A dream called Roopkund !

“It’s always the same with the mountains. Once you have lived with them for any length of time, you belong to them. There’s no escape!” says Ruskin Bond. It gets into your blood! More you suppress the wanderlust within, more it demands! Its call has to be answered! This time it took us to Garhwal Himalayas and the mystic skeleton lake of RoopKund! :)

Slow drizzles had set the mood for the trek. There was water everywhere, on grass, on lemons and litchees. There was fog as far as eyes could see. Now and then the distant deodar tree tops would sneak out. It was cold. Backpacks were ready, so were we! Amidst rain and fog, we started.

Rains and Rhododendrons    

 Rhododendron forests opened up as soon as we left Loharjung village. Rain has soaked the pink Rhododendron flowers and the fallen leaves. Task for the day was to get down to the bottom of the peak where Neel Ganga River divides two slopes and then ascend the other side to reach Didina. As we walked closer to the river, the roar became louder! A stream was plunging straight down to the valley to join the river. Water was fresh, clean and cold. A pit stop was imminent to finish off packed lunch! About one hour’s climb, we were in Didina. Pink juice from the Rhododendron flowers welcomed us there! Didina is a beautiful village with a couple of houses with forests in the backdrop and big mountains in the front! With the available small flat land, barley/potatoes are grown. A small, contented village!

A house in Didina Village

Wood-lands ;)

Walk in the Himalayan woods

Covered ourselves within the rasai, we were sipping hot tea surved at bed. It was another day on mountains! In no time, we were ready and began the trek to Ali bugyal. Today’s trek would take us about 3000 ft higher. The forests were dense. Plenty of wild strawberries, blueberries and steep uphill to climb. Fog continued to accompany us! The march was on with songs and never ending talks. We reached Tolpani, last village in the route with few huts which belongs to shepherds. From here, about an hour’s climb through a series of zig-zags will take us out of forests. It is always exciting to witness such change, from dark woods to super green meadows. It also opened up the Himalayan panorama. Huge mountains, vast grasslands, infinite sky and tiny us! How small are we in the scheme of things!? From here, it was an easy walk along the green mile to the campsite at Ali Bugyal, at the height of 11000 ft!

End of forest lines

Misty bugyals

Lazy afternoons and sleepless mountain nights! 

Normally treks are designed such that we walk for about 6-8 hours in a day. We will have one complete afternoon and evening to kill! Play cards, sing songs, stare at the huge mountains, sip hot tea-soups, share thoughts with the person whom you just met in the trek, Listen to amazing stories the locals have , evening walks to acclimatize , Gaze at stars and sometimes sit and do nothing! And nights on the mountains is a whole different experience. Sleep in higher altitudes comes in patches. You wake up at some odd time and its pitch dark. When your sleep is gone, you have nothing to do but listen, Listen to tent mates snore, listen to the night wind, listen to the rains and many times listen to the silence. And you never know when sleep hugs you back :)

The green mile! 

An easy trek today; walk among the bugyals today would take us to Bedni bugyal. More flowers, more mist, much greener and closer to the summit. Bedni bugyal is considered as a sacred place among locals. Legend says Vedas were written in this place, Mahishasura was killed by Bhagwati maa after holy dip in Bedni Kund. With sun showing some mercy on us, peaks of Trishul, Nanda gunti and Chaukambha were visible and the bugyal panorama was seductive. Campsite was located at Pathar Nachani, facing gigantic mountains of bhagwasbasa. Tiny zig zagging path marking the way up, showed us the next day’s task! Later in the afternoon, we witnessed some hailstorm too.. 

Snowy Peaks and thin air!

From pathar Nachani, the transition is clear. As we gain altitude, grasslands vanish and rocky-snowy Mountains emerge. Cold increases and air thins! Breathing heavily, we walk slowly, one step at a time towards the destination. Sights of mists whirling round the valley with the wind gives some motivation! As we move closer to snow melt line, we spot the ‘keeda hunters’, people from lower villages come in search of Keeda and stay in this treacherous mountains. Kalu vinayak temple marks the end of the climb. The sound of the temple bell brings back new energy! Campsite is in the next mile. En route we encounter snow for the first time in the trek! Campsite is located at Bhagwabasa amidst snow @14500 ft! A hot cup of coffee was welcoming us to the camp! Bliss! 

 All the teams who reached here previous day could not go to Roopkund as the weather was violent and there are no signs of getting a clear sky for us either!  As per plan we finished dinner at 630. Outside it was windy and every damn thing was cold. Water was about to freeze! Washing the hands, fingers went numb! By 7 we were in tent, about to sign off for the day and then the downpour started! Worst signs for us? ‘Mumbai ka fashion, pahadi mausam, kabhi bi badal sakta hai’, hopes was still on; eyes were trying find some sleep!

 
Summit day

It was 3 am in the morning and guddu gave the wakeup call ‘mausam accha hai, aap junargali kar sakte ho’! Yay, weather finally dint disappoint us :) We step out of the tents and was wowed by the sight outside. Sky was as clear as it gets! Millions of stars were sparkling, galaxies smiled at us.:) With the crampons and headlights on, we started walking. Our trek lead was making steps for us, we followed, behind us 2 more guides. The line was formed. Snow was hard and the crampons gripped perfectly. To reach Junargali, we need to gain 1500 ft. At this height AMS can kick in, where thin air makes your brain crazy! By 430 the darkness was gone and we could see the deadly slopes and the roads cutting the slopes. It was tiring and risky but Roopkund lake was all in our minds. The march was on. Fog continued to play hide and seek but It was not raining! Close to roopkund, the slope is pretty steep and we were tired. Energy was down, we were breathing heavily, and we could listen to our heartbeats. Mind was fighting with the will power! We turned back looking the path we came in. There were snow capped peaks, deep valleys, solitary clouds and the ‘rainbow’! Rainbow brought all the energy back and the joy was on all the faces. The joy of such simple things cannot be explained; one must feel it to enjoy it!   

The sight of Roopkund lake brought us more joy and energy and gave us the josh to make the final push upto Junargali! It’s a small bluish pond of about 2 mts deep. A small temple on the edge of the tells this tale, ‘Kali devi sees reflection of her dark, dangerous avatar in the pond and changes her roop’, hence the name! Climb to the summit is another 200 ft, but it can get very tricky! A trishul on the peak facing mount Trishul marks the end of our journey @ the height of 16200 ft! Very proud moment for the team, all of us have made it to the top! A sense of accomplishment, a job well done! Way downhill was trickier than the ascent. Sun was up and snow was melting, crampons were not working. After falling, sliding, gliding on the snowy slopes we made it back to the base camp!

The end

The next day we retraced our path till Bedni Bugyal and from there it was all way down to Wan village. It was a steep descent and our knees were tested. Grasslands vanished, Oaks, rhododendrons, pines, deodars rose up! A stream deep down the valley marked the beginning of Wan village and end of our trek. 15 km jeep ride on the narrow deadly road took us to Loharjung, where it all started. A full stop for the journey of a lifetime :)

Life in the mountains is harsh. Every time I visit a mountain, I feel small, I feel happy, I feel proud. It teaches you to live with what is absolutely needed. It changes the way you look at things. I come back home with increased respect for the Himalayas and more respect for hard working local people, with more places to visit in my list ! 

More photos can be found at here and here :)