys. Vamshi and Karthik were sprinting ahead probably thinking of limited omlettes available at Bedni and the availability on first-come first-serve basis. We reached Bedni by 4.30 pm and were glad to find that there was no shortage of food at the tea-shop. We decided to have Maggi from the tea shop instead of the half-cooked Dal kichdi from our rations for dinner.

Day 7(June 16): Trek Bedni Bugyal-Wan (13 kms), Jeep from Wan-Lohajung (14 kms)

Today was a bit relaxed day as all we had to do was trek 13 kms down to Wan and then take a jeep for 20 kms to Lohajung. We started late by 10 am. Today my rucksack was back on my back. After few kms we enter the forest and walk through it almost all the way till Wan. The descent is not kind on your ankles and knees and we reached the top of Wan village after few breaks along some fresh streams on the way. My overworked, overstressed knees were complaining bitterly by this time. We kept going through the village but the road-head that connects Wan to Lohajung was no where to be seen. It was like a mirage where I thought after every turn I would end up in the road but it took another 30 mins to reach it. Finally it was a welcome sight. We reached Wan by 3 pm and it was the end of our Roopkund expedition. There are only couple of shops in Wan and luckily one of them was serving Maggi and omlettes. It took more than an hour to find a jeep to Lohajung and finally when it arrived it had 18 people inside and on the top all the way till Lohajung. It was overloaded and we were scared that the driver will loose control and fall into one of the gorges beside the road anytime. We arrived at Patwal lodge by 5.30 pm and there was only one more mission to be accomplished. Get hot water and take bath as none of us had bathed for last 5 days. We settled our dues with Mohan Singh and also tipped him for his excellent services especially during the Junargali pass climb. We promised to send him a group photo which I believe we never did.

Day (June 17): Travel Lohajung-Rishikesh (300 kms)

Luckily there was a taxi that had come from Rishikesh and was going back. There was a small tamasha when we were about to leave. Any idea how much time it'll take for 11 of us to get ready? Well...the taxi driver got pissed-off with this and decided to park his vehicle 1 km from our lodge and invited us to walk all they way with our luggages to the vehicle. Finally he calmed down and arrived. We left to Rishikesh by 10 am for a day long journey after settling our dues with Patwal lodge. 11 of us sat in cramped positions till Karanprayag beyond which we had to find 2 scapegoats to come in a bus or other shared jeeps as the rule doesn't permit to load the jeep beyond 9 people. Nobody volunteered to leave the group and after much discussions it was decided to find it through a (un)luckydip. Sorry to say that Karthik and Raju were finally made the scapegoats. It was 7 pm when we reached Rishikesh and it took some effort to find a descent economical lodge. We booked 3 rooms for 11 of us and the lodge also had links with some water-rafting agency. All the calories lost was compensated by one of the heaviest dinner I have ever had, with folks ordering almost everything present on the menu.

Day 9(June 18): River rafting on Ganga, Overnight travel from Haridwar-Delhi

Today was a free day and we had planned to do the famous river-rafting on Ganga. A jeep took us 20 kms to a higher ground to a place called Shivpuri. After an hour we were on the raft. Ganga truly has some higher category (4.5 I think) rapids and we really feel our raft is about turn upside down. Each raft will have two guides and one of our guide lost balance and fell into the river at one of the rapids ! All of us wear life jacket which keeps us floating for sometime. By mid-day we reached Rishikesh and was followed by another heavy lunch. We vacated our rooms by evening and took tuk-tuk autos to Haridwar to watch aarthi to Ganga at Har-ki-Pauri. We caught the night train to Delhi.

Day 10(June 19): Fly Delhi-Bangalore

Once in Delhi we realized the problem. It was hot and we had to kill time till evening as our flight to Bangalore was at 6 pm. We usually don't follow Karthik's advice or suggestions. But today based on his advice we reluctantly decided to visit Akshardham temple. The temple was overcroweded, on top of that for security reasons we were not allowed to carry our rucksacks inside. Afternoon we took a taxi from there to airport and spent some time in the lounge. It was 10.30 pm by the time we reached our respective homes.

