Despite this being my 6th one in the Himalayas, I was more anxious about going to Buran Ghati than I had been before any of my treks,.... well, apart from my first one, when I didn't have any idea as to what to expect.
The anxiety and nervousness was to such an extent, that it almost matched the excitement and that is saying something, since I had been sold on to Buran Ghati the very time i saw a picture of the pass on the website, about a year back !
Reasons for feeling so ?
- The biggest one being not going with Indiahikes. I'd gotten to trust their way of working and their philosophy. ( We had got a little late with the bookings, hence missed the window and got waitlisted. Desperation got the better of us, and with a little research we booked the same one with Bikat Adventures.)
- The heat and pollution in NCR had reached the point where any form of outside exercise was not only torturous but also self inflicted damage. ( While yoga had been on for the past 1yr, the need to do something more rigorous drove to me sign-up for CrossFit.) I could only hope the training was sufficient preparation for the journey that was being undertaken.
- In my excitement, I'd managed to drag 2 of my dear friends to sign-up for the same trek, along with me. While they have been in a fairly good state of fitness, with regular workouts etc, this would have been the 1st "high altitude" trek for them, that too of a week long duration.
(What if they don't like what they signed up for?? Or worse, not able to acclimatize to the 15000ft we were headed to?)
The anxiety and nervousness was to such an extent, that it almost matched the excitement and that is saying something, since I had been sold on to Buran Ghati the very time i saw a picture of the pass on the website, about a year back !
Reasons for feeling so ?
- The biggest one being not going with Indiahikes. I'd gotten to trust their way of working and their philosophy. ( We had got a little late with the bookings, hence missed the window and got waitlisted. Desperation got the better of us, and with a little research we booked the same one with Bikat Adventures.)
- The heat and pollution in NCR had reached the point where any form of outside exercise was not only torturous but also self inflicted damage. ( While yoga had been on for the past 1yr, the need to do something more rigorous drove to me sign-up for CrossFit.) I could only hope the training was sufficient preparation for the journey that was being undertaken.
- In my excitement, I'd managed to drag 2 of my dear friends to sign-up for the same trek, along with me. While they have been in a fairly good state of fitness, with regular workouts etc, this would have been the 1st "high altitude" trek for them, that too of a week long duration.
(What if they don't like what they signed up for?? Or worse, not able to acclimatize to the 15000ft we were headed to?)
With all these thoughts lingering in mind I boarded the bus to shimla on 21st Jun.
Was pleasantly surprised to reach Shimla on time (by 6AM). I'd been mentally preparing myself for the traffic jams that are fairly common in popular hill stations during the summer time. Our pick-up was to arrive by 9 and by 9:30 AM, off we were to our base camp - Janglik, 150 km from Shimla. It was a pleasant drive with good roads till Chirgaon, after which the roads were practically non existent. A broken , out of commission bridge and a road under construction was our cue to deboard and walk up rest of the way to a small village, Janglik, which was our boarding place for the night.
Pleasentries & introductions over tea and biscuits followed by general gyaan.
Day: 2
The next morning, we started off towards Dayara (@11k ft) , our first campsite. The walk was a relatively short one & wasn't too hard either.
The campsite itself was a vast meadow, with a carpet of lush green, sprinkled with tiny yellow flowers, and a view of big mountains right up close.
Hot lunch followed by little time to rest, by which time the entire surroundings were taken over by sheep. It was a pretty sight watching them come so close to our tents. Headed up to one random slope to spend some time acclimatizing... sticking to the theory of " climb high, sleep low"..
It started drizzling, resulting in everyone scrambling down the slope, back into dining tents.. waiting for dinner and the day to end !
Day 3:
Woke up to glorious colours of the morning, untouched by pollution. The bright green , yellow, blue & white were enough to energise everyone. Soon our little group of 11, was all packed and ready to march off to next point -Litham. At 11800 ft, and about 3-4 hrs of scheduled walk, it seemed to be a leisurely day. However, the weather was playing up again and we had to hurry up to reach the campsite before it started raining hard. We were supposed to spend the next day at Litham, with a day excursion to Chandranahan Lake.
However, nature had other plans. From the moment we reached Litham, it started raining heavily. Thankfully, there were a few very brief breaks, which we could at times use to our advantage - meals & quick trips to toilet tent ( the mandate of 5ltr water and the cold weather didn't really help)
Walking up to the closest point from where we could see the spout of the lake and the originating waterfall, with a heavy heart, I bid a silent adieu to the lake which lay beyond the enclosure of peaks.
On the Day 4 evening, our trek leader - Himanshu, took us for a stroll. We hopped across tiny streams, crossed a snow bridge and came to a snow covered slope where the team was told about tricks & techniques regarding walking on snow, in preparation for the next day where we would be walking on fair bit of snow.
