“Be brave. Take
risks. Nothing can substitute experience.” ~ Paulo Coelho
Snow capped peaks,
people playing, loving and living with snow, posing calm with fully covered warm
clothes, melting glaciers, snowing, hard striving climber on a rock to
reach a peak etc etc, we get to see all
these in photographs, cinemas,
TV news and else where in the virtual world. But how does it feel to be
there in person, strive all day, cross numerous hurdles,
live the moments and enjoy
all those in real?
Pretty long article,
jump to the 7th para here to skip my personal prologue rantings.
Photo credits : Me, Fellow trekkers Ashutosh Patel, Manoj patel,Sagar Patil, Sree Harsha, Amruth Narayana, Pawan Nayak, Navneeth, Krishnamurthy and more
Sometime in 2009, third
year of engineering course, Dhanasekar, the craziest fellow friend
was telling to our crazy group that, "There is an organisation called
Youth Hostel Association which conducts treks to everest base camp for
damn cheap cost, and we are going for it after we write our final year
exams". I had never climbed anything high in life till then other than
climbing steps on buildings.
That cheap cost he told
too seemed to be costly as I was still a student. Then we all just forgot
everything as usual and got busy with our lives. Then happened
introduction to CTC and small treks here and there. Suddenly
one morning, saw
his photo tagged in a newspaper for Youth Hostel Association of India
(YHAI) karnataka branch's one week long
coorg trek program and later he
went for the Goa sailing expedition too.The description of which
kindled my travel wishes more and I kept
checking for YHAI site for its announcement last
year (2013), but it never happened.
Accidentally came across the 5 days
Munnar trekking program,which I then
participated in,
in October 2013, where many were
talking about the iconic SAR PASS trek that happens for 10 days.
The possibilities of me
going seemed remote because of myraid of reasons. No long leaves, not so
fit, have to travel till other end of country, Don't know hindi and above
all it was general fear about the mighty himalayas.December came and
registrations for SAR Pass started and Call from Dhanasekar again to
register for the first batch starting on May 1. With all the
above stated fear and the fact of half money being returned if cancelled, I just went
on registering.
Then the UAE vacation
in January with Family taxed on leaves and finances. Bloody Dhanasekar broke
his collar bone and cancelled his registration for the trek. Hopes about
the trek were still dangling.
With air travel being optimized for leaves, we had to book flight tickets ahead which I was still thinking to
book or not. Almost everyone who registered booked tickets in Jan- Feb and
I was reluctant till March end. Then booked tickets in refundable fare to
Delhi and sought permission for long leaves,
my manager was kind enough
to let me go.
One month left and not
so happy fitness level, finally decided to do with the trek. Did jog for a
week's time in morning, the maximum workout I did for the trek. Then the
day came with lot of eleventh hour purchases in Decathlon, started with
the trip.
Reached Delhi by Air
from Bangalore on April 30th and bus to Kullu from there over night
reporting on May 1st to the base camp. The Himachal Roadways volvo from
ISBT Delhi was too good , I did not
expect such a cozy travel in hilly
routes. The route was totally alongside the majestic Beas river which
flows across Himachal. A 12 hours journey to Bhuntar, a place 10kms before Kullu,
from where a 30 kms diversion and a 2hrs travel in local bus to Kasol.
Himachal :
The state of Himachal
Pradesh is a purely tourist dependent state belssed by nature. Hilly
roads and Remote towns that can get disconnected any moment
in case of land slides.
They have some of the
best and most skilled drivers in
the world. Was really amazed by the way they handle
the vehicles in the mountains. Huge rivers flow from altitudes help them
generate a lot of Hydel power. The people are
calm and speak Pahari language.
Gifted with a physique
built for hiking with weights,they carry heavy things on back with
smiling faces.
In fact, our tent
materials from base camp to higher camps were carried by
locals that too young
ladies. The luggage was around 40kgs
charged Rs.15/kg.
They lead a happy and
contended life without running behind money, gadget
or anything virtual.
Kasol :
Our base camp
location, a village located in the valley and banks of the cold and loud Parvati
river with foreigners roaming around for the charas grown there. It also
had small market selling trekking goods
at an opportunistic rocket
high price.
Base camp:
All YHAI camps maintain
a discipline and strict timings to keep up the regime as they handle
masses. There were daily morning exercises , very decent and timely food
, Acclimatization walk (~4km) on the second day, rappelling and
Rock climbing training on the third day.