Pics are here

Cost per person : Rs ~11,500 (Travel Bangalore-Delhi-Haridwar: 3000, Guide/equipment rent charges from Lohajung: 3000, Travel/food/lodges: 2500, Travel Haridwar-Delhi-Bangalore: 3000)

Here are some notes and contact details that can be helpful

• Highly recommend Mohan Singh Bisht for Roopkund. He is friendly, educated and extremely helpful. You need to contact him 1-2 months in advance and fix the dates. He can be contacted at 01363280422/09456263602. Be patient as the line is unreachable for most of the time!


• Patwal lodge is a decent place to stay at Lohajung and keep your unwanted luggage during trek . He can arrange for decent tents and sleeping bags at reasonable rates. They can be contacted at 01363280211/09410480308


• It is better to go via Kathgodam-Almora as the views through that route is much better than that from Rishikesh. We went through Rishikesh as the Kathgodam train departs from Delhi a bit early and we couldn't have caught it by 7 pm flight from Bangalore.


• Needs decent fitness to do Roopkund. Although no technical sections like Kedartal's landslide zone exists, it is longer in distance than Kedartal and altitude gain from 2500 mts to 4800 mts in 3-4 days can bring in altitude sickness. So plan accordingly. But the beauty of the trek is unparalleled. It has everything a trekker orders in it - lush green alipne meadows, deep valleys, virgin forests, mightly snow-bound peaks within touching distance and the destination which has a bit of history and mystery as well.

Trek in Himalayas : Gangotri-Kedartal

Date: Sep 26-Oct 5, 2008

Mission: Trek Gangotri to Kedartal. Kedartal is a high altitude glacial lake situated at 4912 mts above sea level in the Gharwal Himalayan region and accessible by a 17 km trek from Gangotri.

Prologue: I had been day-dreaming about a trek in Himalayas for a long time. Late September and October is known for weather with clear skies in Himalayas although colder than summer. This along with a 3 working-day week in October first week made us plan a grand trek to Gangotri-Gaumukh-Tapovan. The foremost thing to be done was to find a reliable guide. We fixed Bal-bahadur from Uttarkashi whom my friend Prasad had hired last year to Tapovan. After making all our travel reservations, the retreating monsoon in mid September brought a bad weather in that region which resulted in death of 5 porters in Kalindi Khal, a pass at 5900 mts asl (above sea level) between Gangotri and Badrinath. As a result local authorities promptly decided to close Gangotri - Gaumukh - Tapovan completely (no idea why, as Tapovan is considered safe) and we couldn't get permits through our guide in Uttarkashi till the day we were about to leave Bangalore. I googled other trails around Gangotri and got mesmerized by breathtaking photos of Kedartal, an enchanting glacial lake at 4900 mts asl. Since this was our first trek to Himalayas I was hesitant in the begining as I thought trying to reach 4900 mts asl in the limited time we had may lead to acclimitization probelms. For this trek we discouraged some first timers which turned out to be a good decision and finally formed a group of 8 (me, Raghu, Vamshi, Karthik, Vasantha, Hari, Murali and Sachin) all ex-students from IITB. Kedartal was not a place where first timers could go. With temperature expected to dip to -10 deg above 4000 mts asl, we equipped ourselves with thermals, gloves, sweater, woolen jacket and monkey caps while we relied on Bata-weinbrenner and Woodlands shoes to negotiate moraine and snowy regions. Since we were going by ourselves instead through an agency, for a week or two before leaving most of us could think nothing but Himalayas as the planning and logistics consumed all our time.

Day 1 (Sep 26): Travel Bangalore-Delhi

We had booked second-class sleepers in Sampark Kranti express that leaves Yeswantpur at 10.20 pm. It takes 35 hrs to reach Delhi.

Day 2 (Sep 27): Travel Bangalore-Delhi

Sampark Kranti is a fast train with fewer stops than Rajdhani. But railways ploy of adding an extra side middle-berth meant 9 people sitting in a compartment with suffocation. With the soaring heat from Hyderabad and all the sleeper-class drama we regretted of not having booked in AC 3-tier. Some of my friends had brought novels but I doubt whether they made any progress. Few card games brought some relief though. Fewer stops for the train meant I had to depend on the food from pantry-car which I usually avoid at any cost but had no other options here.

