A Tale of Frozen Toes, Halos, Miracles, Friendship and Beauty Abound

Wrath of God

One step after another, as I descended in knee-deep snow, the weather turned bad within minutes. The sky turned dark, and it started raining. It wasn’t long before the snow would start, making both the ascent as well as descent difficult! 

As I waved at Preeti who was climbing up, and had about an hour or so of climb left, the guy in front of him shrieked angrily at me - “Who played the Damru?” His anger almost woke me up from the 1-2-1-2 heel-digging patterned descent I was engaged in, in quite a monotonous manner, just ensuring there’s no rock or crevasse that I step into. I looked up to him, and said - “two to three people played it.”, with an expression on my face which said, “Why the hell are you asking me?” He had thought that I was one of those three, hence the directed anger. 

Who were those? His next question came, and I quickly pointed out to the guy behind me, who was one of the three people who had committed the sin. 

Damru or Damaru as some people spell it is known as the instrument of lord Shiva, known to have been created by him to produce spiritual sounds which are responsible for the creation and destruction of the whole universe!’ He plays it during his dance, called the “Tandava '', a dance which Shiva performs, and which has many types like Anand Tandava (which brings joy) or Raudra Tandava (which brings destruction) to the world. 

At Shrikhand Mahadev, lord Shiva is known to be in a Samadhi, and the playing of the Damru led to an interruption in his Samadhi. It is also said that only lord Shiva has the right to play the Damru, and others playing it are not taken lightly by him. 

How is all of this connected to the hike up Shrikhand Mahadev? - people would ask, when I start this story.

The weather being clear, and the sky being blue - getting turned to dark sky with rain and possibility of snow - within 5 minutes - is what this is connected to. Playing the Damru, not once but thrice (as confirmed by Preeti later) led to us humans inviting the wrath of Lord Shiva, who turned the weather against us within minutes. I witnessed this with my own eyes, and was wondering as to how the weather can change so fast!

As soon as I pointed to the guy behind me, the guy behind me brushed it off as if he hadn't done anything, and continued descending, ignoring the questioner as well as me. Without wasting any time, the one climbing, with a smirk on his face, wiping off rain drops from his goggles, pointed to him and instructed him, “You better turn around, and seek forgiveness from the lord!”

The instructions had so much authority and anger in it, that all those, including me, stopped right on the spot, turned around, folded our hands, and in a cumulative manner, started praying loudly, seeking forgiveness from Lord Shiva! All of this was kind of surreal, with us on an almost 70 deg sloped glacier, looking towards Shrikhand Mahadev, which was barely visible in the clouds that had gathered around it, amidst rains that lashed our faces and wetted our bodies, no matter which waterproof gear we were wearing!

The cumulative prayer and seeking forgiveness session was done, everybody (there were close to 15-20 people) looked at each other, and in an automated, robot-like fashion, echoed “Om Namah Shivay/Har Har Mahadev/Jai Bhole), and resumed the 1-2-1-2 routine of going up and down. And, honestly, I witnessed the miracle myself - in the next 2 minutes or so, the weather cleared, clouds were gone, and we had sunshine! It was as if the prayer worked, and Lord Shiva was pleased that those who intervened in his Samadhi had accepted their mistake and hence sought forgiveness. 

 

The climb down was good after that, except at a place where my hiking stick just went through into the snow in its entirety, and I slipped, thereby bending the stick a bit. At the base of the final climb, clouds gathered again, and it poured heavily! I was wondering who played the Damru again, on the top.

Preeti, upon her return to the camp confirmed that someone AGAIN played the Damru, which had led to the downpour! Strange, yet interesting phenomenon I witnessed for the first time in my life! One thing hopefully everybody learnt that day - not to mess with Lord Shiva! 

Roadways

 

To be honest, while at home, let's say we have to go somewhere - maybe Mumbai, for a meeting or a personal trip, I don’t remember anybody in my acquaintance taking a “Roadways” bus, which are of two types - Shivneri (a tad bit comfortable) or the Red Bus (which I doubt eve has suspensions), but which goes to all nooks and corners of the state. We usually hire a taxi, or take our own car, or just hire an Uber or an Ola. Also, while going to climb any mountain or fort within Maharashtra (just like when we took the kids to Harishchandragad), Satyajit got his car, in which we all packed ourselves, and we drove to Pachnai - we didn’t even think of taking the local bus of the state transport.

This is usually done for two reasons - one, of course we save on time as we have to manage the trek within the time limit so that we don’t miss out on school and office work. And second - of course because we can afford it. As I usually say - it’s always a time vs. money fight, wherever you go.

 

 

 

But, in the mountains - it is different! Apart from one instance, when we had to hire a jeep only for ourselves (which I thought was fine, considering we were saving time, but others thought it to be very expensive), we traveled everywhere in local transport - called “Roadways”. In a rather stupid manner, whenever we had plans of going from point A to point B, I very stupidly used to ask - should we hire a jeep/taxi/cab, and a no-response or a long-drawn response from my other teammates made me feel out of place, and I used to get in line with the thought - we use Roadways.

his really got me thinking - I wasn’t the one that wanted luxury, but I was just thinking of utilizing, rather maximizing that time for being outdoors (hiking and climbing), instead of wasting it on the journey. 

So, here we were - all pumped up to begin the trek, but were stopped by the weather conditions. Upon asking the trek leader, he said, he couldn’t do anything about it and requested us to go back to our homes! We would get our trek fees refunded, and we could use those towards either the same trek or a different one in the next one or two years. All the team members got disheartened, and there was confusion prevailing everywhere. I went to the nearby shop and returned the tiffin box I had just purchased for the trek, while going and clicking a photo at the same place where I had been way back in 1994, with my school buddies. 

