A Trek To Remember- Untouched Himalayas

The traveler was active; He went strenuously in search of people, of adventure, of experience.

The tourist is passive; He expects interesting things to happen to him. He goes sight-seeing.

 - Daniel J. Boorstin

With huge defeats in three consecutive football matches, getting relegated of the tournament (local league) and after being dismissed by the office, all I had was a little last month’s salary and a plethora of questions in my mind– Where had all the motivation disappeared that I once wore on my sleeve?  Nothing is impossible....... Is this a reality or a myth? Why was I feeling defeated all the time?

 With an undecided destination on my mind and for escaping my reality I took a bus to Shimla from my home town, the capital city of India, New Delhi.

Next morning I woke up in my hotel room with the loud noise of some random music on the radio being played at the hotel reception and there I noticed a bunch of bikers, sitting and chattering away to glory. Being a travel enthusiast myself I was curious to know about the places these bikers had visited, so I approached them in the common eating area and started talking to them.

After the departure of the motorcycle group, I recalled my college days back in 2007 when I had planned the same trek these bikers had accomplished..... “Shrikhand Mahadev”.

 I now connected all the dots and told myself that life has given me a second chance and the MOUNTAINS ARE CALLING.

Without further delay, I started my journey and reached Rampur Bushahr 128km from Shimla where all necessary things for the trek were available(medical kits, glucose, and dry fruits), thanks to bags which kept the necessary stuff safe from rains and damage.

Shrikhand Mahadev trek is to reach the 72ft High Rock Shivalinga (according to Hindu mythology it is one of the five Kailash) at 18570 fts above the sea level in Kullu, Himachal Pradesh. As per Times of India newspaper, Srikhand Mahadev is one of the toughest, ascends through alpine meadows beyond snowlines and is 72 km (round trip) which takes 5-7 days to complete. This trek opens only once a year & for 15-20 days (depending on the weather) so it can be considered as Virgin Himalayas almost negligible footfall, It starts from a village named Jaon, 3 km trek from there is Singhad which is the last habitation where medical is done and certified if the person is fit for trekking by the Himachal Pradesh Government official. As it was taking sometime I sat with group locals who where sharing facts and stories about this trek one of them Mr. Thakur told me that “I have seen tough people not completing this trek and it is strictly not made for people who are physically ill or weak hearted”.

When I started from Delhi for me there was no destination ............all I had in mind was to finish my journey .......the journey which had no destination, but suddenly I had an aim to achieve and a peak to conquer.

After being certified as fit for the trek it made me realize that playing football even if I lost helped me attain this advantage over other who failed at the first place itself. I was happy and calm first day my goal was to reach Thachru 12km uphill from Singhad. In the middle of the forest and beautiful Landscapes, the river flowing by your side the entire experience was like access to heaven. While walking and watching lush green deodar trees all around initially kept me unaware of the increasing difficulty.  This stretch is known as “Dandi ki dhar” (as straight as a stick) due to its elevation angle of almost 70 degrees which later on made trekking hard to accomplish which made take periodic stops for rest and adapting to the climate. I was getting exhausted every few meters I walked because of elevation ......and I thanked God for hiking poles and rain coats. Fluctuating drizzles did not allow me to remove my raincoat and if it was not raining I was sweating due to 8-10 hours of trekking my entire body was wet & I started shivering at the time of dusk as the temperature was dropping (11300 fts). I felt feverish and frantic at the same time my body was unable to move with the same intensity, it was already dark and I was told to reach Thachru before night or I might get lost & needless to say that there was always a threat of wild animals. While climbing uphill as there was no way back. I kept on moving with my hiking poles in one hand and torch in another, unexpectedly I heard human voices which gave me a sigh of relief. Somehow I managed to complete my first level which was painful, demanding and pushing.

I quickly changed my wet clothes, ate some food and sat near campfire chatting about my experience with the person who was doing this trek for the second time Mr. Abhishek Yadav.

He told me “anyone who has reached Thachru he/she has 60% chances of completing the trek”. With this motivation and realizing that I have to trek for 8-10hrs tomorrow, I entered my camp and slept like a baby after many many years....

My morning alarm was the chirping of birds and sound of river splashing between huge rocks making its way downhill, it was the most satisfying and exhilarating experience of my life. My today’s target was reaching Bheemdwari (approx 3800 ft) 11 km. I started at 5:30 am so that I could reach Bhimdwari before dark. This trek first takes you to Kali Ghati from Thachru which is 3km climb uphill at an elevation of 3900 mi. While I was halfway, I encountered a change in vegetation around me. There were no big trees, all I could see was extravagant green carpet and some rare Himalayan flowers and picturesque view of Kullu Himalayan range.

Such unusual and awe-inspiring incidents were happening with me, around me that I was spellbound. Yes, I was tired could not gaze at these mountains for long while trekking because there was a continuous threat tumbling down my spine from these steep mountains as when in danger no one dares to save you because trying saving someone is putting your own life at an equal risk. Beside that climb up generates a feeling that you are in the lap of Mother Nature. The panoramic view of Himalayas captivates the spectators with its jaw-dropping beauty. There is a small Temple dedicated to Kali (Goddess of Power). And from Kali Ghati I trekked 1 km downhill towards Bheem Talai, moreover, after walking 3 km I reached Kunsa Valley a beautiful Green Valley with astonishing beauty and Himalayan weather. Base camp I.e.  Bheem dewari was just 3km from Kaunsa Valley which will take another two hours to reach.   This 3km were entirely different from what I got used to with on this trek, the surprise was that I had to walk on Glaciers connecting one mountain to another. This picturesque and exciting landscape with deep gorges, big waterfalls with streams flowing down through the Glaciers, gives a bit of thrill. Adrenaline level was too high!!! My base camp was near and I could see Bhim Dwari as a huge grazing round surrounded by waterfalls. It is said that ‘Pandavas’ stayed here during their exile.

