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Published: December 28th 2014
The trekking group
Starting point - At the base Camp "lohajung"It has now become quite imperative to me that I like traveling places which are remote, beautiful, stimulating, challenging and are not frequently visited by large number of tourists. The search was on for the travel destination this summer and I was going through many online blogs, travel sites, random websites but was not able to find my preferred destination. After a detailed search I was looking north again towards the majestic Himalayas which never let me down as its pristine beauty, remoteness and tough terrain has so much to offer that you cannot resist going back again and again. Last summer I visited Sikkim and in order to reach its capital Gangtok I had to travel about 35 hrs by train followed by a 4 hours’ drive through the mountains. This year the location which I chose was in the state of uttarakahnd and I will have to take almost all modes of transport available to reach there (air, train, bus and then 7 days on foot).
The destination was “Roopkund Lake “also known as the mystery lake which is situated at a height of about 16000 feet in the state of Uttarakhand overlooking the Peak of Trishul Mountain.
Small Lake at Bedini Bugyal
Beautiful reflection of the mountain peeks So that was it, I booked a trek to this extremely remote location though a trekking group called “India Hikes” for the month of May (ours was first group to trek- this summer on 15
th may 2014). I will fly to Delhi and then take an overnight train to kathgodam (base of theHimalayas) and then a 10 hours ride by bus to the base camp “lohajung”, which will be the starting point of our trek.
About Roopkund:- Roopkund is a high altitude glacial lake at a height of about 5029 meters (16499 feet), also known as Mystery Lake as hundreds of human skeletons where found at its edges many of which are lying there even today. It’s a shallow lake and the snow melts only for a period of one month in a year. Situated in the state of Uttarakhand bordering china is extremely isolated and tough alpine weather prevail most part of the year.
Preparation for the trek:- Let me tell you that trekking to this height where the temperature is in the subzero range is not easy thus a lot of grounding is required before the start of the trip and it has to
Camp Site at Bedini Bugyal
Yellow Tents on green Meadow- Perfect Contrast start first with your physical conditioning and readiness. This trek has been rated as moderate difficult by the trek experts but for a first timer like me it will be tough. The organization through which I have booked this trip has given a list of activities to be completed before the start of trip. An exercise plan for three months is mandatory where the minimum requirement is to be in a position to jog at speed of about 7-8km/hr for a duration of 30mins, followed by a health certificate from the doctor indicating that you are fit for trek at this height where the oxygen level goes down drastically. It is recommended to do small hill treks in your area with bag pack of at least 7-8 kgs during the preparation.
Besides you need to do a lot of purchases, like a bag pack, lot of warm cloths, trekking gears , trekking shoes ,trekking stick, loads of medicines and many more (first trek will definitely leave a hole in your pockets).
I booked my trek for the month of May’14 and ours was the first trek group this summer to trek this extremely beautiful and tough terrain. Being
Didina
Camp on the 2nd Day of the trek in first group on one hand gives you an advantage to witness the unspoiled beauty on the way but on the other hand makes it difficult as the trails are not marked. (You need to make you own path)
Start of the trip: Day 1:- I have boarded a flight from Pune (did all booking 2 months in advance) on 13
th of May and reached Delhi by evening. I had an overnight train booked from Delhi cantonment station to kathgodam and while I was at the station I met few of fellow trek mates of the same group and we had a wonderful time discussing our travel experiences.
Day 2:- After a train journey of about 8 hrs we got down at Kathgodam, which is situated at the foothills of Himalayas and last railway station before you enter the hills. The train arrived at 6 am in the morning and we waited outside the station from where the transport was arranged by India hikes which would take us to the base camp “lohajung” a small village in the lap of Himalayas at a height of about 7 thousand feet. Kathgodam also served as the meeting point of team
members of our trekking group (25 in total). The group was quite diverse and we even had two kids (under 14 years) who have come along with their parents. After a sip of morning tea we hopped on the busses and started our journey to Lohajung. With the rest of India burring under summer heat the base of Himalayas was cool enough to give us a lot of respite. We paused for breakfast on the way and then continued our 10 hrs journey through the curves and bends of lower Himalayas. By noon we have crossed many small towns of Uttarakhand and parked for lunch at Almora, the restaurant where we had lunch was located at a point from where you can see 7or 9 peaks of Nanda Devi Range (though from a far distance). By now we have almost completed 6-7 hrs of our journey and after every kilometer we were gaining height and this made few of the team members feel nauseate. Finally after a drive of nearly 9.5 hrs we were close to our base came “lohajung”, but we had to wait for about 30 minutes at roadside as the way was blocked because of a small
Trekking Group
While arriving at the Base camp on day 1 landslide. During that that time we took an opportunity to take our first group photo. That was it we have reached lohajung a small settlement of about 500 people, at a height of about 7500 feet. We stayed in shared accommodation provided by” India hikes”, had some tea which was followed by a session by the trek expert, hot dinner and then a good night sleep.