Completely disheartened, all 8 of us were in a fix - as to what to do. I, for sure, wasn’t going to go back home, once I was in the mountains, so I caught hold of the trek leader and asked him if we could join in ant of the other treks which were planned by the same group nearby, to which he declined, saying all had begun their treks, and with the weather advisory in effect, nobody would allow us to join the previous batches anywhere in Uttarakhand. 

Sitting in a small tea shop, disillusioned, we all were thinking what to do. I had always had this urge to go climb up Shrikhand Mahadev, a revered abode of Lord Shiva, which is supposed to be one of the toughest climbs in Himachal Pradesh, a state adjoining Uttarakhand. So, I asked Mahi, a fellow teammate who hailed from that state - whether we could go climb it, if there is no travel advisory in that state. He had also not climbed Shrikhand, so he immediately pounced on the idea, and called up a few of his friends, who were residents near the base village, or were experienced hikers/climbers/guides who would know the details. Fortunately, one of his friends was an SDM (Sub-divisional Magistrate) in Rampur-Bushhahr, who confirmed that there was no travel advisory in the state of Himachal, and we could go climbing there. Also, one thing which was positive was that the annual Yatra (pilgrimage) to Shrikhand was supposed to commence from the 7th of July, so there were camps being set up, where we could stop on the way, spend the night, and also get something to eat. This was a critical aspect, as we all had planned to hike with the commercial organization to Bali Pass, and hence didn’t have any of our gear with us - sleeping bags, tents, boots, crampons - nothing. If needed, we were going to be provided all of this during the trek. 

Over a cup of tea, while looking outside the window at the beautiful mountains getting covered in clouds, we took a poll. Among the group members, Mahi agreed instantly. I had gotten to know Franklin from the previous evening when I reached the Sankri homestay, when he was having his dinner. He and Mahi had climbed many times before. He also agreed to come along to Shrikhand. With the three of us, we asked everybody else but nobody agreed. The only girl in the group - Preeti - took a few minutes to think. I am sure she must’ve thought - “The trek is canceled, I have two options, either to go back home, or to go on a multi-day trek with these three random guys I met last evening at Sankri”. I am sure, it must’ve been a tough decision for a girl to make, especially that she didn’t know any of us, but - she agreed. I guess she must’ve thought us to be decent guys, with whom she can risk going on a trek. In hindsight, I really applaud her for taking that decision within minutes, as I am pretty much sure that most of the girls would’ve turned their back and gone back home with the remaining trek members. 

THIS group of 4 then decided that - to NOT waste any more time, we had to reach Rampur on that day, at any cost! Had the forest officials told us about the weather advisory even an hour ago, we would’ve caught the bus going down to Mori, from where we would get another bus to Rohru, the border village between Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh. However, we were not left with any choice of bus, so we had to take a jeep which was charging us a bomb! But, there was no alternative, if we were to save time. We had checked that the next bus from Rohru to Rampur was scheduled at 3 pm, and we needed to reach Rohru before that time, at any cost! 

So, here we were - the 4 musketeers - heading towards uncharted territory of Shrikhand Mahadev via picturesque locations and valleys enroute, which we would’ve loved to stop by and explore, had we had time. 

Team

Four of us, who embarked on the unplanned climb of Shrikhand Mahadev were a perfect mix of experience, teamwork, fun and grit!

 

MahaSingh aka Mahi (full-power) Singh - A day before our trek was supposed to begin, while having chai after a nice cold shower, I asked the trek leader, Sanjay if all members are in, and he said, “One last member is on his way. He is on the last bus coming into Sankri.” It was almost going to get dark, and I was wondering why this person was so late. And, a few minutes later, the tall, slender Sardar who walked in at the Sankri homestay and had a huge pack on his back. I was wondering how he was carrying such a huge pack, but once we got talking, I realized the experienced guy, who wore a pair of Salomon, had been around, and was not new to the mountains - at all!

A resident of Sundernagar in Himachal, and an alumnus of IIM, he was among the smartest of us all, with a couple startups under his belt, having made his money through them, and at a stage of life where he realized that working his ass off and making shitloads of money was not the way he had envisioned his life. It had been almost a month that he had gotten out of his latest startup by selling his share, and was thinking of what to do, going ahead. He told me he would do stuff that would give him a good solid work-life balance.

The ton of electronic equipment that he lugged around spoke volumes of his interest in photography and videography. Later, he showed me a video he made on Spiti, which won him a cash prize and a sponsored trip to Ladakh. A camera, a phone, a tripod, a Go-Pro and all the associated paraphernalia with it - that itself took the weight of the backpack higher, much more than the clothes and essentials. He entered the room, and the first thing he did was put out all his electronics for charging. 

 

A man with many experiences, while on the climb, he told me of how the once quaint Bir-Billing has been completely exploited and the beauty butchered by all people from Delhi/Chandigarh/Haryana getting up there in their huge SUVs, playing loud music, drinking and creating a ruckus. The westerners who used to visit this place used to come for peace, meditation, and hanging out, smoking joints together in groups. Nobody was interested in partying with loud music. Same story, he spoke of Kasol, another hidden gem in the Himachal, where peaceful groups who wanted to just stay there for longer hauls were rooted up by people who want to create noise and nuisance. An interesting story he told me was when he stayed with a group in the mountains above Kasol, where they were living a community life. This means, one can join the group as long as one has the intention of contributing to the community. People were segregated according to the kind of work that they would be interested in doing, and everybody did their jobs well, without any complaints.

Such groups would get formed naturally and organically, with like-minded people coming together, and these groups would move from one place to another. Mahi stayed with one such group, where he would cook, clean, and after dinner, they all would gather around a campfire, and sing and dance, with somebody playing the guitar or the harmonica. Most of these people in the group would be westerners, and they would refrain from including people who would not contribute from joining the group.

