[prajakt_23]

It was somewhere around 2:45 am of one of the most bone chilling nights I had ever witnessed. For last 30 minutes or so, I was contemplating on whether I should really step out of my tent to attend to my biological needs. That too when I was fully geared up for fighting cold, which included 4 layers of T-shirts and body warmers, woolen gloves and socks, liner and sleeping bag etc. This entire exercise of venturing out of the tent in frozen night and again getting back into the sleeping bag takes somewhere around 15-30 minutes based on my past experience. You feel so breathless even to get in and pull up the zip of the sleeping bag before you make a fresh attempt to sleep. For last 5 days, we had been walking in rigorous terrain and gaining 1200-1500 feet a day to camp at the Advance base camp at the base of the Bali Pass at 15,000 feet. It was at least a knee deep snow everywhere and we had pitched our tents on this soft snow so that we could start early on the next day to attempt to cross the Bali Pass which was at around 16,200 feet. The volgo mats placed below our sleeping mats were hardly providing any insulation from the snow below. Every move in the sleeping bag was taking us a little deeper in the snow, albeit we were supposedly safe in our tents. Just a week back, I was enjoying warm and cozy nights in my sweet home. I just wondered, is it really worth it? And the only answer which came to my mind was, “Hell, yeah!!!”

There was nothing to prove, there was nothing to challenge. It was just to rejuvenate the feeling of being alive and to keep going on!!

It all started around 7 months back when Milind sir and I were searching for non-commercialized trails for our upcoming trek of 2017. We had shortlisted multiple options and then I came across this PDF document, which was a travelogue written by someone who had done Bali Pass Trek in Uttarakhand couple of years back. Kashmir was out of question due to current unrest so we decided to seriously consider Bali Pass as a strong contender for our 2017 trekking list.

The next step was to identify a capable guide who has done this trek in past. We identified couple of options and then finally narrowed down on Bachhan Rana of Himalayashelter.com. Since we wanted to trek as an individual private group, we avoided joining any fixed departure batch and instead invited a quote from them for a group of 8-10 trekkers. We got a decent quote from them however one important point which we discovered later was, they inadvertently converted our private trek into a fixed departure trek by adding another 4 trekkers to the plan and revealed this to us just a day before the trek when we had no option than to accept it. More details on this would follow.

Our original plan looked something like this.

1. Day 1 : 26th May (Friday) : Dehradun station to Sankri (1920m) - 210 km (7hrs)

2. Day 2 : 27th May (Saturday) : Sankri (1920m) to Taluka (1800m) (By Jeep) and then trek to Seema (2560m) - 12km (7 hrs)

3. Day 3 : 28th May (Sunday) : Seema (2560m) to Devsu Bugyal or Waterfall-Camp (2900m) - 7 km (5 hrs)

4. Day 4 : 29th May (Monday) : Devsu Bugyal to Ruinsara Tal (3350m) – 11 km (8 hrs)

5. Day 5 : 30th May (Tuesday) : Ruinsara Tal to Odari (4100m) – 4.5 kms (5 hrs)

6. Day 6 : Rest Day : 31st May (Wednesday)

7. Day 7 : 1st June (Thursday) : Odari (4100m) To Upper Dhamni (4000m) via Bali Pass (4800m) – 6.5 kms (10 hrs)

8. Day 8 : 2nd June (Friday) : Upper Dhamni (4000m) to Janaki Chatti (2400m) – 12.5 kms (8.5 hrs)

9. Day 9 : 3rd June (Saturday) : Janaki Chatti to Dehradun - 180km (Jeep drive) (7hrs)

10. Day 9 : 12206 – Nanda Devi Express 23:30 at Dehradun– Delhi 5:20 am

11. Day 10 : Delhi to Mumbai / Pune flight

However, it got revised subsequently as we started the actual trek to avoid spending multiple nights in freezing cold at Odari camp. This was perhaps the most influencing decision which decided the successful completion of the trek. Our revised plan looked as below.

1. Day 1 : 26th May (Friday) : Dehradun station to Sankri (1920m) - 210 km (7hrs)

2. Day 2 : 27th May (Saturday) : Sankri (1920m) to Taluka (1800m) (By Jeep) and then trek to Seema (2560m) - 12km (7 hrs)

3. Day 3 : 28th May (Sunday) : Seema (2560m) to Roiltia vai Devsu Bugyal

4. Day 4 : 29th May (Monday) : Roiltia to Ruinsara Tal

5. Day 5 : 30th May (Tuesday) : Ruinsara Tal to Thanga

6. Day 6 : 31st May : Thanga to Advance Base camp

7. Day 7 : 1st June (Thursday) : Advance Base camp To Lower Dhamni via Bali Pass and Upper Dhamni

8. Day 8 : 2nd June (Friday) : Lower Dhamni (4000m) to Janaki Chatti

9. Day 9 : 3rd June (Saturday) : Janaki Chatti to Dehradun

10. Day 9 : 12206 – Nanda Devi Express 23:30 at Dehradun– Delhi 5:20 am

11. Day 10 : Delhi to Mumbai / Pune flight

Day 1: Reaching Sankri

Finally, we were a group of 7 trekkers ready to take on Bali Pass. While Milind, Anand, Raju, Manish, Mr. Ulhas Date and his son, Hrishikesh were flying out of Mumbai, I started my travel from Pune on 25th May 2017 evening to meet everyone on New Delhi station. Meanwhile, I received SMS from Himalayashelter representative that one family from Sankri village (base location of the trek) met with an accident and they have diverted the tempo traveler which was supposed to pick us up from Dehradun station to that village to facilitate ferrying of concerned families. He informed that the tempo traveler would only reach Dehradun station by 9 am at the earliest. Although everyone appreciated the noble cause of extending help in such scenario, it inevitably meant we waiting for more than 3 hrs on Dehradun station on next morning doing nothing. And since it was rather an intimation than a request, everyone was very annoyed with it. However, there was nothing much we could have done at that point in time than to accept it. We boarded Nanda Devi express at 11:45 pm to reach Dehradun station at around 5:40 am next morning. Immediately after getting down at the station, I called up the same representative to check on the latest status just to find out that he did not pick up the phone. I messaged him and then we all went to the waiting room to prepare ourselves for another 3 hours of wait. To my surprise, the waiting room was comparatively well maintained and was fitted with a operational air condition .



While we were preparing for a long day, I made another attempt to contact and was successful in reaching Bachanji on phone. He mentioned that they would be reaching the station in another hour or so. Everyone started with their morning chores with an anticipation of starting our travel a little early than what we had imagined. Bachanji did reach in an hour or so with the tempo traveler and few members of his support team. We immediately rushed out of the waiting room and helped them pack our sacks on top of the tempo traveler. And soon we were off!

Since everyone was feeling hungry, we requested Bachanji for an early break at a decent restaurant for breakfast. After refueling our tempo traveler with enough diesel, we reached a visibly spacious and clean Dhaba, “Mayur Punjabi Dhaba’. The best food to order in such places would definitely be the variety of tasty Parathas that they offer. While Anand was compiling the order of different parathas for all of us, I decided to resist the temptation by ordering veg sandwich. This actually helped me a lot to feel really comfortable on our long drive while reaching Sankri. Bachanji introduced us to his photographer friend, Abhishek who was also going to accompany us on this trek to capture photos / videos of this trail for Himalaya Shelter website. Before starting, it was a time for us to pose for the first group photo of this trek. Such photos always demonstrate high energy and smiling faces at the beginning of the trek compared to what we capture when the trek completes :-D



Usually we stop at Purola for lunch on our way to Sankri, however, this time Bachanji insisted on stopping at Damta to avoid traffic and parking issues at Purola. After couple of hours drive, we reached Dampta which essentially is a small town. Most of the Dhabas were situated next to the road and we were taken to one which offered a full course meal. I don't recollect its name but certainly the food was very delicious and everyone had a feast there. Bachan and his team purchased some fresh vegetables and loaded them in our Tempo traveler as well. After buying local fruits from nearby stall, we were off to our next destination, Sankri.

It was little cloudy while we reached Sankri by 3:30 - 4 pm. It's a very small village just after you enter Govind Wildlife Sanctuary. Last time when I had been to Sankri for Har Ki Doon trek in 2011, it had only one restaurant and perhaps only 1-2 hotels, out of which one was GMVN guest house itself. But now, the scene had changed! However, this time I could see couple of good hotel built around to host trekkers who usually start from Sankri. Bachan had made arrangements for us in Hotel Wild Orchid Inn, which looked a newly built and a decent property. It's exactly opposite to the old GMVN rest house of Sankri. But all the shop were closed to mourn the death of few of the members from the village family in that brutal accident.