I reached on time and the weather was good. This picture above describes the view from my tent, I met few trekkers and we enjoyed that day. We drank a lot of water available naturally.  Now we were in a group so we all went to a place named Laal Pani and as the name suggests the water that came through mountains was red in color. There are a lot of fascinating stories, but the most common were that one of the Pandavas named Bhim killed a demon there since then that color was water is red.

Suddenly there was change in the weather and we were told by the local potters that due to weather there will be no permanent stoppage or place to rest between Bhim Dwari(Current Basecamp) and Shrikhand Mahadev(Final destination)  tomorrow if anyone starts trekking he should be back before dark on the same day(16Km up-down). According to HP government officials, this last level (8 Km) was the toughest of all. There was a huge drop in oxygen level (unbelievable), no water and Death rate is too high. It was considered as a miracle if someone gets back after sunlight or if he gets lots. So, I decided to move out of my camp in midnight i.e. 3 am (Temperature -1 to -3 deg.) so that I could reach back by 6 pm according to my speed of trekking.

3 am I started trekking with the group I met at Bhim Dwari, the best part was we had provision to submit all our luggage in the camps itself (as we have to reach back no matter what) and that can be recovered post reaching the camp. All I took along with me was dry fruits, water bottle, sachets of glucose. Reaching Parvati Bagh(approx 14000fts) was our first Priority before sunrise. On the way there were three magnificent waterfalls, with a continuous uphill trekking for around 3 hours we reached Parvati Bagh. The view from above was breathtaking. From Huge deodar trees (Jaon to Thachru) to green grass carpets and rare flowers (Kali Ghati to Parvati Bagh) now what I could witness was third form of the Himalayas now there was just snow and the gigantic Rocky Mountains.  

With a little rest, I started my trek following the yellow marks on the rocks, there are chances that one can miss these yellow marks and fail to remember the path due to clouds accumulation around you making it difficult to see or by both mental and physical fatigue. Walking on these Rocky Mountains of Himalayas and snow it was an ultimate pleasure and a dream comes true. Honestly, one realizes its beauty once he reaches back home safely at that moment of time I was just thinking about finishing it & reaching the top. As there was just snow all around and I had no water left in my bottle a stranger gave me his bottle of water and said there is a pond (Nain Sarovar) after few minutes of walk and I got thrilled to see a pond at such height. My eyes shone with blue color. It was more than heaven stupendous astonishing as it looked like a blue colored eye(true to its name Nain Sarovar).  Very few people have actually reached this place, now I had another 5 km to trek from 14000 fts to 18000 fts vertical. I quickly refilled my water bottle and started I had never walked on snow like this before. It was tremendously burdensome, tuff and slippery.  Reaching Shrikhand takes crossing moraines, small stone tunnels, and seven small peaks. In this amazing trek, one feels as if he or she is walking on the clouds, close to the sky. Everyone was climbing the way reptiles crawled (like a lizard) using both hand and legs simultaneously. This was the first time I asked myself that did I make a mistake? I was in dual thoughts and scared as I saw people quitting due to less oxygen and tiredness. Sitting on a rock trying to get my breath back and trying to eat  (I was unable to chew due to dryness in the mouth as there was no water only ice everywhere) dry fruits for much-required energy, I saw this one legged Sage coming back from Shrikhand Mahadev with a smile on his face.

I had got my answer and I began to climb these huge rocks at 16000fts with half breath, absolutely no water, extremely cold and no Sun. Drinking water from melting snow & eating ice was my first-time experience to quench my thirst. I was at 16000 fts and I was close to my destination. Now more than energy, passion or enthusiasm it was my willpower that was dragging me.

Bhim baiee was the place I sat with some fellow local trekkers who told me why rocks and stones piled over each other (as shown in the picture above) everywhere at this height with some marks on them. It is said that Bhim (Pandava) once wanted to construct stairs to heaven from here but could not complete it due to time constraint. When observed, I was amazed to see that it actually looked like a rocky stairway. There were situations where I had to jump from one cliff to another, one wrong jump or slip could be fatal. That was the closest I got to my final exit. It was a sudden realization what survival instincts are.

From here I could see my destination and now I was thrilled. I felt a gush of new found energy and happiness of the highest order with no pain.  Half an hour away from my Target, finally, huge rocks stand in the shape of ‘Shivling’. I had reached the hill top at 18570fts I was standing above the clouds. I tasted success after a long time... it was incredible and beyond words.I  could not explain how I reached there, thrills and chills moved me inside out, also I could feel the magnanimity mountains all around.

As oxygen level is almost negligible up there so one cannot stay there for long and I had another mission to accomplish i.e. reaching the base camp before night.... so I started my journey again with the flavour of victory and satisfaction.

“The best view comes after the hardest climb

And the most difficult roads lead to the most beautiful destinations”

This trek made me realize a lot of thing about life. It came as an achievement to me. I felt calm in my mind heart and soul. The huge Himalayas made me aware of how small I was and even smaller were my problems and my ego.  Remember that crippled Sage whom I met during my Uphill Trek, incidentally I met him again at the base camp, he smiled at me and asked: ”how was your experience?” I told him it was great fun then he said: “Fun is an inferior word; It was Paramanand (Bliss- perfect happiness and great joy)”.

One just has to find the way and keep moving things will change and you will accomplish whatever you desire!  When your physical strength departs.... keep moving with your mental strength and when it starts vanishing... it is the willpower that takes over and you end up reaching somewhere you never imagined reaching. Just believe in yourself!

        “When everything feels like an uphill struggle. Just think of the view from the top.”