One year, Mahi had a nice time with such a group, and the next year when he went searching for them, somebody told him that they had gotten fed up of the loud people that came about near their camps, and would drink, play loud music on speakers, and fight when somebody got high, and moved out of this area. Upon asking where they went, the local was unsure, as such groups are known to seek unknown places, where people can’t seem to find them.

 

During our hike up Shrikhand, Mahi further went on to tell me about how Kheerganga was a nice place at the end of a small trek, and how it got completely devastated! The trek had a small hot water pool at the end, near the temple, where tired hikers would go for a refreshing wash, and once done, would stay the night and return back. He had done it consecutively for a couple of years before the place got commercialized and was taken over by people who created nuisance. When this got famous, people started taking alcohol to this place, and one could see not only people in the hot pool with beer in their hands, but beer bottle pieces in the pool, which ended up hurting people. This massacre of this gem-of-a-place led to the head priest at the temple directing the authorities to demolish the pool, thereby taking away the chance of good, honest, well-meaning hikers to witness this beauty. With the pool gone, not many people visit this place, but those who do still take stuff like alcohol with them, thereby ignoring the piousness of the place! 

 

While climbing up switchbacks on the hike, I heard a rather “different” song playing on Mahi’s phone, which he had recently put on. Although for me, playing music is a complete no-no, while amidst nature, this song caught my attention. An ardent adventurist, with a love for music, Mahi introduced me to some unknown singers who made good music but were not very famous. “Ek Aalsi Dopaher” and “Yeh Kaunsi Gaadi Mein Chadh Gaye” were a few of the songs which he played by an artist called Rahgir, based out of Jaipur, the state of Rajasthan. Mahi had made attempts to attend most of his shows, while in college, or otherwise, and he was an ardent fan. The popularity of this artist stems from the simple manner in which he critiques the direction in which we as people are headed, the choices we make in life, the hypocritical trait in humans, which comes through as second nature, and the ways and means adopted by humans for self-gratification, no matter what! The direct yet rustic nature of the songs appealed to me and synced well while we were going up the dense forests amidst clouds.

 

Preeti - The only female member who tagged along with us three guys was an avid hiker, who had hiked quite a few Himalayan treks before this one. Again, I would commend her decision to come along with a bunch of people like us, whom she hardly knew, when the trek got canceled, and we embarked on a totally different trek in a separate state than what we had planned to hike in.

 

When we were traveling to Rohru, she told all of us that the Bali Pass trek that she had booked (and got canceled) was probably the fourth trek that she had planned, and had gotten canceled. So, she was happy that she was coming along with us with the hope that she would finish the trek. Our first introduction at the homestay (while sipping the evening tea) was that both of us were from the city of Pune. However, she stayed at a different end of the city, and me at the exact opposite end. Plus, though she was a Maharashtrian, she and her family had been living in Madhya Pradesh (Vidisha) for generations, so she could understand Marathi, but could never speak. This I realized when I attempted to communicate with her in Marathi the moment somebody told me that she is also from Pune. 

 

I thought of her to be a person who went against the flow in many ways. First, she was one of those rare species, who opted for mechanical engineering as a degree course, where very few females are to be seen. If one goes to a factory floor in any manufacturing setup, it is rare to see a female working the shifts. Most of the females who opt for this end up changing their course, thereby working in an IT firm. But not this lady - who was putting her earned knowledge to good use by working in John Deere, a leading mechanical engineering farm equipment manufacturer. Moreover, despite a successful career with the company, her curiosity led her to score well in the GATE exam which she cracked, and ended up getting admission in the prestigious IITB’s M.Tech. program, which she was going to join right after our trek. 

 

On the trek, even with a heavy backpack, she was slow but steady during all the ascents. The slowness was due to two things - one, that was her pace, and two - she stopped multiple times to take photos of both nature and herself (selfies) at almost every corner on the trail. Each corner opened up a different view of the valley on both sides of our ridge, with an equally mesmerizing view of the distance that we had covered. So, she would stop, take photos, make videos, take selfies, and then move ahead. But, once she was on the trail, she was consistent with her pace, no matter what. This, I observed even while descending from Shrikhand Mahadev, that she was climbing up at a steady pace, even when people around her were stopping to take a break. 

 

As it is, I feel - still in India, you rarely encounter a solo traveler, and that too a hiker who is a female. After meeting Preeti, I was sure that people of her breed were definitely on the rise!

 

 

 

Franklin - I walked into Meenakshi homestay after my trek to Kedarkantha, where I went a day before the Bali Pass trek was supposed to start. While the lady of the house greeted me, I saw a guy sitting outside the kitchen of the house, legs folded, digging into the daal-rice that the lady had served as lunch. When I looked at him, he just nodded a “Hi” to me, with a gentle smile. 

I wondered if he was one of the trekmates on Bali Pass, which got confirmed as I entered the room and saw a huge backpack lying on one of the cots. After his lunch, he came over to the room and thus began our conversations, which lasted till the time when I said goodbye to him at the Old Delhi Railway Station, when we parted ways for our respective homes. 

 

A very cool, humble and gentle person, Franklin hailed from Mumbai, and had been with an IT firm for a few years since graduation, and had gotten fed up with that life. His love for the mountains had taken him places. He had extensively hiked in Nepal, right from the Everest Base Camp to Gokyo Ri and beyond. He knew the treks, village names, prices of tea houses, as well as charges of agencies in Nepal like the back of his hand. It was amazing to listen to his vast experience of having done the ABC (on the side), when he had gone to do the EBC - usually, people do these as separate treks, how he had a tough time with a hiking partner with whom he partnered, with the trek almost leading to a disaster, had they not gone their separate ways in the middle of the trek. Calling off a partner in the middle of a trek, when there are shared resources, is not an easy thing to do. 