We soon got into our rooms and unpacked our sacks to take out woolen cloths since we were already feeling cold. While we were collecting money to be given to Bachan, we were offered hot cup of tea and biscuits which actually helped us to refresh our moods. But soon, we got to know that Bachan had added another 4 trekkers who would be doing the same trek with us on the same date. It essentially meant that out intent of doing a private trek was screwed up. We had actually selected weekday to start the trek so that we would be the only one at any given campsite. So, we had a little kind exchange of words with Bachanji and we insisted on our original plan and philosophy of avoiding a fixed departure batch. Whatsoever his view was, we made him clear that this was something which we did not agree for, while he accepted our terms and quoted for our team. He was clearly not happy with our protest but promised to keep arrangements for those 4 trekkers separate to an extent possible. At that point in time we didn't have a choice than to accept what he had done, however, this was a lesson learnt the hard way for rest of our planning. While he had been considering it as a good value proposal by making a batch size 12, we had seen that how a fixed departure trek consisting of few external bad trekkers had messed up our previous Tarsar Marsar Lake trek. Fortunately, soon we met Deepak, Rakesh and Mr., Mrs. Bisht who became so homogeneous to our group, making this trek a lifetime memory!

It was almost dusk so we decided to take a walk around. We reached at one of the entrance gates of Govind Pashu Vihar, where we took couple of photos before everyone could feel the cold breeze around.





Since everyone was feeling hungry and also wanted to pack our sacks for next day, we decided to return to the hotel. It was one cold evening and we were offered hot vegetable soup while we were sitting in the porch of the hotel. From the porch, the mountain line of Garhwal Himalayas looked very scenic. We stood there for couple of minutes while sipping soup and took couple of photos.





Deepak and Rakesh were sharing their experiences from Nepal treks and the conversation continued till the dinner was served. We were very happy with the variety and taste of the food served since this was cooked by Bachan’s cook himself. This hinted towards having tasty food throughout the trek. Soon we were searching utensils for remaining delicious Mushroom - Paneer Masala! Since everyone was very tired due to day long travel, we decided to call it a day and slept early.

Day 2: Sankri to Osla via Taluka

We woke up early morning by the voices of fellow trekkers in the hotel. There were quite a few member staying there who had come back from Har Ki Doon trek and were about to start their journey towards Dehradun. While Manish and I came out of our room, we saw Sankri village peeping out of green carpet of Garhwal Himalaya.



Since there was no question of attempting shower for rest of the trek it took us minimal time to get ready for the breakfast. While we were enjoying Alu Parathas in breakfast, another cook came out with a big box containing our packed lunch for the day. It was perhaps another kind of Paratha wrapped in a silver foil, a banana and a buttermilk each. We came out of the hotel and boy, it was the busiest street of the town now. There were at least 5-6 jeeps parked in different directions and trekkers were roaming all over the place greeting each other before parting. We were standing amidst this chaos with mixed emotions, preparing ourselves for the tough days to come!



Bachanji pointed to a jeep and asked us to give our sacks to the guy standing near it to be loaded onto it. He also mentioned that this jeep was meant to be for our group only and hence we can sit anywhere we want, including on top of the jeep I had been previously on this route to Taluka village. A beautiful waterfall intersects this motorable road and it's a fun to cross it. Having said this, last time when we had actually walked from Sankri to Taluka, we had to cross these two waterfall bare feet. Howsoever beautiful these waterfalls might look, their water is freezing cold. So, I was quite happy for a jeep ride through it. I also knew that the around 25-30 minutes or so. I decided to hop on to the top of the Jeep to enjoy the scenery enroute. Abhishek had kept his sack on the top of the carrier and sitting on it on my left side. Soon Anand and Hrishikesh also decided to join us on the top, while Manish made a wise choice of occupying regular sit within the jeep. And soon we were off towards Taluka!





This was for the first time I was sitting on top of any vehicle on metal carrier without any carpeting or cushioning. Soon I realized the need of some soft support which was now impossible to arrange. I looked at Abhishek and he was smiling at me sitting on top of his sack comfortably. He did mention that he as well learnt it the hard way while he previously travelled on Jeep's carrier in Manali. The road between Sankri and Taluka is in very bad condition. At couple of places, landslides had washed the entire section of the road, exposing the sharp and big rocks underneath.



It was one hell of a ride, with my bones getting pressed and crushed against the metal roads of the carrier while our Jeep was oscillating in all directions. Soon we crossed both the waterfalls and I somehow managed to capture a video while struggling hard to maintain my balance on the top. After a grueling drive of around 30 minutes, we reached Taluka village. It took me literally couple of minutes to come down from the carrier since almost all my bones were really feeling unhappy with the treatment they had received! Soon all the jeeps reached the spot with remaining trekkers and porters. We all got our sacks assembled at the end of the road from where the trail was entering the river bed below. Surendra (aka Suru) who was supposed to be the Trek Leader for the other group started leading us and we followed him down the trail.

It was one familiar trail due to my past experience of Har Ki Doon trek. But that’s the reason I decided to walk slow and be with Manish who had been facing problem with his ankle. He had almost cancelled his trek but I managed to convince him to give it a try and see how it goes. Immediately after getting down in the river bed, we came across one bridge where we all assembled once again for a group photo.





Now the trail was going from the right side of the river and was clearly marked with a small concrete road for some distance.



Soon we entered dense jungle and the trail was covered by trees on both sides. Sunrays were hardly reaching us making it a very pleasant walk.





Although we were walking slow, we were maintaining line of sight distance with the folks walking ahead of us. Anand and Mr. Date were visible at a distance.



Soon we were walking through part of the jungle with very tall trees all around.



The best part of this trail is it continues on the side of the river through forest till we reach Gangad village.



Soon we reached a newly constructed cement bridge on the river. This place had a makeshift bridge till recent times and it was the same place when last time we came across a cow face to face and somehow the cow lost its balance to fall in the river below. The good part was, she looked unharmed and walked out of the water easily. Those memories from Har Ki Doon trek flashed in front of my eyes while I saw Mr. Date walking on the bridge ahead of me.



When I reached the bridge and looked around, it was amazing to see two different shades of water in those two rivers. The one which was flowing under the bridge had a crystal clear water however while it reached the confluence point, the one which was coming from the other side of the valley was greyish and comparatively opaque.



Soon the trail started going up by the side of the river and river bed started getting narrower. The river bed also was now full of big rocks and boulders.





We had been walking for quite a while now and since we were also gaining height, our speed had decreased substantially. We came across another scary looking bridge across the river. Another trekker coming back from perhaps Har ki Doon was sitting on it and she was completely immersed in the beauty around. We waited for a while to get on that bridge and she was kind enough to offer her spot to us for a short photo session. We took couple of photos around for Facebook.com and decided to move further.





Manish had actually crossed the bridge by then and was under the impression that the trail routes on the other side of the river. I called him back since I was very sure about the route till Har Ki Doon.



Now we could see some houses on the opposite side of river and I was certain that we would be reaching Gangad village. This place has one last dhaba on the way where you can get tea / coffee and cold drinks for a change. While we reached there, Milind, Anand and Mr. Date had already finished their packed lunch and were sipping hot tea. I immediately joined the party and finished my paratha as well. After resting there for a while we moved on. I was worried about this part of the trail since it emerges out of the jungle in open and continues till Seema village which was still quite far from there. Manish looked very tired and apparently his ankle's pain was mostly contributing to it. The weather was changing fast and soon we lost all sunshine to dark grey clouds cluttering the valley. Since we had been walking at much slower pace now, I couldn’t see a single soul ahead of us. I kept on encouraging Manish to carry on since I knew we had to hurry up. It started drizzling and we had no other option than to take out our ponchos and cover ourselves up. On very next turn, we saw Bachanji waiting for us. He also motivated us by mentioning that the Seema village and campsite is not that far from there. I wish, he meant it

It had started raining heavily now but we were still nowhere around Seema village. Finally, I could see couple of houses on opposite side of the river and I was pretty sure that it was the Osla village.



Most of the porters and support team members were actually from Osla village itself. Seema village and the campsite was exactly opposite to it. Soon we were able to see green roof of GMVN rest house and I could locate Forest Rest house next to it where Milind and I had stayed on past occasion. Just opposite to it, there is a small tea stall which is the last halting place on this trail to get tea / coffee. When we reached there, I saw our friends sitting in this tea stall warming themselves. It had actually started snowing now and we could clearly hear tiny snow balls hitting the plastic covered roof of the tea stall.



