This travelogue came into picture when I recently decided to pen down some moments and memorable experiences. But I must say writing it was not my cup of tea, and so I ask you to please bear with my artless effort.
Rewind
Back In 2009, I was lucky enough to go on a few moderately difficult treks including Beas Kund and Shrikhand Mahadev. From then on, the urge to explore nature on foot kept growing on me.
Destination?
March 2010 I desperately needed get away for a short trip. The criteria’s were carefully thought of - a secluded destination, less of driving and more of walking, some snow if possible. Not a lot of places close to Delhi offer
all that. A lot of reading and (re)search done, I finalized on Triund.
Triund, the little oasis with some mind blowing views of the Dhauladar range and stunning vistas enroute. The hike upto Triund does not qualify to be termed as a “trek” but is nevertheless exciting and worthwhile. Thankfully it has fewer visitors because of the 9km hike up, a deterrent for most. From there on, one can trek though Indrahaar pass to multiple destinations.
Planning (minimal planning)
For company I called on my friend “D”.D had not been keeping well and sounded quite pessimistic about the whole thing. That changed when I made him see some pictures of Triund on somebody’s flickr account. He then concluded that such a trip would not only make him feel better, but cure him of his fever and all his sins. lol
Less time meant that this was to be a weekend trip. It had to be done
within the weekend. So the plan was to drive to Mcleod ganj Friday to Saturday overnight, Hike up to Triund the next day, camp for the night, hike back to McLeod, spend a night and return to Delhi on Sunday.
Giddy up!
Friday, March 5, 2010.
Initial Destination: Mcleod ganj.
To avoid traffic, we started from Delhi after midnight around 1am. The drive was smooth and uneventful except for a wrong turn somewhere after Ghaghas which costed us an extra 15 minutes.
At sunrise, we were on the NH88 somewhere after Nadaun. we had our first glimpse of the hills and realized how beautiful this part of the country was. Lush green fields with the stunning Dhauladars as backdrop.
Weekend trips can be a lot of fun. For me, it’s the little things. The thoughts that gather up when i look outside the window and see mountains and rivers go by. Those few moments of self introspection. The joy of sipping hot tea at a roadside dhaba, on some lone highway. The little things make a big difference.
A little after 12pm, we were at Mcleod ganj . The route taken was
Delhi > Chandigarh > Kiratpur > Ghaghas > Hamirpur > Dharmsala > Mcleod ganj.
At Mcleod ganj, we had breakfast and parked the car at the main parking lot.
Straight away got down to business, asked for directions and at quarter to one we were on our way to Triund.
A few minutes of walking, and we suddenly realize that we are carrying excess weight. Sleeping bags, tent, quilts, some cooking utensils, drinks and food. None of those items could be left behind (wrong!). It dawned on us that we would need to carry almost 16 kilos for the next 10 kms on this steep path! We are not great planners.
Add to that, D started complaining of headache and dizziness. We decided to stop for a while and improvise.
Meanwhile, some people returning from triund crossed us, they had more good news for us. Heavy rain at Triund! The entire path is wet and slippery.
My optimism was fading.
D took medicine and gulped liters of water in one go. He was back on his feet to start again and refused to rest any more. His eyes told an entirely different story.
To reach before sunset, we would now need to speed things up a bit..
More to come..
Photographs The quality of the pictures may differ. both cameras (Nikon d60 and Sony DSC w190) I carried were mostly tucked inside because of rain. Some pictures are shot from phone cameras. First light
Dhauladars in the background
The drive
Pano
Green to the eyes
Green to the eyes
Mcleod Ganj melody
Sluggish progress
Where no Auto has gone before!