GPS track file for google earthPictures of the trek GPS track for viewing in browser ___________________________________________________________________
This trek took place around the last week of July 2010.
A word of caution the route is through some really rough terrain as I did not have a guide with me so ended up taking some routes which I wish I hadn’t, I would also totally advise against attempting a solo trek in these parts, it doesn’t take a lot to turn a trek into a nightmare. While I was up there I heard numerous stories of mishaps from the local well-wishers who would strangely always end the conversation with the “I can arrange for a guide”.
Only attempt solo treks after taking everything into consideration.
All along the way I would wonder at my own foolhardiness in attempting this solo trek.
It was raining in Mcleodganj you could be sure it was snowing on Indrahar pass, I was in Triund where I was sitting inside a tent with two of my friends railing in some really unparliamentary language at the weather. It was a full moon night the storm clouds had moved into the mountains faster than expected and the weather Gods had unleashed their wrath in full swing, hail some nearly the size of golf balls were battering down hard, one such hail stone managed to break the structural pole of the tent. The wind had picked up speeds which were threatening to blow away the tent. The only thing holding it down was the lashing and the weight of the three of us sitting inside. This was the last night the three of us were together.
Full moon
Earlier on, seeing the storm clouds approaching we had started to batten down the tent, securing it with extra pegs and lashing, Rocky had gone scouting for large stones which could be placed around the camp fire while Kanu was cooking maggi on the portable stove that we had carried with us, The three of us were fully prepared to cross the pass we had food, water and fire we could have stayed there for weeks if we had to, we had long dreamt of the day when we would attempt this trek. We had spent the last two weeks planning and preparing for it, sadly the weather was getting bad to worse putting our dreams to the acid test. Just before the storm started we had decided that we would go back the next day and would not attempt the trek under such conditions.
Somehow something inside me refused to give up. The decision was taken after looking at all the safety aspects but still something inside just would not listen and it kept saying all I need are blue skies and some sunshine.
Day 1
We were in Triund for two days now waiting for the weather to clear no such luck, on the third day the skies had cleared just a bit which gave me some hope but to others it was a sign to head back so after a very long and hard discussion my friends and me decided to head in different directions, in the end they wanted to go ahead with me, but I knew it would be unsafe for someone on their first trek so I managed to convince them that they should head back down to Dharamkot. It was not easy making that decision but now looking back, it was for the best. With my cell phone on its last bar of signal I gave Mallika a call and told her I am going ahead alone and will call her in 6 days.
As I reached the snowline which was about an hour’s trek from the guest house in Triund, I got a good view of the path to be taken up the mountain. This is the last place most would come too as it makes for a beautiful day trek spot with the most amazing view of the Dhauladhar range. There is a small dhaba there called the “Snowline cafe” sitting outside with the sun shining on my face I filled up on some omelettes, I had started planning my route and had decided to start as soon as I was finished. No sooner had I started down that line of thought, clouds started appearing. Seeing the weather build up Raj Kumar the cafe owner who had been running it for the past 15 years started telling me that a total of 11 people had gone up this morning in three groups, on hearing this I wanted to just grab my bag and run all the way up, but he quickly added that it would be sheer suicide to go up now and hoped the ones already up there would come down before nightfall. As we were talking the weather took a turn for the worse within a few minutes the sky was totally obscured with dark clouds and before long it started to hail. We took shelter inside the tent which was quite large once you were inside and the inside was a junk food junkie’s paradise it was filled with all kinds of snacks imaginable. Kumar told me this was the last place you could get such things till Kuarsi which was across the mountains and even there he added you will not find what I have on offer. I would have indulged myself if not for the prices, everything was double some items even triple which is fair enough looking at the height he needs to carry them till, so the best option are the fresh stuffed parathas and tea. Stay away from anything that comes in a packet and you will doing you pocket and the environment a favour. While we were in the midst of a conversation about the history of the place people started rushing into the tent. Within seconds there were seven people inside the tent all soaking wet from the rain which had started after the hail stopped, this was one of the 3 groups which had gone up that morning, they had returned midway from Lahesh caves as their group leader had slipped and broken his elbow, but despite his injury he showed no sign of it he was still in high spirits and held the group together. They had some food and left for Triund as soon as the rain stopped. Just as they left two more people came crashing in, this was the second group up that morning.
One of them was Ron who I had met a few days back in Triund, He has to be the tallest person I have ever meet 7+. After he and his friend settled down he told me going up in such conditions is sheer madness, the winds were so strong that they were pushing him closer to the edge with every steep. He literally had to crawl his way back plus the visibility was down to a few feet with no sign of the red arrows, so they decided to turn back. He was telling me that decision just might have saved their lives.
