[vijayols]

It's been a while since I posted a travelogue. Last one being almost 3 years ago. Done few drives(in and around Kerala, Karnataka and Spiti being the crown) and couple of treks in these 3 years. Hoping this new year will motivate my wife (I depend on her to edit/upload the blog!) to post all our my travels and treks.

Coming to the topic, Before the trek diary begins there have been seldom many occasions when we start discussing on the name of the place and it’s meaning.
I recollect a joke where the way we call an item or a place depends on the class of people we belong to
Janta class : roomal
Middle class : hankies
Uber class : kerchief

Now similarly we can call bhugyal (as the locals term it) as
Janta class : Ghaas wala maidan
Middle class : Bhugyal
Uber class : Alpine meadows

As you would have got it a Bhugyal is basically a patch of grass meadow located high on the mountains typically between 10800 to 13000 feet high.While Uttarakhand boasts of several Bhugyals like the very popular Auli,Bedni,tunga bath and the hero of our tale Dayara.

These are the in between space above the timber line but below the snow line and typically get covered in vast spaces of snow in the winter starting from December and extending upto March.

It’s importance as a fragile Eco system kicks in as the snow starts melting and the streams start flooding the vast land giving way to hundreds of species of colourful plants and flowers peculiar only to that area and of course acres and acres of green grass.

Back to our hero of the tale the Dayara Bhugyal is among the most beautiful meadows in the that one can trek to in the world and is open for practically all the months of the year with peak mid January temperatures dipping between -5 and -15C at minimum and can be vast skiing slope.It boasts of an unhindered view of the Bandar poonch and black peak to the other majestic mountains of the Garhwal range like Mt Srikanth,Draupadi ka danda and Mt Jaunli as one makes his way to the Bakhariya top.

The place can be accessed from raithal which we did or Barsu about 184 km from Dehradun or about 6.30 hours away.

The preparation for the trek began a month or two before with regular squats,lunges and wall sit to increase leg and thigh strength as well as runs and walks to increase stamina.

Doing the trek through Indiahikes and the total budget for the trip is expected to be about Rs 35k including flight and hotel stay.

Difficultly level of the trek ranges from easy to moderate depending on the time that the trek is done with summers being easy and possible by anyone including kids with reasonable fitness levels to the slightly more difficulty level in winters due to the snow.

The previous night before the trek has been spent having dhamaal with friends and family celebrating the passing of the old year which would definitely remain in our memories and maybe have more a passing mention in history as an unprecedented year .
The new year comes with fresh hope for all of us with probably all of us having way lower expectations from life and set to enjoy many small moments of our daily life why even enjoy normal life which we used to take for granted .

For me i am ushering it in with this lovely trek.



Reached the airport in an hour and a half thanks to BBMP who ensure everything remains unchanged with unfinished road works and makes us wonder if life has even changed one bit for us Bangaloreans

The check in process was quick thankfully with hardly any crowd .The lounge was not too crowded and after a chai am here in the plane all set to fly to Dehradun.

There are 2 persons per row in most seats with a mask and face shield provided to window and aisle seat passengers and a PPE suit for middle seat passengers if any.

Flights generally evoke a churn in the stomach as I am terrified of take offs and landings but surprisingly indigo had an in flight live entertainment In the form of these 2 girls who would burst into peaks of laughter when I called them “doctors” wearing white aprons



Looks like this attire is to stay for some time which is hopefully much sooner than later.Made me reflect on the game we played last evening where we were asked to capture our thoughts for the coming year in an imaginary cloud and where I would have normally written something cliche like “get adopted by Kokila Ben” or “transform into Hrithik’s hotness and physique” I found myself writing something as ordinary as “normalcy” in life as my wish for the year 2021.Such has been the impact of last year !

Whew much to my delight landed safely in the new year at jolly grant airport to be greeted by a pleasant 19C sunny afternoon.
Walked till the airport entrance as it is much cheaper to hire the same taxi and you can share the same with a fellow traveler.cost us Rs 800 split between the 2 as against 1000-1200 for a drive from the prepaid.Dehradun is about 30 kms from jolly grant which also is the airport to reach the much closer town of Hrishikesh.

Stay in Dehradun was at hotel grand legacy which was convenient as the pick up point for the drive to the base camp is from this hotel at 6.30 am tomorrow.

The hotel is like a typical seedy mid or low range delhi hotel (cost Rs 1500 per night) but had hot water and a pretty decent linen and service.The nomads hostel a stone throw away at Rs 600 a night is also an option for a budget back packer.

So had the entire evening to kill in Dehradun and was lucky to meet up with a couple from bangalore who were doing the kedarkantha trek .Lucky as I now had company to explore the street food scene in Dehradun.

A youtube search and input from the net led us to the most popular street food options in Dehradun
1) Chetan Puri stall-unfortunately shuts shop at 4.30 pm so that was for another time.
2) Hot bun Tikki at a roadside stall near duwarkanstore in a gully called
inder road .
Searched the same
On google map and took a shared auto which has to be hailed to the nearest drop point and walked up to the place.

