तुम्हे चाहेंगे, तुम्हे पूजेंगे, तुम्हे अपना खुदा बनायेंगे
Nothing can be more unfortunate than not experiencing a walk in the Himalayas. The Himalayas are our heritage. They are our guardians. Looming large, rising to the heavens, we look up to them as our guardian angels. If we as Indians,in general and Hindus in particular, today have our own separate identity as a unique race, unspoiled and uncorrupted by the Western or Middle East influences, then we should attribute a large part of it to the Himalayas and the rivers flowing from it. These towering blocks of stone and ice have insulated us from changes that took place elsewhere during medieval times and to some extent protected us from the rampaging invaders from the North. Our history and our existence has been linked to these mountains and its rivers. Rivers are our lifelines whether it is the Ganga in North, Narmada in the west, Godavari and Krishna in the southwest and the raging Brahmaputra and Hooghly in the East. They are a ubiquitous part of every Indian’s life.
Our (I with my wife Sunita, daughter Trusha and son Triaaksh) journey this summer, a trek
in these mighty mountains took us alongside one such river all the way to its
origin. What follows below is daily account during this trek and my thoughts as
we trudge through the unknown, this being the first trek of this season to the
Bagini Glacier deep in the bosom of the Himalayas.
Day 1
Haridwar to Joshimath - 10 hour drive
A back breaking 10 hr. journey through winding roads and some places where roads existed only on paper. This road the NH58 is along the 5 confluences of the great river Alaknanda called the Panch Prayag, which finally meets the blue waters of Bhagirathi at Devprayag to form the holy Ganga. The others in a sequential order as we followed them up stream on our way to our starting point at Joshimath were Rudraprayag, the confluence of Mandakini with Alaknanda, Karanprayag where Pindar Ganga meets up, Nandprayag where the river Nandakini merges with Alaknanda and lastly Vishnuprayag, the meeting place of Dhauli Ganga and Alaknanda. The guesthouse named as the Nandadevi Expedition hostel made up for all the trouble endured during this ordeal. Clean, spacious rooms, hot water in the bathroom and a commanding view of the snow peaks greeted us. Over the next 5 days we will follow one of the headstreams of the Ganges, the Dhauli Ganga all the way upto the Bagini Glacier.
Joshimath to Ruing - 2 hour drive, 2 hour trek
“The most important reason for going from one place to another is to see what's in between, and they took great pleasure in doing just that.”
― Norton Juster
“The most important reason for going from one place to another is to see what's in between, and they took great pleasure in doing just that.”
― Norton Juster
Our group of 12 trekkers with our Trek leader,
Gopal and 2 guides Sandip and Jaman leave at 9.30 AM after breakfast.
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| Swinging bridge at Jumma |
The 44km drive was on roads that are regularly
laid only to be swept away by repeated landslides. They twisted and turned, competing
with the Dhauli Ganga as it ran alongside sometimes in a gorge more than 100
feet deep. This road, which is carved into the mountainside, ends 25 km further
away at Neeti, the last town on the IndoTibet border. It's on this road
that we caught a glimpse of the Nandadevi peak, near Tapovan. This was the only
time that I saw it during my entire trek even though this was a trek entirely
in the Nandadevi National Park.
The trek began at a village called Jumma, by crossing a swinging bridge over the Dhauli Ganga and ended within 2 hours at Ruing village located at an altitude of 8900 ft. even before I could actually get a feel of the trek.
The trek began at a village called Jumma, by crossing a swinging bridge over the Dhauli Ganga and ended within 2 hours at Ruing village located at an altitude of 8900 ft. even before I could actually get a feel of the trek.
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| Setting the camp at Ruing |
A flat area was located, tents pitched and we
spent time lazing around. It was bright and sunny with temperature hovering
around 25°C. The skies were clear, but since it had been cloudy in evenings
with a drizzle or two over the previous few days, an uncertainty of how long
this good weather would hold prevailed.
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| Moon rising behind the Ruing |
As the afternoon lazily turned into evening and
dusk made an appearance a heavenly sight greeted us. Between the silhouettes of
the peaks topped by pine trees, a halo of light appeared against the indigo
blue sky. This light slowly took on the shape of a full moon brightening the
sky and sprinkling moonlight all over the mountainside. The snow peaks
sparkled, the river shone and it seemed as if the stars were glittering in the
daytime. It was a spectacular moonrise! And it was one of those sights that
stay on forever.