Day 3:- We had to wake up on the whistle of the team leader every morning and time fixed for today was 5am. We woke up quickly had hot bath in the cold morning (about 10*C) knowing that we may not get such opportunity at least for next 6-7 days. It was advised to us that the weight of our bag packs should not be more than 8-10 kgs and few of us who wanted to offload them can do so, as mules were available to carry them till certain height. But I decided to carry my bag pack on my own (which I will repent later). Now the moment of truth has come, we started our trek with one local trek guide and two guides from the trekking company. For the first
half of the day we had to go downhill so it was easy as we were busy watching the untouched beauty of valley, filled with oak trees, birds and wide variety of fauna. By noon we have reached to the base of the valley where one of the many glacial rivers flows. Water was pristine white and extremely cold we spent some time clicking photographs or just sitting ideally praising the beauty of the place. Whistle again, it was time to leave that location and to start out first ascend to the next camp
“Didina” (8000 feet). As soon as I started going uphill I realized that it was going to be very tough for me .Within 30 minutes I was exhausted and was not able to proceed further and it looked like I will have to return back to the base camp. Our local guide who was also the “Sarpach “Head” ” of the Lohajung village motivated me. He asked me to keep the final destination out of my mind and set very small goals (of say 10 feet) and cover it with small steps ( management lesson on the hill ....),so somehow I managed to reach Didina just
before the dusk, had tea and sat out side with fellow trekkers in the sun. That was the day when the election results were announced in India and we came to know that Modi was on the verge of becoming Prime minister. We had some time before the sunset so we played cricked and I along with one of the trekker went to click some photographs of one the last settlements in India before you head on to China. Didina is a small place with just 2-3 houses of shepherd families. At night we went to sleep inside a house made of mud and woods which will be our last permanent sleeping structures before moving to tents and sleeping bags. I cannot forget that night as I had to get up at least 4 times in order to go to the loo as I was having an upset stomach. This mainly happens due to the height and because of the phosphorous contains in your body (We took acclimatization medicine every day).
Day4 – Even before the sunrise we woke up (The whistle man never let us sleep) and started wearing several layers of warm clothes and begin our journey
to the next camp
“Bedini Bugyal (11750)” which is the largest meadow in Asia and one of the most stunning location you can ever imagine. This is a grass land at a height of about 1200 feet, where you will find wild horses gazing and running around, like a perfect Yashraj movie set. By noon after an uphill climb for 6 hrs we have reached this temperate grass land and walked across its length to reach our next base camp. We had to cross this grassland in hurry to avoid any lightning strikes on us at a land without trees and untamed weather. After crossing the meadow safely we have reached our camp, and from here on we started sleeping in tents and using makeshift toilets. We all were handed our sleeping bags and were assigned tents to share with one fellow trekkers. In evening we again got a chance to play cricket on one of the highest nature made playground. The night was very cold about 0 or -1*C and we had a tough time adjusting ourselves. We also noticed that it was now getting hard to breathe as the oxygen level has gone down; even getting your hands
out from the sleeping bag for a glass of water became mammoth task. The tent site was wonderful and was truly synonym to the phrase “in the lap of nature”.