Once back, killed time playing Mafia, till dinner was served. I had my fingers crossed, hoping fervently for the rains to stop. It shouldn't ruin our summit day !
Day 5 :
Started off at around 9:30 am. While Litham was an extremely pretty site, 2 days had been an overkill, more so because we were almost tent-bound due to rains.
The climb to Dhunda was steep to start with, followed by level walks and moderate slopes later on. There was much natural beauty and the photos we were clicking away, weren't doing justice to the prettiness around us. On our way, we passed the camp sites of IH & TTH. They had been our neighbors at
previous sites also. Bikat's Dhunda camp was much ahead and was practically out of line of sight from other camps. For some reason , the tents on this site were bigger, and had more spacious balconies. Which meant, even if it rained, we could leave the flap open :)
On the other hand, since the tents were pitched on snow, and it was moderately windy, we were busy pushing the pegs (holding our tents) down into snow, every now and then, as they kept coming loose due to poor grip on snow.
No acclimatization walk today. We had to sleep early, conserve our energy, wake up at 12:30am for the summit push. We were handed out microspikes for the journey tomorrow.
After dinner at 7 pm, we headed to our tents, only to discover that the sleeping bags we got were wet, and could not be used. Some jugaad ensued...& failed....we couldn't survive more than 10 mins in subzero without sleeping bags. My lifesaver friend stepped out into the cold to find the trekleader and managed to get dry ones.
Slept fitfully and woke up to Himanshu's call at 12:30 am.
Was pleasantly surprised to reach Shimla on time (by 6AM). I'd been mentally preparing myself for the traffic jams that are fairly common in popular hill stations during the summer time. Our pick-up was to arrive by 9 and by 9:30 AM, off we were to our base camp - Janglik, 150 km from Shimla. It was a pleasant drive with good roads till Chirgaon, after which the roads were practically non existent. A broken , out of commission bridge and a road under construction was our cue to deboard and walk up rest of the way to a small village, Janglik, which was our boarding place for the night.
Pleasentries & introductions over tea and biscuits followed by general gyaan.
Day: 2
The next morning, we started off towards Dayara (@11k ft) , our first campsite. The walk was a relatively short one & wasn't too hard either.
The campsite itself was a vast meadow, with a carpet of lush green, sprinkled with tiny yellow flowers, and a view of big mountains right up close.
It started drizzling, resulting in everyone scrambling down the slope, back into dining tents.. waiting for dinner and the day to end !
Day 3:
Woke up to glorious colours of the morning, untouched by pollution. The bright green , yellow, blue & white were enough to energise everyone. Soon our little group of 11, was all packed and ready to march off to next point -Litham. At 11800 ft, and about 3-4 hrs of scheduled walk, it seemed to be a leisurely day. However, the weather was playing up again and we had to hurry up to reach the campsite before it started raining hard. We were supposed to spend the next day at Litham, with a day excursion to Chandranahan Lake.
Walking up to the closest point from where we could see the spout of the lake and the originating waterfall, with a heavy heart, I bid a silent adieu to the lake which lay beyond the enclosure of peaks.
On the Day 4 evening, our trek leader - Himanshu, took us for a stroll. We hopped across tiny streams, crossed a snow bridge and came to a snow covered slope where the team was told about tricks & techniques regarding walking on snow, in preparation for the next day where we would be walking on fair bit of snow.
Once back, killed time playing Mafia, till dinner was served. I had my fingers crossed, hoping fervently for the rains to stop. It shouldn't ruin our summit day !
Day 5 :
Started off at around 9:30 am. While Litham was an extremely pretty site, 2 days had been an overkill, more so because we were almost tent-bound due to rains.
The climb to Dhunda was steep to start with, followed by level walks and moderate slopes later on. There was much natural beauty and the photos we were clicking away, weren't doing justice to the prettiness around us. On our way, we passed the camp sites of IH & TTH. They had been our neighbors at
On the other hand, since the tents were pitched on snow, and it was moderately windy, we were busy pushing the pegs (holding our tents) down into snow, every now and then, as they kept coming loose due to poor grip on snow.
No acclimatization walk today. We had to sleep early, conserve our energy, wake up at 12:30am for the summit push. We were handed out microspikes for the journey tomorrow.
After dinner at 7 pm, we headed to our tents, only to discover that the sleeping bags we got were wet, and could not be used. Some jugaad ensued...& failed....we couldn't survive more than 10 mins in subzero without sleeping bags. My lifesaver friend stepped out into the cold to find the trekleader and managed to get dry ones.
Slept fitfully and woke up to Himanshu's call at 12:30 am.