Milind and Bachan were trying to get the keys of the forest rest house since it was definitely a worth place to spend a night there on its soft beds, than shivering in the tents put in its lawn. Bachan was not happy was this idea but somehow it worked out well and we got the rest house opened for us after 15-20 minutes. Support team had pitched couple of tents in the lawn for the other group, however we 7 decided to rest in two specious rooms of the forest rest house. Mr. and Mrs. Bisht also occupied another small room in the rest house. In some time, we were served hot maggi and tea to brighten up our spirits. Fortunately, the maggi tasted good and it was in line with how we cook it in Mumbai / Pune without making it look like a noodle soup!

In the evening, I pulled everyone out for a short walk towards the Seema bridge located just 5 minutes from our rest house. Har ki Doon trail goes over this bridge however, Bali Pass trail continues on the right side of the river towards Devasu bugyal. It was pretty cold now and we had to wear most of our winter wear to make ourselves comfortable during our excursion to the bridge. We had a short photo session on the bridge before everyone hurried on their way back to reach the warm rooms of the rest house.



I decided to wait there for few minutes to try my luck with camera by capturing milky water of river coming down from snow peaks of Har Ki Doon valley.



We were served hot dinner by 7 pm. Everyone was very hungry and we enjoyed the hot rice pudding which was our dessert of the day! It was freezing cold outside and we were actually happy that we had this option of sleeping in this well maintained, warm and cozy forest rest house. Soon we were off to bed and before we could discuss anything else, I could hear loud snoring across rooms!

[prajakt_23]

Day 3 : Seema to Roiltia vai Devsu Bugyal

We woke up early on the next morning. Everyone was relaxed a bit since we were actually able to stand inside the room and pack our sack, which we usually couldn't do inside the tent! Another motivation for today's walk was bright and clean weather outside. Yes, since it had rained yesterday evening, fortunately we had bright sunlight now. Having said this, we all had heard that it's going to be one long walk till next campsite since we had decided to walk further beyond Devasu bugyal and camp at Roiltia.

We soon wrapped up our morning routine and packed our sacks for days travel. By now, we heard cook calling us for breakfast and to collect our packed lunch. It took me couple of minutes more to tie my shoe less before I could come out of the guest house. I saw everyone around the breakfast table on lawn. Since everyone was there, I thought of capturing one group photograph. I yelled at everyone for a broad smile for a photo, but not even a single soul responded to my call! They must be feasting on something very delicious :-D



Soon we were off towards Roiltia. This time as well I saw Suru leading the team. We were told that we would reach Devasu Bugyal within an hour or so and then we will have to get down to the river, cross the bridge and continue. I could clearly locate the trail which goes towards Har Ki Doon valley on the other mountain.

It was linear but gradual ascent after reaching the Seema bridge. Trail was still covered with trees making it an easy walk to start the day with.



Within next few minutes, we came out out in open and could see the Seema bridge from above. By now, a big flock of sheep was crossing the bridge almost causing a traffic jam for anyone else. Anand I stopped for minute to capture the scene and then we moved ahead.



After continuing for another 15 - 20 minutes, we reached the highest point of the trail where it came out of a jungle and we saw our porters relaxing there soaking in warm sunlight. We also stopped with them for few minutes and took couple of photos there.





Now the trail was more or less flat moving across the meadows ahead of us.



After walking for few minutes we were told that we had reached Devasu bugyal. We were very happy that we were not camping in these meadows, mainly because of two reasons. Although we could see tiny spring at a distance, it didn't look that encouraging from drinking water perspective. Surprisingly, there were few shallow water holes created for sheep to accumulate drinking water. And the other was, this would have made the next day's walk much lengthier! When I looked back, porter team was still chitchatting on the same spot, where the trail came out of the jungle.



As usual, Manish and I were the last members of the train and this time Suru also had accompanied us.



I saw rest of the team waiting under the tree line where the trail was entering the jungle again to go down near the river on left side. We had been accompanied by a local shepherd dog since last campsite. But now, he too had got a company. Another big Bhotiya shepherd dog joined him while we reached the tree line. He was roaming around Raju, perhaps finding him too friendly! Raju finally offered him something to eat and made a new friend! His owner had put a metal spiked collar across his neck to safeguard him from tiger / leopard attacks. This dog was actually quite friendly. Whenever anyone offered their hand, he was genuinely happy to reciprocate it by raising his paw! Manish and Raju tried it couple of times and were wished well.



Now Suru started taking us on the trail which was entering jungle on left side of the meadows. The trail was continuously going down and we were losing all height gained so far. I remembered that we would be going down to cross one bridge to go on other side of the river now. The trail was through the dense forest now. We crossed couple of huge fallen trees on our way down. Fortunately the trail was comparatively dry although it had rained yesterday evening. Soon, we reached a spot from where I could see the river and the wooden bridge. I was about to move further when I heard whistles and ringing bells. It was a certain sign that our support crew and the horses were closing on. So, it was best to step aside and make way for them. Suru and couple of porters had already reached the bridge and decided to wait there.



Within next few minutes our entire support crew along with heavily loaded horses passed by on that narrow trail and vanished on other side of the bridge. Now we had all the time in the world to do photo session at the bridge! I decided to stay back till the time my friends reach the bridge so that I get an opportunity to capture that moment. The view on the right side of the bridge must have been very scenic.



Soon they all crossed the bridge and started walking towards the right side. I asked Anand for a solo photo before he moved on as well.



Now it was my turn to go over the bridge. It was one scary bridge for sure. It did not have any support than what was provided on its both ends. The height of the bridge must have been around 20-25 feet and the melting water from glaciers was flowing underneath it with great velocity. To add to it, while I stepped on it, a typical scary creaking sound started coming from its old wood. For each step, I could feel it vibrating vertically. Not that risky though, it was certainly not the best place to hang around Soon I chased down my team and started walking with them.



We were almost walking parallel to river now. We continued to walk on fairly visible trail through lush greenery. I stopped for a while to look back at the place from where we came down and crossed the river, however I couldn't locate it anymore.



After walking for more than 30-45 minutes we reached a cement hut where our porters had dumped the luggage and were relaxing.



We thought that this might be our lunch point, however Bachanji mentioned that we have to move further on the trail and we should be reaching big waterfall where we can take next break for lunch. So, we decided to move on along the river. Now the Ruinsara valley was visible and we could see snow covered mountains on its horizon.



Everyone was feeling tired now since we had been walking for last 4 hours or so and we hadn't eaten anything since we started. Our eyes were desperately looking for the waterfall which Bachanji had mentioned. We again caught up with Bachanji and he mentioned that it would take another hour or so to reach the waterfall. We were so hungry now that it was becoming difficult to continue hiking on trail which kept on going up and down on boulders. So, finally we regrouped and decided to take a lunch break there itself. We looked around for some shade but we had reached a spot where we could only see small shrubs along the trail. We couldn't find any stream for drinking water as well. However, this wasn’t going to stop us from continuing with our packed lunch. It was roti and some green subzi in packed lunch. Irrespective of what it was, it tasted delicious. We then opened the packed pouches of buttermilk to quench our thirst. This gave us the much needed energy to continue further.

Now the trail was going up in most of the places and we were gaining height again. After long and exhilarating walks on boulders we reached the so called waterfall site, where we could see multiple small waterfalls crossing our trail. We drank as much as water possible and refilled our water bottles. Whenever I end up in such situations, I realize how important water is in our ecosystem :-D

We again had the same question and answer session wherein we heard that the campsite was going to be at another 1-1.5 hrs from that spot. We had no choice but to walk further. The trail continued to be on the left side of the river, however, now we were in landslide prone zone. This was quite evident from the rail itself since in many places the trail was washed out. It had become very narrow and the view of valley below on our right towards the river was intimidating. I saw Raju walking ahead of me with great caution. Although it was very important at that point in time, it was slowing me down considerably and I was worried that it might lead into breaking my own concentration. So, I requested Raju to allow me to cross him and continue further. After I crossed Raju, I only saw Abhishek sitting on a big rock at a distance. That means, the entire support team must have crossed him and moved ahead. Now that I was fully charged up, it hardly took me few minutes to reach Abhishek and move ahead of him. The trail was continuing from mountain to mountain and at each turn I was anticipating to see first view of the Roiltia campsite. However, this continued for a long. I had to cross multiple small bridges and then finally I saw Bachanji again crossing another bridge ahead of me.