 

 

Franklin was one of those guys who had a passion for travel, which he did using the Redbus and IRCTC app on his phone all the time. It was amazing how while traveling from one place to another on our trek, he could just book/cancel/modify existing tickets, look at choices available between buses and trains so that time doesn’t get wasted. He in fact helped me immensely by reminding me of canceling a ticket from Dehradun to Delhi on the IRCTC app, when he got a “window” of data while traveling from Rampur to Jaon, near a bus station called Nirmand. 

 

Having hiked extensively in both Uttarakhand as well as in Himachal Pradesh, he knew routes and places in these states as if he’s lived his entire life over there. When he discussed these with Mahi, both I and Preeti were puzzled at the knowledge these guys had. He was the one who gave me company on the trek, as our pace matched while walking. He had a Google Pixel phone, which had a capability of capturing 360 degree photos, which he captured magnificently! His photos from Nepal were fascinating, with clear blue skies, and gushing rivers amidst the rugged snow-capped high peaks of Nepal.

 

 

 

 

Scary Night!

Mahi had a friend in Rampur, who was of immense help, as we crashed at his place when we reached Rampur at night, traveling all the way from Sankri - Mori - Rohru to Rampur. Rohru bus station was amazingly clean and at a picturesque location, with mountains from all the sides, and the bus station being situated in a valley. Post a basic lunch (which the cafeteria person served with all the love), we hopped onto a bus to Rampur, and that's when we realized that women are charged half ticket for all journeys on public transport in Himachal Pradesh, which was an amazing move by the state government. 

The route that the bus took from Rohru to Rampur was treacherous, to say the least. We climbed up at least two to three mountains and descended on the other side, many times the road being a single-lane road which was muddy in nature. Apart from the one stop that the driver took for lunch, they just stopped for a pee-break at a pass, which was covered with forests on both the sides. We hardly saw any car pass on that route, but at the end, our 3 pm bus which left Rohru reached Rampur around 10 pm, and it wasn’t 10.30 pm before we could go to Mahi’s friend’s place who was a government official. 

The house given to him belonged to an erstwhile British high-ranking officer who was in-charge of this entire region. The high ceilings and large rooms with an outhouse of the more than 100 year old house reminded of the luxuries that these Britishers must’ve enjoyed, when they ruled over our country. He was the one who told us that the route up Shrikhand Mahadev was open, as the annual pilgrimage (Yatra) was supposed to begin on the 7th of July. In preparation for that, there were camps which were set up so that the pilgrims could stay the night and have food while on the trail. Little did we realize that the trail was far from being easy, and all the while that I ascended and descended, I was wondering how normal people (who had little experience in hiking, both on a trail as well as on snow) would climb up here!

A sumptuous dinner, a peaceful sleep and a healthy breakfast later, we boarded a bus to Jaon, the base village of Shrikhand Mahadev. The bus was so packed that we hardly got space to sit, as villagers were traveling with all that they had, including huge bundles of clothes, tires for their vehicles, and other miscellaneous items. In fact, we saw one person who was standing, who was going to get married, or probably going for a wedding, as he was very nicely dressed with a decorative cap over his suit. There was a direct bus, however it was going to go to Jaon via a village which was going to take another extra hour. This was because the bus goes once a day to this village, which also needs connectivity. So, after a brief halt at a place called Nirmand, we got off at Tikri-Kainchi. Kainchi in Hindi means scissors, and as the road bifurcates at a place called Tikri, it was named Tikri-Kainchi. 

A guy in a SUV picked us up from Tikri-Kainchi, and dropped us right at the trailhead. There are two trailheads - one that starts at Singhgad, at the base of the climb, and one that is a bit away, but which gives you a great start with awesome vistas around you, as you hike through forests. It was funny to see the name Singhgad, which is exactly the same place near Pune, my hometown, where most of the people train for their Himalayan hikes/expeditions. It is a fort with a good elevation gain of about 1886 feet, which can help you train well for the bigger ascents in the Himalaya. Maybe, this was the same intentionBoth the trails join after some time though. We had intended to make the night halt at Thachdu, which is about 13 kms from the base, but the trail is a straight uphill climb at a good 70 degree elevation. 

As we walked past a Shiva temple at the base, we crossed a treacherous section where the trail was washed away by the raging river flowing beside. We had to stop there for a while as the trail was being reconstructed by laborers, so that hikers could go past that section. This section made me go back to 1998, when I did my Basic Mountaineering Course from The institute in Manali, and we were taken to the Moulkila Region in the Lahaul-Spiti Valley. Enroute to the base camp, one of our mules had slipped on a similar section, and had gotten washed away by the river below. The mule and the stuff on his back was never recovered. 

Post this section, after a bit of a hike, we come across a fleet of stairs which are built to reach an ashram where a hermit lives. He helps all pilgrims by offering them tea and water. He has erected a couple of tents where people can spend the night, once the pilgrimage begins. After a small break at the ashram, we cross a beautiful bridge after which the actual climb begins! And, boy - what a climb it was - continuous! 

Going through various places where eventually camps would be set up in the next few days to cater to the influx of pilgrims, we witnessed magnificent vistas of the valley we just climbed up from. The rain which lasted for a while had subsided, and the valley opened up. We made a quick stop at one of the bigger tents for a cup of tea and lunch - as we had eaten quite early in the morning. Our rain-soaked bodies when they emerged from the rain gear, started giving out clouds of vapor, so much so that one of the guys sitting in the tent took my phone and shot a video of mine, which looked very cool! 