They have perfected the timing to dish out a plate in about 20 seconds (video) .The team would have served atleast a 100 plates before we got our 3 plates after a good 10 minutes waiting and cajoling that we had traveled all the way from bangalore to taste his stuff (but that guy was tough and simply kept telling us yes yes we are his priority and kept serving the locals who to be fair seemed to be there before we arrived ).

The hot and spicy aloo tikki mixed with onions and thick curd and garnished with sweet and spicy chutney with some dry masala powder topped with a local bakery sweet bun to act as a perfect foil to the tangy spicy aloo tikki was a combination made in heaven and deserved the huge rush of eager customers waiting for their turn.
The cost Rs 25 per plate.

Next up was
3) A visit to kumar sweets near clock tower Rajpur road to taste their ras malai .

Fresh sweets again crowded with their beat seller Ras malai and kulfi sold out and we had to make do with their gajar ka halwa

There it is costing Rs 56 per plate it was hot gajar KA halwa made with the red North Indian carrot and with a dollop of dry fruits and mawa.
Hmmm was just about right in its sweet quotient which was refreshing as I was expecting a sweet avalanche.
This was just the perfect gajar ka halwa hot not right in its sweetness and a bit of the sweetness brought by the mawa and dry fruits.

Two on two met and exceeded expectations!


Just outside was a crowded kullad
Mein chai ka dukaan and just couldn’t resist a hot Cuppa chai in a nice earthen kullad in this cold weather.

Choose a combo of adrak chai with hot bun Maska .
Cost Rs 10 per chai and Rs 30 for the hot toasted bun with dollops of Maska.

Full marks to the Maska Bun and the perfect adrak in the chai but man the taste was killed with the sugar in the chai.
The chai was actually sweeter than the gajar ka halwa .
Gave me a déjà vu feeling of the Indian cricket team who got all things right till the 36 all out ruining an otherwise perfect chai experience in a kullad.



So 2 out of 3 till now.That isn’t too bad a strike rate

A Punjabi dhaba with peppy music and people merrily dancing away to usher in the new year!Its simply amazing how positive we are as Indians covid be damned!

4) Next on was Ellora bakery for its sticky toffee chocolate.


Every place here in soaked in history as time seems to stand still in this town.

The sticky toffee which was available only in the smallest 250gm package costing Rs 200 was good but perhaps I was weighed by the burden of expectation.
It tasted like an upgraded premium version of the Ravalgaon chocolate from the time machine when we were kids growing up. But back home when i took a sample, everyone loved them and wanted more!

5) last stop was the Bengali sweet stall right on the clock tower circle for its local Garhwal ka sweets .

By this time we had walked about 8 kms. A warm up trek before the actual one .

A bit tedious but would like to upload a couple of videos where the owner Mr.Badoni explains about 3 local Garhwal ki sweets. <VIDEO>

Was a great end to the street food experience in Dehradun.Can’t wait to pack some for home after our trek.

And finally when the clock struck 8 like wee Willie winky we rushed back to the hotel to call it a night.

A note that this idea to do a local food experience in the place we visited was Inspired by our local master chef “Baba sujith” back home in bangalore who is now also notorious for being the covid man of our group

Started towards our destination Raithal about 185 km at 7 am with estimated arrival at 2.30 pm.We were to depart in 2 boleros and were a total of 9.

The major town we would hit on the way was Uttarkashi which was home to 2 of the 4 dhams Gangotri and Yamunotri.had already been to the 3rd bhadrinath earlier and Kedarnath completed the quartet.
The route followed the Ganga in reverse direction going towards its origin near Gangotri town.

Not much to say about the journey with a lot of construction on the way.
A few memorable points can be summed up with the photos here





And finally we were at Raithal by about 3.

The stay place at Raithal was a government building which was rented by india hikes and had decent basic facilities including a hot water geyser and above all A Western toilet “which would be dearly missed in the days to come when the trek actually gets under way!





A cold night at 7C later we were all set to scale the trek tomorrow morning.
Food was awesome both at breakfast and dinner and not oily. Ensured we were well fed
The bed was decent and best we can expect at remote locations and the sleeping bag provided was warm and cosy to battle the freezing

Support staff help with a smile and Aditya our teams trek lead and Ravi another trek lead were amazingly friendly and reachable.

We were given a small briefing about the trek which would be spread over 4 days the first being 4 kms away at GUI base camp.
I had chosen Indiahikes (compared to YHAI last time) because of their exhaustive safety precautions covid and otherwise and there were regular updates through emails on what to wear/pack and how to train for the trek.
A trek coordinator was always around to ensure everything was in order and we were prepared. Beyond all this,
few stand out points that Indiahikes do as part of their trekking expedition, which are very inspiring

• Green trek trail where they believe and make trekkers follow a simple rule that keep the mountains cleaner when we leave than when we found it.
• Each trekker is given a cloth bag where any plastic or other waste found on the route is collected and taken back to the city to ensure the fragile ecosystem is left clean for others to follow and for the inhabitants to enjoy.
• Simple water system (will post a photo of the same) where 3 bowls are kept instead of a sink with a tap.
• Thoughtfully hot water was replenished for every meal time for obvious reasons.
• The first bowl is preceded with fine saw dust and a scrubber to pre clean the grease left behind after disposing the food waste in a container later to be put in a pit to make compost.
• The first bowl is then used to wash off the saw dust .The second bowl to further rinse the plates and finally the third bowl to clean the plates again.
• Just 3 bowls for the entire team to clean up saving huge amount of water .
• So nice that a company cares to gives back to the environment what nature offers to them to earn their money.