Day 3 (Sep 28): Arrival at Delhi, Travel Delhi-Haridwar-Rishikesh

The train reached Nizamuddin at 9.45 am. Our train to Haridwar was at 3.25 pm from New-Delhi station. Comesum was the only restaurant inside Nizamuddin, so we had our breakfast there. We took taxis to New-Delhi station for Rs 150. I and Vasantha had lunch at a small place outside the New-Delhi station and settled to wait inside the station while the rest six with 15-20 kg rucksacks on their back went out to explore Connaught place in 40 deg Celsius heat. They all returned after an hour and told that they hardly ventured outside the station premises. Jan-Shatabdi reached Haridwar at 8.30 pm, an hour late. We had planned to halt at Rishikesh which was 24 km on road from Haridwar. This was necessary so that we could start very early from Rishikesh next day from where shared-jeeps to Uttarkashi start and reach Gangotri before nightfall. Rishikesh to Gangotri is 270 kms and takes 11-12 hrs. No vehicles are allowed in the hills beyond Rishikesh after 8 pm. Buses to Rishikesh can be boarded right outside the Haridwar station. But it was a special day and there was no such convenience. We were a group of 8 which meant slow decision making. With each of us thinking smartly of a convenient way to get to Rishikesh it took us another hour to get a taxi who agreed to take us for Rs. 300. We found another guy going to Rishikesh who enlightened Karthik with Yoga, Amarnath issue, Cosmic karmas etc on the way and reached Rishikesh at 10.30 pm. At this late hour our taxi-driver came to our rescue in finding a hotel to have dinner, book a taxi to Uttarkashi next day and get a place to sleep (The shady rooms had bugs to keep us awake in the night). Out of our generosity we paid Rs. 100 more to the taxi-driver.

Day 4 (Sep 29): Travel Rishikesh-Uttarkashi (1158 mts)-Gangotri (3048 mts)

We had booked a whole jeep for Rs. 1800 to Uttarkashi and left at 6 am with an intention of reaching Gangotri before nightfall. The lower Himalayan ranges start soon after Rishikesh with steep curves and bends which increases as you near Gangotri. Most of us had a good breakfast on the way without realizing the consequence of it. Soon after Chamba for the first time we saw the glimpse of mighty snow-capped peaks at a distance of ~100 kms. Next notable sight was huge volume of backwaters created by Tehri dam. By this time motion-sickness caught all of us and few of us puked. For the last half of the journey, the Bhagirathi (Ganges) river runs parallel to the road and we reached Uttarkashi just after 12 pm. I was in touch with Bal-Bahadur, our guide a day before and we met him in Uttarkashi. We had guide (Bal-Bahadur's brother Tej-bahadur), 5 porters, 1 cook and 1 cook-helper accompanying us from Uttarkashi. Rations, stove, kerosine, tents and sleeping bags from NIM (Nehru Institude of Mountaneering) were all arranged by our guide. After a lunch and paying advance amount to Bal-bahadur, 16 of us left to Gangotri in 2 jeeps at 3.30 pm. Uttarkashi to Gangotri is 100 km and is known for narrow-bad-dangerous roads and steep-beautiful valleys created by Bhagirathi river as the road runs parallel to Bhagirathi all the way till Gangotri. This entire road stretch is maintained by ITBP (Indo Tibetian Border Police) and no doubt they have their plate's full. For most of this stretch, we have a deep gorge on one side without any parapet and landslide prone huge mountain slopes on the other. Your life truly depends on the driver's skills here. Jeeps and sumos are the only ideal vehicles I thought. There was a huge powerproject construction going on enroute which was an eyesore and also contributed to bad roads. Our driver was a no-nonsense type of guy and drove non-stop to Gangotri within 4 hours in-order to reach Gangotri by 8 pm and hardly gave us any opportunities to shoot the picturesque valleys. An hour before Gangotri we reached Harshil which is famous for apples and also the place where Bhagirathi flows with a beautiful formation. When we reached Gangotri at 7.15 pm we were greeted by the chilly weather at 5 deg. The second jeep was an hour late. We booked two rooms at a lodge which also had a kitchen attached so that our cook could make dinner for us. Gangotri is 3048 mts asl and the effect of altitude like low temperature and thin air becomes evident. Night temperature might have hit 0 deg, but blankets in the rooms provided good warmth.