Day 3
Ruing to
Dunagiri - 6/7 hours trek
“Nature is not a place to visit. It is home.”
“Nature is not a place to visit. It is home.”
It’s 5.30 AM. Yesterday ended well. I am cushioned
snugly in my sleeping bag inside my tent and my 14 yr. old son, Triaaksh curled
and fast asleep next to me in his. This trek is a special one for me. We, that
is, my wife Sunita, our daughter Trusha and son Triaaksh are trekking together
for the first time and today will be a relatively long day, an 8 km trek with
an altitude gain of nearly 2000 ft. This is going to be his first real long
climb. And I am a bit apprehensive; that fear of the unknown. Also it is the
first batch of the season, trekking to Bagini Glacier. No one's sure of what to
expect. It has been snowing heavily up there according to the recce team and we
expect a thick layer of snow. My worry though, is not the snow. It’s Acute Mountain
Sickness. Since the gain is quiet rapid my worry is justified, but my trek
leader reassures me saying that the trek has been planned as to minimize the
risk. In the mountains, weather is the key to a treks success. It’s so fickle
that no one can predict it with any certainty. A clear blue sky can turn
overcast within minutes. And so we begin our 3rd day by 9.30 am with a hope
that all ends well today.
2PM
At last we have reached our campsite. It's on a flat land with snow peaks all around us. A gurgling stream flows by. It’s quite hot now and the sun is burning down on us. Vegetation is sparse and there is no shade. The breeze is cool but intermittent.
The climb has been an arduous one, albeit scenic, as always in the Himalayas. There were steep ascents and descents. We were trekking by the river all the time. This, river the guide says arises from the Bagini glacier, which we will be reaching after 2 more days of walk.
2PM
At last we have reached our campsite. It's on a flat land with snow peaks all around us. A gurgling stream flows by. It’s quite hot now and the sun is burning down on us. Vegetation is sparse and there is no shade. The breeze is cool but intermittent.
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| Campsite at Dronagiri |
The climb has been an arduous one, albeit scenic, as always in the Himalayas. There were steep ascents and descents. We were trekking by the river all the time. This, river the guide says arises from the Bagini glacier, which we will be reaching after 2 more days of walk.
Today's path was interspersed with blooms of
Rhododendron imparting a pink hue to the landscape, which are otherwise patches
of green and the brown of the barren mountain slopes. The Hathi parvat was
visible after a few steep ascents. The landscape changed as we ascended to a
brown barren landslide zone. Our guide and the trek leader had warned us to
walk carefully but not stop. An upward glance and I could see small and large boulders
perched precariously and I hasten my steps, just pausing to click a few images. Landslides happen with an alarming frequency
in these parts.
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| Trekking in the landslide zone |
The rest of the ascent is over a rocky terrain.
We spot the carcass of a Yak who probably fell down from the top on the rocky
terrain while searching for greener pastures and met a painful end.
As we reach the top of the climb at around 12000ft we notice a flat land and our guide decides to pitch the tents there for the night. It took us about 4 hrs. to travel the distance of 8kms and a gain of about 2000ft.
In the distance we see the abandoned houses of Dronagiri. There's no one in the village now. The villagers migrate down to more comfortable climes during winter and are yet to return home.
They stay there
during the summer and monsoon seasons, cultivate potatoes, cabbages, tend to
their cattle and once winter sets in move down to lower altitudes and the cycle
continues. To get their other provisions they have to walk miles down to
Joshimath and get them on mules braving the landslides, which happen very
often. They have been doing this for centuries just as their ancestors did. To
the question of why they continue to brave such hostile and extreme weather
there is no answer. It's a continuation of the customs and rituals laid down by
their forefathers, says one of our guides who has a house here. It's our land
he says, the land of my ancestors, the pride evident in his eyes. These are
some aspects, which are incomprehensible to a city dweller like me.
As we reach the top of the climb at around 12000ft we notice a flat land and our guide decides to pitch the tents there for the night. It took us about 4 hrs. to travel the distance of 8kms and a gain of about 2000ft.
In the distance we see the abandoned houses of Dronagiri. There's no one in the village now. The villagers migrate down to more comfortable climes during winter and are yet to return home.