Trek Day #1

The trek route:

The full team before we start!

The demography of the team is interesting with a representation for every decade starting down from the 40’s (which is me just making the cut! ) A couple Sanjiv and vishal in their 30’s.The majority Tanveer,Sahiba,Shreya,Ambika,Jatin and Anu making the 20”s and the baby shresth being 19!.Aditya being our trek lead and Rana (who has a wry sense of humor and always smiling).Pablo of course (age unknown) completes the team. Missing in the snap is our amazing cook Manish.

That was Pablo resting as he waits for all to assemble after the briefing and the customary photo before we embark on the trek.

The start for the trek from raithal to first base camp GUI was about 4 kms and the height gain was about 2500 feet.

Trek time estimated was approximately 4 .30 hours and a bit steep being tough without being strenuous.

Weather prediction was snow on day 3. Keeping fingers crossed

We were joined in our trip by Pablo Escobar who truly was a don in every sense and loved kismis .

The initial trek through Raithal and goat village was steep and literally took our breath away!

Met many women carrying big loads as they made their way back from the forest after collecting dry leaves to keep the cattle warm and well fed in the harsh winters





Temperature was expected to hit a low of -10 C and imagine this was a warm year on that!

The first base camp GUI was about 4-5 hours away at 9321 feet.

The team kept together which was a feat and generally everyone keeps to their own pace and many do not expect the initial steepness which is generally the case in any trek the start is always tough.Showed the team spirit we shared as the faster ones waited for the slower ones.As we walked the layers started coming off as all started sweating

A short while later we reached the start of the forest range which was our first water point.We were joined till this point by Ravi a senior trek lead with vast experience in the terrain and it was fun conversing with him.
We had all downloaded an app Gaia a trekking app which was invaluable for terrains where there were no network.The file of our route was also downloaded and could help us even with no network.

The scene was so serene as the forest loomed in front of us with the trees still hung on to their last leaves before winter set in completely






The familiar scene of the imposing mountains including Mt Srikant, Gangotri 1,2 and 3 as well as Droupadi ka danda on the opposite side.I know the sound of the mountain sounds scandalous but Pravesh Rana gave us an interesting bit of trivia on the same. Danda was in the local dialect “area or spot”where legend has it that eagles and other birds who prey on serpents drop down dead if the fly over that mountain and so none dare to chance their luck .Shesh nag who was under a curse took advantage of this and hid in the danda to avoid its natural enemy the eagle ��.
I guess every name has its own story hidden and it was interesting to know about it from the locals.

Aditya and team then spiced up the atmosphere by introducing 2 fun activities.
The first being a small level bouldering or rock climbing where all took turns to try their hand scaling a small boulder.

We were then asked to maintain pin drop silence and hug any tree which took our fancy tightly with our eyes closed.

While each picked one which attracted them I chose a young tree which was struggling to stay alive.

We were then asked to think of any one thing unpleasant which was troubling us and we would love to get rid off or set right and continue to hug the tree and allow the negative energy to drain through the tree! We were
then told that our darkest secret or fear would be shared between all the trees in the forest and stay buried deep in the soil as the trees took it away from us and into the soil to be buried for ever.

We were then told there is a science behind the belief which was very interesting!

There existed a Fungal neural network underground where all trees in the forest are connected.They all communicate through this .it’s also called www.wild wood web.
Trees even know their offspring and Connect to them either make them survive or bloom depending on the conditions and their health.WOW.

We were also asked to also observe the lichens which were different from the moss that grew on trees.
Lichens are a complex life form that is a symbiotic partnership between 2 forms of life the alga(which produces food from sunlight) and the fungus which gets its food from the alga and
in turn protects it.
Though they were on the trees they are not parasites and do not feed on the trees.It is estimated that Lichens exist in 6-8% of earths land surface and only exist where the air quality is at its purest.No wonder they exist in plenty in these forests which are supplying purest of oxygen to our lungs.



Now that were interesting trivia to nourish the brain as we re started our trek.Was a nice break made fun by Aditya and team.

From this point as we trekked through the forest there a nip in the air and it became a bit chill.

And then we had our first glimpse of the snow.

The thrill and the excitement in the air became so palpable with the first of the many encounter with snow on the trail

We were also then introduced to a challenge by Aditya to spot something and give a shout out when we did .The trick was to observe our surroundings and soak it in rather than just keep walking.To help us the clue given was “Money doesn’t grow on trees or does it ?”
We started debating whether it was a money plant creeper on the tree or maybe even honey.
The answer when we saw it and gave a shout out was totally unexpected!

It was this tree revered by the locals who worshipped it and stuck coins in the belief that the forest dirty would multiply it and give it to them..
Looks like money did sometimes grow on trees literally!

Several photogenic and moments where you just had to be there to experience it (pictures seldom do justice especially those shot on the phone cameras!)we did spot the first sight of our destination for tha day the GUI camp site.

[vijayols]

It was almost that we had reached the camp with plenty of fuel in the tank as we all had warmed up after the initial struggle and speaking for all of us we could have continued forward but we weren’t complaining!