Post a heavy lunch, we headed straight up, with a resolve to camp at Thachdu, but slowly we realized that Thachdu was quite far away, and we should stay the night somewhere below Thachdu, as it was soon going to get dark. We spent some time on the trail looking at the magnificent valley view that opened up in front of us, as the rain stopped and clouds parted. We decided to take a halt at Thati Beel, a campsite around 1 km short of Thachdu. We could see the entire valley getting dark in front of us, and slowly one-by-one, lights in the villages below getting lit. We could see lights getting lit on far away mountains, which seemed like they were literally in the sky.

While having dinner of basic rice and daal (lentil curry), it is here that the guy who was managing the campsite told us to be cautious while going out for a nature call at night. He told us all to go down a few meters, followed by a RHS direction, and NOT to go towards the LHS. He spoke of unmentionable things which he can’t tell, but told us NOT TO take the trail going towards the left. At first, nobody said anything, but then Preeti, with her curious mind, pushed him further. Despite diverting the topic, Preeti pursued as she was really curious. Rocky, with his wife - who was serving us tea and dinner - went on to tell us that there is a threat of a witch which roams this area.

 

 

The witch has been seen by many on the hike as well as the locals who also don’t venture into that area. She doesn’t do anything to ladies, as she’s afraid of ladies, especially if the ladies keep their hair open. But she is known to kill men and take them away to where she resides - for torturing them or taking sexual favors! As much as it sounded crazy to us, there was another old gentleman from the same place who validated these stories by telling us that there is a guy in a village in the valley who is called by the witch almost twice a week. He disappears into the night every week, and comes back in the morning, and nobody from the village asks him about anything, as everybody knows where he goes.

There’ve been cases where village folks have seen her sitting on a rock not far away from where we were staying, drying her hair when the sun is out - just like normal ladies do. All of this seemed scary, but we ended the conversation on a lighter note that I and Franklin were the most vulnerable as both Preeti and Mahi can roam around at night with their hair open, and the witch won’t dare look at them - but for us - it would be better if we don’t go to pee at night!

Beauty all around

The next day, after a sumptuous breakfast of Aloo Parathas, when we reached Thachdu on the way up, we were so disgusted to see a crowd of tents which hardly had any space next to each other. It was a small site but arrangements were made for a lot of people to stay the night there, as this was the first campsite which hikers and pilgrims would think of staying at.

However, one good point about this place was the first view of Shrikhand Mahadev, which looked like a tiny speck in an ocean of white! This 75 feet shivalinga is a rock jutting out of the top of a mountain, which is covered with snow throughout. As a first sight, I offered my prayers to the view, and we continued on with our journey towards Bheem Dwar where we were going to stay the night and attempt the summit (reaching the Shrikhand Mahadev pinnacle) the next day. Enroute, Mahi dropped out before the climb to Kali Ghati, when he saw a bunch of sadhus sitting together for a joint. He had been a regular user of joint, and enjoyed “being in the zone” while exploring the mountains.

 

There were places where we stopped to get some nice pictures of the valley, with all of us posing one after the other. The place where Mahi paused and we started climbing was a pass kind of place where we leave the tall trees and forests behind, and thereby the treeline - and head to higher altitudes.

The climb to Kali Ghati was a good, solid one, where we were being greeted by clouds everywhere. Upon reaching the Kali Ghati campsite, we took a long break to refresh ourselves with tea and some biscuits. A group sitting along with us from Simla offered us something which was very peculiar and tasty - a Kulcha like item, stuffed with some tasty fillings. I don’t remember what it was called, but these three ladies along with two guys whom we met on higher slopes as well offered us this delicacy, which we were blown away by! They told us that we don’t get it in shops in Simla, but this is a home-cooked item.

 

As we sipped on the tea, we could see clouds giving way to the trail that lay ahead of us. There was a massive downclimb from this high point campsite, up to a campsite called Bheem-Talai, where we could see one or two tents having been erected.

These tents, with bright blue and yellow covers actually looked pretty in the vast expanse of green that the mountains had to offer. The campsite offered a serene view of staying beside a small lake that got formed due to natural waterfalls coming from higher slopes of the mountains. As I and Preeti walked ahead, we took a few pictures of Franklin and Mahi coming behind us, with their orange backpack covers strikingly contrasting the green background on the trail. We met a gentleman here, who had come with his wife, and had intended to go and take the darshan on the day of lord Siva - next Monday. He told us he comes here every year, and this year, he’s got his wife along with him. Due to the severity of the climb though, she had gotten tired and a bit unwell, so they had decided to take refuge at the Bheem-Talai campsite. 

As we climbed up the steep slope after Bheem-Talai, we thought we saw a few tents which made up the next campsite called Kunsa, but we were so mistaken. Kunsa was supposed to be 3 kms away, with the trail going through multiple glacial crossings and steep climbs. There was one climb right after the Bheem-Talai campsite, when the rains started pounding down upon us. I reached the high point of the climb to see if this was Kunsa, but found two tents completely empty.

 

They were not occupied yet, but were pitched precariously on the edge of the valley, with the entire view available to anybody who would stay the night there. I ran into the tent to save myself from getting drenched, and enjoyed the views that the location offered. Franklin followed up on me within no time and we stopped for the rain to subside, having a chat about where Mahi and Preeti were. He told me that the guy who had come with his wife at Bheem-Talai told them of a cave right beside the campsite which was worth exploring, which they both went and explored for some time, hence the delay in climbing up. 

I was wondering where Kunsa was, as it was going to be a while before we crossed over Kunsa to Bheem-Dwar, the final campsite from where we would be attempting the summit. 