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| Dronagiri Village |
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| Night at Longatuli. |
As I retire for the night, Triaaksh tells me that he had a lot of fun. That gives me immense satisfaction. For a budding teenager to enjoy being in the company of nature with the earth as his mattress and the star filled sky as his blanket leaving behind the warmth & comfort of his bed makes me feel proud of him.
Day 4
Dronagiri to Longatuli - 4kms, 12600 ft
“I felt my lungs inflate with the onrush of scenery—air, mountains, trees. I thought, "This is what it is to be happy.”
― Sylvia Plath
5.00AM
I wake up as usual. It's bright outside even at
this hour though the sun is yet to rise. The only sound I hear is of the
flowing stream near our campsite and the rustling of leaves from the sparse
trees by the chilly morning breeze. The moon has disappeared behind the
mountains. Our tents are the only signs of civilization. The desolate village
of Dronagiri looks as if it's staring at me. I am planning to trek up to it
today and visualize myself staying there for 6 months. No electricity, no
phones, no television, no news. Away from all the happenings in the big bad
world. This will be my world. Wake up with the sunrise, sleep at sunset, drink
pure mineral water, and eat organic food, things for which we pay a ransom in
the city. A wide panoramic view from my window, which no wide screen TV can
match.
I am jolted out of my reverie. Its time to
answer nature's call and get on with packing my rucksack, fold my sleeping bag
and dismantle the tent for the day. Another destination waits us. A new route,
a new campsite and a new vista!
An hours walk and we are in the village of Dronagiri where we spend some time looking at the uninhabited, dilapidated houses and marveling at the way they were built using the local materials, stone and wood. Some of the houses though have withstood the ravages of time and weather and are intact since more than a hundred years. After a couple of kms walk and we could see the Dronagiri peak.
An hours walk and we are in the village of Dronagiri where we spend some time looking at the uninhabited, dilapidated houses and marveling at the way they were built using the local materials, stone and wood. Some of the houses though have withstood the ravages of time and weather and are intact since more than a hundred years. After a couple of kms walk and we could see the Dronagiri peak.
An uphill climb of 4 kms through sparse vegetation, rocky mountains, sighting of a herd of mountain goats that scampered uphill as we approached them and an altitude gain of about 1000ft and about 4 hours later, we are at the Longatuli campsite at an altitude of 12600ft. The magnificence of the mountain hits me as soon we reached the place. I haven't seen a campsite more awe-inspiring than this. As we pitch our tents the only thing I can hear is the sound of 'WoW' from my co-trekkers. Our tent is facing the mountains and in the not so far distant I can see the peaks of Hardeval and Rishi parvat. I just have to lift up the flap of my tent and gaze out. Flowing out from the distant mountains is Dhauli Ganga just across the tents. The wide riverbed full of white and yellow stones gleaming under the overhead sun, rivulets branching out and coalescing lower down as one. A few meters up the campsite multiple ponds have formed between the stones.
The clear stream feeding them from top, overflowing and then cascading down to another pool a bit lower. Sunita and I walk up to enticing place and find it mesmerizing, so we spend some time sitting on the rocks, our tired feet getting rejuvenated in the cold, flowing waters and gazing at the snow peaks, hearing the gurgling stream. Lunch is delayed today, but it hardly matters. The beauty of our surroundings satiates us.
Tomorrow is going to be the summit day and we
will be attempting to reach the Bagini Glacier and the advance Bagini camp at
an altitude of 14800 feet. We plan to start at 5AM and need to get up early.
After an early dinner we all retire to our tents.
Day 5
Longatuli to Bagini - 6 kms
14800ft
“One never stops climbing, Julie, unless he wants to stop and vegetate. There’s always something just ahead.”
“One never stops climbing, Julie, unless he wants to stop and vegetate. There’s always something just ahead.”
I get up at 4 am today as instructed by out team
leader and waking up Triaaksh who refuses to get up. We are starting at 5am
today to reach the Bagini glacier from where the Dhauli Ganga begins. It is biting
cold and the wind isn’t making things easy. I have worn all the woolens I have
and my gloves and yet I am shivering. There is a campfire burning, lit up by
our Nepali porters and I stand next to it trying to soak in the warmth as I eat
the Dhalia for breakfast. The sky is deep blue and the moon clearly visible
between the clouds and about to set behind the mountains. The sun hasn’t
risen yet. The snow peaks are glowing in the fading moonlight and the faint
light of dawn.
