It’s not the mountain we conquer but ourselves
Probably this is why we
chose the Kuari pass Pangarchula trek as we would get a shot at scaling the
Himalayan peak of over 4,700 meter (15,420 feet), more than half the size of
Mt. Everest, experiencing the thrills and chills of high altitude trekking.
Our destination and goal this time was the Kuari Pass and the Pangarchula summit, a challenging climb at the end of beautiful trail hidden in the depths of the Garhwal ranges in Uttarakhand.
DAY 00: Delhi-Haridwar
For some mysterious
reason, as if to cleanse you off your karmas and give you a fresh start, most
of the treks have holy places as its starting point.
This trek too started from
Haridwar, the ancient and holy pilgrimage city where river Ganga is worshiped by
performing the Ganga aarti every evening on the Ghats of majestic Ganga. We had reached
Haridwar well in time to check-in into our budget stay hotel right in the
middle of the shops and shanties of the Haridwar bazaar bustling with pilgrims,
hawkers and reckless cycle rickshaws.
We managed to attended the spectacular Ganga aarti which goes on
from 6-7 pm along with hundreds of other devotees, some of them even managing
to take a dip in the holy Ganga waters amidst the hustle bustle.
The Ghats were generously lit and decorated on the occasion of the ongoing Ardha Kumbh Mela.
The Ghats were generously lit and decorated on the occasion of the ongoing Ardha Kumbh Mela.
Day 01: Haridwar – Auli
We met our guide and fellow trekkers early
morning at Haridwar station and began the long and tedious journey of 280 kms
from Haridwar to Auli through the beautiful Garhwali ranges accompanied by the
jade green river Alaknanda lazily snaking along the entire route.
This route take your through Devprayag, a confluence of river Alaknanda and Bhagirathi and offers you views of the Rudraprayag as well as the Vishnuprayag.
We reached Auli and settled into the comfortable Himalayan
eco-lodges getting to knowour fellow trekkers, a total of 17 of us, over tea and
dinner.
We had an early start the next day, so we wound up enjoying every bit of the lovely cool Auli
night sending our sweater clad pics to the lesser fortunate folks suffering in the Pune heat.
Day 02: Auli – Taali
We finally began our trek from the Auli ski
resort, the next few hours took us through the vast ski slope rang via the forests into the Gurson Meadows.
The vast open spaces, snow clad mountains and the height of the slopes are enough to pump up the adrenaline in any ski enthusiast, however at this time of the year the cables of the 500 meter long ski- lift rest patiently waiting for the next season.
The vast open spaces, snow clad mountains and the height of the slopes are enough to pump up the adrenaline in any ski enthusiast, however at this time of the year the cables of the 500 meter long ski- lift rest patiently waiting for the next season.
We also came across an artificial lake used to
churn out ice for skiing in case of low snowfall during the season.
After a very long uphill hike , we decided to break for lunch,our first actual stop since we had set out early that morning.
Lunch
was at the beautiful Auli meadows whose beauty transported us into the Swiss
Alps replete with snowcapped mountains in the background, lush green meadows, grazing sheep and not a soul in sight. We almost had our DDLJ
moment…minus SRK of course .
Post
lunch the terrain began to get steeper and trickier with lot of narrow
crossings and ridges. We treaded cautiously taking each step carefully on the
slippery gravel filled path.
Clinging on to the mountain on one side with the
deep valley gaping on the other, thus began the thrill and adventure we had secretly
sought albeit in varying degree.
Around tea time we finally reached our first camp site Taali
cozily nestled between the thick forests and towering mountains.
After the much
needed tea and refreshments, we decided to explore the forest and hoped to warm by a bon fire , but the rain gods had other plans. We were caught in a sudden
downpour and a mild hailstorm that lasted almost the entire evening and night.
Dinner was hence a rather quick affair though our guides and porters miraculously
managed to cook and serve a sumptuous meal in pitch darkness and rain. With
nothing much to do we chatted across tents over the sound of lashing rains and
thunder lying in our sleeping bags trying to get as cozy and warm as we could.