And then finally the golden moment arrived, when I reached the highest ridge ahead of me and I could see green top of our kitchen tent pitched at a distance. I looked back for my friends to signal them this positive news but since I had been very fast in last 30 minutes or so, I couldn't see anyone on the visible trail across last three ridges. Finally, I reached the campsite to get complete view of it. It was located in a very narrow space between the river and the mountain on the left side. Not only that, the elevation across the campsite was different. The good part was that the crew had done a fantastic job of pitching our tents and getting a hot cup of tea with biscuits ready before we reached the campsite. Four tents for our group were pitched on left side of the trail. Then at some distance from there I could see another 2 tents for Mr. and Mrs. Bisht and Deepak, Rakesh. The right side of the trail was at lower elevation where I could locate our kitchen tent. The porter team was busy pulling one big dry log for campfire. By the time, I dumped my daypack and camera in our tent, they had lighted the campfire and everyone was standing in its vicinity. It had started drizzling and I was eagerly waiting for my friends to join in. Then finally at a distance, I saw one head rising on the top of the ridge, followed by another one and so on.



Soon everyone reached the campsite and sat next to the tents. Immediately we were served hot cup of tea and biscuits which helped most of us to regain our energy. Raju was very tired and was not feeling well so in spite of all our suggestions, he decided to sleep for a while in his tent. Since it was raining intermittently, we all gathered next to the fire and started warming ourselves.



Although it wasn’t dark, it was very cold due to being just couple meters away from the river. Support crew had now set up the dining tent just after our four tents perhaps to maintain visible separation among groups



After changing into warm clothes, we all gathered in dining tent and continued playing cards for next hour or so. We were soon served a hot soup at around 5 pm, followed by a delicious dinner at 6:45 or so. By now, it was pitch dark and we had no other option than to move back to our tents since it was already very cold. It was one long and very tiring day for sure! We continued our discussions from individual tents till every alternate person fall asleep and stopped responding!

[prajakt_23]

Day 4 : Roiltia to Ruinsara Tal

By now, we were used to getting up early in mountains. Everyone was getting ready for the breakfast to make an early start of the day's trek. However, Bachan had told us that it was going to be one easy walk for us to reach Ruinsara Taal, our next campsite.

We were soon served the breakfast, which was reddish looking Pohe. Perhaps these people don't carry green chilies on trek and hence they prefer putting red chili powder which messes the traditional taste of pohe. However, since our cook was good, he ensured that whatever he cooked, would taste good! We had just started with the pohe and another guy came with another utensil. We were very curious to see what's next on the menu. To our surprise, he had cooked tomato omelette which tasted delicious. Now nobody was in mood to eat pohe. However, since there was a limited stock of tomato omelette, we were again back to pohe after finishing all tomato omelets available in kitchen!

It was time to start walking. Bachan told us that we would be soon crossing number on streams on the trail where we can fill our water bottles. After walking for couple of minutes, we do crossed couple of streams and then I saw the trail was now leading to snowy mountains ahead. Milind sir and Anand were just ahead of me, when I could capture them at the backdrop of beautiful snow clad mountain range.



Very soon we crossed some boulders and small wooden bridge on streams and now the trail entered tree line once again.





Since we were walking at pretty relaxed speed, I went ahead of everyone and took this opportunity capture them from front :-D



At some distance we saw one of the member of the porter team was sitting on a big boulder to guide us about the exact route through the boulders. We continued our walk for another few minutes and then I saw Binduji (Mrs. Bisht) and one porter standing on the ridge ahead. They must have been looking and something incredible since they had stopped there for quite some time. I soon reached there and was stunned myself with the first site of Ruinsara Taal campsite!





I looked back and now most of my friends were in vicinity.



Looking ahead at Ruinsara Taal, I observed a big mountain lake beyond boulders covered by mountain from all three sides. Our porters had already reached the other side of the lake and were busy pitching tents for us. The weather this morning was not promising since we had clouds covering us throughout the trail. When I reached the highest point of the ridge, before getting down to the lake I turned back to look at the valley we came from. It was one very picturesque location, I must say!



We soon started getting down from the ridge towards the lake. There was a small temple built on top of one of the boulders.



We crossed it and started walking from the right side of the lake to reach the lush green meadow on the other side of the lake.



By now, it had started raining and we wanted to reach our tents as early as possible to remain dry as much as possible. Just before the campsite, I took Anand’s photo at the backdrop of Ruinsara taal and the clouded valley. Soon we reached our tents where hot tea and biscuits were waiting for us!



We decided to wait inside our tents since it was raining continuously now. After around an hour or so, it stopped raining and by now we had been called in our dining tent for hot lunch. After finishing our lunch and resting for another hour or so, we decided to walk across the meadow and reach on top of the adjacent ridge to get the bird's eye view of this campsite.



When we looked down from the ridge on the other side, we could see the entire river bed and a wooden bridge at a distance, which were supposed to cross on next day to continue further towards Thanga campsite.





While we started coming down from the ridge, I decided to go on the other side of the lake where I could see small yellow and purple flower buds all over the meadows. From this side, the campsite was looking extremely beautiful. Our tents were visible on the edge of the lake and beyond the ridge I could see snow mountains at the background of our tents. Our horses were relaxing next to our tents and were spread across the campsite. I was lying down on the soft lawn while this thought came to my mind of putting everything into perspective and I took this photo which gives the exact idea of how beautiful the campsite was and its proportion against the mighty Garhwal Himalayas!







When I came back to the campsite, I saw that porters had already pulled a big wooden log from the nearby ridge and had set it on fire. They had already started preparing rotis on that fire and we all continued to stand there warming our bodies and souls!



It was one brutally cold night at that campsite. It had again started raining and the temperature must have been nearing freezing point. Some smart guys from our support crew had set up toilet tents at extreme end of the meadow and it took me almost 5-7 minutes to walk up to those tents in the middle of freezing night. It was so scary and isolated that scenes from all the horror movies which I had seen, flashed in my mind. I managed to finish my program in few minutes, however it felt like hours to walk to the toilet tent and come back at the campsite. But now that I was done with it, I went in for a comfortable sleep. Having said this, it was so cold that we woke up at least twice in the middle of the night to go to the toilet tent again :-D

[prajakt_23]

Day 5 : Ruinsara Taal to Thanga

As usual we woke up early next morning. Although it was not raining, the weather still was not very good. I wish we would have had some sunlight while we were at this campsite. This could have really helped me to capture the beauty of this place as I wanted.

It had rained at night and our tents were still wet. While we were getting ourselves ready for the day, weather cleared a bit and we could see occasional sunlight reaching the peaks of mountains across the valley. This increased our hope to witness some bright day ahead.



There is one unsaid and undocumented rule of every trek. You will have to be there at the right place at the right time, whatsoever it might be related to :-D I learnt it the hard way! While I was packing my sack, I forgot to put one polythene bag in my sack. And finally while we were taking out our sacks to be given to porters, I realized my mistake. I went inside my tent again to open my sack and repack when I heard our cook calling us out for breakfast. Almost everyone were ready with their sacks so they joined the breakfast feast while I was still wrapping up my sack and tying my shoe less. I heard my friends calling me couple of times but I thought it's ok to be late by few minutes for breakfast. But I was wrong!! While I reached the breakfast arrangements made next to the dining tent, I saw one empty utensil which contained vada of some sort. Manish told me that it was very delicious which ignited my sensed to the core. I went inside the kitchen tent with the hope to get a refill just to hear that every item prepared for breakfast was over and they had even packed their kitchen arrangements :-( So the moral of the story is when you are trekking with your close friends, be there on time for breakfast and lunch / dinner ;-)

Soon we started towards our next destination, Thanga campsite. Bachan had told us this one was going to be another easy walk for us and we should be reaching Thanga within couple of hours. Some of the porters even showed us a ridge on the opposite mountain from where we were supposed to cross it to reach Thanga.



As usual, we followed few porters who hurriedly started walking from the side of the Ruinsara Taal. We had to go all the way down towards the river bed and cross it. But that's the problem of following porters instead of a guide. These porters are free at will once they start walking! All of them disbursed as soon as they reached the ridge to get down towards the river bed. I think if anyone asks them to start for Thanga even at midnight, they won't have any difficulty in locating the shortest trail and walking on it. So although we tried to follow couple of them, soon we realized that whatever trail they had selected was best suited to them. It was very slippery at places and although it was not dangerously risky, we were certain of getting our bottoms dirty by skidding on wet boulders and mud. Fortunately one of them pointed us to the safest trail and soon we were all in river bed. There was this beautiful wooden bridge on the river paved on two huge boulders. Milind sir, Anand and Manish were waiting for other to reach there.



As soon as everyone reached there, I was ready with my camera for another group photo.



It was really a very beautiful location. I waited on the bridge for couple of minutes to check on Raju who was still behind me. When I crossed the bridge and looked back, Raju had reached the bridge and Mr. and Mrs. Bisht were seen busy capturing these beautiful moments with their camera.



The trail was now moving on another mountain through the treeline. This scenery reminded me the locations from the movie ‘The Lord of the Rings’. Backdrop of snow capped mountains, yellowish treeline and the trail entering it through boulders. It was just another picture perfect location!



