A TREK TO BEAS KUND Madhav Patil

Transcription

1 A TREK TO BEAS KUND Madhav Patil

2 For my readers of the blog

3 ABOUT THE BOOK This book began as a weekly blog post of a day-to-day account of our Beas Kund trek near Manali, Himachal Pradesh, India. The first part of which, was posted on October 5 th, 2017 and from then onwards, I was completely involved in writing the whole experience. Soon, I realised I would not be able to finish it in one or two posts, so the whole story got spread over in four parts published during the entire month of October This book is the result of those blog posts! You can visit my blog at

4 AUTHOR S NOTE In September 2017, five of us went to Beas Kund with two guides, a cook, his assistant and a couple of porters. It was a three-day ascent from Solang, which began on September 11, After spending 5 days in the Himalayan Mountains, we returned to the hotel on September 15, Following is a story of its day to day account! Madhav Patil Mumbai. November 23, 2017 Version 1.0 Mumbai. December 20, Version 1.1

5 Day One As I walked out of the wooden gates of Hotel Iceland, my mind was buzzing with a lot many thoughts. Beyond all the excitement of a Himalayan adventure, there was a slight concern in my mind. From my previous visits to these mountains, I knew that, they can be full of surprises at every turn, every minute and when a challenge is thrown at you, there would be no escape route. The only thing one can do, is to face the challenge and come out of it safe! And this trek was the first ever High Altitude trek for almost the entire team. The place was Solang Valley and our destination was Beas Kund, the lake, where, some believe Sage Vyas meditated. Our day began at 0700 hrs. The first thing, we were instructed to do was to pack our daypacks with minimum essentials. No more comforts of beds and blankets. Previous night, Atin, our friend & guide from Pen, had a long discussion with 'Khemraj', the owner of the hotel and his staff regarding the preparation of our trek. At the end of their discussion, it was decided that we will carry our necessary and much needed stuff in our daypacks and the rest was to be handed over to the porters. They would ferry it all to the camp each day for our use. This was to be the set routine for next 5 days in the mountains. For the first time ever, my rucksack was filled to its full capacity of 80 ltrs. Once packed, it was handed over to the porters team. After a good breakfast, prepared by 'Hemraj', the resident cook of the hotel, we all were ready for our memorable journey. With daypacks on our backs and walking poles in the hands, we left the comforts of our hotel to wander into the Himalayan Mountains. At 0930 hrs, waving goodbyes to everyone at the hotel, we five left with Atin and local guide, 'Dinesh Thakur', whose looks were similar to that of an Indian cricketer 'Dinesh Karthik'. After leaving the hotel, team first descended towards the river and later walked on the route parallel to its bank on the western side. It was a broad one till we came across a fence, beyond which, it had narrowed down. A small wooden ladder was fixed to the fence on both its sides forming a triangle to ease crossing over, which we managed pretty well. When we left the hotel, temperature was 25 degree Celsius, but now, by the side of the river, it was a bit cold. After walking for an hour or so, the team came across a big wall on the left side of the route, over which, water was flowing with full force, giving rise to a small waterfall. It was such a beautiful sight that we decided to take our first break at this location. By this time, we had gained about 300 feet in height. Our destination for the day was Dhundi and to reach there from Solang, one can travel either by a vehicle or trek by the side of the river.

6 We had chosen the latter, as we wanted to enjoy the beauty of the surroundings and to get better acclimatised. However, at this point, we had no idea, what was in store for us! After our break, we walked for a while by the side of the river and at one point, realised that a part of the route had been washed away by the recent flood. Landslides, Cloud bursts, floods are common things in the Himalayan terrain and that s what makes this beautiful land full of challenges. Now, to go towards the main road, we had to find an alternate route through thick bushes and overgrowths. Walking on this path felt like walking in Sahyadri Mountains. Usually in a Himalayan terrain, the trek route is well trodden and clear, but here, it wasn t the case, as we were off-route. Soon, we realised, it was getting difficult to continue walking through those thick bushes. All this time, our guides, Atin & Dinesh were constantly looking for an easy route to get back to our original track, which we had thought would be intact further. At a certain point, we could see, a few villagers building a makeshift bridge, where the route had been washed away. They had ventured into the icy cold waters of the river without much protection, holding just some wood and cables in their hands. It was a true example of how hard the life is, for people of this region. Luckily, after a while, our guides could find a place, where we had a chance to get back to the original route. Now, to get there, we had to descend from our current path, which proved trickier. We all managed it well without any injury. After walking for some more time by the side of the river, at around 1145 hrs, it was time for the second break. I checked my watch, it was showing altitude of 8,660 feet. Even though we were walking by the side of the river, we were still gaining height as the river was flowing downwards from the mountains. Here, we had our food, drank water and relished on a few chocolates that were given to us at the restaurant. After our break, it was time for a steep ascent towards the main road. Even though it was steep, it was a well defined one. Within next half an hour, we found ourselves on the road leading to 'Dhundi'. We took a small breather of 5 minutes and immediately started walking towards Dhundi. After every meters, we could see warning sign boards of Avalanche Zone. After walking for next 15 minutes on this road, at a certain point, we took a short cut by climbing a small hillock on the left side, instead of walking on the curved road on the right and then descended further on the same road. Up ahead, we crossed a small tunnel, beyond which, the road was inclined. Finally, we reached a place, where we had to turn left to go towards our campsite. This road was leading towards 'Lahaul-Spiti'. It was the site of much awaited project, 'The Rohtang Tunnel'. This tunnel, which starts at 'Dhundi' in Kullu district and ends at 'Gufa Hotel' near 'Sissu' in Lahaul-Spiti district will be the longest tunnel in India, once it becomes fully functional. It will not only cut the distance, but also provide all-weather connectivity between these