Once you start the trek just past the snowline the small red arrows will start, these arrows are painted on rocks along the path up till the pass they guide you very well till the top if you followthem you can’t go wrong. In good weather with no snow the trek is a very pleasant one but under such conditions you might as well be climbing Everest.
Ron told me than the other two trekkers had left a few hours before them and hopefully had reached the caves in time. After a lull of an hour it started to hail again with a bit of snow sprinkled in and so it continued to do so throughout the day and night. Ron managed to setup his ten and somehow survived the night in it, I was bunked up in the café in my sleeping bag. Still no sign of the last two trekkers.
Day 2
A bright blue sky welcomed me in the morning with fresh snow on the ground. With this much snow we all decided to head back to Triund, as most of the arrows would be hidden by the snow. This is where a guide would be helpful, so with a heavy heart I turned back but with an ember of hope that if the sky stayed clear and the snow cleared I had some hope of continuing. On the way we met a group of 7 people who were going to go up till the caves and attempt the pass the next day there were 4 people from New Delhi two potters and a guide I inquired as much as I could from the guide about what lay ahead and even for a minute thought of following them but decided to stick to my plan.
That entire day I spent in Sunil’s shop. I meet a lot of people there that day, some really interesting characters about whom if I start writing it would take forever. I spent that night in a cave near the same spot my friends and I had camped, I didn't want to take a chance with my tent just in case it started to hail again, the cave was quite comfortable as far as caves can be. It had been regularly used which was evident from the candle wax all around. Starting a small fire outside I settled in, I got a visitor in the night also looking for a place to stay which the cave was large enough to provide. This guy, I forget his name was from Israel we shared some stories beside the fire before calling it a day.
Day 3
At day break the skies were as blue as they could get with not a single cloud in sight, so i decided to go for it, on my way to the snowline I came across one of the two trekkers who had left before Ron, they told me tales of wind speed's so strong than some of the stones were moving, they had reached the caves and were stuck there. They could not go up nor come back down they only managed to come back last evening and because of the life and death situation they had faced, dropped the idea of going up any further and told me I was crazy thinking of going up there alone.
I again stopped at the snowline this time only for a quick snack. There was quite a crowd at the snowline a couple from Delhi, students from Punjab all had made it there this morning and two other groups which who were planning on going till the caves. I decide to leave early as I didn’t want to waste daylight or get stuck in a crowd. The little red arrows marked the way up well, as long as you stick to them you can’t go wrong I reached the caves before noon and was full of energy so decided to push on and that was a mistake, just an hour ahead and the whole mountain side was covered in fresh snow mixed with hail which made the progress extremely slow and later on that day I had to settle for the night in a cave which was hardly big enough for me and almost on the edge of a ledge its exact height was 4023m according to the gps, after I hung my shoes and socks to dry . After eating my chocolate, biscuits and butter I fell asleep instantly.
Day 4
I was woken up by the most unusual sound of this birds it looked like from the pheasant family with a fat stout body and a high neck on small short legs with a long tail, after eating a quick snack I struck camp. The snow was not making things easy for me but at least it was a bright sunny day, it took me a good amount of time to reach the pass from here despite the short distance from the cave,
Climbing the last few meters was the most difficult with snow and sleet making progress almost impossible. The only thing keeping me going was the orange toffee I had in my mouth but as soon as I reached the top I was struck breathless it was one of the most stunningly beautiful sights I have even seen I tried to capture it on camera but the pictures do the place no justice, one could actually see the curvature of the planet from that spot it was so clear, all the rains and snow had cleared up the atmosphere, with not a cloud in sight. While I was basking in the sun high on life I heard someone coming up the path it was a local Gaddi Shepard who was crossing the pass with his sheep and this guy was the just coolly climbing up the mountain like it was a walk in the park, with a bidi in his mouth hands clasped behind him holding a cane wearing shoes made of hard plastic with grass stuck in them substituting for socks. He stopped here for a while to pray at the shrine made near the pass he had been doing this for last 20 years just like his father had done before him and his before him, I learnt as much as I could from him of what lay ahead, he too said it was crazy of me to trek in these parts alone. Giving me blessing and some parshad he left and before I could give him another look he was down the ridge, and this is when I realized I was alone on this mountain.
Ahead lay fields of snow nearly 3 feet deep, at one spot I decided to go a bit of track and instantly I was standing in snow till my chest this was a scary moment after which I decided to stick to the track made by the Shepard , the first slope down from the pass on the other side towards Chamba was a steep 80 degree which I was more than happy to slide down but four such slides down I realized it was not a good idea as my clothes and shoes were soaking wet by the end, the Shepard had told me that during the season these fields are a lush green with not a trace of snow on them but now as far as I could see there was just snow, after one of THE most gruelling treks through snow covered slopes I reached the point where the snow was melting and mixing with the earth, it had created a slush of mud and snow. This was messy but seeing grass it felt better as the snow slides had made my ass and fingers numb, but little did I know the worst still lay ahead.