After crossing the treeline in another 10-15 minutes, the trail turned to its left and continued on the ridge. When I turned back, I could see Mr. and Mrs. Bisht at some distance.



Now the trail was continuing on the ridges and further valley was visible only when we reached the top of each ridge. Trail was now properly demarcated and I saw my friends on the topmost point of the ridge ahead of me. I could see huge snow capped mountain behind them.



But as usual when I reached that spot, I saw another set of ridges lying ahead of us! It was a gradual increase in altitude and we were walking at a pretty relaxed pace. As we walked further, the valley was getting broadened and the landscape was becoming gigantic.



Now I picked up some speed and walked ahead of the team. Perhaps the pieces of dried fig which we ate in-between worked well than what I anticipated





The trail kept going on the ridge till the point I saw our porters resting on a plateau next to a lush green meadow. I saw the trail was now turning towards right and going on the ridge above the mountain on the right. This was the same place as indicated by the porters on previous evening. I also decided to catch my breath while others were reaching there. We were surprised with the announcement of reaching Thanga campsite since we thought we had just come half way through and we would continue walking after a short break. But after few minutes Bachan reached there and confirmed that we would be camping there itself.



By that time Suru and other porters had already identified the places where they were going to pitch our tents. Other were busy in collecting some dry wood for campfire. Soon the they lit up the firewood gathered so far and the entire team encircled it. Perhaps this is for the first time, I saw almost all of them together so I requested for another group photo and they all happily obliged!



I think it was just 10 am or so now. Everyone sat around the fire and started playing cards on some flat rock next to it. While people were trying to learn something new around cards, I went ahead to put my sack and other gear inside the tents Suru had just finished pitching. From my tent, I could see all of them sitting around the fire while the clouds were building in the valley below.



Our tents and carry mats were still wet so Suru had opened all the flaps of each tent to make them dry as fast as possible. I decided to continue walking on the trail ahead and reach the ridge above. When I reached there, I could see all our tents and a much broader view of our campsite.



On the other side of the ridge, there was a freshwater stream and I could see two members of our porter team collecting fresh water in buckets for our kitchen tent.



Now there was some sunshine finally and the campsite was looking lively.



While I was standing there and enjoying the vast view of the valley, I saw Abhishek, Deepak and Rakesh walking on the other ridge ahead of me. They continued their walk for some time to explore further region and to get acclimatized to the height gained today.



By now everyone had moved in their tents and were ready to explore area around the stream and ridge ahead. While we were about to start for this exploration, we saw Mr. and Mrs. Bisht sitting on a big boulder, enjoying warm sunlight. I was not going to leave this opportunity of capturing an adventurous, high spirited couple in the midst of nature!



In line with their tradition, porter team had already gathered firewood and had started making rotis on it. Suru was sitting with them drying his shoes. I took couple of photos of them before moving again towards the ridge.







When we reached the ridge, the sun was right on top of us. The valley was still covered with some clouds however, now different shades of green were visible in the valley.



From that spot, our campsite was looking really small compared to the huge mountains and valley across.



While others turned back from that spot, Milind sir, Hrishikesh and I continued beyond the ridge to see couple of campsites visible on the other mountain.



We came back by noon and soon we were served hot lunch in our dining tent. Now we had lost the bridge sunshine to dark clouds and soon it started raining. We were almost at 13,000 feet now so even this small change in weather resulted in good temperature drop! We decided to take rest for an hour or so in our tents and then reconvene in dining tent for another round of card game.

We were soon asleep and the downpour continued. I think it was around 4 pm when Manish went out of our tent and shouted for me to come out as early as possible. I realized what he must have seen. So I hurried on taking out my camera and flipped the tent flap over. I could see a beautiful rainbow across the valley. Our campsite was shining in bright sunshine whereas the valley ahead was still full of dark clouds. By now, Milind sir, Anand and Hrishikesh had come out and were standing with Manish witnessing the beautiful phenomena! And I clicked…







Soon we were all sitting in our dining tent chatting on various subjects from Kashmir unrest issues to the bridge game rules at the table. It was very cold now and wind was blowing furiously. We were worried about our dining tent since it was the tallest of all tents. We had closed both its flaps but still it was swinging a lot along with the wind.

We were served the dinner early and we went to sleep preparing our minds and bodies for next day's grueling walk to reach the advance base camp of Bali Pass.

[prajakt_23]

Day 6 : Thanga to Advance Base camp

It was a bright and sunny when we woke up early next morning. We were told that it's going to be one long and hectic walk towards the base camp. So we were winding up fast. Sunrays were moving down the valley slowly lighting up yesterday's trail. We could see clouds gathering up at the other end of the valley.



Soon we were served the breakfast and we collected our packed lunch for the day. By now those clouds had started moving up the valley towards us. It was really a beautiful scene where we were actually above the clouds. We had to rush back to our tents to finish packing our sacks and get ready for the walk. But I honestly couldn't guess how much time we had before the clouds reach us. When I came out of the tents, the entire area was as if washed out. We were standing amidst thin layers of white clouds. It took me couple of minutes to reach on top of the ridge next to our campsite from where I tried to capture the scene. However, I was certain that I had missed the opportunity by perhaps few minutes!



Now we saw couple of porters and Bachan started walking towards the ridge on the backside of our campsite. Bachanji asked us to follow them. It was almost like a whitewash and the visibility was reduced to few feet. Within next few minutes everybody slowed down realizing that it's not something which we can hurry up and cross in few minutes. By now, the porters walking ahead of us had disappeared in the clouds. But since the trail was visible clearly, we continued following it up the mountain. I don't remember exactly but after walking for 45 minutes or so we reached a plateau where few porters were visible standing next to streams coming out of glaciers. I looked back at few figures emerging out of the thick layer of cloud.



Within next few minutes I saw Bachan and Abhishek standing next to two huge boulders ahead on the trail. When I reached that spot, Bachan pointed me to the clearing on right side of the trail and mentioned that it's called the Odari campsite. It's one very beautiful place to stay during July - Aug season. However, when I looked at it, I could hardly see flat surface to pitch tents. And now that we had gained good height, this entire campsite was surrounded with snow deposits. That's the reason Bachan had decided to make us stay at Thanga instead of Odari and this saved us from staying on snow for two consecutive days.

We saw multiple streams emerging out of glaciers and Bachan mentioned that this would be perhaps the last place where we could refill our water bottles. Beyond this point, we were about to enter mountain ranges covered with fresh snow. So, the possibility of getting a fresh water stream was scarce.

Beyond this point a big sheet of snow was lying ahead of us. In this trek, this is for the first time we were actually stepping on the snow so I was bit cautious about it. The good news was that the snow was fresh and hence was very soft. We were leaving good footprints on that trail for sure! Now the trail was again moving up the mountain and we could see a rocky terrain ahead. When I looked back, Manish had just crossed the snow and was relaxing a bit. Perhaps he was the last trekker to cross it. His ankle was giving him tough time on this trek and thats why he was walking very slowly putting minimum pressure on it. I was about to stay back with Manish but Milind sir asked me to move forward since he was going to accompany Manish for a while. Our porter team was as usual early and were lying on the slopes with their luggage tied to their back.



The weather was getting worse now and soon it started raining. Its always difficult to cross the boulders while it rains. We were forced to take out our ponchos and continue further. The rain soon got converted into light snowfall and we were all covered with snow flex within few minutes. I looked back at the huge landscape and saw trekkers in their blue ponchos at the backdrop of Swargarohini Peak.





Now I reached on top of the ridge and I saw one porter ahead of me standing there looking at the trail ahead. Since I was still at lower height than him it took me a while to reach on top of the ridge and was stunned by the view ahead!



Ahead of me was one perpendicular mountain line which was penetrating the scene with number of connected snowy ridges. The visibility was very poor and I couldn't actually see the point where the last ridge was ending. I was now much ahead of my friends so I decided to wait there for a while to catch my breath. On my right there was a 100 feet deep ravine which was covered in fresh snow however the left side of the ridge was completely covered with boulders and scree. Most probably this part of the landscape gets sunlight only from left side and thus snow on the entire left side of the ridges ahead was melted.