7 two locations and would become very beneficial to locals as well as Indian Army. From here, we walked westwards and descended a bit to cross the river. This time, there was a proper wooden bridge to cross over. After crossing this bridge, only few meters were left to reach our first camp and from here, we could see our pitched tents. Our porters and cook had already reached this campsite by the main road and had pitched all our tents, the Kitchen, Dinner and 3 Two-men' tents. Just when we crossed the bridge and were about to reach our campsite, we were greeted by light showers. Hurriedly, we walked towards the camp and went inside the 'Dining tent'. My watch showed an altitude of 9,420 feet and temperature as 22.3 degrees. Time noted was 1345 hrs. It was such a relief to reach our first campsite. We all came out of the tent once the rain stopped. With huge mountains, full of Deodar trees on both the sides of our camping ground, it was definitely a beautiful camping site. When the lunch was ready, we all went back to the 'Dining Tent' to enjoy much deserved meal of the day. After a brief rest, we all settled in one tent for some fun time. Chit-chatted for a while, followed by some singing session and later played cards. The card game, we played is known as 'Mendhi Coat' or 'Dehla Pakad'. This game later became our loyal companion for the rest of the camping days, it was our best option to kill time, while enjoying it to the fullest. As per the plan, later that evening, we went for our acclimatisation walk. Upwards from our campsite, we walked slowly for next 200 feet and spent some time at an altitude of 9,620 feet. Temperature noted was 15 degrees. For a moment, we looked at the route ahead that we would walk on the next day. When the watch showed 1800 hrs, team started walking towards the campsite. By the time we reached, it was completely dark and in that total darkness, we could see the sky full of stars, which was a rare sight to behold for city dwellers like us. After our dinner, we took a stroll around the camping area. As this was the first camping night in the Himalayan Mountains for Surendra, Sameer, Prashant and Chandan, our guide, Atin, briefed everyone about safe camping through the night. Around 2000 hrs, saying good nights, we went to our new beds, the sleeping bags. Height Gain - 1,280 Feet (8,140-9,420) Night Temp - 11 degree Celsius

8 Background It all began after a year of trekking in Sahyadris with my school friends. When it became pretty clear that we would actually go for a Himalayan trek, there was absolutely no second thought to my mind about the destination, 'Beas Kund' in Himachal Pradesh. It s the source of the mighty river 'Beas', which flows for some 470 kilometers and meets river 'Satlej' in the state of Punjab. This lake has a mythological significance as it is believed, the great 'Sage Beas' (Vyas) meditated by this lake. Even though this trek can definitely be considered a high altitude one, it does not bring much difficulty to the body or mind, if you follow certain rules of acclimatisation. Any elevation above 8,000 feet is considered to be in a high altitude zone and there is a danger of high altitude sickness if your body does not get fully acclimatised to that altitude. Beas Kund trek is considered safe for the first time hikers of high altitude terrain. Right from the beginning of trekking times with a group of school friends i.e. from November 2015, Swanand had always been at the forefront, whether it was selecting the destination or planning a trek. We regularly kept on discussing about various mountains all over the world and pretty soon, it became his dream to climb Mount Kilimanjaro also known as Roof of Africa. And that s when, began the talk of arranging our first high altitude trek in the Himalayas. As always, we enthusiastically kept on discussing, planning the entire Beas Kund trek, however, the luck was not on his side this time. His recent knee injury lifted its ugly face and he was strictly forbidden from doing any physically strenuous activity by his physiotherapist, at least for a few months. Initially, when the plan was laid out, we had quite a few friends interested in being a part of this trek, but the ones, who could finally made it were Sameer, Chandan, Prashant and Surendra and I. As this was a maiden Himalayan adventure for all my friends, it was very important to choose someone, who was well versed with the Himalayan terrain as our guide. In my mind, there was no other name than 'Atin Sathe'. He was not only a professional Himalayan climber with many high altitude climbs to his credit including one, where he had spent the whole of 45 days in those mountains, but also exploratory expeditions at an altitude of 20,000 feet and above. Another important factor for his selection as our guide was, his 'Safety first' approach towards trekking. In April 2017, the entire plan was put forward and in June 2017, our detailed discussion began. Not only, we needed to be active physically, but also, needed to buy necessary things required for such a trek. These include good hiking shoes, walking poles, warm clothes and other trek

9 gears. Everyone followed the instructions well, prepared well in advance and were ready to fly to New Delhi on September 8, On the day of our journey, Atin flew to New Delhi from Mumbai an hour earlier than the rest of us. As Prashant was coming from Pune, his flight was later in the evening and the plan was to meet him directly at the Hotel in Solang Valley. Rest of us met Atin at New Delhi Airport and from there, we went to 'Himachal Bhavan' at Mandi House. Our bus to Manali was scheduled to depart at 1800 hrs, hence we had enough time to wander around. We chose to just wait by the bus stand experiencing the hustle bustle of Delhites. At 1800 hrs, we left for Manali.