Day : 6
Apparently, these people ( the trek leads & the local staff), hadnt slept at all. They were up n chatting in the dining tents, -- wet sleeping bags to be blamed !
The painful process of getting ready, in the dark followed. We had breakfast ( daliya n Maggie) & tea at 1:30, got our packed lunch and were ready to push off by 2:30. Our technical guide was leading the way which seemed like a straight vertical climb up one of the mountains, surrounding the camp
. As we walked in single file, arranged in a specific order by the TL, to ensure that the group moves together as one, with slowest paced ones in the front and faster ones behind, I couldn't help appreciate the advantage of moving at night. In the pitch dark, the field of vision is not more than one meter in any given direction at a given time. For someone like me, it blocks out the view down the treacherous ridges, of the 70 degree slopes we were climbing. It was only one step at a time.
At some point during the dark, we could see similar single files of lit head-lamps across the mountains, the summit batches of other groups - IH, TTH joined in.
As we marched on, the dawn cracked. From our standpoint, we could see the first rays lighting up the surrounding peaks. This was also the point from where I got the first view of the Buran Pass.
Few things compare to the beauty of the moment. The pinkish skies, the towering snow covered peaks, which were gradually being lit up by the rays of rising sun, the glittering snow under our feet and magnificent view of the pass far ahead. It looked both daunting & inviting at the same time. A long long walk towards the pass, the strategy that seemed to be working was walk 50 steps before stopping to catch a breath. As I kept ascending, the count kept going down, till it was 20 steps - 10 sec break.
Apparently, these people ( the trek leads & the local staff), hadnt slept at all. They were up n chatting in the dining tents, -- wet sleeping bags to be blamed !
The painful process of getting ready, in the dark followed. We had breakfast ( daliya n Maggie) & tea at 1:30, got our packed lunch and were ready to push off by 2:30. Our technical guide was leading the way which seemed like a straight vertical climb up one of the mountains, surrounding the camp
At some point during the dark, we could see similar single files of lit head-lamps across the mountains, the summit batches of other groups - IH, TTH joined in.
As we marched on, the dawn cracked. From our standpoint, we could see the first rays lighting up the surrounding peaks. This was also the point from where I got the first view of the Buran Pass.
Few things compare to the beauty of the moment. The pinkish skies, the towering snow covered peaks, which were gradually being lit up by the rays of rising sun, the glittering snow under our feet and magnificent view of the pass far ahead. It looked both daunting & inviting at the same time. A long long walk towards the pass, the strategy that seemed to be working was walk 50 steps before stopping to catch a breath. As I kept ascending, the count kept going down, till it was 20 steps - 10 sec break.
Mixed feelings, as I landed on the flattish ledge of the pass.
For a fraction of second, I felt I'd bit off more than i could chew. But I did manage to chew. It wasn't a pleasent experience, but then any kind of struggle, never is. Maybe that is the whole point. For me, it wasnt about the effort or stamina to climb up to 15000ft, it was dealing with the fear & anxiety of being around those heights.. exposed slopes and ledges... walking on slippery tracks which are barely the width of my shoe !
Took me about 1O mins to overcome that state of shock.
For a fraction of second, I felt I'd bit off more than i could chew. But I did manage to chew. It wasn't a pleasent experience, but then any kind of struggle, never is. Maybe that is the whole point. For me, it wasnt about the effort or stamina to climb up to 15000ft, it was dealing with the fear & anxiety of being around those heights.. exposed slopes and ledges... walking on slippery tracks which are barely the width of my shoe !
Took me about 1O mins to overcome that state of shock.
By this time, most of the people had reached the top. Group photos took place. The technical team got busy with setting up ropes & harnesses for the rappel down.
We rappelled down half way, and slid down the rest, one by one.
It was damn fun! Had to wait around for about an hour for the entire team to get down from the pass. Some confusion ensued, which resulted it the team getting all split up and scattered.
More snow slides followed. By this time, all anxiety had given way to excitement of sliding down the snowy slopes, couldn't care less abt clothes getting icy wet, bums getting numb with all the bumps down the way.
Once we were out of the snow, progress was faster. It had started drizzling again.
By 2:00 PM we made it to our last camp where we had our packed lunches - Poori & Sabzi. The crew was nice enough to give us some much needed hot tea also. So much gratitude, for the little things we take for granted otherwise !
A round of washing & cleaning up followed after which we settled down within our groups to get some much needed rest...and also reflect upon the experiences of the past day.
It was only when we stepped out for Maggie & tea, that I could appreciate the beauty of Manirang, the place we were camping at. It was a piece tiny flat ground, overlooking a ledge and a valley beyond on one side and green gentle slopes on the other.
It is hard to describe the beauty as the clouds came rolling in to cover everything, and then clear up just as quickly, blessing us with a brilliant view of clear night sky later on.