I saw Abhishek ahead of me trying to capture some part of this mesmerizing view. Milind sir was behind me at some distance so continued to wait there for a while. I was standing on the edge of the ridge practically, when somehow I lost my control and my walking stick, which I was balancing in my hands, slipped. I was drinking water from my water bottle and hence I couldn't hang on to it, losing my grip on it. It continued to slip on the snow in the ravine and fortunately stopped after 10-15 feet! I sighed in relief when I realized that the matter could have become worst if it would have slipped till the end of the ravine which was more than 100 feet deep. Although getting down on that slope was not perhaps that risky, it would have cost me another 30 minutes to go down and then attempt to come back to the same point in that soft snow. Having said this, even getting down for 10 feet was not an easy job. Since it was fresh and very soft snow, it would have easily resulted in breaking the snow formation and the entire blanket of soft snow could have rushed to the bottom of the ravine taking me along with it. There was no point in waiting for others and requesting help since each one was fighting his own battle! So I decided to put down my sack on the ridge carefully and give it a try myself. I was also worried that in this attempt, if my sack slips, it would take along my camera bag along with it, making the matter worst than what I could have imagined. But somehow I trusted my instinct and stepped on the soft snow on my right side. I took a step forward and waited for a while to see if I am getting any reaction from the soft snow. Fortunately, the soft snow helped my shoe to get buried completely providing me with good grip and thus confidence to take next step. I wanted to keep my center of mass low to avoid any mishaps. I went down on the slope slowly and reached my stick which was playing dead for all this time. I carefully stretched my arm and grabbed its grip to pull it back. And there we were standing again united!!

Soon I was back on the ridge where Mr. Date and Milind sir had gathered and we decided to eat something before continuing further. Temperature had dropped quite now and we weren't actually prepared for it. Fortunately, I had put in my pair of gloves in sack before starting, which helped me to keep my palms warm. Milind sir had somehow forgot to take his gloves out before handing over his sack to porters. But the good part was I was carrying an extra pair of gloves in my day sack. We stopped for while to take it out and soon we were all geared up for the cold.

I saw a line of porters ahead of me on the ridge and that was for the first time I realized the scale of the landscape. Initially it was creating an impression of small mountain with a trail going on top of it. But looking at the porters now, we realized that it's going to take long to reach the campsite which was nowhere visible.



Although the climb was quite monotonous, I was very cautious while stepping on the footprints made by trekkers and porters ahead of me. We were continuously gaining height since the trail was leading us from one mountain to next mountain ahead of it. I reached a point where Abhishek was sitting on a small rock. I stopped next to him and looked back to see the place from where we had started in the morning. I could see the spot where I had almost lost my stick. I can still see some trekker and porters mingling around there. Anand and Mr. Date were just behind me.





This time I decided to move forward crossing Abhishek. When I looked at the ridge ahead of me, I saw someone in red / pink jacket standing midway on the ridge enjoying the scenery around. It must have been either of Mr. / Mrs. Bisht since they were walking ahead of me in colorful jacket. This is one part which I keep on requesting my fellow trekkers again and again. I always tell them to wear something bright like Red / Orange. This helps in creating the missing contrast in such low contrast black and white landscapes. But somehow they are always happy with green, brown, grey colors which make them literally indistinguishable in photos :-D



I continued to move forward slowly but steadily ahead on the trail. When I looked back, many of them had reached where Abhishek was standing, however I still saw Manish at the bottom of the ridge. Good part was I also saw couple of porters behind him so I was really now worried about him.





Soon I reached the top of the ridge where I was standing on a knee deep snow carpet. I was taking utmost precaution to ensure that snow doesn't enter my shoes from above. This would have not only made my shoes wet from inside, it would have frozen my feet within few minutes. I was still not able to see campsite even at a distance. Since I was not much tired, I decided to continue forward, trading snow carefully.

When I looked back, I saw Anand and Hrishikesh equally struggling on that soft snow. Milind and Mr. Date were visible behind them at a distance. Now the trail was almost horizontal and hence I hurried up ahead since the weather was worsening by each moment. It was snowing heavily and visibility was very poor. We were shivering with cold and what we were able to see was only the top of ridge ahead of us. No one had any idea about how much we had already covered and how much distance was remaining so we had no choice that to march forward.



Finally the moment arrived, when I saw the mountain line ahead of us. When I moved further, I could see our bright orange dining tent pitched up at the bottom of the mountain line and our porters had dumped our sacks next to it.



Snow flex were hitting our faces due to blowing wind making it difficult to see further. Our entire support crew had gathered in front of the dining tent to save themselves from snow blizzard.



I looked back for a while to convey this good news that we had almost made it to the campsite but I could only see Anand and Hrishikesh behind me. I took out my video camera to capture these moments live and shot a video or two before moving towards the dining tent. It might have only taken a minute or two but when I turned back, to my surprise, I couldn't see a single soul around our dining tent. Imagine a scene where all 13-14 members of the support team along with 4 trekkers all hiding in that small dining tent!



Soon I reached the dining tent and stood below one of its side flaps looking back at the trail for signs of my friends. Soon I saw and Anand and Hrishikesh at the end of the visible trail. Milind and Mr. Date followed them in some time. I don't recollect when Raju reached but he certainly was not lagging behind much. Milind sir I were waiting under the flap when we realized that Manish had not made it yet to the campsite. And that was the moment when we all were really scared. We all knew that he was lagging behind due to his ankle problem but since we all started on those ridge, none of us had actually tracked him. We waited there for another 10 minutes but there was no sign of Manish. By now, porters had pitched our tents so almost everyone else went inside the tents and we two decided to wait further for Manish. Time was clicking and there was no point in waiting further so we decided to send a porter to look for Manish. He grabbed a walking stick and started going back on the trail in that snowfall. It was almost 15 minutes passed now and there was no sign of neither that porter nor Manish. So another porter left hurriedly looking out for both of them. We were shivering in cold but continued to wait for them by the side of the dining tent although we knew that it won't help the situation. Soon we saw the latest porter coming back from the trail and he confirmed that he saw Manish and the first porter and also mentioned that they should reach the campsite in next few minutes. We all breathed a sigh of relief!

Soon Manish joined the gang but he looked completely exhausted. So we decided to take some rest till the weather clears up. Bachan had reduced one tent so that we all could wind up early in the morning. Accordingly, Raju had joined Mr. Date and Hrishikesh and Abhishek had joined Deepak and Rakesh. Manish decided to sleep for a while and so did Raju. Soon it stopped snowing and we were called for some hot lunch which was dal khichadi. Abhishek, Raju, Manish decided to skip lunch since they were very tired. This was perhaps more to do with the altitude sickness. After having dal khichadi, I also joined Manish in the tent and took some rest. Within the next few hours the weather cleared and we could see some peaks around through clouds. I was searching for the toilet tent so Bachan pointed me towards the backside of our tent and mentioned that porters had pitched it down somewhere there. I walked for more than 10 minutes in that direction and went down the mountain, trading that soft snow to find nothing! It was snow snow everywhere. I understood that something must have gone wrong. When I came back, I got to know that the tent although was pitched as soon as the porter team arrived at the campsite, was blown away by the strong wind. After hearing this, we were actually worried about our tents as well since we could see that the tent pegs were really not reaching the hard soil beneath the snow. To work around this issue, Suru had used my walking stick as one of the pegs for our tent. He had tried the same with Rakesh’s stick. This had created one hell of a problem but let me hold onto it till time comes..

In the evening, the weather cleared to an extent where we could actually see the pass itself on the mountain behind our campsite. Swagarohini Peak was exactly in front of our campsite. Manish was now looking fresh after some rest. Everyone gathered in the dining tent now and got divided into two teams for the game of cards. While I was standing next to the dining tent, I saw one member of our crew coming towards our dining tent walking through the same trail which was much clearly visible now. Swargarohini peak was peeping through the dark clouds behind him.





Meanwhile, during the afternoon, Bachan had asked to collect extra luggage from each individuals and it was clubbed together in few sacks. He then asked few of the porters to do the load ferry to take all that extra luggage up the mountain, cross the pass and hide it safely on the other side of the pass. This would have helped the porter to be free to assist trekkers while crossing the actual pass. Theoretically this sound exceptional and that's why we all assisted it with whatever was possible. Those porters had travelled all the way up to the pass through that snow, crossed it and put the luggage on the other side and come back to the campsite by sliding on the soft snow around the pass. They all had also joined the team in the dining tent for playing cards.

When I looked at the pass, I could see the trail was clearly visible till the pass since our porters had to actually dug steps to reach the pass. It was actually looking scary since the trail had become almost vertical near the pass and it was visible even with naked eyes from where I was standing.



I decided to take a walk beyond our campsite. It was becoming really difficult to walk on it since I was trying my level best to stick to the footprints of our porters which were already knee deep. Still I managed to walk around 40-50 steps and when I turned back, I was stunned with the beauty of the campsite.



This was the most scenic location which I had seen on this trek. Rather, this is for the first time, we were camping on actual soft snow and were to spend almost a day on it. I saw that Suru was trying his hands on his mobile camera and was explaining something to fellow support crew member. Swargarohini pick was glittering in bright sunshine behind our campsite. Our green tents and orange dining tent were adding real flavor to the scene making it absolutely mesmerizing landscape. Soon the clouds started again charging in and we lost whatever sunrays reaching our campsite.