10 Solang - Day One By 0900 hrs, our bus reached Manali. Atin had already booked our stay in 'Hotel Iceland', 'Solang Valley', about 14 kms from the bus stand and had already coordinated with the hotel announcing our arrival. In some time, we were picked up in 'Mahindra Bolero' sent by the hotel. Within next 20 minutes, at 1000 hrs, we reached our hotel and without wasting much time went to the restaurant for a breakfast. This hotel was located in one of the scenic places, I had ever been. When looked ahead from the hotel courtyard, we saw a few 2-3 storey houses, each of them having their own green coloured roofs on top. Beyond those, a lush green area full of different trees with a road on the left hand side and a river on the right. This whole place was a part of Solang Valley and what we saw beyond this, was something that simply took our breath away! A huge mountain standing tall with its snow clad peak brushing with clouds. No matter how many times we looked at that mountain, each time it presented itself in a different form, in a different light. It was pure magic and a pleasure to our eyes. Beauty simply beyond words! This was the exact view, which made me fall in love with this place, when I was here last, in June I remember, when we had reached the hotel in the morning, the entire mountain was covered in clouds, so we had no idea about any mountain being there. Later, that evening, at around 1900 hrs, when I came out of the room, the skies had cleared and I could see this huge mountain in front of me, standing tall, way tall. I had never seen anything like that before in my life. It was pretty mesmerising and that scene was permanently etched in my mind! It really felt nice to be here again after 6 years! We all were under the guidance of Atin for the entire duration of the trek. As per the instructions, we were to go for an acclimatisation walk later that evening. Prashant, the fifth member of the group reached the hotel by 1200 hrs, just in time for lunch. After our lunch, we relaxed ourselves in the courtyard enjoying the beauty unparalleled to any other place we had ever been. After chit-chatting for some time, we retired to the comforts of our rooms. Later, it was time for some tea and snacks, after which, we were ready for our first acclimatisation walk. Our hotel was situated at 8,140 feet above sea level and from there, our walk began. First, we went upwards towards the main road, crossing which we came to the adventure sports zone. Here, one can enjoy Zorbing, Paragliding in addition to the ATV rides and other sports. Also, in winter, this place gets crowded with skiers. To the left of this zone, a small route was heading upwards, towards a temple known as 'Anjani Mahadev' and that was the starting point of our actual hike. Slowly and steadily, we kept hiking upwards on a well-trodden path. En route, we did click few pictures. After walking for about half an hour or

11 so, we came across a small stream, full of ice cold water. The only way to go towards the temple was to cross this stream and crossing it meant, we had to get our shoes and feet wet. Thinking about getting into the ice cold water sent shivers down our bodies. It had already been decided to return to the hotel before dark, thinking wisely, we decided to stop our hike at that point and return to the hotel. The maximum altitude gain was 600 feet. Our guide, Atin was very happy with the team's first day performance! With happy hearts, we returned to the comforts of our hotel and later, after dinner, retired for the night. Height Gain Feet (8,140-8,740) Night Temp - 13 degree Celsius

12 Solang Day Two As per the original plan, this day was kept aside specifically for two things 1) An acclimatisation walk towards Patalsu Peak and 2) To pack our sacks with the right stuff and prepare ourselves for the 5-day trek in the Himalayan mountains. While planning the entire trek schedule, Atin had ensured that we receive a good supply of high calorie food throughout our Himalayan adventure, so that we remain charged all the time during the entire trek. Also, he had stressed enough on the importance of staying hydrated all the time in a high altitude zone. Hemraj, the hotel cook had left no stone unturned while preparing our food at the restaurant. The typical breakfast included omelettes, toast, butter, jam, aaloo parathas, milk, cereals and mugs of tea, coffee, hot chocolate as per the individual taste. Immediately, after the breakfast, we left for our acclimatisation trek towards 'Patalsu Peak'. The plan was to hike towards the peak and gain as much altitude as possible. We had decided among ourselves that irrespective of weather or any other issue, we needed to gain altitude higher than what we had yesterday. Around 0930 hrs, we five left with Atin and a local guide from the hotel, Roshan. First, we walked towards the river Beas, flowing behind the hotel. From here, we could see the old Solang village up in the mountains and to go there, we had to cross this river by walking on the wooden bridge. This bridge was built using two big tree trunks placed across the banks of the river, on top of which, smaller logs were kept in front of each other and tied to the big trunks underneath. From here, the whole place looked very beautiful. On one side of the river, on the hill, there was old Solang Village nestled between tall Deodar trees and on the other side, new Solang Village at the same level as that of the river banks. The sky above was full of clouds and we were walking on the wooden bridge, below which, the mighty river Beas was flowing in full force splashing its white water all around. We simply couldn t help ourselves from clicking a few photographs. After crossing the river, the route led us upwards and towards the old village. We could see a lot many houses built in a similar fashion to those near our hotel. At the end of this ascent, there was a small pipeline, where we quenched our thirst and refilled the water bottles. Once we reached the village, didn t get much chance to interact with locals as the team kept on heading upwards. By now, there was enough gain in the altitude and we were in need of a break. Rested for a while and took a few photographs of us and the surroundings too. The cover photo of this book was clicked at this location. After much needed break, everyone was recharged and ready to move to a higher altitude. When we left the hotel, it was cold, so everyone had wore sweaters, fleece jackets, monkey caps, however