Day 5 (Sep 30): Trek Gangotri (3048 mts)-Bhojkharak (3780 mts)

We were all excited and enthusiastic about our first trek in Himalayas. So inspite of the chilly weather we were up early in the morning and visited the 150 year old Gangaa Maa temple and bathing-ghat. We had parathas made by our cook and left to Bhojkharak at 10 am after off-loading some unwanted stuff from our rucksack in the lodge's locker to make room for sleeping bags in our rucksack. Once we leave Gangotri to Kedartal we are on our own and no tea-stalls or houses are to be found anywhere. This along with steepness and the scary landslide zones keep most of the people away who visit Gangotri unlike Gaumukh. The trail is always ascending without any respite with Kedarganga gorge to our left. My last one months activity of running 2 km/day saved me upto some extent while on the other hand most of us thought Vasantha will call it a day today itself ! After we gained some altitude we saw the glimpse of Mt. Thalaysagar (6984 mts asl) for the first time. Kedartal is located near the base of this mountain. Looking back towards Gangotri also gave some breathtaking sights. The Himalayan mountains are truly huge, tall and steep and one needs to see it to believe. These huge mountains were there on all directions wherever we looked. We spotted some mountain goats (Bharals) on the way. The landslide zone around 1 km before Bhojkharak was the first scary part with more to come. It was a 100 mts long walk on loose mud and stones inclined at 60 deg. We had debris that may fall from the right and the Kedarganga gorge ~200 mts below to the left where one would fall if the mud under your feet collapses. Just before Bhojkharak was another risky rock-slab to negotiate where we had just 6 cm to keep our foot and a 200 mts deep gorge to stare at. If my heart was beating at twice the normal rate during ascent it definitely did miss few beats at the landslide and rock-slab zone. We reached Bhojkharak at 2.45 pm. Our army of porters who had reached before us had started putting up tents and our cook had prepared hot garlic soup which is good for altitude sickness. Our lunch was biscuits and some bread-slices as our cook found out cooking for 16 people at high altitudes and cold weather is time consuming and this became the routine for the next 3 days. A group of mountain dogs visited us in the evening ! At Bhojkharak to our left beyond Kedarganga gorge was fantastic view of snow-capped Mt. Bhriguparbat standing at 6040 mts asl. As the sunrays vanished the temperature plummetted to near-zero within few minutes which sent us scurrying for winter clothing. We had dinner in the form of roti-curry and dhal-rice at 6 pm and retired for the day into the tents and sleeping bags in anticipation of a night with sub-zero temperature. We also had the luxury of having hot bournvita before sleeping. We were not alone in Bhojkharak as there was a mid-30 aged Bengali man with his guide who had laboriously reached Bhojkharak, 4 Czech nationals going themselves and another group who were trying to go beyond Kedartal. One of the porters in the later group had lived to tell the tale of Kalindi Khal accident where there was a snow-blizzard and very low temperature during night resulting in 5 deaths and around 40 people getting rescued. During night we heard rocks falling but learnt next day that it fortunately occurs on the other side of Kedarganga.

Day 6 (Oct 1): Trek Bhojkharak(3780 mts)-Kedarkharak(4270 mts)

We woke up to a freezing but bright morning. The temperature remains below zero till the sunrays touch the ground after which it suddenly increases. We had an oat-meal and buns with hot tea for breakfast and started towards day's destination Kedarkharak at 9.30 am. Kedarkharak is at 4270 mts asl and 5 kms from Bhojkharak. Our guide said it easily takes 4-5 hrs due to steepness and landslide zones. The trail offered some splendid sights of mighty Manda group, Bhrighupanth and Thalaysagar peaks and the Kedarganga valley glittering in autumn bloom. We took short breaks to drink ice-cold water flowing from the top of snow-capped mountains to refresh ourselves till we came across the scariest part of the trek, the rockfall/landslide zone. Just before this, we met the Bengali man who had been to Tapovan-Nandanavan before and had decided to return back to Gangotri because at the rockfall zone a falling rock went over his head which nearly killed him. It was an amplified version of the landslide zone we crossed before Bhojkharak with this one being atleast 0.5 km long. Here the trail ceased to exist and we had to walk on the mountain slope made of loose mud and stones inclined at 50-60 deg with rocks that keep falling down from the right and Kedarganga gorge 25-50 mts below to the left. The earth under our feet was so loose that we think it may collapse any time along with us. I had my heart in the mouth and thought my number may come any time. This zone occasionally kills people and the luckier ones who fall down may escape with just broken bones. It took us 30 tiresome-scary mins to cross this and we reached Kedarkharak at 1.30 pm. After a hot-garlic soup it was time to doze for everyone. Manda, Bhrigupanth and Thalaysagar peaks form the backdrop in Kedarkharak meadow, but don't be disillusioned with the distance. Even though it looks like an hour walk, they were atleast 10 kms away. Watching the fading reddish sunrays on Bhrigupanth and Thalaysagar peaks during sunset is worth every paisa and effort you spend to get here. Late evening we almost thought we had lost Sachin and Murali as they went to a nearby ridge without any torch and didn't return to the camp till 7 pm when it was dark and freezing. We thought they had lost the way while returning and also discussed various kinds of punishment to be given if at all they came back. Even our guide refused to send a search party to find them, not wanting to risk his life for two people who had taken panga with Himalayas. At this altitude, due to paucity of oxygen and freezing temperature we were huffing and puffing to do even basic activities like walking, removing shoes, getting inside tents, having food etc. We never get a decent sleep in the night often waking up due to breathing problems, coldness etc. The freezing temperature is bound to affect you irrespecitive of number of layers of clothing you are wearing. As a precaution against getting altitude sickness most of us had taken Diamox tablets for the last two days. That night I also saw Vamshi consuming 3-4 different kind of tablets one each for altitude sickness, cold, headache and so on !

