An Adventurous Journey by a Band of Babbling Baboons: Roopkund Trek Part 2
This is the second part of the trip covering the experiences of the trek itself. Refer part 1 for the pre-trek adventures :P
The Trek - A laughter in exhaustion, a puff of tiredness, a wink for motivation, a sigh in the silence, and the smile of the conquest of the Summit defined the “Pursuit of Happyness” amid extreme discomfort.
So the journey towards Lohajung (Roopkund Base Camp: 7700 feet) began from Nainital. After driving for almost 12hrs we reached our base camp. Our trek leader, Archit, welcomed us and showed us into our rooms. Later that night we got to meet all our co-trekkers. Surprisingly, most of them were from Bangalore. There was a comprehensive briefing and a few medical procedures to make sure everyone was doing well. They gave us our health cards (to keep track of our Oxygen levels and Pulse rate during the trek), eco bags and sleeping liners to carry with us. A young motivated trekker working for India Hikes, Leo Seldana, briefed us about the ever-increasing problem of wastes in the mountains as treks are becoming more and more commercial. We found their initiative – Green Trails – quite impressive. Not only should we avoid littering but also ensure to leave the place cleaner than it was before. After listening to all the instructions, we went back to our rooms to pack our backpacks (although we had done it almost every day). Among the 9 of us Vivek, Vishwa, Bharath and I had made the choice of carrying the entire load on our backs. Others did not care to carry any extra load beside themselves. Vivek who had suffered from a fever the previous week had lost all his confidence of carrying the bag. Even at the eleventh hour, he was not quite sure about his decision. But at last, we motivated each other saying that we’ll try it on the first day failing which we could always offload. The next day’s agenda was 6, 7 and 8; tea at 6, breakfast at 7 and kick-off at 8. We all were recommended to go on a Diamox course as it was the first high altitude trek for most of us.
At the crack of dawn, all 26 trekkers suited up to embark on a 7-day trek to the mysterious Roopkund Lake; a lake situated at a height of 15750 feet right next to one of India’s highest peaks, Mt. Trishul, in the Garhwal Himalayan Range. Having had our breakfast we took a one hour drive to a small beautiful village – Wan, from where we started our ascent. Local guides, Dhan Sign and Devender guided us through the valleys while Archit and Kushal (senior trek lead) stayed in between the group. We climbed through the magnificent Oak trees and dense Rhododendron forests. The Cypress trees of the forests were so thick that it would need at least 4 to 5 grownups with stretched hands to hug the entire tree. After about an hour of the trek, we noticed the mellifluous murmur of the forest; the music of water that’s been flowing down all the way from the top of the mountains, our first natural water source – Neel Ganga River. All the thirsty trekkers made their way towards the river to fill up their water bottles and wash their sweaty face. Little did we know then that it was going to be one heck of an ascent from that point! Our next camp, Ghairoli Patal (10000 feet), was almost two and a half hours away from Neel Ganga. Not only was the trail sinuous but was also quite steep. Each and every turn posed a challenge against the trekkers, especially for the first time trekkers carrying their backpacks (aka me). But it was merely fierce combat between the trekker and his mind. Nevertheless, none of the trekkers gave up before making it to the next camp. In fact, our team reached there before the average time. The kitchen staff served us sumptuous lunch and we rested for the day. In the evening we spent some time playing games to get to know each other. As the sun went down the horizon we made our way into the tents. The temperature had already fallen below 15’C. Although not very cold, we pretended to be cold just because we were in the campsite of a Himalayan trek.
We had the same agenda for the next morning. But the best part was the sight of Mt. Trishul at the cockcrow. The sky looked like a cloudless diamond and the stupendous Mt. Trishul stood magnificently kissing the high sky. I had spent a lot of time back home reading all about Trishul and its astounding facts. The very sight of Trishul just steered away from all my thoughts and rendered me speechless. After a couple of seconds I gained my senses back and went ahead with the routines of the day. At 8, we started marching towards our next campsite. This was the day when we would be crossing the tree line and entering the meadows. The first such place we visited is called Ali Bugyal (Part 3 of this trip is dedicated to stories behind Roopkund and how the names of these places originated). After a steep ascent through the forest, we crossed the tree line and made it into the meadows. The very first sight was a herd of Sheep running all over the place. We reached Ali Bugyal at around 11 a.m. in the morning and took a stride to the Ali top. Ali top is the highest point of Ali Bugyal that affords the visitors with a 360’ degree view of Garhwal mountain range. The majestic Mt. Trishul stood formidable alongside Mt. Nanda Gutni. We also could spot the far away Mt. Chaukhamba. The only sound or musical, up there, was that of the swaying cold breeze. After savouring the tranquillity of the place we marched ahead towards our next campsite Bedni Bugyal (11000ft).