Another hard climb later, Kunsa came up on the horizon, all in clouds, as Franklin walked in front of me. There was hardly anybody over there, so instead of waiting to take a break, both of us decided to continue.

This was one of the prettiest campsites, where we would’ve loved to stay, had we gotten more time at hand. But, as they say - Mahadev listens to your wishes, as we were not aware then - that we would be staying the night there on the way back, and taking in all the pretty views around us. Also, just on the way out of Kunsa, we met an elderly guy from the local village, who was setting up his tent, to whom we requested to pass on a message to Mahi and Preeti, that we’ve gone ahead, so they should follow suit, and not wait here. 

It’s funny how mountains puzzle you. Just out of Kunsa, after walking for about a kilometer, after having crossed a few more glaciers that were coming down, we see a group of tents ahead of us, and we rejoice that - WOW - we may have just reached Bheem-Dwar!

 

Little did both of us know that first - that campsite wasn’t Bheem-Dwar, and second - there were two massive descents and climbs to reach those tents, after which another climb ensued before we could see the Bheem-Dwar campsite. Two descents and two climbs later, we reached those tents where we refreshed ourselves with tea and biscuits, amidst beauty around us that was unparalleled. There were these roots-like plants that grew out of the ground, which were orange in color, and which contrasted so nicely against the bright blue sky with white clouds which had emerged after the torrential downpour an hour earlier. 

A last climb up from here, and one could start seeing the few tents that were pitched at the Bheem-Dwar campsite. This campsite was the last one during this season, as the next one - Nain Sarovar was completely buried in snow, owing to the exceptionally high snowfall this year. Usually, people climb from Nain Sarovar to Shrikhand Mahadev via a ridge route which goes steadily up in gradations, but with the snow levels at such a high - the route was changed, and all were climbing straight up face to go directly to the base of Shrikhand Mahadev! 

The view from this pass of the pinnacle with Nain Sarovar campsite buried in snow, and majestic peaks surrounding the campsite was indeed a sight to behold! I and Franklin just stood there - mesmerized by the beauty around us. Clear skies provided the perfect backdrop to the mountains jutting out from the base, with glaciers flowing down along its multiple flanks, feeding into the gushing river that flowed all the way to Jaon village from where we started the hike. The colorful tents on the green meadows made a perfect campsite to just stay there, look at the beauty and meditate on what God had to offer to us as humanity!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Summit Day

I and Franklin occupied pretty much the first tent that we saw while going into the campsite, as we were both tired, and we wanted it to be easy for Mahi and Preeti to locate us, when they walked in. A good negotiated rate with the owner, which included meals and stay - and we were set for the day. After a while, a local guy came to greet us asking us about our whereabouts, our hiking experience and when and how we intend to go for the summit and back, with a last question - “do you need a guide?” 

We pushed him back by saying that we would decide once other members of our team arrived. While serving us tea post our arrival, the owner of the tents told us that the guy was a local from Jaon, and was accompanying a guy from Mumbai - in his fifties - who was also staying in the same tent beside us. They had planned to go up the slopes the next day early in the morning, and we were told that we could accompany him, as he knew the route well. Although there wasn’t any chance of wandering on the route (which seemed quite straight forward), we gladly accepted to tag along with him - more so - for company. We felt it’s always nice to be with the locals who narrate the stories and folklore of the region, which adds an extra tinge to the climbing. 

Mahi and Preeti walked in about two hours after us, we all had dinner and slept for the night, assuming that the next day - we would get up at around 3 am, to start climbing up the glaciers while the snow was still hard, as it takes literally thrice the effort when it becomes slushy, which in any case everybody has to encounter while coming down. It rained heavily throughout the night, and we were wondering if anybody would attempt the summit the next day. Due to our steep and arduous climb up from Thaati-Beel to Bheem-Dwar the previous day, we all slept like logs, and didn’t wake up till about 5 am! When I looked at my watch, I immediately peeped outside the tent, and saw the local guy walking away from the campsite with his Mumbai client beside him, clad in a pair of jeans and shirt! I shouted out to him, he saw me but he carried on. I was shocked at this treatment, as he was so friendly the day before, when he volunteered for us to go with him, so that everybody would have good company. I had also thought of paying him something, as we wouldn’t want his services for free, however, later I realized that as I hadn’t explicitly spoken about paying him, he must’ve thought - why to help somebody for free?

I woke up everybody and after a bit of deliberation, we decided to take off for the summit climb, although we knew we were late. People usually start at 3 or 4 am, and here we were - at around 6.30 pm, heading out as the sun has come up, but not upon us directly. 

From my previous experiences, I knew that once the sun is upon us, it is going to do two things - you are going to start getting extremely hot and sweaty, even though you are climbing a 70 degree glacier. And, two - the snow is going to go soft, which is going to make your foot go in a couple of feet - which is going to take much more energy that you usually would need. So, I set off at my pace without thinking much of the rest of the team as I DID NOT want to ascend in slushy snow because I knew that the descent was going to be in it. My experience during the Bhagirathi - II expedition was such that I had a shiver run through my spine. So, after crossing the 1st glacier, I climbed up to the Parvati Bagh campsite, with a massive and beautiful waterfall to my left. At the Parvati Bagh campsite, I had just started getting subjected to the sunshine, so I had to stop and take my snow goggles on. With my hat on, my snow cap on my ears, I put on the snow goggles, and carried on. The Shrikhand Mahadev shivling was visible from this place, which seemed quite some distance away.  

Within no time, I was at the base of the massive glacier which extended upward, at an angle of close to 70 degrees. This is when I started my ritual of climbing - make a mental note of a target, take 10 steps, wait for 5 breaths. Simple. The funny part (which has always been true in all my climbs until now) is that the target that I keep in front of me - a rock patch jutting out of the glacier, or a ridge to the right/left, always ends up being a temporary goal.