Day 7 (Oct 2): Trek Kedarkharak (4270 mts)-Kedartal(4912 mts)-Kedarkharak(4270 mts)

Kedarkharak was even colder than Bhojkharak is what we found out when we came out of the tent in the morning. The night temperature might have dipped to less than -5 deg Celcius as the water in the bucket had frozen and we felt our hands and feet also becoming numb even when completely covered untill the sunrays warmed us by 8.30 am. We needed hot water even for abulitions and brushing our teeth ! Today was the D-day as we had planned to reach the summit, Kedartal lake another 5 km from Kedarkharak. But Vasanth's health had detoriated due to altitude sickness and cold (aided by Hari who forgot to close their tent in the night !) and he puked in the morning, but was somehow determined to see Kedartal at any cost ! So 8 of us and Tej-bahadur left to Kedartal at 9 am after having hot-tea and maggie for breakfast. Sunglasses were mandatory for today's trek to prevent snowblindness. After a steady ascent of a kilometre or so the snow-zone begins. Here we found a pool of frozen water so thick that a ball-of-snow when thrown went sliding on it. The rest 3 km to Kedartal was steep and we were walking on almost 2 feet deep snow. Even though we were not carrying our rucksacks the paucity of oxygen and walk on snow made it more strenous than previous day's hikes. Just before the Kedartal we also got a breathtaking panoramic view with Kedarbamak glacier to our left and all the magnificient peaks around it. It was 12.30 pm when we reached Kedartal and we realized why Kedartal is considered as one of the most enchanting glacial lake in the Gharwal Himalayas. Kedartal is sorrounded by Manda group of peaks (6531 mts asl) to the left, Bhrighupantha (6772 mts asl) and Thalaysagar (6984 mts asl) beyond and Jogin group (6031 mts asl) to the right. Out of these Thalaysagar stands out with its steep slopes which are completely covered by snow and the picture remains etched in memory forever. On a day when the lake water is calm, we can also see the reflection of these magnificient peaks on water which completes the feeling of being in Heaven. The emerald blue waters of Kedartal with all these peaks is a sight to savour for lifetime but we had a little more than an hour to do so and left back to Kedarkharak at 2 pm. The other group who were trying to find routes beyond Kedartal had plans to camp here for the night, with night temperature expected to dip below -10 deg and a definite snowfall. Most of us had headaches while I had a splitting one when we started back and together with nausea and giddiness started walking back like a drunkard. I avoided taking Diamox for that day thinking as I was anyway returning to Kedarkarak the same day the altitude gain (or no-gain) would not affect me, but I was wrong. Fortunately this part of the trail didn't have any cliffs or gorges. A kilometre before Kedarkharak I got added to list of people who had puked and arrived at Kedarkharak at 3.30 pm in pretty bad-shape hit by altitude sickness. A dose of Diamox, hot-garlic soup and a 3 hour sleep later I did recover although I had lost all apettite for dinner. It was a night with very clear skies where we thought we spotted our own galaxy, Milky-way ! Recollecting our last 3 days hike, the trail to Kedartal had offered varied terrains: Our first day's hike to Bhojkharak was mostly through vegetation like Bhoj trees, while on second day's trail to Kedarkharak the vegetation dissapeared, and on third day it was mostly on snow.