13 considering the probability of rain, we had also carried our ponchos, raincoats and umbrellas with us. Here, we experienced the unpredictability of a Himalayan weather. One moment, it was all clear, next moment, it would become cloudy and rain. Since, we were determined to gain more altitude than yesterday, we kept on climbing upwards. Finally, at 9,160 feet, a gain of about 1,020 feet from the hotel, we were asked to stop and rest by the big tree. Team had achieved what had been planned, so it was a joyous moment. Nearby, where we all had gathered, there was a huge hollow tree trunk lying on the ground. Looking at which, Surendra decided to check whether he could get inside that trunk. It would have been easily possible, however a playful warning was given to this mischievous child. Such are the effects of high altitude! Suddenly, it became all cloudy and without giving us much time to put on our raincoats, it started raining. It was time to leave! While descending, the same route that we had walked sometime ago, had now turned all muddy. With muddy shoes, we kept on descending rapidly towards the village. By the time, the team reached the village, the rain had stopped. We saw a group of children running through the bylanes of this village, in some kind of religious procession. Two of them were balancing a wooden structure with a local deity inside it, on their shoulders, one in front and the other behind. Rest of them were beating drums as they ran along with it. This was called for a photograph, for which all the children happily posed. After crossing this village, we came across the fields, where we had spotted a few apple trees earlier. To a passerby villager, our guide asked for permission to pluck a few apples, to which the villager immediately agreed. Thankfully, he himself was the owner of those fields. Joyfully, he told us about all the vegetables and fruits, he grows there. After enjoying the fruits of our labour, we descended rapidly and reached the hotel in time for Lunch. Our dear cook 'Hemraj' treated us to a tasty meal. Later, the evening was spent chit-chatting, singing, playing Bongo and just having fun around. As there was no guarantee of any mobile network for the next 5 days in the mountains, this was the last day of communication with dear and near ones. Some of us then decided to make full use of this network time. After our dinner, Atin asked us to take complete rest and be ready for the trek next day. Saying good nights to each other, we retired to the comforts of our beds and blankets. Height Gain - 1,020 Feet (8,140-9,160) Night Temp - 12 degree Celsius

14 Day Two Each one of us woke up at different times, some with a disturbed sleep pattern. It s very important to get a good sleep, especially if you are in a high altitude zone, but that wasn t the case with few of us. Since it was the first ever camping night in the Himalayan Mountains for some of us, the uneasy sleep pattern was expected. At around 0630 hrs, we were served our morning teas in the tents by, Gopal and his assistant, Bhaktram. Himachalis exhibit hospitality with every gesture! After good filling breakfast, while our cooks and porters were busy packing their stuff, we decided to take a look around. Not only the greenery looked beautiful, but the sound of water flowing by the side of the camping area was music to our ears. To the East, downwards, we could see the road of Dhundi and to the West, upwards, the high hill, which we had to walk today. At 0950 hrs, we broke our camp and left for 'Bakhar thatch', our destination for the day. Temperature noted was 30.4 degrees. For few meters, we walked on the same path that we went last evening, then we took the route that turned leftwards and kept walking upwards. Here, we came across two guys, walking with heavy backpacks. No guides, no porters, just the two of them, Alpine Style. Further enquiry revealed that one of them had recently done a 'Basic Mountaineering Course' and in his leadership, their eyes were set for the summit of 'Friendship Peak'. Keeping the base camp at Beas Kund, many trekkers/climbers plan a peak climb to a lot many nearby high altitude mountains such as 'Hanuman Tibba', 'Seven Sisters', 'Manali', 'Makarbeh', 'Shikharbeh', 'Ladakhi', 'Shitidhar', & 'Friendship'. We kept on ascending and when we got a bit tired, around 1040 hrs, we took our first break. Altitude noted was 9,940 feet. Today's food packet consisted of a chocolate, a banana, some dry fruits and a frooti. We ate some of it, drank water and were ready for the next leg of our journey. To our left, the river was flowing in its downward direction. We were looking for a point to cross it. Suddenly, our guides spotted a stack of stones, known as Cairn and immediately knew that it was the point to cross over. After crossing the river by the route denoted by cairns, we ascended on the other side and walked for a while. Later, we had to descend again through a narrow route and came to a larger part of the river. Some of us missed this narrow downward route and walked ahead. Luckily, Dinesh and I were ahead, from where we could see them, when they got stuck reaching the dead end. Waving at them, we guided the team to the correct path, where they had to trace back few steps and come down to the river. It was time for the second break of the day. Time noted was 1150 hrs, altitude 10,220 feet. Temperature had soared to 34.3 degrees.