Since we were surrounded by snow from all sides, we did not have any arrangement for drinking water. So, the crew had fetched some snow around and melted it using gas stove to provide us with drinking water. Bachan mentioned that we would be given bed tea by 3:30 am in the morning and we need to move out of the campsite by 4:30. I was not believing my ears with what I was hearing. It was horribly cold and we were even struggling to come out of the tent for dinner at 6-6:30 pm. In this scenario, starting for the trek at 4:30 am next morning was seemingly impossible task. However, it's one of the important notions of Himalayan trek that the one who starts on time, reaches the destination safely and on time. Since we knew that it's important to cross the pass before the snow starts melting in sunlight, we were keen on following all instructions to an extent possible. After an early dinner and hot chocolate we were all back to our tents preparing for the night. I remember, I had taken out all warm cloths which I had carried on this trek and decided to wear them all to safeguard my body from the bone chilling cold of the freezing night. I was wearing 4 layers but still I was feeling cold while I tried to move within my sleeping bag. The poor quality sleeping mats had made the matter worst since they were of almost the same size of the sleeping bag. So invariably, some part of the sleeping bag was directly in touch with the tents outer, which was touching the snow on the other side. It was one freaking cold night I had ever survived in my trekking experience. I was trying to sleep but was not successful for quite some time perhaps due to extreme cold and much higher altitude. Sooner or later, I went into deep trance or sleep only to wake up at around 2:30 am in night to attend to my biological needs. The only promising point which I realized was, I still had 1 hour to remain in the confines of my tent before the cook yells at us with bed tea in his tray.

[prajakt_23]

Day 6 : Advance Base camp to Lower Dhamni vai Bali Pass

I was back in my tent for another struggle to put on my winter gear and zip up my sleeping bag. But soon I settled into it for another hour of rest. By 3:30 or so I could see a beam of light on or our tent and it started getting brighter. One of the porters was soon knocking on our tent. Although it was really taxing to get up that early in frozen morning for another harsh walk, the feeling of sipping hot tea was something to die for. As soon as I opened the zip of our front flap, I saw a dark figure against the backdrop of million stars. He himself was shivering in freezing cold while he poured tea in cups. He also handed over something wrapped in silver foils which was our packed lunch for the day!

By now Bachan had started calling our names. He wanted us to get ready to leave the tents by 4 am. We somehow managed to get out of our gear again and started packing our sacks. We were intermittently hearing Bachan’s calls but it was really impossible to accelerate the things. We packed our sacks and came out of the tent in another 30 minutes or so. By now the skyline had brighten up a bit and I saw Bachan and couple of others already preparing for days walk. It took me great of efforts to put on my shoes and tighten shoelaces. Manish and I were standing next to our tent when Raju came to us with a worried face. I got to know that his shoes and shoelaces were almost frozen and he was not able to put them on even after great struggle. Clock was ticking and we were losing every minute to the merciful weather. Bachan and others had already covered few hundred meters on the trail. Someone helped Raju and he was all set now. Now that we were ready for the walk, I looked for our walking sticks and realized that they were serving as pegs outside our tents during the entire night. They were almost a feet deep inside the snow and had secured our tent throughout the night. Manish pulled out his stick and started walking towards Bachan and team. I also tried but my luck gave up on me this time. My stick was stuck deep inside the snow. I tried to pull it out twice or thrice but I was unsuccessful in all my attempts. I then took out my gloves and tried again with more force, and it came out. However, to my horror, I realized that the lowest piece of the stick remained inside the snow and the upper two third portion came out in my hand. I looked at Bachan and team and realized that they had reached too far by now. I tried my best to pull that piece out of the snow but it refused to come out. Manish extended his help but nothing was proving useful. I was wondering about best ways to navigate through that snow without help of a walking stick, which looked seemingly impossible!

Fortunately, I saw 2-3 porters who were starting from the kitchen tent. I yelled at them for help and one of them came back to our tent. He somehow managed to shake the stick a bit which perhaps made it to move a little bit inside snow. The next time he pulled it and it came out. I immediately fixed it on top of the two pieces in my hand and adjusted it to suit my height. And we were off for the walk of our life!

The visibility was very low and I continued to follow footsteps ahead of me on the trail. After walking for 15-20 minutes, I saw few figures ahead of me struggling in dim light negotiating soft snow. We were walking on a snow field which was spread across the mountains. As we continued our walk, the snow was becoming much softer and each step was going almost a knee deep inside. I tried to avoid the set footsteps just to check if it was possible to walk anywhere else in that snow. But that was way difficult than what I had anticipated. That was not at all encouraging since with each step, the snow was also getting accumulated in my shoes. So, I had to come back to the footsteps visible ahead of me. Now I saw Mr. and Mrs. Bisht ahead of me walking slowing and clicking photographs. Since it was dark, I decided not to waste time in clicking photographs and continued on the trail after overtaking Bishts. Now I saw Anand and Manish ahead of me. I also saw Bachanji sitting on a snow covered boulder talking to Milind sir about something. Since Abhishek was carrying heavy sack on his back, he had also stopped to take some rest. When I overtook him, I saw the trail moving horizontally on the snow. Milind sir had reached the other end of this horizontal trail from where it was leading up the mountain almost vertically.

By now the visibility had improved and I saw Anand ahead of me and now Manish had reached a spot from where the trail was entering in danger zone!



The right side of the trail was steep slope and our campsite was down somewhere below. Although it was helping to follow the footsteps in snow, people who were walking ahead of me had messed up in couple of places. Due to this, in some places I had to put my right foot in left footprint and vice versa. There was no alternative than to try matching the footprint whichever way possible!

I remember seeing Manish and Anand fumbling at a step or two and my heart missed a beat for sure! Fortunately, none of us slipped from the trail into the deep ravine on our right. We continued our walk for almost an hour or so when we were bestowed with early morning sunrays from our right. The whole atmosphere was glittering in warm sunrays which refreshed and energized us to continue further.

Now I had reached the spot from where the trail was looking almost vertical. To be on safer side, I had to put my camera in my daypack so that I would have my hands free for any support, in case if I slip. I really wanted to look back to see how far we had come. But now that I was almost climbing vertically, I was scared to death to stop on that slope and destabilize my balance by looking down. From the corner of my eye, I could see dark clouds charging up from the valley on our right. I was just hoping to make it to the pass safely before the snowfall or rain catches up on us.

Soon I reached a place where the vertical trail was turning to its left on the final ridge. Till that point I was actually not aware of the risk associated with that ridge walk. When I reached at the starting point of the ridge, I looked on my left for the first time to saw that our porters had packed up our campsite entirely and were catching up on the trail below. Sun god had come up on the horizon and was blessing us with warm sunshine. Clouds were still following us and we had less than hour or so to cross the pass. It was almost 1200-1500 feet slope on my left towards the campsite. A wrong step or two would have taken me down sliding onto that slope with great speed. The only promising part perhaps was that the slope was covered with snow throughout. So chances of fatal injuries could be minimal. When I looked ahead of me, Anand had just made it to the top of the ridge and was standing at the pass. Now it was my turn to make a move! I looked at the footsteps ahead of me and that was for the first time I realized the grave danger I was in. The trail ahead was around 2 feet wide and was going up on the ridge which was completely snow covered. Since I was almost on the edge of the mountain, the right side was again going down in deep valley. I tried to look at the right side just to assess how deep it was. But honestly, I was shit scared of that height and infinite view on my right side. It was so deep that I decided to keep it away from my field of vision to be on safer side. It was a guaranteed death if anyone slips on our right. I took the leap of faith and started going up the ridge. I might have hardly taken for a step or two but I was so scared that my legs actually froze due to extreme fear. I was almost going to call out Bachan for his help to take me up on that ridge. I saw Bachan standing on the ridge and perhaps that's something I should have actually done. However, within a minute or two I got back to my senses and realized that it was best to walk ahead than waiting there. I was so focused on my footsteps that no other thought came to my mind than securing my footsteps. Manish was walking just ahead of me. He stopped for a minute and was looking ahead at the ridge when I realized that Anand was pointing his camera towards us. With a great deal of efforts, I smiled and waved at him!





Now Manish made it to the top and I followed him closely. With each step, I was realizing how deep it was on the other side, although I was purposely avoiding staring at it. I soon made it to the top and saw Anand and Milind sir standing there with a broad smile on their faces. Anand again pointed his camera at me and that was the moment when I could feel the sense of accomplishment of conquering my fear, once again! I held my thumb up in sheer joy and excitement and Anand was right there to capture this blissful feeling on my face!