The most treacherous parts of the trek were when I had to cross the numerous glaciers along the way. A single slip on them could end you up under the next one plus the stories I had heard of people slipping and getting trapped under glaciers their bodies only being found the next season didn’t help the situation much, I had made a makeshift ice axes out of sticks to be used if I slip, when you are sliding down a frozen glazier hands are no good one needs a good ice axe or something hard and sharp to dig into the ice so small pointed sticks are better than nothing.
At one point I strayed off the path and went down a rock face to see if there was a way down just as I realized no, my foot slipped on the smooth rock face.
Sliding down I tried to hold anything that I could get my hands on. With my heart going like a jackhammer my mind was blank but somehow I came to a stop on a ledge from where there was a straight drop under a glacier all that came in my mind was it was so deep and dark, and then I was like Fudge, fudge, fudge realizing my mistake could have ended it all I sat down to recompose myself, I had actually given a thought to the idea of leaving my backpack down so that i could climb back up but then dropped that idea as I didn’t have a rope long enough to haul it up. It took me 3 hours to get back up what had taken me just a few seconds to go down, once on top I threw my backpack side and fell back thanking the gods I lay there with the adrenalin still flowing in my system.
After that I was extra careful where I put my step and I was in survival mode now all I wanted to do was get back home alive, I found a cave not too far from the spot it was still early in the afternoon but the trek had left me wet, cold and covered in mud so the decision was not difficult there was a beautiful stream flowing near the cave which provided me with water to clean up but it was so cold I could barely touch it, starting a fire as big as I could manage I set a pot of hot water to boil, soaking a towel in the warm water I wiped myself clean and made a dinner of maggi after which it didn’t take me long to fall sleep after my usual chocolate and butter biscuits which was reduced to a packet of crumbs and dust as they were in the outer pocket of the backpack.
Day 5
Getting up early I decided to pick up the pace as I had wasted a lot of time yesterday. Leaving at day break I found a trail which I stuck to all the way till a small temple under a huge bolder, the way till there was not easy as most of the main path was washed away and detours were made which were not as easy as the main track and at one place there must have been a landslide and the detour was through lose stack of rock and boulders which could have given away at any time. Seeing the temple made me feel like I had completed the trek right there and then and somehow the image of the Shepard giving me a blessing and the prasad came to my mind. From here the path was well defined and easy, I had reached a small clearing just outside the village Kuarsi where I meet two local Shepard who told me his brother had meet me on the pass and told him to keep a look out for me if and when I came along, he offered me to stay the night at his makeshift home in a cave which I was more than happy to do as it was getting late and I was getting hungry. He and his son were staying in a cave just a bit uphill from the main path where they stayed through the season as they say there is no space for the sheep in the village, that night I had the most delicious meal I had ever eaten, wild saag (spinach) with rice and goats milk after the meal the Shepard began with his stories this guy had the most amazing tales to tell which carried on well into the night, keeping an eye on the time I called it a night but this guy just dint want to stop he kept going on well into the night even when he had fallen sleep he was mumbling them.
Day 6
Today was last day if I didn’t get in touch with Mallika today she would have started panicking. In my last conversation I had told her I will call her today to let her know everything is fine so today I had to get within mobile coverage area. The Shepard was up before me and made me promise him that I would bring back his pictures that I clicked the next time I come back, and after he clicked a picture of me I left them, reaching Kuarsi early in the morning everyone was up and about, this village has no motorable road and only got electricity a few years back and today was the day when the only phone in the village had decided to break down, with no mobile signal I decide to move on after a quick rest and a small meal with a local family who persisted till the end for me to stay for the night and leave the next day, but I had to make that call today. On inquiring I was told I would start getting a mobile signal ahead of hilling which was the next village so that day it was a walk from one village to the next on well-defined roads.
I finally made my call telling all is well and managed to reach Chamba where I decided to walk into the first guest house I come across and it turned out to be the most dingy and dirty one and this coming from someone who spent the last few nights in caves, that night I again slept in my sleeping bag which I had gotten used to by now, the next day I took a 15hr bus back to New Delhi.
When I reached back holding Mallika in my arms I realized you are alone when you don’t want to be, sometimes when you chose to be and sometimes when there’s no other option, but always no matter how lonely it gets someone is always waiting for you it is just a question of you realizing who it is