15 This particular place evoked memories of my trek in July Just few days before we had walked on the same path, a cloud burst had taken place and the entire bridge had been washed away leaving us no other option than to continue on the other side of the river. It was really an ordeal as our day ended at an altitude of about 12,500 feet, a height gain of almost 3,000 feet from Dhundi in just one day. After about 15 minutes or so, we crossed the bridge and were ascending slowly through a narrow route leading to the upper ground. Halfway on our ascent, we saw horses coming down the same path. It was a bit scary moment as there was absolutely no place to move aside. Luckily, they got confused as their route ahead was blocked by us, walking upwards on the same path. This confusion of theirs lead them to turn back and return to the upper ground. Grabbing this opportunity, our team ascended quickly and cleared the path for the horses. From here, we could see a tree line at some distance in our upward direction. Our guides told us that once we cross that tree line, we would just need to walk for a while to reach our campsite for the day. Now, the only thing, we had to do was to keep ascending and ascending towards the tree line, which looked really uphill. At around 1230 hrs, it was time for our third break of the day. Altitude noted was 10,500 feet. Just when we unloaded our daypacks, we encountered light showers. As we were surrounded by the shadows of huge mountains on both the sides, it was a bit cooler, 26.1 degrees. In addition to the new word Cairn learned earlier, here, Atin made us familiar with few more words used in the mountains such as Crevasse, Cornice and Hanging Glacier, which we could see on the mountains up west. We relaxed for a while by the side of a huge boulder. Suddenly, there was a loud grumbling sound! We all looked in the direction from where the sound had come. It was a sound of an Avalanche from the nearby mountain. It took quite a while to get our cameras ready to shoot it, resulting in capturing only, the end part of it. After a while, it was time to leave. We still had to ascend quite a bit to reach the tree line. To our left, there was a mountain range of Seven Siters and to our right below, the river Beas was flowing towards Dhundi beyond which there was another huge mountain full of lush greenery. In between these beautiful mountains, we were walking upwards, towards the tree line through the boulders lying across our path. As we kept on walking upwards for quite a long time and had not yet reached the tree line, Surendra said, "It's very deceiving in the Himalayan mountains. You can see far ahead and think that it would take a certain time, but in reality, it does not happen so". And undoubtedly, he was right! Finally, when we crossed the tree line, we came across a flat ground and decided to take our next break. It was like a vantage point, on one side, we could see far below towards 'Dhundi' and on the other side, far

16 ahead upwards, towards the moraine of 'Beas Kund'. Time was 1250 hrs. Temperature had further dropped to 24.8 degrees. From here, we could see the huge campsite of the mountaineering institute 'ABVIMAS' (Atal Bihari Vajpayee Institute of Mountaineering & Allied Sports). Our planned camping location for the day was to be just above theirs. From here, we descended towards a stream and then ascended to the campsite. We reached earlier than our porters and waited for them. After a while, those two friends we had met earlier in the day, appeared on the flat green area above the tree line, where we had taken a break some time back. By their movements, we assumed they would make it their campsite for the day and very soon, we could see a tent being pitched. After a while, our porters team arrived and immediately got busy with pitching the tents. This was an opportunity for Surendra to learn a new skill. At around 1405, lunch was served, after which, we retired to our tents. Our 'Bakhar thatch' camp was at a height of 10,920 feet above sea level. Just like the other day, today evening was also planned for a small acclimatisation walk. So after our tea, we went a bit upwards from our campsite. The route was through thick small overgrowths. Atin decided not to venture further as our local guide, Dinesh was not with us and he wasn t really sure about the path ahead. Spending half an hour there, we returned to the safety of our 'Bakhar thatch' campsite. In some time, we were served hot tomato soup with popcorns. After enjoying soup, we went to one of the tents and played cards for long. At around 2000 hrs, dinner was served. With happy hearts and full stomachs, we all went to our sleeping bags thinking joyfully, tomorrow would be the day, when we would get to see what we all had come for, 'Beas Kund', the lake! Height Gain - 1,500 Feet (9,420-10,920) Night Temp - 9 degree Celsius

17 Clockwise from top left 1. Solang Day One : With ATV at Hotel Iceland 2. Solang Day One : View from the hotel 3. Solang Day Two : Acclimatisation hike towards Patalsu Peak 4. Day Two : Morning tea time at the campsite of Dhundi 5. Day One : Crossing the bridge to go towards campsite of Dhundi 6. Solang Day Two : Crossing river Beas to go towards Patalsu Peak

18 Clockwise from top left 1. Day Two : Walking through boulders, towards the treeline 2. Day Three : Crossing the Moraine 3. Day Three : At Beas Kund 4. Day Four : Descending towards campsite after the Bonus hike 5. Day Four : Crossing the Glacier Stream 6. Day Three : Campsite of Beas Kund

19 Clockwise from top left 1. Day Five : Pleasant warm morning at the campsite of Beas Kund 2. Day Five : Team, Cooks & Guides ready to leave 3. Manali : Team at the main building of ABVIMAS 4. Day Five : Team with Khemraj, the owner of Hotel Iceland

20 Day Three By now, we had spent two nights in our tents and thoroughly started enjoying our camping days. Today, our day began at 0700 hrs. Every morning, while breaking camp, we used to check oxygen levels in our blood using an App in Chandan s mobile phone. It s not very accurate and cannot be replaced as medical equipment, but it definitely gives you an idea about the current status. It had become a part of our daily routine, while leaving camp and everyone fared well. Atin had a complete medical kit with him, but there was no need to use anything from it, unless required and thankfully none of us needed it, in the entire duration of our trek. Today's trek was of a short duration and an altitude gain of a little more than 1,000 feet was required to reach the lake. Our final camp was to be set up in an open area, at a lower altitude than 'Beas Kund'. Due to this, we were quite relaxed and spent a good amount of morning time at 'Bakhar thatch' itself. After a filling breakfast, we left at 1025 hrs. Again, we walked the same path of our yesterday s acclimatisation hike, the only difference was we continued further, as our local guide 'Dinesh' was walking with us. The route was gradually ascending, leading towards Moraine. Moraines are formed from debris previously carried along by a glacier and normally consist of somewhat rounded particles ranging in size from large boulders to minute glacial flour. Just before reaching the moraine, we slowly and steadily climbed a steep ascent. Ascending the steep route called for our first break at 1140 hrs. Altitude noted was 11,660 feet and temperature, 26 degrees. Our food packets came to the rescue, refreshed and recharged, we were ready to cross the moraine. Even though boulders in the moraine appear pretty big and solid, there is a possibility that they may get dislodged from their current position. This is due to the fact that the underlying area is loose and full of ice, which makes them slippery underneath. To avoid any mishap, it s important to cross the moraine quickly without any long halt in between. For the first timers, it gets pretty tricky in the beginning to learn the art of crossing those big boulders, but once they get used to it, can manage pretty well. In our team, some were quick, while others took quite some time. Around 1215 hrs, after gaining 100 feet from our first break point, we all safely reached the other end of the moraine. Just when we were about to come out of the moraine, we met a team returning from Beas kund. Atin had a word with one of them to know how the weather was up there, as he knew in Himalayan terrain, weather plays a very important role in any activity of the day. From here, we could see the entire 'Beas Kund' area, which looked like a shape of a bowl with many surrounding tall mountains on all its sides. After spending some time here, we left for our destination. While we were resting at our first break point, our