Day 03: Taali – Kuari
pass (3650m) – Khulara (3225 m)
The
day began with beautiful sun shine and thus began our journey towards Kuari
Pass taking us higher and deeper into the Himalayan ranges at 5:00 am.
We started spotting
many well-known peaks like Nanda Devi (7816 m), Dronagiri (7066 m), Haathi
Ghoda and Nilgiri as the path became steeper and narrower.
As we neared the Kuari
Pass we were struck with another downpour which translated into a beautiful
snowfall.
Since we were navigating a
rather treacherous patch our guide advised us to take a break in case the
snowfall got converted into a storm.
He managed to find a cave hidden somewhere
in the mountain crevices and even lit a nice warm fire. We tried our luck by
going deeper into the cave with the crazy hope of bumping into Jon Snow.
Once the weather cleared we continued towards Kuari Pass with
the weather growing colder and the peaks getting higher. Kuari Pass offered the
most spectacular photo opportunities which we made full use of. We even
experienced the first snow patch of the trek and made the most of it. Little
did we know what held in store for us the next day!
We
reached our second camp site Khulara by tea time and the view from the camp
site literally took our breath away.
I think no amount of words can do justice
to what we witnessed and experienced. Having the great Himalayan ranges as our
drawing room view aka tent was simply out of this world.
The weather was lovely and we enjoyed the peace and serenity
in our own ways, unwinding and giving in to the beauty and serenity around.
Day 04: Khulara –
Summit of Pangarchula peak (4700m) & back
Since we were to have a rather early start (3 am) the next
day our guides advised us to catch as much rest and sleep so we were hauled
into our tents by 9 pm.
The temperature dropped as the night progressed,not only were we cold but the the excitement of the final summit also kept most of us awake all night.
We were
ready well before time and stepped out of our tents at 2.30 am for an early cup
of tea. The sight that awaited, left us awestruck. The beautiful peaks were
bathed in silver and glowing in the full moon light. None of us had seen such
beauty studded with a sky full of stars and we witnessed the out of world
experience of the entire galaxy laid out in its full glory in front of us.
Soaking in the beauty around us we began what was supposed
to be the longest day of our lives, for most of us at least.
Walking like a
caravan with the headlights on we started our journey in the dark towards the
Pangarchula summit. The predawn stillness in the air made us feel every breath
that we took with each step.
The early rise was well rewarded with a fantastic
sunrise for which we will consider ourselves blessed to witness. No amount of
photography can describe fully the beauty of sun god in its full glory bathing
the peaks in myriad shades of gold and yellow!
A quick
breakfast at 6 am and we continued towards the summit. After couple of hours of
steep climbs through many narrow ridges we reached the base of the snow clad
peak and thus began our tryst with snow.
Pangarchula at the base itself was
rather steep and we had to take each step carefully and slowly following in our
guide’s footsteps as the snow was slippery or hollow in most of the patches
which we had to avoid.
Though we were guided and supported well most of us had
couple of dangerous moments where we slipped and hung on to the ice or went
waist deep into the snow till we were pulled back on our feet by the guides.
The
journey was painstakingly slow as each one of us trudged along one after
another hoping we were landing on safe ice. The slope gradient kept on getting
steeper and steeper slowing our steps further.
As
we reached the height of 4200 m also known as mini Pangarchula the effects of
high altitude started to set in on some of us.
Typically beyond 3,500 m human
body begins to react to high altitude changes and we were already way beyond
that mark. Some of the folks began experiencing high altitude effects in
various forms like headaches, nausea and nose bleed and decided to stop at this
point.
7 of us along with 2 guides continued towards the final summit which was
another 500 meters ahead. It was almost noon and the sun shone high on us.
Though this meant we had a good chance of a clear summit attempt, it also posed
the danger of snow starting to melt making our journey further difficult. The
next couple of hours, as we literally inched towards the summit, the snow began
to melt making each step an ordeal.
The incline was more than 70 degree adding
to the level of difficulty
Some of the patches of snow were so tricky that we had to
literally jump over the rocky patches testing our parkouring skills.