The very place where the tents were pitched was magical. As soon as we came to the camp site we saw mules grazing the parrot-green meadow. Few others were rolling on the ground trying to scratch their backs after having carried loads and loads on their back. It was exactly like the Windows 97 (just Google it to see what I’m trying to say) wallpaper but only better with white and brown mules grazing. And it is Bedni Bugyal that offers the best view of Mt. Trisul. You’re neither too far nor too close but just at the right place to see the resplendent magnificence in all its glory. Being a huge fan of Carnatic Classical Music I was completely taken aback by the beauty of nature and I couldn’t, for a moment, resist myself from listening to my favourite playlist. While all the others gathered in their tents to rest, I found myself all alone on the top of a near-by Mountain listening to few of my favourite songs with Mt. Trishul right in front of me. I lost myself in exaltation for almost an hour looking at the exhilarating beauty of the creation while listening to the exaltations of the Creator by Saint Thyagaraja. At the sunset, we were in for a huge surprise. Never did we realize the fact that we were gaining altitudes day by day and the weather could change sporadically. At first, it started to drizzle signalling us to get into the tents. Amongst the 9 of us, 7 were in one tent playing cards and I was all alone in my tent, dozed off, and so was Vishwa in the next tent. And in no time, it started raining cats and dogs. I woke up to check what-the-heck was that all about and ensured that the tent was thoroughly packed. In less than a few minutes we were hit by a thunderstorm. The very sound of the blowing wind was terrifying. The tents seemed to fling off the ground. The locals there were running around to instruct us about placing our backpacks in the right place to avoid hurling of the tent. And I came to know the tent next to us had gone down already. By then, it had stopped raining. But the wild wind was still not satisfied. The locals found out that 7 were in the same tent and immediately asked them to move to their respective tents. We then sat in the corners of the tent painstakingly holding the cold tent against the wind. We somehow managed for an hour and then we decided to let go of it as our painful hands had caught a cold from the tent. Thanks to the locals who managed to serve the food into the tents when we couldn’t go out. At midnight, Vatsa and I went out of the tent as it seemed quite. Nature pretended as if nothing happened. We saw billions and billions of stars. We admired the silhouettes of the rather smaller mountains behind which stood the spectacular silhouette of Mt. Trishul. While the smaller ones looked dark, Mt. Trishul had a brighter countenance due to the moonlight. The gorgeous view spoke for itself better than we could ever describe it in words.
As usual, we all got ourselves ready the next morning. That was the 4th day of our trek and it was an acclimatization day. We had an excursion to the Bedni top. We all set out to the Bedni top at around 9 a.m. in the morning. After almost an hour and a half trek, we reached the Bedni top. It afforded us with an amazing panoramic view of Mt. Trishul (I, II and III). After enjoying the nature with songs, pictures and dance we got back to our tents by noon and rested for the day. In the evening, the locals there started playing cricket, which happens to be one of our favourite games. Initially, it started out with a random guy batting and another bowling while the rest fielded. But very soon, it turned into a serious game. Locals versus Trekkers it was! We formed teams and so did they. We defined proper rules and set ourselves a pitch with wickets. The first match was a disaster for the Trekkers since we didn’t know the calibre of all the players and we lost the game. We couldn’t accept it and so we challenged the locals for a second match. They accepted the challenge and gave us a 23 run target. It is in this match that one of our fellow trekkers, Kishore, got hurt. The ball high up in the sky came hurtling down to hit Kishore on his chest. Although it didn’t show it effects right then, he had to face consequences later in the trek. But finally, I had the privilege of taking the last over of the match. We need 11 runs from 6 balls. A four, a wide and a six….!! The Trekkers were running and dancing all around the place. We had defeated the locals in their pitch! This happened to be one of the most memorable events of the trek. After playing a few other games we all rested for the day.