21 porters team, who had left 'Bakhar thach' camp much later than us, had arrived. We were taking every step with caution while crossing the moraine, but they simply jumped from one boulder to another and quickly crossed it too. Such is a physical ability of Himalayan porters! From here, we descended a bit and then for the first time, after we had left the road of 'Dhundi', we walked on a flat ground for few minutes. Aha! What a feeling it was, but not for long. Next came the descent of about 20 feet and then it was a straight walk towards our 'Beas Kund' campsite. Well, it wasn't a simple walk though, we had to cross many small streams without getting our shoes wet before reaching the campsite. Somewhere en-route, we saw a pile of woollen fleece and beside it, two shearers busy cutting off the wool from a sheep. At 1310 hrs, when the temperature was 24.6 degrees, we reached our campsite. It was at an altitude of 11,740 feet. All our tents were already pitched. Not very far from us, we could see another campsite with 3-4 people moving around. As this area serves as 'Base Camp' for many nearby expeditions or summit attempts, one can always find fellow trekkers or climbers around. After keeping our daypacks in the tents, we rushed to the 'Dining Tent'. It was a well deserved lunch for everyone, fulfilling our taste buds and stomachs. We thanked our cook Gopal and his assistant, Bhaktram. Today's evening walk was not an acclimatisation walk like the last two days, but a visit to a place that we all had came for, 'Beas Kund'. After our tea, at around 1600 hrs, we left our campsite to go towards the lake. First, it was a little hike and then we had to cross the glacier. The ice was covered with rocks and earth, so it appeared firm, but actually it was slippery. Carefully, we descended the tricky patch, crossed the stream and went to the other side. From here, it was a gentle walk towards the lake. Finally at 1700 hrs, we reached 'Beas Kund'. Altitude noted was 12,040 feet. It was serene! This was the place, we all had come for, to see with our own eyes and thankfully, we all made it safely! It was such a beautiful sight. The water coming down from the glaciers up north, falling into this lake on one side and on the other, little downwards was our huge camping area. Beyond the camping area, towards the right, we could see the tallest snow clad peak of Hanuman Tibba, the tip of which was being touched by the moving clouds. Around the lake, we could see some pile of small stones denoting it was a holy place. Words are not enough to describe the beauty of this place, one should plan a visit here and spend some time to know what it feels to be at Beas Kund! After spending half an hour, we descended towards our campsite. We all were really happy with the whole experience and everyone thanked 'Atin' for his wonderful guidance. Visiting 'Beas Kund' was our primary target and we did achieve that, however, the trek wasn t over yet! While planning, we had kept a spare day for any delay due to weather or any

22 travel related issues. Luckily, everything till now went exactly as per the plan, so we had one more day to spend in the beautiful Himalayan Mountains. So, the plan was to hike towards 'Mount Shitidhar' and gain whatever altitude that we could. This would be the day that I had thought long back, where I would try to reach higher altitude than my last Himalayan trek, 'Rupin Pass'. It was 14,700 feet, when I had crossed the pass at 0857 hrs on October 9 th, I was thinking to reach 'Camp 1' of 'Mount Shitidhar', which is usually set up at 15,500 feet. It was my individual ambition, but the whole time I was walking with my friends and so my mind was battling whether to keep hiking upwards alone or to stop where the rest of the team stops. The concern was due to the fact that we were now in a high altitude zone of 12k+. Keeping the final decision for the next day, I went to one of the tents with rest of the team to play cards. After playing for some time, it was time for dinner. As always, the dinner was really tasty, with full stomachs and joyful hearts, we went to bed thinking about the bonus hike that we would be doing the next day! Height Gain - 1,120 Feet (10,920-12,040) Night Temp - 7 degree Celsius

