Exhilarating! Breathtaking ! Absolutely Fantastic!
Words fall short to describe the 4 days of trek to Kedarkantha summit ,
a journey, that was like a breath of fresh air, breaking the monotony of our
mundane lives, giving us the instant boost and a treasure trove of memories!
Want to pen down the experience, before it starts to fade gradually,
till only the faint highlights remain, of what was one of the best experiences
of my life.
Day 0:
We prepared to leave for Dehradun by train from New Delhi. Sleepy,
since the train scheduled to depart at 11:50 PM, is usually late by 15-20 mins.
Day 1:
Reached Dehradun. Pickup organized by Indiahkes team. Dehradun station
is the pickup point for several treks – Nag Tibba, Har Ki Dun &
Kedarkantha. Seeing fellow trekkers, with the standard decathlon gear gives
rise to a feeling of camaraderie.
Couple of enquiries later, 3 of us are in a bolero, accompanied by 2
guys from Indore, on our way to a quaint village by the name of Sankri, which
is the base camp for our Kedarkantha (KK) trek & their Har ki Dun (HKD)
trek.
Pleasant journey, as we drove along the meandering road, with rivier
Supin flowing by our side. Road gets narrow & bumpy as we inch closer.
Despite the bumpy ride, none of us manage to keep our eyes open for long,
drifting in and out of journey induced slumber. First ones to arrive, we
reached our destination, Hotel Swargarohoni, by 5:30 pm, to be greeted by our
trek leader, Indrajeet Hazra. Unpretentious, approachable and friendly, Jeet,
and his people management skill is what got the bunch of 20 us bonding over the
next 5 days.
After a quick medical checkup, which was followed by a round of
introductions & a briefing on what is to be expected over the course of
next few days, the perfect end to day 1 was the star gazing session, led by
Jude, who was managing the slope. Lucky us, to get the opportunity to see
craters on moon up close, and also Jupiter & 4 of its moons. Apart from
Jude pointing out the constellations, which we forgot, pretty much as soon as
we heard the names, we were also fed with some very interesting trivia &
quotes. Jude’s passion cum hobby was truly inspiring. The clear sky, which we
never get to see from city, also blessed us with beautiful vision of a shooting
star.
Day 2:
Despite my promise to self about returning to the slope with better
fitness, I was disappointed with myself.
20 mins into the climb, I was trailing. From 6500 ft to 9000 ft, the 4
km ascend was not supposed to be a tough climb. Jeet had mentioned that we’d be
able to reach our 1st campsite – Juda Ka Talaab, in about 4 hours.
Huffing & puffing, with occasional backward glance to appreciate the
beauty of the trail and the enjoy the clear view of snow covered peaks which
was getting clearer as we gained altitude, we reached the campsite by 12:00. A
beautiful clearing, with the lake being the central attraction. 30
mins to settle down in our respective tents, freshen up (wet toilets!! Yay!!),
we were soon having our lunch.
Of all the things Indiahikes does well, meals is something which exceeds
expectations.
Healthy, wholesome with a touch of local taste. Always followed by
dessert !
After lunch , followed by short rest, all of us took off for an
acclimatization walk. Treated to the lovely sights while walking through the
pine forest, into another clearing, where sheep were grazing. The 2 mountain
dogs (Sheru #1 & Sheru #2) has a field time chasing and scattering the
sheep. Spent some 15-20 mins relaxing, after which we leisurely walked back to
the camp site.
Had a fun round of introductions and games, followed by the routine of
tea, snacks, soup & dinner.
With the sun down, and chill catching up, the last few of us reluctantly
climbed into our tents, into the comforting warmth of sleeping bags, calling it
a hard close at 9:00 PM.
Day 3:
Today was to be an easier day, 2 Km ascend, climbing from 9000 ft to
10000ft.
Kicked off the climb by 9. Though it was a shorter trek, there were
tricky patches due to the melting snow. We had some truly lovely people with
us, who stayed back and helped everyone cross the slippery bits, lending a
helping hand.
As we approached the kedarkantha base camp, which is also called
Talkhetra, we were in for a shock. Dismayed at the sight of trash , strewn
across the entire camp site, we were aghast at the stupidity &
insensitivity of people who were responsible for the same.
Spent the first 30 mins at the site picking up rubbish which ranged from
sanitary waste to liquor bottles and everything in between. Jeet had managed to
turn the clean-up activity into a team challenge , and all of us we only
too happy to support the Indiahikes team with the greentrails initiative.
Lazed around basking in the sun till we heard the familiar call out
" Come-on Guys !!" ... Jeet collecting people for the acclimatization
walk.
Once back, had a briefing on how to use micro-spikes & gaiters, in
preparation for the next day's summit climb.
Day 4 :
Today, we were supposed to wind up early. Had to wake up at 2 am
!!
The experience of getting out of cozy sleeping bags at 2in the morning,
to freshen up ( dry toilets , head lamp, freezing cold) , have breakfast at 3am
( yes it is as weird as it sounds), pack up , line up and head out in the
dark...!! NOTHING BEATS IT !!