At the break of dawn, we all were set to continue our journey towards our next base camp – Patar Nauchini (12700ft). Our trek manager Karthik summoned us all for a surprise. We got to meet a veteran from the Indian Army (I regret the fact that I forgot his name L). To our astonishment, he had scaled Mt. Everest in 2012 and Mt. Trishul in 2015. After thanking him for agreeing to meet us, we started off towards Patar Nauchini. And yet another day passed by with trekking and spending the second half of the day in the campsite appreciating the grandeur of nature. Following day was a steep ascent to Bhagwabasa, our next and the last campsite at 14100ft. And as usual, we started our journey at sharp 8 in the morning. Unfortunately, our co-trekker Kishore had fallen ill. The injury from cricket and the strain caused him a fever and was asked to rest for the day and descend to the base camp the following day. After about 2hrs of ascent, we reached Kalu Vinayaka temple (14200ft). The experience of this particular journey was quite different and amusing. You are on one side of the mountain behind which you see all the magnificent White Mountains standing redoubtable. Once you reach Kalu Vinayaka you descent on to the other side of the mountain to reach Bhagwabasa to access all the snowy mountains that you only saw from a far-away distance. When you stand next to Kalu Vinayaka, you see the Green Mountains to your right and the White Mountains to your left (during May - June), which was absolutely stunning. From Kalu Vinayaka we reached Bhagwabasa walking through the snowy trails in about an hour. Along the way, we met the first batch that did the Roopkund Summit ever since it was opened. That batch had started just one day before us and that kept our hopes high. We had a briefing session at Bhagwabasa regarding our summit trek. Two technical experts gave us strict instructions and rules to be followed while trekking in snow. Soon after the instructions, we received our Gaiters and Microspikes. The rest of the day left for us to enjoy nature. I again found myself on the top of a small mountain next to our tent to sing songs to the mountains. At night, we experienced a very gentle snowfall for about 10mins (Thanks to Mother Nature). One thing that baffled us in the tent was the temperature of our stuff. We could not, for once, tell if our clothes and gears were wet or cold. It was almost the same feeling. It was that cold. We came to know that it had reached up to -3’C that night. Praying Mother Nature to show mercy on us we found ourselves asleep.
We were up well before the crack of the dawn. To our surprise, all the water flowing around the campsite was frozen to form a thin layer of glass-like material. We had to abstain from daily chores such as washing one's face or brushing our teeth due to the bone-chilling cold. Moreover, there was no water in the drums they had kept the previous night. It had turned into ice. Having packed our day-pack for the Summit climb, we assembled outside the tent. At 3:45 a.m sharp we began our final ascent. Every one of us was completely packed with at least 4 warm layers. It was less than -5’C. Slow trekkers were asked to lead the batch to avoid splitting of groups. It was pitch dark and the only light leading our way was the light from our head torches. We were marching across the Mountains. Consequently, we had upslope towards one side and downslope towards the other. The trail was treacherous and strenuous. The oxygen levels had fallen down and the trail was filled with ice and snow. Although we used our trek poles meticulously, many a time we found our legs buried in the snow; up until the knee, occasionally.
All the trekkers painstakingly followed each other in a line lead by one of the technical experts who joined us from Bhagwabasa while the other experts stood parallel to the line towards the downslope to avoid any mishaps. The leads were considerate enough to give us timely rests. Almost after an hour of the trek in the dark, we had gained good visibility to switch our torches off. The golden rays started lighting up the mountain tops. We also spotted the far-away Mt. Chaukhamba with four golden peaks (Chauka in Hindi means Four). We continued the strenuous ascent for another hour to finally reach the Summit. We were standing right next to Lake Roopkund at 6:50 in the morning. All of a sudden, we were completely energized. But yet, we were not able to feel our legs and toes. Despite wearing 2 woollen socks it felt as if the toes were frozen. Our trek leader had brought, with him, the “Done Rookund, 4801 meters 15750 feet” poster. We held it together to click the most awaited picture of the trek. We spent the next 20 – 30 mins taking lots and lots of pictures before we were asked to assemble again for the descent. Soon, we again formed our line for descent. At around 9 a.m., when we were almost a stone’s throw away from the Bhagwabasa campsite, we saw a huge chunk of cloud that completely engulfed the Roopkund Lake. It looked as if a big UFO taking over the place. We thanked Mother Nature for waiting until we finished our Summit climb before the cloud had taken over the place. According to our leads, it could have been a rainfall or snowfall or maybe nothing! It could only be known when it actually happens. We returned to our campsites at Bhagwabasa sooner than we thought and in less than an hour, we also departed towards Patar Nauchini. By noon, we reached Patar Nauchini to rest for the day. We also had an amazing “Reflection Session” where we all spoke about our experiences of the trek.