So, I looked up, saw a couple of rocks jutting out, and made a resolve to reach it before a certain point in time.

As I was entering a steep valley, more like a coulier, I was also mindful that I need to hydrate myself properly, plus I should ensure that I don’t have a fall. Two things I missed while climbing were my crampons and my ice axe, which were going to be provided to us during the Bali pass trek, and consequently nobody had gotten their own personal gear. As a result of the Bali Pass trek having gotten canceled, had I had a fall on this glacier, there was very little for me to arrest my fall. I only had my feet and my hands to dig in, to stop myself from hurling down the glacier. My hiking stick, which was helping me hiking up was going to be of no use to arrest my body hurling down. So, I ensured that I was safe, and also ensured that I didn't lose time. When I reached the rocks jutting out of the glacier, I saw a couple of people sitting on it, some of them being from Shimla whom I had met in Kali Ghati campsite. They were waiting for their teammates whom I had just passed on my way up. 

Once I reached this place, I took a break to firstly understand how much of a climb remains, and secondly, to hydrate and energize myself. I hated myself when due to my fumbling, half of the chocolate that I had fell in the gap between the glacier and the rock. Satisfying my hunger with just half of the chocolate, a few sips of water, I carried on. When I looked further up, I saw two more snowfields to cross, the first one at a gentle gradient, but the second one, just before reaching the Shivling, was another steep one. Climbing up, one step at a time, I reached the base of the second steeper snowfield and realized that the weather was going bad. A bit of rain, some snow, and I witnessed a miracle - a halo around the sun, which was playing hide and seek with the clouds, while the ice crystals in the air made up the magnificent halo around it. Perched at a precarious position, I took out my phone and shot a small video, mindful of the fact that neither I nor the phone should fall down. In my mother tongue, this is also called an “Indravajra” and it looks spectacular!

Another steep climb later, I was at the base of the massive 75 feet shivling. Couple of people were sitting on their backpacks or a simple plastic sheet, to avoid getting wet in the snow. Some were praying at the shivling, while some went around it to the other side to offer their prayers. As I was standing there, all mesmerized, looking at the massive rock shivling, I couldn’t help but recollect the tale that the five Kailash are the abodes of Lord Shiva, and I am looking at one - where the one and only lives - who is eternal - who is Adi Yogi - who is both the beginning and the end - who is called the lord of lords - Lord Mahadev! The other four abodes of lord Shiva are the Kailash Parvat in Tibet, Adi Kailash in Uttarakhand, and both Kinnaur Kailash and Mani Mahesh in the state of Himachal Pradesh. In all, three are in the same state, one in a different one, and one in a different country altogether. 

My mesmerized state was completely altered within a second by a fool who walked towards the shivling, while playing a Damru! I didn’t realize the gravity of his deeds then, but was completely taken aback by its consequence while descending the mountain! At the same time, I saw a man returning from the other side of the shivling, and I asked around. I was told that the other side is the front side, which is where the trek from Parvati Bagh ends, while climbing up via the Nayan Sarovar. I wanted to go and pray there, but was hesitant to take my shoes off, for the obvious reasons of frostbites. I had never ever walked barefoot on snow, and I had watched too many movies and documentaries which showcase what happens to your toes when they are exposed to freezing temperatures for a long duration. In any case the shoes and the socks were completely drenched, but still the climbing activity heated the feet up.

When I saw people around me, I saw everybody removing their shoes and circumnavigating the shivling. I recited the “Shiv SahastraNaam” thrice, as I always do in any place of workship that I visit, and just sat there for a bit, taking the feeling in, of sitting right next to the abode of lord Shiva, and a clear view of the Kartikeya (lord Shiva’s son) peak behind it. 

After a while, reluctantly, I took my shoes and socks off, and started walking towards the shivling. After offering prayers at the shivling, I decided to go around the shivling, and offer my prayers. On the way, I met a guy who couldn’t make it as it was just too cold! I could feel the numbing sensation on my feet within minutes of having started the circumnavigation, also called the pradakshina in Sanskrit. I just ignored it and continued walking around the shivling. With prayers on my mind, to keep my feet and toes intact, I walked on, with the shivling to my right. As much as I was a bit tense about the fate of my feet, I was stupid enough to record a video of the entire walk. During the walk, I looked to my left hand side, and I could see tiny specks of people climbing up the massive snow face. The inclination of the slope from this point was indeed scary, as I think it was almost 75 to 80 degrees. Thoughts of what I would do, if I slipped off this face crossed my mind. In normal circumstances, with snowshoes and an ice axe, arresting myself would’ve been easy, as taught to me during my BMC, and practiced by me during my numerous expeditions. However, the mere fact that I had neither of these - made a chill run up my spine. In the event of a fall, I would only have my feet and hands to arrest myself, and that too - bare feet! After that, one thing is certain - either my toes or my feet would need to be amputated.

Brushing aside all the negative thoughts, I carried on and all of a sudden, my left foot went knee-deep in the snow, and before I could think, I lost my balance a little bit. The slope to my left hand side was just a foot away, so I couldn’t really afford to lose my balance here. Plus, my foot hit a rock beneath the snow, and I feared it must’ve cut my foot, as it was pretty hard. Another thought crossed my mind - can I afford to have a cut on my foot? I really couldn’t, as I knew in extreme cold temperatures, the blood flow wouldn’t stop, and nobody needs to be told what happens when you have excessive blood flowing out of your body. I took a few more steps, and looked up - and I saw a person with folded hands, praying in front of the shivling, with red tags, prayer flags, and bells and tridents (trishuls) in front of him. I just briefly prayed standing there, and turned my back to go back to where my shoes were! 