As we were paired off for each tent I happened to draw Tanveer(or wait was it he was saddled with me the oldie ? ) .I am sure he would have loved to have been paired with Shresth with whom he got along like a house on fire !.

First off we had to warm up with some stretching exercises and then it was time for the best part of the journey .....a hot and inviting lunch!

I have to say that Manish not only kept his reputation but also managed to up the ante a wee bit with another fabulous meal made tastier with the perfect ambience of an open sky and lovely snow clad mountains surrounding us!Something any restaurant would find hard to match I guess

Sandwiched before tea time and after lunch was another “Activity” Aditya and team had lined up for us.

It was map reading time this time. We were divided into 3 groups and given 15 minutes to hide a bottle.Chosen at random I ended up with team “lead” Shreya ,Ambika and vishal as team 3 and had to choose any direction from the camp.The other two teams had chosen the grassy path and we were left with the snowy part and in the direction of the toilet

Speaking of toilets and for those wondering what kind of toilets were this let me assure you that it certainly was a nightmare for me atleast. Why? Because it was an Indian type and involved squatting on wooden planks and aiming for the pit below.It was a dry Eco friendly type and no pissing was allowed for the menfolk and after the “act” we had to use a dry paper roll and sawdust to hide the “traces of the act”. Did it stink? A wee bit as some pine wood oils were placed to mask the smell.
The design was amazing and clean and was the brainchild of 2 Indiahikes employees who probably had designed it out of necessity (wasn’t need the mother of invention ? )
Indigenous Loo


Would also like to interrupt the story with 2 more items which caught my eye.




The solar panels which powered the lights in the camp and the 3 bowl hot water system which was all the team got to wash the plates after disposal of the wet waste(to be converted to manure later).Saw dust ( man indiahikes seemed to love them and used it for anything and everything it looked like! ).Talk about water conservation and how compared to a running tap we were using a fraction of the water and taking baby steps to leave behind this precious commodity for our kids.
The human waste too in the pit was covered with mud to give back to the soil and not harm the fragile mountain eco system.

Coming back to the task of the map reading exercise we had to use our downloaded Gaia app to track where we were headed to retrace our path.We were given a paper and pen to draw a physical map to guide the other teams to find the bottle.A treasure hunt if there was any!

We named our team an unimaginative GUI (after the techies mentioned it stood for graphic user interface) and coincided with our location name. So much for creativity though the team wanted a fundoo name.

After spending a third of our allotted time arguing whether we had to head in the direction the snow immediately or take a chance using the grassy patch towards the toilet we decided to take the grassy path which led us up a slope .The other teams had already disappeared before we had even started.A great start indeed.

As team GUI stealthily made our way up the snow we were to make our way to an absolutely gorgeous spot of land.

The “Game of thrones” tree such an integral part of the clues we were to give to find our treasure!







We had so much fun in the setting that we were trying like crazy to get selfies taken by somehow precariously balancing our phones on the tree branches with a phone timer and even managing to croon to Zoobi dubbi pam para as a group selfie(unable to load it here in aeroplane mode in the aeroplane )

Oh we were to also hide the bottle within a max of 300m radius which we realized amongst the laughter and banter we shared and the realisation that we had to reach back in our stipulated time too!As we assumed that we had to make the task of finding the treasure as diff as possible for the chasing team we managed to do a good job of making the already tough job more tougher by tossing it between the tree branches well hidden from normal eye sight.

Shreya seems to think this time was probably the high point of my trek(Maybe to do with the fact that I had not totally opened up or simply at this age she thought we cease to have any fun in life! ) Little did she know about my secret life back home as we have a dhamaal time be it with the five blocks and a quarter team in bangalore or the time with my cricket team or even with all my trek teams whenever they happen
But to be fair to her it was amongst the best moments of this journey together where we had let ourselves loose and just enjoying being in the moment.

Made it back to the base camp in the nick of time last as usual where we were then asked to physically draw a map for others to find the “treasure “.

Did the honours to the best of my ability (which of course was nothing great to brag about )with chatter from Shreya to just write directions in plain English as we weren’t told that it was forbidden.
Man she did talk a nineteen to the dozen and practically non stop at that!Apt for someone in sales in guess

Now began the fun part as firstly we realized that only if the other teams actually finds the treasure (or bottle) that we actually “won” and above all we were armed with a Walker talkie with all way communication between all 3 teams to assist the finders to find the treasure.

Shreya being who she was was practically hogging the talk time(thank goodness we weren’t being billed by the talk time like the mobile companies of yore as I am pretty sure we would have paid a bombshell).
The distance also being pretty less between teams and the volume we were talking at we actually didn’t even need the walk-in talkie to hear !