Day 8 (Oct 3): Trek Kedarkharak (4270 mts)-Gangotri (3048 mts), Travel Gangotri-Uttarkashi

Due to time constraints we had a tight schedule. We had to trek 12 km back to Gangotri and travel Gangotri to Uttarkashi as well. No physical activity was possible till sunrays touched our feet at 8.30 am and it was 10 am when we started towards Gangotri. Our immediate hurdle was the landslide zone. Few us narrowly missed falling rocks, one porter narrowly missed falling down to gorge and Karthik stood rooted before the landslide zone until he was literally pulled by Tej-bahadur. My legs were literally shaking while negotiating this. I learnt the best way to negotiate this was to keep walking at a steady rate without looking on either side while ignoring the collapsing earth under you and hoping that falling rocks won't hit you. The descent further was easy and we reached Bhojkharak by 12 pm. The descent after Bhojkharak was steeper and harder on knees. Particularly the landslide zones were trickier to negotiate while returning as we had to lean to the left to get whatever support to preven sliding down and I believe normal humans like me have lesser control and strength on the left side of the body than on the right. There were no water sources for the last 1 hr and I arrived in Gangotri at 2.45 pm a little dehydrated with screwed up knees. Karthik had lost all confidence in himself and his shoes and had to be dragged by Tej-bahadur till Gangotri. Raghu who prides himself in reaching first everywhere had arrived an hour before with two others and had already booked 2 taxis to Uttarkashi. After a lunch and collecting the holy Ganga water in a bottle we left Gangotri at 4 pm. Again a non-stop jeep ride brought us to Uttarkashi at 7.30 pm. We took 2 decent rooms for Rs. 300 each at a lodge and had a very good sleep without getting troubled by coldness or bed-bugs. A proper sun-burnt face and cracked lips were the testimony of having conquered Kedartal !

Day 9 (Oct 4): Travel Uttarkashi-Rishikesh-Haridwar

After a visit to Vishwanath temple and paying our dues to Bal-bahadur we left to Rishikesh at 10 am in a sumo we had booked for Rs 1800. This stretch is also scenic but a tiresome journey. No matter whether you consume anything or not you are found to feel motion-sick and there is always a competition amongst ourselves to not sit at the back of the jeep. We arrived at Rishikesh at 3.30 pm and became aware Sachin's plans to visit each and every temple at Rishikesh and Haridwar and do river rafting as well in the limited time we had before night. We visited Lakshman-jula and arrived at Haridwar by a 8-seater tuk-tuk auto by 7 pm. After a frentic search for lodges outside the station we got a decent one. A 30-min walk took us to Har-ki-paudi, where except Vasantha all of us took dips in (polluted) waters of Ganges to clear all the sins we had accumulated till now. I guess it cleans only our inner soul ! We had an authentic heavy north-indian dinner at a restaurant called Hoshyarpuri on the way back to our lodge.

Day 10 (Oct 5): Travel Haridwar-Delhi, Fly Delhi-Bangalore

Our train to Delhi was at 7.40 am. As soon as we entered the station it started raining cat-and-dogs. It was then we realized how lucky we were to have got a nice weather window during travel as well as trek as a downpour increases your chance of getting stuck for hours or even days due to landslides while a heavy snowfall would make Kedartal unreachable. The train arrived at New-Delhi station at 1.45 pm and having missed our breakfast we rushed to Connaught place to have our lunch. After lunch we went out in different ways as our flight to Bangalore was at 8.15 pm. Me and Vasantha decided to go and sleep in airport lounge, Sachin decided to do solo-roaming and the rest went sight-seeing to India gate etc in 40 deg heat. The IndiGo flight arrived at Bangalore 30 mins late and it was past midnight when we reached our homes.

Due to time constraints we had a tight schedule and with an extra day we could have spent a memorable but challenging night at Kedartal. It was nevertheless a truly memorable and an amazing trek and has brought on, an addiction to Himalayas. However the first one is always special and I don't know if I can visit that enchanting place called Kedartal again !