.jpg) |
| Areal view of Base camp shot from DJI Phantom | | |
|
This was the only camp
with proper sanitation, power
facilities for light or minimal charging
points. It was the most comfortable
tented stay relative to other camps.
Temperature was less
than 20degC and sometimes dropped below
10degC. Midnights were cold after the
usual evening rain.
One layer of extra
cloth was sufficient to keep warm. We started to higher camps from there on May
4th.
Further Life :
There were six higher camps and from every camp we
started by 8.30am with packed lunch with an indispensable guide,
only one who knew
what trail to be taken on that day.Lunch was some where in
between where we could find some plain or semi plain land to get
seated.
Routes change every
year because of land slides and floods. Was able to spot many land slide
remains, rocks rolled down over the huge trees creating disaster.
We were told that we
took some routes after almost 12 years.Very less of
it was identifiable as trail else it was mostly walking
towards the right direction across
dense forests .
The paths were into
deep forests crossing ridges with each valley giving a better visual
than previous one. Those streams, and villagers moving around with herds at
lower altitudes gave a very pleasant feel. The vegetation kept decreasing with
altitude and there was nothing but only snow
at the top.
Himalayan weather is
highly unpredictable. Windy rain any time and hailstorms at higher
altitudes.
We reached that
particular day's destination camp between 2.30pm and 4.30pm. Luckily it
rained everyday post our arrival to the camp.
We got
a Welcome drink, Soup, Tea in hours gap and Dinner before
sunset as there was no power in any higher
camps. Streams were our only source of water for all
its usages.
Good sleeping bags were provided at each
camp for the night sleep.
Sun set was by 7.30pm.
Much later in Nagaru, the highest camp.
Grahan:
Our first higher camp
trek to ~8000ft . Steep at some places. Overall a manageable trek.
Nice camp setup,
location and food. A toilet kind of setup was given for the nature calls. Even
at that altitude we were lucky to find
Black Scorpions in tents which gave an
exciting sleep for that night ;-)
Padri:
Our second higher camp
at about ~9500ft. Trek was a bit hard coz we descended most height
that we climbed the previous day and ascend again.This destination
had the best camp site I have ever been.
Considerable amount of
open grassland Surrounded by ice capped peaks with no visual obstruction
and our tents located near a stream. There was quite a large open space to
move around.
Min thatch:
The third higher camp
at around 11000ft. The usual camping place called Ratapani was cancelled
due to excessive snow.
Reaching there was the
longest, 14kms treacherous path from 9.00am to 6.30 pm. Most tiring
day of the trek. Steep at many places and some of the final ascents were
almost 88 degrees on random rocks.
This trial was our
first ice encounter. 30% on snow. I slipped twice into the not so fatal
valleys without support stick which I did not bother to carry till then.
It was in this trial
camera rolled down rocky slope for some 400 ft , hit and was
stopped by a tree. Happy that I got it back in full shape but the shutter jam inside let
me do nothing for the following days.
Nagaru :
Our fourth and highest
camp at 12500ft. Thrilling route with steep and deadly ice covered
valleys. It was almost full on ice trek.
4-6 ft ice was digged
out to make tent space. A semi igloo environment with ice walls. We faced hail storm
with really spine chilling thunders followed by a calm snowfall.
It was just milky white
snow every where around to play with.
The sun set was by ~8pm. We got drinking water
by melting ice. Sky colors, cloud
movements and surroundings were
surreal to feed the eyes and cameras like anything.
Was wearing 5 layers of clothing with socks and gloves and I was still shivering.
Sar pass:
The D-day trek to 13800
feet, started early morning before sunrise which was at 4.30 am!! Steep
ice climbs and some plain walk over the glacier. Sherpas from Himalayan
Mountaineering Institute were our guides. We crossed an avalanche that
happend a day back.
Snow and only snow till
the horizon all sides and that reddish sun rise over himalayan peaks.
REAL FEAST!
At a point by 8am,
there were no other high peaks around.
YES!WE WERE ON THE
TOP! OVER THE HIMALYAN SHIVALIK RANGE!
It was pricking ice
cold wind with very bright and sharp sun. A peculiar weather. Was able tofeel the thin oxygen and the weak atmosphere with frequent gasp. Exhausting snow
walk cheered up by the Himachali song by guide ended at a really steep
ascent and fully descending from there on.