Shresth (who was studying designing) had done a pathetic job ( as per us ....to be proven wrong later) as we couldn’t make head or fail of the map .It helped that we just kept asking them for directions as we did manage to find the bottle hidden high up above the stream in plain view on the stone walls. Screaming Roger/Charlie /alpha /beta at random like they do in the movies while using the walkie talkie was an absolute riot.
On our part we thought our wonderfully described directions on the map and the simple clue that the bottle was just perpendicular to the game of thrones tree was more than enough for anyone to find the bottle though we did regret now not keeping the bottle in clear view.Bit with the game of thrones tree being a killer clue which team couldnt be able to find it.Aftwr all how many game of thrones tree could one find in this landscape.
Turned out we were wrong and Tanveer and Co couldn’t find it after all and we were the only team to actually find the bottle.
Sanjiv’s team couldn’t make head or tail of the amazing clue Tanveer had drawn that game the left after the dog(as Pablo simply decided to move from that spot).
To be fair to Tanveer despite a major clue having moved Parvesh bhai did manage to find the bottle.

The game sure was fun though I suspect we learnt very little life skills especially map reading but we did enjoy the experience.After all wasn’t that the whole purpose of the trek ?just having fun!

It was tea and snack time and we were treated by Manish and co to some great ginger chai and some sweet corn flakes bhel.(Cannot accuse Manish to be dull and un imaginative in his culinary skills.)
Chai by the camp in pablos company


Campsite view at GUI











And there was this a sight of a lovely red and orange hue sunset over the snow clad mountains and a sight of some animal bones indicating a possibility of a predator like a leopard or bear in the vicinity.





As night fell and we were enjoying a hearty dinner and treated to a lip smacking piece of Shahi Tukda we were all blessed to enjoy a musical evening with the lead singers of our group Shreya Ghoshal (urf Sahiba ), Mohd rafi(urf Sanjiv ),Sunidhi Chouhan (urf Shreya) and a few of us reluctantly pitching in with our out of tune notes.

Aditya and Parvesh also joined in lured by the melody as we spent over an hour having in inhabited pleasure regaling songs both of time gone by and present day music.
But wait there was more to come in terms of star gazing in an open clear sly with no disturbance (though I personally missed the fun trying to grab 40 winks of sleep ).

Just before we called it a night tightly wrapped in 5 layers of Clothing and an inner liner and sleeping bag to combat the biting cold which was near -5 to -10 C .


Parvesh with his wry sense of humour said that leopards and bear frequently find their way here to the isolated campsite in search of food(like Pablo or some domestic animals)and that we need to be a wee bit alert in case we hear frantic barking by Pablo in the dead of the night.
Having done our pee with plenty of torch light to scare away any wild life amid not having to do in the night when not only getting out of the cosy wrapping be a task but also the thought of going out from the safety of the camp in the dead of night was a daunting one.

Already struggling to find some sleep in the bone chilling cold we were woken up in the middle of the night by some frantic barking by Pablo.I am sure most of us were convinced that that was the last of Pablo we would be seeing I bet no one slept even a wink that night and prayed to daylight to appear and get us out of our fright and misery.
Couldn’t have asked for a better ending to an eventful day

[vijayols]

Trek Day #2
we were greeted by a wagging Pablo in the morning and later came to know that Parvesh could have slightly exaggerated the story and was laughing away at us and our fear. Still not 100% convinced he was just pulling our legs!


Woke up to the moon still waiting to bid adieu


We were looking forward to probably the easiest portion of the trek a short one to the next base camp @ chilapada at a height of 10,500 feet and expected to take us 2-3 hours.
First stop of course was the frozen GUI lake a mere 0.5 km away with probably a 6 inch thick ice sheet on the lake.

Pablo tired from the night’s excitement was grabbing 40 winks.Lucky him as we have struggled to get even an hour of sound sleep till now!

Had a morning task of segregating the waste we had picked and deposited in our eco bag the previous day into various bins like recyclable,broken glass, landfill headed waste etc.Was a nice eye opener in waste management for many of us (though we have been practising the same at home for many years now)and hopefully a few of us would take baby steps to be better than where we were before this experience and maybe make the world a better place. A pep song later off we were into our journey!

[
B]The snow was become palpably thicker than yesterday as we looked forward to some skating on the GUI lake[/b]




The beautiful snow clad mountains which included our familiar MT Shrikant,Gangotri 1,2 &3 were perennially in the background akin to perhaps stalking us and made for a lovely viewing .
Pics dont do justice here, but an attempt:







We reluctantly left this piece of heaven behind only to be transported to another magical location the first glimpse of the frozen GUI lake.





It was fun time as we all let our hair loose and indulged in some ice skating games!


Just as we thought we could spend hours here playing away to our hearts content the girls found something which they certainly coveted more ....mobile network on top of the mound and a chance to catch up with dear ones on video calls!


Aditya had to drag us off from here as we had to be at chilapada camp by lunch and pitch our own tents too.
Enroute among the many charms that the trek was to provide we truly had an inspiring meeting with a special 72 year old who was trekking with his grand son .

You truly are an inspiration for all of us Mr.Sharmaji and we wish we too could emulate your feat at the age of 72!

While the beauty of nature had spoilt us with its abundance that the sight of the majestic tall green and white oak trees hiding the views of the mountains did not even command a photo, whereas the next sight of the frozen waterfall with some parts frozen while some water still trickled down from a portion called for clicks. Just a day later as we would see it would be completely frozen.