Just as we
were 100 odd meters away from the peak one of our fellow trekkers lost his
footing on one such tricky patch of snow and went down nearly chest deep.
As he
was being pulled up he hit his foot badly on the rocks hidden inside the snow
and that prevented him for going up further. After placing him on a relatively
safe place to rest we continued ahead hoping to catch up with him quickly on
our way back.
If there was to be a record for the slowest possible 100 meters I
think we would have won that hands down that day as it was the most difficult
100 meters journey I would have ever covered in my life.
Call it willpower, inner strength or the sheer perseverance
of our guide who kept pushing us to keep moving ahead we finally reached the
summit around 1.30 pm exhausted, starved but victorious nonetheless.
My friend and I almost had tears in our eyes as we hugged each other and rejoiced in the
simple fact that we were still breathing.
We had our share of the summit photo session perched on the narrow peak with
little space for movement. Celebration comprised of son papdi as that was the
only meal available, our lunch being left behind at mini Pangarchula.
As the celebrations ended, we began the even trickier
journey downwards. By now the snow had started to melt and each step downward
at that incline became more and more unpredictable.
Our guide finally suggested
us the rather seemingly easy but risky way of sliding down. He slid
down first creating a trench and then stood there ready to catch us as we slid down one after another.
This was definitely difficult and not as fun as it sounds. Maintaining the course was critical but the melting snow and the gravitational
forces got most of us off balance as we
slid downwards going off-track towards the cliff or head onto the many rocks on the way.
After many such slides and torn pants (yes all of us had torn
pants with all the sliding) we reached the mini Pangarchula. We were soaking
wet by now with all the ice inside our boots, gloves, pants and everywhere
possible. Exhaustion and hunger didn't help our morale and it only began fading and as time flew and as darkness started to set in.
In this chaos my friend had a mild case of frost
nip where your toes become numb and you stop feeling them. This caused her to
panic as she started to imagine the movie Revenant and Everest-like extreme
frost bite scenarios. The guide finally managed to calm her down and we started
to get out of the snow as quickly as possible as it had already become dark.
I too
started to feel the effects of the day’s toil and had my own minor attack of
snow blindness stumbling and tripping on every possible slippery snow patch.
Finally we were out of the snow and I not only hated snow at that very moment
but even managed to hate Jon Snow for a fleeting moment.
By then it was already pitch
dark and we were a good 2 hour walk away from our base camp. The rest of the
journey was a test of patience and resilience as we continued to move ahead
without food, water and light as all 3 had been exhausted.
Luckily we were greeted mid-way by other guides who had
taken back the other batch of trekkers who had stayed back at mini Pangarchula.
They had returned for us with piping hot tea that brought the life back into us
to complete the rest of the journey.
As we reached the camp site after 17 hours
of walking we were greeted with many congratulations and hugs from our fellow
trekkers making us realize that each one of us had indeed achieved a great
personal victory that day. At the end of the day all we craved was for some dry
clothes and our sleeping bags to rest.
Day 05: Khulara –
Dhak – Auli
Still soaking in our experiences and adventures of the day
before, we began our downward journey back to Dhak village.
It was a quiet walk
down with aching feet due to the ordeals of the days before. We passed through
many tiny hamlets on the way admiring the tranquility and simplicity of the
lives of the locals.
After many breaks, grunts and groans we managed to reach
Dhak around 3 pm and were taken to Auli eco lodge in a short 45 minute drive.
The evening was spent in luxuries like showering, cleaning and other ablutions
and we looked forward to spending the night in warm beds after a hearty meal.
Day 06: Auli –
Haridwar drive
The long drive back was spent in exchanging photos, mail
ids, phone numbers, gossip and reminiscing on the good times spent and the
adventures encountered.
As we neared the end of journey our guide jokingly
asked how many of us would come back for another trek.Not surprisingly most of
us had already started time lining the next adventure and
yearning for another encounter with the mighty mountains.
“Climb mountains not so
the world can see you, but so you can see the world”!
0 comments