Day 5: - Once again we were ready for our journey to next base camp
“Pathar Nachuni” (12500ft) in the morning. As soon as we started out trek we saw a very old temple which stood by a small lake where the mirror images of mountains were sparkling back. Our guide told us some ancient tales about the place and trust me this pristine beauty blended with the stories of local man makes the journey more mesmerizing. We started walking on narrow pathways carved by the side of the mountain; from here on most of the time the trails were covered with shallow snow cover which sometimes was dangerously steep. We walked slowly one behind another till we stopped few meters before the next camp to have lunch. This was the point from where the mules will have to return as after this the weather and the trails are not suitable for them. Here we offloaded many of our belongings and took only a pair of extra cloth, rain
suits, medicines and other important stuffs.
After having lunch we have been told by our guide that we are not staying here and we will have to continue our journey to the next camp as we need to reach the camp by evening to keep up with the time.
Journey from “Pathar Nachuni” to “
Bhagwabhas “(14500 feet) “:- I have to mention this part of the journey separately as this was the toughest and the most dangerous part of the complete expedition. Alpine zone (the high altitude zone) starts after Patha Nachuni, where everything is covered under snow and oxygen in the air is so thin that your inhaling power will be put to test. The snow cover on the way was very deep and few guys who were heavier than others had problems in walking, even the best in class trekking shoes were not holding the ground. On the way there was small “Ganesha” temple known as “Kalu vinayak”, and the whole temple was buried under a thick layer of snow. This was the most treacherous point as one wrong step can take you thousand feet down. I guess that’s the reason the blessing of the
god was important as this point. The trail to our next camp was very narrow (only half a foot wide), steep and we had to walk one behind other for at least a kilometer. By evening we have arrived at our final camp from where we will have to climb the final summit. This place was like an ocean of snow, whole area was covered under a thick blanket of snow. We did not have enough dry clothes as snow crystals have sneaked in our clothes and made them wet. Sometimes you will not even realize that the socks you are wearing have gone wet and which may lead to dangerous consequences. My socks were completely wet and I had to borrow one at night to keep my foot warm. The temperature outside the tent was 10-15 degrees below zero and going out just to urinate looked like winning a war. We have been told by our guide that we will have to start our trek for Roopkund Lake at 2am in the morning as this is the time when the snow is tough and we can climb with the help of crampons. Once the sun comes out the snow
will become soft and it would not be possible to trek on thick layer of snow.
Day 6:- It was 2 am in the morning and we were somehow sleeping in the freezing night only to realize that the whistle has been blown and it was time to wake up. I tried to get up but something was not right as I was not able to move my body out of the sleeping bag and was able to breathe properly even by using my mouth and nose. My tent mate took out a thermometer only to find out that my body temperature was about 102*F, I had high fever. The team leader asked me to stay in the tent and not go ahead on final summit climb. Roopkund Lake was just 1000 meters ahead but due to my health I could not go ahead on this last lap of the Journey.
When I woke up in the morning I realized that out of 25 guys only 12 went ahead for this final endeavor, others had some or the other problems. We had few hours by the time the guys who went ahead will come back, and we
valued this time by wandering around and took some memorable snaps. This place was heavenly and mysterious which no sign of life around.
Day7 and 8:- Return journey: - We started our return journey via same route for half distance and then took a diversion to the nearest memorable road. From there we took Sumos to reach the base camp. We arrived at base camp in evening and had hot bath after a period of 7 days. Everyone has a minor or major sunburn (ozone layer is thin at this height) even though sun’s cream never taken out from our face throughout he journey. We rested for some time and had food; it was nice to find ourselves back in civilization. We were now getting signals on mobile and talked to our families after 7 days. In night we were given certificates for being part of first group which completed the trek this year. Next day we started journey back to our homes.
Closing Comments:
I never have had such a beautiful experience in my life; I never knew that the world is so beautiful; I didn’t know that we have such remote places in India where we will not see civilization for days. Although I feel sad that I could not reach the final summit, but as it is said that the “journey is more important than the destination”.
The great Himalayas you always inspire me, always remind me that how small I am, and yes the beauty which you have is unparalleled. I am going back home with a promise to come back...
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D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley
Remote, stimulating and challenging
Fantastic! Sometimes we find the planning and anticipation are so enjoyable. Sounds like you enjoy the research as much as the planning. The Himalayas as you say are inspiring. Excellent blog.