And then in no time just as we were getting warmed up we spotted our campsite location for the night Chilapada but surprise surprise no tents as we were supposed to pitch the same


The first task to no surprise was to pitch the tents. If we expected Parvesh and Aditya to pitch it boy were we in for a shock.
They pushed us amateurs to do the dirty work by making it as a game.
Divided us into 2 teams with an ipl like strategy to ask the 2 captains to pick their team one by one.Our team led by Shreya had the most “expensive “ buy Anu and the last choice (yours truly ) along with the stars Vishal and Jatin.Naturally any team having me had to be hands down favourites to win the competition

And win we did with excellent support from the most and least expensive buys in terms of providing snacks and moral support while the others did the actual work .Long story short we did it first and were rewarded (wait Aditya never did get around to reward us!).
Later the duo staying together had to pitch their own tents and Tanveer and me did hammer the nails hard enough to withstand any winds and snow. Later at night we were to be happy we did do it with heavy snowfall which was to last over 12 hours or more!

There was hot lunch which was served by Manish. Here is our unsung “behind the scene “ hero Manish responsible for keeping our energy levels up by preparing yummy food for all.He was comfortable making hot idli and sambar as well as Mutter paneer and Shahi tukda.

Oh Manish our trek would never have been the same without your contribution buddy


A team building exercise followed lunch (which I missed as I was trying to get some sleep which was missing from the past few days due to the extreme cold)of trying to cross a barrier as a team without letting go of hand to hand contact which judging by the noise and racket the others were making (and I hence had to lose my sleep) they did succeed.

We had to then wear our gaters and micro spikes to prepare for the next days trek through snow and hard ice and for a practice run and were asked to climb a small hillock through snow with the promise of hot ginger chai and an awesome view !
And there was no exaggeration when I say that this was probably the best ambience I had ever experienced in my life(and I have been around believe me) to have enjoyed my hot ginger chai.
Pictures and not words may describe the experience better. it was like starting at a giant LCD screen which God had drawn for us to soak in and ENJOY



Back at the tent, the lilting Garhwali folk music being played from our camp added to the magical moment forever etched in our memories I am sure!


Dinner time was as usual entertaining and Parvesh had some interesting local insights including how they have a butter festival in August much like the tomato festival in Spain or holi for that matter.

We then retired for the night(after most had cleared their bladders as none wanted to venture out at night to go to the toilet)full of excitement and anticipation for the trek to the peak starting at 5 am tomorrow for which we needed to be up and awake at 3.30am

Not expecting to get any sleep with the anticipation and sleep we didn’t get but for a different reason!

Yes it started snowing in the night which started off as a small pitter patter like rainfall and all of us enjoying the experience and wanting more of it as it was so perfect.

The snowfall became progressively severe through the night and suddenly we felt someone or something shaking our tents vigorously.The girls next to our tent screamed thanks to Parvesh”s warning about bears frequenting the area only to realize it was actually Parvesh who was shaking off the accumulated snow from our tents!
It was hilarious for us and not so for the girls I suspect

The amount of snowfall can be best gauged by this photo of guess who or what ? in front of the dining tent.

[vijayols]

Trek Day # 3
All I am sure having hardly slept a wink we were ready to start the trek by 4.50 in the morning.

The plan was to reach the peak by 9.30 am spend 30 mins and then head back to our camp at Nayata at a height of 9100 feet.

The snow fall which was so much romanticised in Yash chopra movies and caused most to be excited the night before was now not so romantic anymore

We were completely covered up with a poncho ,several layers of jackets, trekking poles, monkey cap and a head lamp to light the path with near zero visibility and completely white ground with the soft snow at most places now knee deep.


God only knew how ashwin and vihari felt as they negotiated the barrage of bouncers hitting them all over their bodies and bruising them and the men all around them sledging and waiting for blood to fall especially as the head lamp kept falling down and my nose was dripping continuously and to top it all the Velcro on the gaters below the shoes attracting the soft snow and the heat from the foot turning that into blocks of ice below the shoes.Things were tough !
But every dark cloud (or in this case minor snow blizzard ) had to have a silver lining and for me things started looking brighter as soon as visibility became better, so I could remove the falling head lamp .

I must comment here that though the 10 of us were clueless as to the route to take and the actual path too which was indistinguishable the men in charge Aditya, Parvesh and Manish and ofcourse not to forget Pablo who seem to know the terrain like the back of their hands and were able to guide us to our destination the bhugyals of Dayara .

The scaling of the destination made us all forget our initial tough times as we soaked in the feeling of achievement and saw the wide vast expanse of white with pride though the feeling of not being able to witness the magnificent peaks of Kala nag,Draupadi ka danda,Mt Srikant and the gangotri’s hurt but perhygnat is for another time in the future.

As the snow blizzard showed no signs of abatement we had a change in plan and were now to descend to the base camp Raithal instead of the original plan to stop over half way at Nayata. So our 4 nights and 5 day trek was cut short by one day for a good reason (Safety!).

We would be stopping at the dhaba half way through for any hot food and chai .

The trek back was a lot more pleasant and in fact the scenery now was of one being painted in black and white .

The photos will of course do the talking.























Had a nice and warm stopover at the dhaba to grab something for the stomach and as we descended lower the snow then turned into rains and
the clouds forming below us was a sight to behold

Oh before I miss this was the night sky shot beautifully by Anu our own in house book blogger .


We finally made it back to base camp at 4 in the evening a good 11 hours since we had started the journey in the morning.