I made it to the top and decided to relax a bit before moving further. The view from the pass was so hypnotic and mesmerizing that I didn't even take out my camera to capture that beauty. Soon I saw Mr. Date and Hrishikesh making it to the top. Bachan went back again to assist Raju who was perhaps struggling a lot on that ridge walk.

My eyes were searching for Milind sir and Anand who were now preparing for getting down from the pass. Now this was another shocking moment for me within such a short time span. I saw Milind sir tying his shoeless and a porter was standing next to him. When I looked beyond them, I could see a perpendicular snow covered ridge below them. There was no visible trail which was leading to that ridge from where we were standing.



On Milind sir’s left, there was a small groove to go down through the big boulders which were half snow covered. They continued to go down through those boulders and disappeared within few minutes. Manish moved further and we realized that it was too scary to step on those boulders since they were extremely slippery. There was no question of trading them by standing tall and making us vulnerable. Manish finally sat down and started skidding slowly on those diminishing footprints. I too was scared since I was again in same situation as before. My right side was giving me the same view of endless valley below and the left side was another good fall of few hundred feet through snow and exposed boulders.

After struggling a lot on those boulders we finally made it to a place where we could see Milind sir, Anand, Rakesh and Deepak standing in snow few feet below us on our left. From there, there was no visible trail to go further, so they had stopped and were waiting for Bachan to come forward and lead them on safest way to get down from there. After Bachan started getting down from the pass, he crossed me and instead of going towards them, he went ahead horizontally on the ridge ahead of us. After walking for few steps on that ridge, he asked all of us to follow him there. Since I was nearest to him now, I moved first and reached him just to understand his plan further. He asked me to go further and sit down at a point on snow and slide down the slope to the lower plains :-D This time my heart missed another beat for sure!!!

The soft snow was slowly moving under my feet so it was best to move ahead and reach the lower plains as early as possible. However, there was a bigger issue lying ahead. Our left side was still exposed with big boulders. So unless I move ahead by sizeable distance, I was sure of hitting those boulders on my slide below. Since Manish was behind me, he was not realizing this issue and was continuously pushing me slide down. Soon I reached a safe point by walking ahead on that ridge and then sat down. I started slow since my fear of height ensured that I anchor my shoes deep even during sliding down the slope. Since I forgot to tuck my shirt in, by the time I reached down, my shirt was full with snow. To add to it, I lost my grip again and my walking stick stuck somewhere during my slide.

Soon it was Manish, followed by Anand and everyone else. While coming down, Bachanji picked up my stick and handed it over to me while we were sipping buttermilk. Porters had tied up big drums and gas cylinders to ropes as if they were dogs and were sliding along with them on that slope!





Weather had improved a lot now and we were about to cross the biggest snow fields ahead of us in that bright sunlight. Howsoever beautiful it looked, it was really difficult to walk on that soft snow. The only good part was, now that we had crossed the pass, we knew that all we had to do was to just keep going down!







We continued in that snow for more than an hour or so before sliding down once again. Now we had reached at the end of snowline where we took a break for eating our packed lunch. It had started raining now, which made the scene miserable. There is not even a goat track to come down these mountains. Walking down that mountain through huge boulders and slush was way more difficult and painful than what we had imagined. It was putting an excessive pressure on our knees which resulted in most of us finally slowing down. We had been walking for more than 5 hrs now. We had decided to move ahead of upper dham ni to camp at lower dhamni which was a campsite situated in jungle where the tree line begun. Finally, we all reached the lower dhamni campsite safely after walking almost for 7-8 hrs. This campsite was situated in dense jungle and our tents were scattered across the campsite due to lack of plain surface. Upon reaching the campsite, we were served hot maggi and tea to celebrate our success. I cooked Pohe for all in the evening and we all spent evening chitchatting together.

Day 7: Lower Dhamni to Janaki Chatti

We started early next morning from there to reach Janaki chatti which was another 2-3 hours walk down the jungle. Although the distance was not much, our knees had given up on walking, making it difficult to pace up even a bit. We reached Janaki chatti by afternoon and stayed that night in hotel. On next day morning, we started for Dehradun by 7:30 am and reached Dehradun by 2 pm. We had to make some local arrangement in hotel for couple of hours before boarding train at 11:30 or so to Delhi.

I was back in Pune by 3 pm and we had already started our discussion about where we would be heading for our next trek! And the discussion continues….

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

[Ragul]

Nice blog. Great sights and views in the pics.

Just a quick tip for anyone camping in bone-chilling weather conditions - don’t fancy stepping out of your tent is bitter cold conditions for a toilet break? Keep a spare wide-mouth water bottle and pee into it inside the tent without having to step out at ungodly hours like 2-4am. Pour it out later after sunrise when you step out of your tent. Bonus - it works great as a hot water bottle next to your feet for a while. I learnt this trick more than a decade back by myself when the Internet was almost non-existent in India. It’s a great convenience you will love…

[//M]

What a great travelogue to start off the day !

Lovely narration of a trek that is well known but only seldom done as more popular ones in the region (and comparatively much easier ones) like Har ki Dun and Kedarkantha have made it to the bucket list of most people who fancy adventure on foot.

The Bali Pass trek looks like quite an experience considering it gives an individual the chance to explore the lush green bugyals, enjoy camping along side glacial lakes as well as experience the snow covered ridgeline in a span of few days.

I recently heard from someone that the small little villages of Osla and Gangad are managing to rope in quite a good number of tourists for long stays who want to experience the mountain-life for a few months owing to the pandemic.

Hope to visit this corner of Uttarakhand someday. Thanks for the motivation.

[mak556]

Originally Posted by Ragul

Nice blog. Great sights and views in the pics.
====
I learnt this trick more than a decade back by myself when the Internet was almost non-existent in India. It’s a great convenience you will love…

Excellent tip, been there done that.
Adding to this tip. Please dispose off the pee and wash the bottle asap in the morning. Or at least warn the person sharing the bottle/tent. The pee freezes till the morning and unless someone smells it, they may think its water.

[mak556]

Mod note: Please club your loose individual sentences into tightly composed paragraphs. As an example, this leads to a poor reading experience for other BHPians.

Very nice travelogue. Well captured in words and pictures.

My last trek was Kedarkantha Jan 2021. I have been waiting since then for the Covid situation to cool down for my next snow trek. While my trek location was amazing, our group did not have a pleasant experience with our operator- Trek The Himalayas. Poor quality tent setup, food was sub standard and mostly not nutritious. Even warm water supply was limited.

How would you rate the difficulty of the trek? (from the travelogue looks like moderate to difficult)
How would you rate the operator and arrangement?

[maheshm619]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

Beautiful photos and great write-up. The way you have the captured smallest of events is very soothing to read. This is one travelogue were I paused in between to let the thoughts sink in. I hope some day I can venture out on a trek to the might himalayas.
Few queries: What was the fitness levels of members going into this trek ? Did you guys have a training routine before starting the trip ? Just curious to know.

[somspaple]

Beautiful trek and pics! You've experienced all from Green meadows to snow capped peaks to deep snow trails. Reminds me of Sar Pass trek.

[woodstock3001]

Amazing, Awesome, Spectacular, Incredible & I can go on thanks to https://versusutil.com/ which helps with alternatives every time. Such a good trekblog, if there exist such word. Every time I read a Travelog or any other travel story, I get inspire to take one, but commitments, kids, family, finances and poori kaynat (read my mum & wife) stops me to venture into such trek.

But trek has been on wishlist ever since it has become little commercialized & doable.

But dear Prajakt you've done an amazing work in writing this down. I'm sure many like me gets inspired reading this.

Thank you & stay safe.

[prajakt_23]

Originally Posted by maheshm619

Beautiful photos and great write-up. The way you have the captured smallest of events is very soothing to read. This is one travelogue were I paused in between to let the thoughts sink in. I hope some day I can venture out on a trek to the might himalayas.
Few queries: What was the fitness levels of members going into this trek ? Did you guys have a training routine before starting the trip ? Just curious to know.

Thanks for the complements!

Yes, fitness is definitely a must for this trek since this is a high altitude trek. The pass is at around 15800-16000 feet. My group had been trekking in Himalayas for last 25-30 years so most of the members are used to this terrain and conditions. Having said this, I am the youngest of them all and trekking for past 13-14 years in Himalayas. So no formal training was required for us. And although extreme fitness is not required for attempting this trek, its relatively risky while you are nearing the pass and while you cross the pass. Believe me, its impossible to explain the risk at couple of locations on this trail. I don't have photos of those areas since I had packed my camera to keep my hands free to minimize the risk of any mishaps! So, due care has to be taken for attempting this trek for sure!

But its worth the risk