As we proceed, towards the glacier, the trail of stones and boulders marked at places by craines, gives way to moraines. We tread over the Moraines’ carefully. A slip on these and the ankle's sure to twist. Moraine is a new terminology for me. In simple words it means ‘an accumulation of earth and stones carried and finally deposited by a glacier’.
The
daylight is streaming through. The chill has subsided. The warmth is seeping
into my body as I ascend slowly. The air has become rarified. My altimeter
shows 13800 feet. A heavy silence hangs in the air now. The streams formed by
the melting glacier ice are narrow and seem tamed. They do not rumble and roar
here, perhaps out of deference to their creator. The only sound I hear is that
of of my own heavy breathing. I am feeling a bit lightheaded. The Altimeter
shows 14100 ft.
My breathing quickens trying to suck in as much Oxygen out of the rarefied mountain air, but I am comfortable. Trusha is walking alongside. I glance behind to see Triaaksh and Sunita following us. They both seem to be doing well. We are walking on the snow now, the feet sinking into the snow at places softened by the early morning sun.
And then we come across rows of stones placed on the flat snow filled surface and our guide declares that we have reached the Bagini base camp 1.
My breathing quickens trying to suck in as much Oxygen out of the rarefied mountain air, but I am comfortable. Trusha is walking alongside. I glance behind to see Triaaksh and Sunita following us. They both seem to be doing well. We are walking on the snow now, the feet sinking into the snow at places softened by the early morning sun.
And then we come across rows of stones placed on the flat snow filled surface and our guide declares that we have reached the Bagini base camp 1.
I look around and see the wide glaciers. It was an astounding site to see the origin of the Dhauli Ganga that we had been following so far. I was surrounded by some of the towering Himalayan peaks, some of them amongst the tallest in India. The Harideval, Rishi, Garud, Kalanka were all visible and seemed to be just at a hand shaking distance. And as many have felt it, I felt small and insignificant. Words failed me. A few of our fellow trekkers proceeded further for another 2km to the Advance Base Camp in the hope of sighting the Changbang peak. The 4 of us decided to rest and wait for them to return. I wanted to soak in as much of the view as possible, savor each moment and embed it deep in my mind.
After about an hour and half when the others returned,
we had a delicious lunch of Paranthas and Alu sabzi and decided to return to
Longatuli.
We were fortunate to be blessed with a good weather so far. As we made our way back descending thru the snow and the moraines, dark clouds gathered overhead. In a matter of minutes the sky had become overcast and it threatened to rain. A cold wind started blowing and a few drops of rain fell on me. I hurried down and managed to reach the campsite without taking a break, but completely exhausted.
An hour later, the skies started clearing and
far in the horizon as the sun disappeared behind the mountains, the departing
clouds tinted orange made a wonderful pattern.
Even though each and every part of my lower body was stiff and crying with pain it was a satisfactory end to an amazing day. More so as Triaaksh and Trusha both had managed to complete the trek and finish strong.
We were fortunate to be blessed with a good weather so far. As we made our way back descending thru the snow and the moraines, dark clouds gathered overhead. In a matter of minutes the sky had become overcast and it threatened to rain. A cold wind started blowing and a few drops of rain fell on me. I hurried down and managed to reach the campsite without taking a break, but completely exhausted.
An hour later, the skies started clearing and
far in the horizon as the sun disappeared behind the mountains, the departing
clouds tinted orange made a wonderful pattern. Even though each and every part of my lower body was stiff and crying with pain it was a satisfactory end to an amazing day. More so as Triaaksh and Trusha both had managed to complete the trek and finish strong.
“There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure.”
― Paulo Coelho
Acknowledgements and gratitude
Trek The Himalayas
Team Leader - Gopal Krishna
Guides - Sandip & Jaman
Co trekkers - Abhimanyu, Amit, Ashutosh, Manoj, Saurav, Seva, Tapas and Vishi who all contributed in their own way for the success of this wonderful trek.
― Paulo Coelho
Acknowledgements and gratitude
Trek The Himalayas
Team Leader - Gopal Krishna
Guides - Sandip & Jaman
Co trekkers - Abhimanyu, Amit, Ashutosh, Manoj, Saurav, Seva, Tapas and Vishi who all contributed in their own way for the success of this wonderful trek.