We enjoyed a good hot dinner and the first night of peaceful sleep since we had landed .

In the morning as it was time to depart Pablo suddenly re appeared after bidding good bye to us the previous night and started to say goodbye to all of us as if he knew that this was where we parted and he then would make new friends with the new batch of trekkers .

The final part of the group as we reached Dehradun in the tempo traveller enjoying the music and food as we departed now as friends with the journey we had made a few days earlier meeting as strangers seemed so far back.

It is strange how a few days sharing camaraderie as we were at as our real selves can possibly result in life long bonds being developed and perhaps a chance to bond together once again for another day on another day to come.

And finally after spending a few days enjoying Rishikesh and Mussoorie (which is another story to be penned by itself soon enjoying the best of food and sights which these lovey places offered as I explored a lot more offbeat places here)

was glad to be back home and able to flaunt this t shirt proudly



Thinking back on the trek, would like to summarise the budget, tips and tricks for fellow trekkers here:

Pre trek fitness levels needed and preparation for the same
1) Really depends on the age bracket one falls into and the fitness levels they are currently in.(envy the kid’s below 30 who don’t even have to think of training &#128521
However a test we needed to qualify with adequate fitness levels was a couple of runs of 5km below 40 mins which is easily doable.
2) Personally I did squats/lunges and wall sits to improve thigh strength and calf muscle exercises besides exercises for ankle flexibility.This was besides the weekend 5 kms run which was to be done within 35 mins and daily walks .For upper body strength maybe weights especially if you plan to carry your complete backpack instead of offloading the same.(I chose the easy way of off loading bulk of the baggage keeping it below 8 kgs and carried a small back pack )
3) The trek being of moderate difficulty level (because it was in winter with snow ) anyone with reasonable fitness level can prepare a month before the trek to improve their fitness.
I personally had to try squatting ( to practice the Indian toilet position) for a month or so to manage to hold up for upto a minute which was my biggest concern.😥

Things to pack for the trek
1) Firstly with the covid situation the airline don’t allow more than 1 check in luggage of 15 kgs per person and a hand luggage.
For a trek if we need to carry our own back pack while trekking (of 45 litres at least with proper back support) we need to ensure weight does not ideally go beyond 12 kgs .This should be able to hold a couple of water bottles and pockets to store all essentials.
A water proof cover for the same is worth investing if you plan to trek regularly.A big plastic sheet or poncho can also substitute.
Even if you are going to offload the backpack during the trek to a mule then the restriction is to keep it within 8-9 kgs.You would also need a smaller backpack for carrying essentials like poncho/ medicines/ water bottles/some snacks/ offload jackets.
2) Trekking poles either one or two which are available at decathlon.
3)Water bottles (ideally 2 metal ones of 500 ml to 1 litre.Can carry electrol water in 1 to keep from dehydration.
4) A hot case or tiffin box with spoon for daily meals while camping or on trek.Plate/scissor or knife optional.A water mug for tea or hot beverages.
5) Tablets like diamox(for acute mountain sickness)/ Crocin for headaches/fever/A muscle relaxant tablet/ointment for cuts /bandages/some medicine for stomach aches and nausea .Sunscreen to protect your exposed parts .
6) Some snacks like dry fruits/chikki /Mints to munch while trekking.
7) 5 -6 layers of upper clothing which would be while trekking a normal banian ( to be replaced by a woollen one while sleeping)/ a t shirt /a fleece/ a sweater / down jacket and water proof jacket .This is for winters where temperatures could go as low as -15C at night.
For the head a woollen monkey cap and something to cover your neck.
Sunglasses for your eyes to protect the eyes from the sunlight reflecting off the white snow.
For the lower a water proof track pant while trekking (add a woollen under while sleeping)
Normal socks for the feet(one or two layers of woollen for the night).
One inner and one waterproof gloves for the hands.
Ankle length trekking shoes .
Micro spikes for hard ice and gaters for prevention of soft snow getting into your shoes .(Both were provided by india hikes at no cost)ensure the gaters ideally do not have Velcro at the bottom and have straps as we found out that ice sticks to Velcro while walking much to our dismay 😟
DO NOT OVER PACK woollens beyond 6 layers as they take lot of precious space and you cannot wear them.
While trekking as you would sweat you would hardly need above 3 layers .
While sleeping in tents we were provided with 2 layered sheets as well as sleeping bag and were warm as a toast inside all of them.
8) Other essentials would a good torch/ head lamps with tight straps/ spare batteries/spare mobile chargers.Sun cap if needed.

Budget for the trek.
1) Trek fees at India hikes was 8950 plus gst.
2) Off load cost was 1000.
3) share vehicle cost for up and down from Dehradun to base camp Raithal was about 2500.
3) Flight to and fro from bangalore to Dehradun was about 12k.
4) Taxi to blore airport and drop to home 2000.
5) Taxi from Dehradun airport to Dehradun and drop was about 1600
6) Hotel stay at Dehradun for the night was 1500.
7) Hotel stay at Mussoorie and one night at Dehradun was about 5000.
8) Bike rental at 500 per day for 4 days was 2000 and petrol about 400.
9) Shared safari at rajaji national park was 1300
10) Food and other stuff was about 4000 for the trip.
India hikes offered every requirement of equipment on rental for most sizes of people per booked at nominal rates which makes sense if you are an occasional trekker and also if space has to be saved while packing.
Shoes alone would suggest to buy for self as fitting and breaking into the shoes is essential for comfort.