With toes completely numb, and soles of my feet giving me a cushion-like feeling (which lasted for 2 months after I returned), I ran to the shoes. There was absolutely no sensation when I was pulling up my wet socks onto my feet, as I couldn’t even move my toes. Fright overtook me, as I thought if this frostbite was enough for me to lose my toes. Nevertheless, I pulled up my socks, tied the laces as tight as possible, all the while trying to move my toes, but couldn’t feel anything. 

One last look at the holy abode, and I started my way down, breaking trail on a patch where nobody had descended from. Digging my heels to ensure that I don’t slip, I sped down until the time I was interrupted by a guy coming up who asked me angrily, “Who played the Damru?”

Return to base

 

Partly sliding down the glacier, I had barely managed to climb down from the Parvati Bagh campsite when a heavy downpour began. Instead of getting in one of the tents near the massive waterfall, I continued onto our campsite, getting completely drenched. So much so that I hardly had any clothes left for the return journey from BheemDwar to Jaun. A hot cup of tea with some biscuits warmed me up and I just put my feet up in the air, sipping on to the tea with the splendid view outside.

 

My teammates arrived in a bit and we had a hearty dinner followed by another cup of tea as practically nobody had eaten anything during the whole day. Mahi had gotten a few parathas packed as a packed lunch, which he and Franklin had, but other than that - we all were on water and chocolate and a pack of Frooti - which is a mango drink you get in India. 

 

We prayed for sun the next day, otherwise it would’ve been a problem. I would’ve had to pull out a pant which I had worn a few days back and use it, as I didn’t have any clothes left on me. My snow climbing pants having given way, I was in a soup! On a pee break at night, I got a classic shot of our tents, all lit up against the dark sky. 

Luckily, we had good sunshine, and all our stuff got dried out, with the shoes also having gotten dried almost 90%. With all that we had climbed the previous day, there was absolutely no way that we would’ve hiked all the way down to the base village of Jaon. Where we would be staying was kept fluid, as we thought it best to decide on the fly, depending upon the place with the best view. After hiking for some time, we took a call between Kunsha or Kali Ghati, from a night stay perspective.

 

Kali Ghati is mostly in clouds, so there won’t be much of a view, plus it involved a good strenuous hike up from the BheemTal campsite. So, we decided to stay put in Kunsha, where the valley opened up right outside our tent. A bit of a tiff between Mahi and Preeti got initiated in this section of the hike, which got all sorted only after reaching Rampur. 

One awesome treat that we got at Kunsha was piping hot soup, followed by coffee and Pakodas! Man, they were so good that we hogged on them till we were full, with no space left in our stomachs for dinner. Drinking the soup when it was raining outside was satisfaction at a very different level.

 

Kunsha was a very pretty location, with tents perched onto a location from where one could see both ends of the trail, both going towards Kali Ghati as well as Bheem Dwar. The rains were followed by soothing sunlight being provided by the setting sun, which led to a magnificent rainbow which took our breath away! We all took a lot of photographs of the fading light, rainbow and the rain-soaked mountainside. A night’s stay at Kunsha was followed by the grueling descent to the base of the mountain at Jaon. The descent was so much that a climb in the middle to Kali Ghati seemed welcome. 

 

 

 

The return was equally scenic with us descending through a trail going through a misty forest, with a few interesting people we met on the way. Many sadhus, ascetics and the likes - some scantily dressed, some bare feet, some dressed like lord Shiva, some in groups, some chanting his name, some carrying huge trishuls - I could see a variety of people coming up.

 

I was only concerned about the people who were going up without shoes, but one of them told me that this has been a ritual for them every year, so it won’t matter. Maybe, for mortals like us, things like frostbite happens, but for people like them, they must’ve gathered enough energy within their body by means of meditation and penance, so that frostbite doesn’t affect them. One always hears such stories in the Himalaya. I was literally waiting to get a glimpse of the bridge that we had crossed on the way up. This was because after the bridge there was hardly any descent. The descent did take a toll on everybody’s knees. 

 

And, as I reached the ashram where tea and water is served, it started raining. I carried on till a place where a local group from Rampur had set up a langar, where after a while Franklin came up behind me, and we waited till Mahi and Preeti walked in. By the time they came, it had gotten dark and had started raining. Still, we thought we could go down and call the same guy who dropped us off a few days ago, in the hope that he would drop us off at Rampur. Preeti was utterly exhausted when she returned, and Mahi gave her company while they descended the mountain. We carried on the trail in the hope that we could reach Jaon village, however we were told that a major landslide had happened on the trail, and there was no way of going forward at night, that too in rains. So, we stopped for the night at a langar which had arrangements to doze off in the tent, along with food. The food of Kadhi-chawal and Roti seemed too good after such a long hike out from the woods. 

An early morning walk to catch the 6 am bus to Rampur, a bumpy but scenic ride to Rampur, cleaning up and resting at Mahi’s friend’s place, and Franklin’s travel expertise took over my trip! After going through all permutations and combinations of when can we reach Delhi so that I could take my flight, and he could take his train, he came up with a splendid option - 

• To reach Shimla and explore it for a bit
• Travel on the Shimla - Kalka Toy train
• Reach Kalka just in time so that we could board the next train to Delhi within the next 10 minutes
• Rest for the night and arrive in Delhi - all ready for the next onward journey!

 

 

 

 

At Delhi, we celebrated the success of the trek by sumptuously hogging at all the known famous places in Chandni Chowk, including the Parathe wali Gali, followed by the famous Jalebi wala (we were his first customers that day)! The icing  on the cake was my colleague, friend, and last year’s trekking partner, Rajib-Da, joined us for the celebrations after a successful hike up Vaishnodevi himself!

 

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