23 Day Four Today was our bonus day at 'Beas Kund' campsite and we decided to make it extra special by hiking towards 'Mount Shitidhar'. Atin s instruction was pretty simple, Hike to whatever altitude you can and when the watch shows 1130 hrs, turn back and start descending towards the camp. We woke up a bit earlier today, at 0600 hrs. Couple of us had cold and cough due to cold weather of the night. With the morning hot tea and breakfast, our bodies and minds were recharged. There was no more battle in my mind as I had made a decision to stop wherever the whole team would stop, irrespective of what altitude, we gain as a team! At around 0925 hrs, we were ready with our daypacks and food packets to hike towards 'Mount Shitidhar', the summit of which was at 17,225 feet. Temperature noted was 15.7 degrees. To reach the summit of this snow clad peak, one needs to be in the best physical shape and know basic climbing skills such as using crampons, ice axe etc. In July 2011, when I had been here earlier, Atin was the only one from our team, who could summit. Back then, he had just finished his mountaineering course from 'ABVIMAS' in Manali and had already spent a month in this region. Our target for the day was just to see what altitude we all together as a team can reach! With Dinesh in front and Atin at the tail, the team of seven left our campsite. After hiking for 10 minutes, we descended a bit and crossed the huge stream flowing through the glacier. While crossing the stream, underneath the glacier, we could see thin layers of ice. They were the interior of the glacier and as the mucky exterior melts to form a glacial stream, they could be seen as they were. Really beautiful it looked, the artwork of mother nature! Once we reached the other end, we could see a steep route ahead. We slowly and steadily kept on walking uphill on a narrow route, which had a direct fall on both its sides. Uphill was manageable, but, we were worried about our descent through the same route. One step in wrong direction could have been our last! Nonetheless, we continued. Once we reached somewhat flat ground, it was time for our first break of the day. At 0950 hrs, when the temperature was 25 degrees, we took our first break, at the altitude of 11,980 feet. It felt good to be under the Sun than being in a tent feeling the cold of the night. Yesterday, while crossing moraine, Prashant took quite a while to adjust to the pace of the whole team. He wasn t really confident about his footholds on those big boulders. There was absolutely no issue with anyone till we came to a point of crossing the moraine. Once Chandan got used to the Himalayan climbing, he remained in the lead almost all the time, followed by Surendra. At our first break point, Prashant expressed his wish to end his hike and wait there till rest of the team return from their hike. We encouraged him to climb further up. By now, the steep hike

24 had its toll on us and at the height of 12,260 feet, we took our second break, a well deserved one. Opened our food packets, ate & drank. At this point, Prashant declared he would not go further. I expressed my wish to stay with Prashant. However, Atin suggested me to move ahead with the rest, while he would wait with Prashant. View from here was really beautiful. Straight ahead perpendicular to our view line, beyond the huge campsite area, we could see the huge mountain range, to the right of which, was Hanuman Tibba, with its tip playing hide and seek with clouds passing by. To both, left and right sides of the campsite, there were huge mountains too and here we were looking at this beautiful bowl shaped campsite from high above. As per Atin s suggestion, four of us were ready to move upwards with Dinesh. Chandan was full of energy, he immediately left with Dinesh. Surendra followed him, then Sameer and I was the last one. I was happy to see both Chandan & Surendra doing pretty well at this altitude. I was amazed by Chandan's physical transformation over the last year. He had not only reduced a lot of weight, but also prepared himself for this high altitude trek. Exactly a year ago, in September 2016, he had almost given up climbing 'Ahupe Ghat' within just 30 minutes of an uphill climb and here he was, within a span of one year, moving with almost the same pace as that of our Himalayan guide and that also at 12k+ feet. Surendra was a part of almost all the treks that we had planned with our school friends in Shayadris, which had given him enough confidence to cross difficult terrains. Sameer was there too, not for all, but definitely for a few. Only Chandan and Prashant had done one trek each with us in Sahyadris. I felt, only if, there wouldn t have been a moraine to cross yesterday, even Prashant wouldn t have stopped earlier. Chandan and Surendra kept on climbing upwards with Dinesh, while me and Sameer were trailing. I wasn t that great, but a little rest at intervals was enough for me to keep moving upwards. At 12,680 feet, Sameer stopped for a break, I caught him up in a few minutes and we both rested for a while, looking at the trio moving at some distance ahead. Temperature had soared, as it was showing 34.3 degrees. At this break point, Sameer decided to end his hike, to which I agreed and stopped my hike as well. From here, we kept on looking at Dinesh, Chandan & Surendra for some time. After a while, all three of them stopped. They were moving at a decent pace, I wondered what could have happened? By then, the few minutes rest, me and Sameer had, charged me up. I encouraged Sameer to climb more, to which he agreed too. We two, then started climbing up again, to meet the halted Trio. However, when we started climbing up, they started climbing down. Atin's instruction was to return after 1130 hrs, from any point we could have reached. It wasn't that time yet! While I was wondering what made them return before

25 time, all four of us met at an altitude of 12,840 feet. Considering this altitude, we safely assumed Chandan and Surendra had crossed 13,000 feet. Wow! Time was 1120 hrs. Temperature had dropped a bit - 30 degrees. The first thing we did here was to click our picture, for us this was like a Team Summit Picture. Later, I came to know the real reason why they had stopped. Surendra wanted to enjoy the beauty of Himalayan mountains than simply keep on climbing, so they had decided to wait there and enjoy what nature had to offer. Just like the weather changes unannounced in Himalayas, views too change even with a small gain in altitude and that's exactly what Surendra wanted to enjoy! Chandan did show his displeasure, but was happy to abide by the decision of his friend. Our guide, Dinesh took our leave and went towards the Friendship Peak. He wanted to reach the higher ground, where he could get the signal for his mobile network. His objective was to contact the hotel to arrange for our transport, the next day when we would return to 'Dhundi'. From here, we four descended to the place, where Atin and Prashant were waiting for long. It took us just 10 minutes to reach there. From here, we could see 'Dinesh' almost flying towards his destination. After a good break of 20 minutes, we six left for our campsite. Dinesh had asked us not to wait for him as he would directly meet us at the camp. Within exactly one hour, at 1250 hrs, we reached our campsite, safe and sound. This time, Atin guided our descent through a more manageable route than the one, we had climbed earlier. It wasn't very easy but it was better compared to the earlier one, we had taken while ascending. Just to capture the moment of everyone returning to the campsite after a successful hike, in my video, I literally ran towards our camp and was the first one to reach. After all, this was my friends first Himalayan trek, where they had gained a height of 13k without any issue. Once the entire team reached the campsite, our leader of the ascent, Chandan, threw himself on the ground for much deserved rest. Everyone in the team was very happy with our achievement, congratulated each other and our both guides for their invaluable support. There was nothing much left to do after our lunch that day, so we simply wandered around, clicked few snaps, played cards. Once our dinner was over, we all retired to our tents. Height Gain Feet (11,740-13,000+) Night Temp degree Celsius