I have posted pics here

Cost per person : Rs ~11,000 (Travel Bangalore-Delhi-Haridwar: 700, Guide/equipment rent charges from Uttarkashi: 3200, Travel/food/lodges: 2100, Travel Haridwar-Delhi-Bangalore: 5100)

A monsoon trek to Dabbe falls - Kanoor kote in Sharavathi valley

Date: June 21-22, 2008

Mission: Trek to Dabbe falls and Kanoor kote in Sharavathi valley in 2 days and encounter as many leeches and rain as possible

Prologue:
Himalayas...is where I thought I'll head this summer but found myself making plans alone and going no-where . The endless wait for monsoon was finally over and it started raining in western ghats. After 5 months of inactivity finally a plan to trek in Sharavathi valley emerged and this time it drew a huge crowd in the begining but finally settled to a descent fit 8 people (Me, Raghu L, Vamsi, Suny, Vasanath, Murali, Hari and Sachin). We travelled to Kargal town beyond Jog falls on a Linganmakki bound Rajahamsa bus after leaving KSRTC bus-stand at 9.45 pm on Fri.

Our plan was to trek from a village Hosagadde on Kargal-Bhatkal route visit Dabbe falls, Kanoor kote enroute and wind-up at Gerusoppa on the banks of Sharavathi river covering ~30 kms through paddy fields, lush green meadows, dense tropical forests while crossing innumerable streams. Mahesh was our trek guide and he got into our bus at Sagar. We reached Kargal at 7.15 am. We didn't want to waste our time to freshen-up this time as we had run short of it last year and had to change our plans by ditching Kanoor kote. Because of this Mahesh insisted on taking the 8 am bus to Hosagadde which was 15 km from Kargal but we missed the bus since one of us spent a little extra time in the toilet at the hotel where we had breakfast ! So we had to hire a jeep to Hosagadde and started our trek to Dabbe falls at 9.30 am after distributing grocery, food items amongst ourselves.

Day 1

Our plan on day 1 was to reach Doctor's house near Kanoor kote which is ~16 kms from Hosagadde before nightfall which would take 7-8 hrs if we didn't loose our way. Weather forecast indicated intermittent thundershowers unlike last time when there was a continous downpour. Trek upto Gowdara Mane near Dabbe falls which was ~3 km was no different than last time. Half the distance upto Gowdara mane was a jeep track. Rest of the half we walked through a path that went adjacent to a stream, crossed few streams with one over a wooden-pole bridge, passed a mini-waterfall and we reached Gowdara mane at 10.45 am with minimum leech bites inspite of having no anti-leech stuff on our legs. Few fellows who hadn't seen leeches before, started feaking out. We went to Dabbe falls immediately which took us 30 min from Gowdara mane along a 85 deg slippery slope holding roots, stones and what-not and reached the platform where only 4-5 people could stand and watch Dabbe falls. Unlike last year it was not raining and was considerably less misty, so we could shoot Dabbe falls in all its glory. The only way to reach Dabbe falls is by walking. So Dabbe is one of the few waterfalls where one doesn't find trash of junk which is found at all popular waterfalls ! It is very risky to go to base of Dabbe falls during monsoon . So we got back to Gowdara mane by 11.45 am and started towards Kanoor kote immediately. The lush green paddy-fields with distant mountains with even greener tropical forests on them were a treat to eyes. Sharavathi valley receives 300-600 cm of rainfall every year and is even home to few tigers.

After sometime we were walking inside dense forest. For most of the time there was no path and it was just intuitiveness from Mahesh which made us head along the right direction. There are houses every ~2 km inside the forest but if you loose the track you may end-up wandering inside the forest untill you are rescued by a miracle. My crib about not being able to sight any wildlife in any of the treks came to an end as Mahesh caught a green-tree-snake by its throat and couple of us had the privilege to hold it by its throat and pose in front of the camera. Mahesh released back the snake carefully by suddenly taking his hand from its throat. We stopped at a house by 1.30 pm and we decided to take a break here to cook and have lunch. We removed all the leeches with Mahesh being the worst hit since he was wearing chappal and sat down to have delicious maggie in 30 mins. Me and Raghu were sitting together on the steps in the verandah having Maggie when Hari spotted something moving behind Raghu. We jumped up immediately and saw a snake which was less than a feet long. One look at it and I was sure it was poisonous with its bright colours and activity (I thought it was pit-viper). It was a baby nevertheless poisonous. Even more surprising was Mahesh who came out and held the snake by its throat with bare hands and released it at some distance from the house. I asked Mahesh about the type of the snake which he told much later. It was a Krait and we had almost sat on it !