This is it from me for now. Will follow up with my bike trip around Rishikesh, Mussoorie and Landour.

[Aditya]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

[vijayols]

Thank you for moving to the Forum thread and thanks GTO for publishing it on the home page.
Here are some of the photos of the last day of trek which i missed posting.

And the general scene around








Final ascend:

[MDED]

Wow Vijay Sir! Rated the thread, a well deserved five star. The sight of icy mountain peaks and the adrenaline rush of undertaking a daunting trek cannot be described in words and it has to be felt.

In October 2019, I did a solo hiking trip to Kheerganga trek in HP and I must tell you one thing, which was famously said by William Blake, that "Great things happen, when men and mountain meet". This line reverberates in my mind whenever I see a mountain and think of the might of its sheer presence in our lives. I am seriously considering this trek and will get in touch with you for seeking guidance on this sojourn!

I think in Bengaluru, we can form a mountaineering group and share the insights.

Best Regards
MDED

[Vijay T]

Excellent travelogue dear.Loved every bit of it including mesmerizing photo's.You had nice little cozy team.
Became nostalgic about our good old expeditions in Koa Rang KR3/4 in Lahoul spiti, Frey/ Palung peak in Darjeeling & treacherous strenuous NIM basic course treks back in 80s

[vijayols]

Originally Posted by MDED

Wow Vijay Sir! Rated the thread, a well deserved five star. The sight of icy mountain peaks and the adrenaline rush of undertaking a daunting trek cannot be described in words and it has to be felt.

In October 2019, I did a solo hiking trip to Kheerganga trek in HP and I must tell you one thing, which was famously said by William Blake, that "Great things happen, when men and mountain meet". This line reverberates in my mind whenever I see a mountain and think of the might of its sheer presence in our lives. I am seriously considering this trek and will get in touch with you for seeking guidance on this sojourn!
I think in Bengaluru, we can form a mountaineering group and share the insights.

Best Regards
MDED

Thanks for you Kind words, MDED. Yes., we should connect for sure. Please feel free to PM me. Would love to form a trekking group for Bangalore

[mmxylorider]

Reminds me of our family trip to Utah for close to a week and trekking in their great parks. At elevations of over 7000' and 5-6 miles/day, albeit in the September time frame, it was a very memorable trip and trekking experience.

One thing that stands out is the motorable trip to Brian Head Peak which at 11312' is a shade less than Leh at 11483' , and almost double of Ooty/Munnar. That was something I had to search out on internet. The view was fantastic and one could see the slopes of the winter time multiple ski resorts from there.

[rst89]

Thanks for this awesome trek log.

I have been reading the mails from India Hikes the whole duration of pandemic. Their business was affected a lot. It's good to see the 3 basin/bowls concept and getting the review from you that it actually works and is very efficient. They did a lot of experimentation with composting material for toilets but if you are trekking in place where you can't dig, then you have to do your business behind rocks.

Traveling business has got impacted a lot, I do want to trek but avoiding as it can wait in times of pandemic.

[yesyeswe]

Enjoyed a lot, pictures and the writing part both. Gave a very good insight of what to expect and the actual conditions are. I was so mesmerized while reading i was imagining myself being a part of your party

[vijayols]

Originally Posted by Vijay T

Excellent travelogue dear.Loved every bit of it including mesmerizing photo's.You had nice little cozy team.
Became nostalgic about our good old expeditions in Koa Rang KR3/4 in Lahoul spiti, Frey/ Palung peak in Darjeeling & treacherous strenuous NIM basic course treks back in 80s

Wow! thats one is in my list too! When we did a Spiti drive, wondered what it would be like to trek that terrain. Now., i guess Indiahikes is doing a great job in these routes. Glad, this thread made you reminisce

[vijayols]

Originally Posted by rst89

Thanks for this awesome trek log.

I have been reading the mails from India Hikes the whole duration of pandemic. Their business was affected a lot. It's good to see the 3 basin/bowls concept and getting the review from you that it actually works and is very efficient. They did a lot of experimentation with composting material for toilets but if you are trekking in place where you can't dig, then you have to do your business behind rocks.

Traveling business has got impacted a lot, I do want to trek but avoiding as it can wait in times of pandemic.

Thanks for the compliment sir. Indiahikes impressed and inspired me ! There are quiet a number of takeaways which can be followed by us in daily life and especially during our travels/drives.

Regarding COVID, i forgot to mention this important bit that, all of us had to do a RT-PCR test and (-ve) result should be valid from 72 hours prior or later of the travel date. That way it was indeed a safe bio bubble. So, you can think of taking up a trek with them.

[vijayols]

Originally Posted by yesyeswe

Enjoyed a lot, pictures and the writing part both. Gave a very good insight of what to expect and the actual conditions are. I was so mesmerized while reading i was imagining myself being a part of your party

I get a nice feeling when folks say, they felt like, they experienced my Journey. You are the third person to say that on this blog Thanks so much. This is the best compliment for me and motivates me to log better.