With microspikes providing strong grip on the hard snow..we head out in
a single file, the beam of our headlamps lighting up the way....
Super exciting, super cold, treading along the occasional narrow ledge
is super scary too...
Jeet keeps motivating everyone...." Trust the microspikes.....you
won't slip ! "
Somewhere along the way, we are treated with magnificent sunrise..!! I
feel extremely lucky to have been able to experience all of this.
Thank God for little blessings....half way up, there is a chai point !!
:)
The KK summit, is a deceptive one...it looks close, easily approachable.
The more we walked, the further it looked.
The last bit of summit climb is extremely steep. Had it been any more
steeper, it would have qualified for technical climb !! Challenging and scary
are the 2 work that would sum it up. The thought of missing a foot hold was
something i was battling constantly !
Yay !!! Finally !!At the summit !!!
The Euphoria & Sense of Achievement... cannot be described in
words!!
On the other hand, being conscious of our relatively microscopic
presence, surrounded by towering peaks, battling the sub-zero temperature &
the chilly wind, felt humbled in presence of nature's might &
beauty...
After a round of chikkis, biscuits, energy bars and the always handy dry
fruits, everyone scrambled to click pictures. It is not everyday that one gets
the opportunity to pose for breathtaking DPs.
Amidst the excitement, Jeet pointed out the names of the mountain ranges
& peaks – Swargarohini, Kala Naag, Draupadi ka Danda… and so on. Weather
had played a spoilt sport due to which we did not get the clear blue sky.
Time to get going ! We planned to descend from the other side (the one
which is in sight from the KK base camp). What looked like gentle slope from
far, looked every bit treacherous up close. One little slip, would send one
sliding & tumbling down.
This is where it got fun.
Easier to slide than walk !!!
To cut it short, we took turns to slide down the snowy slopes, some of
us landing more gracefully than others, who came head-down , feet up :D. All
this happened so fast, we did not get a chance to get it on camera. Such a pity
!
Had a leisurely tea & omelet break on our way down. Sun was up &
shining bright and it was only now that we fully appreciated the logic of
starting the summit climb early (other than being able to watch the beautiful
sunrise). Snow was getting soft, making it difficult to walk.
All of us got back to the base camp well in time..
After lunch, we pushed off towards our next camp – Hargaon, which was a
short 2 km walk.
This was the prettiest camp site, amongst all the ones in this trek. A
small slightly elevated clearing, covered with a carpet of green grass,
surrounded by dense pine trees, beyond which lie the mountains on all sides.
It started drizzling in the evening, which gave an opportunity for
everyone to huddle inside the dining tent and play silly games . The Indiahikes
team was sweet enough to bake a cake on the occasion. A surprise for us, we
have lovely biryani for dinner. By now, it was pouring..
Ponchos reluctantly taken out, rushed about to wind up for the day. What
a day it was !!
I kept waking up at night, to the sounds of rain splattering on the tent
(even had a fair share of hail stones) , occasional thunder followed by
lightning, lighting up the tent. Woke up on a high !
Just when I thought that I’d experienced the best moment on the trek (The
Summit), it got better… J J Despite the
weather, or rather, because of it, we got an entirely different experience.
Day 5:
And it keeps getting better!!
The descend to Sankri on a regular day would have been a 2 hours’
affair. But with the rain showing no signs of abating, we geared up for a
longish journey down.
With ponchos & backpack covers on, the movement was inconvenient. The
trail was very slippery. Everyone kept moving very carefully. Unfortunately,
because the trail was treacherous, we could not look around to enjoy the sight
of walking down the lush green forest. It being the last day, and nobody being
in a real hurry to get back, our little group of 6-7 trailed behind. For almost
half of the way down, we were walking with the little stream that was carrying
the rain water down the slope, literally walking in the stream. Never before
had I felt such appreciation for my shoes, for holding up on such a terrain. By
the time we reached our lodge, drenched, despite the rain cover, water inside
shoes, despite them being waterproof, we were exhausted.
Anybody would have paid a bomb for the 2 things that we could only wish
for at that point:
- hot water for bath
- a body massage
The day ended with a debriefing session, with everyone reliving popular
jokes and sharing individual experiences of the trek. All of us felt immensely
blessed to be able to complete the trek. 3 batches scheduled after ours had to
cancel summit because of the rain and bad weather.
Day :6
Woke up at 6, with the highlights of trek & bits of conversations
playing in the head.
It was still raining. Was already feeling sad about the entire event
coming to an end...
Had one last round of hot tea n maggie, before getting on with the
packing up n checking out.
Reached dehradun station by 7:30pm with ample time to kill. Bid goodbyes
, with hopes and promises to meet up later.
Small world ...!!
The 6 days will continue to be, undoubtedly, one of the most cherished experiences.
My first high altitude trek!!
The weather, the trail, trek buddies and the group.... Everything was
just about perfect!
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