Snow slide :
Now comes the Fun and
most exciting part of the trek which I was a bit afraid of
before. One of the best
experiences of my life. It was a steep
descend on snow that one can
not manage to walk down.Mandatory slide on snow at a great speed without any
effort. Though instructions were given for a safe slide, it was fun to
topple, turn around slide in wierd postures :D :D
It was an ultimate
Childish feel and amusement for 3-4kms split slide.We had covered a day's
descend in hours by sliding directly to the camp site at Biskeri.
The fear of snow was
fully gone and I was wantedly finding slopes to slide wherever possible.
Happened to see the few glacier melting places too.
Biskeri :
The first lower camp
called as little switzerland, was same as nagaru with full of ice due to
extreme snowing. Our camp leader told that it was 4 ft ice after 1997 and
they set tents with great difficulty as it was'nt anticipated.
Excessive playing in
snow made me a little feverish.
Final descent :
With one more camp
named Bhandak thatch, a vast and beautiful grassland and a colorful camp on
it, I decided to skip it directly and descend further directly to
base camp.
We were told that some
amount of rappelling needed at a river cross but that was easy even
without rappelling. I descended more than 4000ft in a day with one more trek
mate and our camp leader came with us. Reaching Base camp again looked like
a palace for the comfort it offered.
YHAI:
Overall an awesome
organisation on various grounds with respect to the amount of work done
behind to give a perfect trekking experience. We had an experienced and awesome
camp leader with us all along who threw some light
Supply chain was to
such extent that they transport food items to all camps dailly or on need basis
and nothing stocked anywhere.While other tour operators give such
experiences in multi fold cost, these people do it with no profit at all. Most
of their employees are volunteers.
For the range of area
and altitude we covered, it demands a lot local's interactions, forest
permissions and a planned supply of materials to all camps which was
perfectly done.
Team :
We were 50 faces in our
SP1 group, most from Bangalore, Maharashtra , Gujarat and remaining
from other states. All were highly co operative and moved at very decent
pace all over the trek. Fun we had will ring for a long time in my mind.
An awesome group to be a part of!
Gear:
Ascending involves lot
of physical energy and stamina working on a different set of bones
and muscles unlike descending.The knees get into great pressure and
stepping down steep descends demand
great concentration than any physical
task.Previous trek descends taxed my toes and ankle too. The choice of right
kind of shoe helped a lot this time.
Quechua Forclaz 500 .
It looked huge but really lightweight , breathable ,water proof to the
fullest extent even in small streams and snow. There
is no way, the inner sides
will get wet the untill water levels go
above ankles. It gave unbeleivable grip on
ice and steep forest trails.
My take :
YHAI has conducted this
trek for past 21 years with an average of 1300 people per year. It
counts upto less than 30k people and I am one of those luckiest souls that
ever lived on earth to have this lifetime experience.
10 full days among
infinitely tall pine trees, sun shaded forests, grasslands, sky bending
landscapes, ice, massive, loud and swift flowing rivers. It was all
nothing but nature at its best possible
state.
Not to mention that
there was a complete freedom from mobile networks or any other means
digital/virtual things happening around. Time was mine all day.
It is said that every
travel makes some irreversible influences impact to the self. Simply being
away but with nature itself gives deep insights over life to realise
and refresh the soul. Beyond this, interacting and observing people and
surviving extreme environments leaves deep traces.
Every physical step you
take cross those deep , fatal valleys and slippery steep forest ascents
make all other common problems in life infinitesimally small or they don’t
matter at all.
General notion is that
terkking means physical fitness. True but according to me, it is also an
equal mental task. Sometimes it is only a mental task.
In such long treks,
moving continuously with your own load at the back, after a point of time
you very well know you are exhausted and cannot do much physically. It is
all about facing and conquering your own fear there
after.
It is all then our mind
that should push forward to get the goal and surprisingly, with the
right spirit, it keeps moving us in spite of the pain faced. I was
absolutely experiencing the same.
Finally getting on to
the top, literally there are no words to explain the sense of happiness or
achievment state the soul gets into. Might be it is the actual feel that
"Getting high" is derived from.
" It is not the
mountain we conquer, but ourselves." - Sir Edmund Hillary
Other Photos from my album go
here
Videos :
Get a live feel with some of our great moments recorded by Amruth Narayana :
Breath taking Camp locations videographed by Manoj Patel :
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