We left the house at 3 pm and realising that we had much distance to cover, increased our pace. We crossed few streams, walked across paddy fields, streams and hillocks and joined the tar road which leads to Kaanur. There were lot of streams we had crossed which fortunately had lower water currents and we could cross them without any fuss. We reached the house in Kanoor where we had spent a night last year at 4.30 pm. After a small break where we cursed Vamsi for not bringing potato chips, we started towards Doctor's house which was 8 kms from here. There is a jeep track all the way till Doctor's house but Mahesh wanted to take a short cut. This short-cut was probably not a well-trodden one in monsoon. It was slippery and had dense forest so was naturally infested with leeches and abundant thorns. The combination of all these made Vasanth completely freak out and started cribbing about everything. Almost everyone had a slip and a fall here and it meant a thought of few leeches inside your body ! This agony came to an end in 30-45 mins when we reached jeep track. Another 1-1.5 hr along the jeep track, Mahesh decided to halt at one Ramachandra's house as the next house which was Doctor's house was still 1 hr uphill hike and it was getting dark. The inmate of the Ramachandra's house were simple and friendly folks who were displaced during Linganmakki dam construction 20 years ago. They had basic lighting in the house by means of a dynamo against running water as no electricity exists in this part of the world. The house had no toilet either but had a telephone. Murali who went out to answer nature's call came back with few leeches on his legs ! We even got hot water to take bath and refresh from 9 hr walk. With an excellent dinner of rice, sambhar and pickle finished we slept at 11 pm with a note from Mahesh about next day's trek being even more strenous and we had to start early by 8 am.

Day 2

The early start never came and by the time we got ready after having breakfast in the form of Upma washed with tea, cooking and getting lunch in the form of Puliyogure parcelled and accessing everyone's fitness it was 10 am. For today's trek we applied tobacco-powder mixed with coconut oil against leeches. Vasanth greedily applied half of that into his legs even though for all he had freaked out yesterday he hadn't got a single bite. We reached Doctors's house in an hour where we were served pupoya and lemon tea. Another 45 mins of hike in dense forest, encountered by leeches and rain we reached Kanoor kote by 12 pm. The route from Doctor's house to Kanoor kote gave excellent views of Sharavathi valley. We spent 1 hr visiting remnants of this 400 year ruined fort which was slowly getting occupied by the sorrounding jungle. The fort consisted of a queen's swimming pool, couple of temples, secret passages but there was not a single place where we could stand and watch as leeches made us jump now and then. The ruined but beautiful temple is almost 1 km from the fort entrance and the zig-zag path inside the dense jungle is bound to confuse anyone. It was Mahesh who dared to enter the secret passages first lest it harbours snakes. We started towards Gerusoppa at 1 pm.

The path to Gerusoppa (~12 km) was almost downhill hike through dense jungle. It was slippery for half of the distance due to rains but was almost dry for the rest half till Gerusoppa. Mahesh who was walking in front almost hit a giant (poisonous) spider which had created a huge web right on the path. After sometime we even spotted a couple of peacocks but they were too camera-shy and disappeared within seconds. At ~2.30 pm we crossed a hanging bridge over a wide stream and halted for lunch along the banks of the stream. We even jumped into the stream to have a much needed break. Hari had his shoe sole opened at front during this part of the hike which gave ample opportunity for leeches to get in and suck blood and he painted a sorry picture. Lunch in the form of Puliyogure and mangoes which we had collected along the trail finished, we started towards Gerusoppa at 3.30 pm. The rest of the path was jeep track. We had to catch the bus from Gerusoppa at 5.30 pm to be on time at Sagar to catch the Sagar-Bangalore bus at 10 pm in which we had reserved tickets. We increased our pace along the jeep track which culminated at the banks of Sharavathi river at 5 pm. We had to cross the river on a small boat to reach Gerusoppa. One notable incident was Vasanth who fell flat in the river with his face upwards while get into the boat. After crossing the river we took one bus from Gerusoppa to Gerusoppa cross. The bus to Sagar arrived at 6.45 pm and a 2 hr journey bought us to Sagar. We had dinner and parted with Mahesh who stays near Sagar and runs a local newspaper called 'Vanaraja'. Rajahamsa brought us to Bangalore at 6 am and it concluded one of the memorable trek. This is moderate trek if done in 3 days, but a bit strenous to do in 2 days and monsoon is the best season to view 'Mungaru Male' kind of panoramic views irrespective of leeches.

Cost per person : Rs 1500