The following day was a whooping 14km descent from Patar Nauchini to Wan with a stop at Ghairoli Patal for lunch. Our Dhan Sing ji also took us to the Latu Devata temple before we reached Wan. And there we were, finally, after 7 days of trekking, at Wan, knowing that we don’t have to walk anymore. We travelled back to Lohajung Base Camp and met our dear Kishore who had reached there the previous day. We all went out for lunch together as our transportation to Kathgodam was scheduled early the next morning. We departed from Lohajung Base Camp the next morning with heavy hearts bidding adieu to each and every one. We also had our train back to Delhi – The Ranikhet Express – the same night. After a very long journey, we finally reached our rooms in Delhi. The hot scorching sun in Delhi thwarted all our plans of eating outside in Delhi. So we decided to stay back in our rooms and have everything delivered to our rooms. Late in the night, we boarded our flights back to Bangalore.
As always, the pleasant weather of Bangalore welcomed us with 23’C. Could that be any better? No sooner, we made a beeline straight to Mayya’s to have our all-time favourite dish – Masala Dosa. Having satisfied our thirst with sumptuous Dosa and hot Coffee we departed to our homes. And that called the end of the most adventurous trip, which we have ever embarked until now!
I must make a special mention of the 8 guys without which the article in never fully complete. The 9 of us are more like a family than mere friends. Though we belong to different departments at Continental we never miss out having lunch together every day, better yet, even tea. When we guys were on the trip we never cared for being embarrassed with our talks or the demeanour. We just forgot all the social decorum that is expected to be maintained. And that turned out to be the best part of the trek; not just for us but for the others as well. Here are some of the feedback that we got from our co-trekkers in the reflection session –
“And I did not expect to meet these 9 fun-loving guys in the trek. You guys are just too amazing.”
“When I first saw that 9 guys are coming from Bangalore I was quite disappointed that they’re going to form their own group and this would split the entire batch. But then, you guys entertained the entire batch with your amusing humour.”
“We did not understand shit when you guys were speaking. (These guys were from Pune and did not know Kannada) But we did laugh our ass off. We so want to learn the abusive words from Kannada. Also, you guys are kickass singers. Now, we love Kannada songs more than we love Marati.”
And my personal favourite –
“And Skanda was the happiest soul in the group…”, “I know….right? With all that animated faces he used to make.…”
Also, I won’t be making a proper justice if I don’t thank India Hikes in particular. A big thanks to India Hikes for taking utmost care of all the trekkers. Special thanks to our commander-in-chief Mr Archit for maintaining impeccable timing and discipline among the trekkers. Also thanks to all the staff in every campsite for providing us with anything and everything that we needed at any point in time. And finally, a big thanks to Dhan Singh ji and Devender for having led us to greater heights.
Also, thanks to all our co-trekkers – Chetta (Prashanth), Akshay, Ram, Prabhat, Shrish, Rutika, Gayatri, Nikhil, Nitin, Kiran, Satish, Rakesh, Sadguru, Basu, Susan and Abhiram – for making this trip one of the most memorable ones.
And this goes without saying, thanks to my dear brothers – Srivatsa, Karthik, Shashank, Vivek, Vishwa, Kishore, Bharath and Suhas.
I’d like to end this article with a quote (thanks to Karthik for quoting it to us) that, even today, lingers in my ears –
“Somewhere along the way of maturing into adults, most humans misunderstood COMFORT for HAPPINESS.”
A laughter in exhaustion, a puff of tiredness, a wink for motivation, a sigh in the silence, and the smile of the conquest of the Summit defined the “Pursuit of Happyness” amid extreme discomfort.
Dream. Travel. Explore.