26 Day Five The day had come to say goodbye to our 'Beas Kund' campsite. Even though it took us two days to reach Beas Kund from Dhundi, the return journey was only of few hours. If one is keeping a safe approach in altitude climbing, it s recommended to gain about 1000 feet per day, however, there is no such restriction while descending. As we descend, more and more oxygen fill the lungs, making it easier and faster to climb down to a lower altitude. The oxygen level at 13,000 feet was 60% to that of the sea level and 75% at 8,000 feet, where our hotel was! It was a well thought of decision to ask 'Atin Sathe' for his guidance. His 'By the book' guidance was utmost important for this kind of trek and especially when, we were a team of novice Himalayan trekkers. On all the days, even though we used to finish our daily hike by the afternoon, we were not allowed to take even a nap, irrespective of how tired we were! The sleep would have slowed down our metabolism rate and that wasn t ideal at the new and higher altitude we had reached by the afternoon. And another reason was, any sleep during the day time would have disturbed our night sleep pattern, which wasn t good for the hike of next day. The day began at 0600 hrs with hot mugs of tea in our hands. We needed it badly after the cold night, where the temperature had dropped below 6 degrees. The morning looked beautiful, still cold, but the sun brought much needed warmth to our bodies. After our usual heavy and tasty breakfast, we were ready to leave our campsite, but not before thanking each and everyone, who were part of this awesome adventure. We left at 0845 hrs with our daypacks and food packets. Temperature was 15.8 degrees. Now, the first thing to do, was to cross those small streams and reach the first ascent point to go towards the moraine. After ascending around 25 feet, in another next 10 minutes, we reached the moraine. Without taking any break, we simply entered the moraine and moved towards the other end of it. Surprisingly this time, in addition to Prashant, Chandan also found it little difficult to cross over. It was simply the lack of confidence in crossing this terrain, but by the end of it, he got better. Just when we crossed the entire moraine, we heard a rumbling sound. One look in the direction of the sound and we could see small rocks and glacial flour cascading down to the lower part of the moraine. And that's when we realised, why crossing that moraine quickly was so important. Thankfully it was quite far from us. We continued our descent and finally, at 1035 hrs, when we were about to reach 'Bakhar thatch' campsite, at an altitude of 11,060 feet when the temperature was 31.7 degrees, we had our first break. Ate apples, drank water and munched on dry fruits & nuts. From here, we could see the 'ABVIMAS' campsite just in front of us, full of pitched tents,

27 but except a couple of people, no one was there. When we looked to our right in the mountains, far away from us, we could see a lot many tiny black dots moving continuously. A close look through our lenses, revealed a practice session of glacier climbing in progress. Surendra and Chandan went into the camp to fill our empty water bottles, where they met a course student. She had to stay back as she was running a high fever and not being able to attend the session was very disappointing to her. In some time, we left this campsite, walked down and then up again to reach the flat ground at the tree line. Time was 1117 hrs, when the temperature was noted as 28.7 degrees and the altitude as 10,900 feet. This was a vantage point to look all around us, so here we took our second break. A big flock of sheep, goats was grazing around and one particular goat was interested in my daypack. I wondered what she was looking for! Just when we were ready to leave, the entire flock decided to cross our path. There was no way we could walk further, until all of them crossed over to the other side. Finally, after 5 minutes, we got the chance to move ahead. Then, it was simply a descent all the way till the river. This time, I was with Dinesh, followed by Chandan & Surendra. The moraine experience was little troubling for Prashant, so he took his own time. He wasn't very far, just a little slow, but still in sight and Atin accompanied him all along. While descending, we came across horses climbing towards 'Bakhar thatch'. Surendra got fascinated by them and shot a small video. We reached the river, crossed it and took our third break. It was 1200 hrs and temperature was 28.9 degrees. After ample rest, it was time to leave. We walked a bit ahead and came to the steep ascent point. Here, I remembered my 2011 trek. The weight in my sack and my not so good physical strength had made it difficult to climb this 25 feet inclined route. Wayne had already reached the top and was continuously encouraging me to climb this whole patch without a single halt. Only because of his encouragement, I could do it in one go. But once I had made it to the top without halting even for a second, I was totally exhausted, battling for breath. It took me few minutes to pull myself up from that knocked out state, but by then it had made a lasting impression on my mind. This time, while ascending the same patch, I remembered it so clearly. I had made up my mind to climb it all the way to the top without any halt and didn't even realise, when I reached the upper ground. It wasn't easy, but it wasn t troubling at all, just a couple of minutes break and some water was enough to get me in 'Run that descent' phase again. Further downhill, we came across an open patch of land. From here, it was a little downward journey and then little upwards. Once we reached the other end of the river, the route was simply a run downwards all the way to 'Dhundi'. Now Chandan was with Dinesh and they literally made a dash towards the bridge and crossed it. I followed immediately with