Dinner and debriefing followed, with everyone staying up with 10:00-10:30, talking about their experiences. Tonight was the last time we would gather in the dining tent.
After a round of goodnights, everyone got into their tents. I can bet, it had been the most restful sleep of the trek. It was a combination of the fatigue, the beautiful day and the fact that weather conditions were more friendly that we slept soundly till about 6:00 am.
Day 7 :
After a leisurely breakfast of aloo parantha with achar & chai, we pushed off by 9:00-9:30 to our final destination - Barua khurd from where the pick-up had been arranged. The walk down comprised of some lovely forest trail & beautiful orchards of apples, walnut, apricots and we finally reached Barua village.
For some reason we had got late. We were supposed to reach the pick-up point by 12:00. Instead, by the time we left the place in our vehicles, it was well past 2:30pm.
What followed was an anxious 7 hr drive, where, at one point we realized that we'll have to make do with chocolates, nuts n biscuits for lunch. By 6pm, we'd managed to make-up time, stopped for some tea and something to eat. Reached Shimla bus stand at 9:20 pm, 10 mins before the scheduled departure of the bus for which we had our tickets booked.
Just about managed to grab something to eat, and boarded our bus, on time !
Slept off within minutes only to be woken up the next morning, once we reached ISBT.
We had reached Delhi before time. I was home before 7.
What I brought with me was treasure trove of beautiful memories. This was my first monsoon trek and the vistas I got to see & experience, more than made up for the messiness of the rains. Loved the company of the friends I went along with, which added to the overall fun. Learnt the art of tying shoelaces which don't need to be untied ( such a timesaver !).
More that anything else, the charge of fresh energy that I got, was much needed as I step back into the mechanical routine that life otherwise has become :) !
We rappelled down half way, and slid down the rest, one by one.
It was damn fun! Had to wait around for about an hour for the entire team to get down from the pass. Some confusion ensued, which resulted it the team getting all split up and scattered.
More snow slides followed. By this time, all anxiety had given way to excitement of sliding down the snowy slopes, couldn't care less abt clothes getting icy wet, bums getting numb with all the bumps down the way.
Once we were out of the snow, progress was faster. It had started drizzling again.
By 2:00 PM we made it to our last camp where we had our packed lunches - Poori & Sabzi. The crew was nice enough to give us some much needed hot tea also. So much gratitude, for the little things we take for granted otherwise !
A round of washing & cleaning up followed after which we settled down within our groups to get some much needed rest...and also reflect upon the experiences of the past day.
It was only when we stepped out for Maggie & tea, that I could appreciate the beauty of Manirang, the place we were camping at. It was a piece tiny flat ground, overlooking a ledge and a valley beyond on one side and green gentle slopes on the other.
It is hard to describe the beauty as the clouds came rolling in to cover everything, and then clear up just as quickly, blessing us with a brilliant view of clear night sky later on.
Dinner and debriefing followed, with everyone staying up with 10:00-10:30, talking about their experiences. Tonight was the last time we would gather in the dining tent.
After a round of goodnights, everyone got into their tents. I can bet, it had been the most restful sleep of the trek. It was a combination of the fatigue, the beautiful day and the fact that weather conditions were more friendly that we slept soundly till about 6:00 am.
Day 7 :
After a leisurely breakfast of aloo parantha with achar & chai, we pushed off by 9:00-9:30 to our final destination - Barua khurd from where the pick-up had been arranged. The walk down comprised of some lovely forest trail & beautiful orchards of apples, walnut, apricots and we finally reached Barua village.
For some reason we had got late. We were supposed to reach the pick-up point by 12:00. Instead, by the time we left the place in our vehicles, it was well past 2:30pm.
What followed was an anxious 7 hr drive, where, at one point we realized that we'll have to make do with chocolates, nuts n biscuits for lunch. By 6pm, we'd managed to make-up time, stopped for some tea and something to eat. Reached Shimla bus stand at 9:20 pm, 10 mins before the scheduled departure of the bus for which we had our tickets booked.
Just about managed to grab something to eat, and boarded our bus, on time !
Slept off within minutes only to be woken up the next morning, once we reached ISBT.
We had reached Delhi before time. I was home before 7.
What I brought with me was treasure trove of beautiful memories. This was my first monsoon trek and the vistas I got to see & experience, more than made up for the messiness of the rains. Loved the company of the friends I went along with, which added to the overall fun. Learnt the art of tying shoelaces which don't need to be untied ( such a timesaver !).
More that anything else, the charge of fresh energy that I got, was much needed as I step back into the mechanical routine that life otherwise has become :) !
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Novynott is a Tuffnot now....way to go Girl.