AGAR FIRDAUS BAR RU-E-ZAMIN AST, HAMI AST O- HAMI AST O- HAMI AST.
IF THERE IS HEAVEN ON EARTH, IT IS HERE, IT IS HERE IT IS HERE.
To start our days trek , we needed to cross the stream and circumnavigate the mountain directly in front of us . What made it interesting for me was that the path consisted of rocks, boulders etc.. A terrain we were more comfortable with than Zig Zags and Switch Backs.
The weather surprisingly was cloudy and foggy.Looked like in all probability we would be running out of luck and we would be required to use that poncho we had been so religiously carrying throughout...
The view of the valley and the tree line was magnificent from here with,mist coming up from below reminding me of Mahabaleshwar or Harisshchandra Gad or for that matter any Sahyadri trek in monsoon...
So it was back to boring switch backs till we completed ascend to the second ridge...by now the mules n horses had overtaken us inspite of taking a longer route...
After a rigorous ascent of 45 minutes or so, we hit a small snow line and atop was jazh pass.... We (rather our guide Chauhan) had strict warning not to start the descent till all were atop and group photo was taken...
This gave us ample time to
relax, take a nap, click endless photos ,
try to locate twin lakes and our camp site,
sing songs, listen to some classics on mobile....though I'm not very amenable to music amidst natural surroundings while trekking ,we had loads of time to kill
Now this was not the first time we were on the snow this trek but i don't know what triggered it but suddenly most of us were throwing snow at each other just like kids.... age group of 11 to 48 and all were making snow balls and hurling at each other with bare hands not remotely concern about snow bite or catching cold... what an amazing 15 minutes we had... Dr. charu and Dr. rupinder were entrusted with the job of shooting us.....
The cloud cover on the other side of the pass was pretty thick when we had arrived but as the sun progressed ,it was melting bit by bit , giving us the glimpse of the twin lakes, the Harmukh peak and the steep steep descent awaiting us....The hide and seek game of clouds was a challenge for photographers... testing his patience for the perfect shot.....
The twin lAKES WERE STILL NOT CLEARLY VISIBLE..
This trail must be in use very frequently... there are so many vantage points for clicking pictures....Descent was getting a bit boring inspite of the fact that we were taking as many shortcuts and straight line descents as possible...even the heat started getting to us as we were loosing altitude very fast....
After descending for god only knows how many feet, we came across a small stream.....what a relief it was....the water was refreshingly cold and me santosh aashish who were not too far from each other decided to have our packed lunch there itself... we were joind by Aparna mam...When you are with Aashish photo shoot cannot be too far behind...so we had our group click....After filling our water bottles and washing our hands n face as much as possible we hit the dirt trail once again....
After a descent of 15-20 minutes we landed on a small valley and to our utter shock our campsite was on the other side of the small hillock... Enough was enough and we just collapsed on the soft lush green earth ... even with blazing sun on top and no tree to cover us , I had a good power nap with my rucksack as a pillow....what a great feeling it was....नीचे जमिन और उपर आसमान …लहराति हवा और थका भागासा मैं
After a nice power nap and realizing that we have to reach the campsite, me n santosh started to climb the last hill for the day and probably the entire trek....
The campsite from top of the hill looked beautiful besides the lake....our fellow trekkers from earlier batch had their rest day today and we shall have ours the next day....
IF THERE IS HEAVEN ON EARTH, IT IS HERE, IT IS HERE IT IS HERE.
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| Heart Shaped Nandkol.... Looking from top |
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| Nandkol on the left and Gangbal on right |
Five days in wilderness and surely the fatigue was setting in.. After a while on a day's trek, the vast meadows,un-ending valleys, wild flowers, streams were slowly losing their value....We needed something different
We were told that the major climbing was over but while briefing yesterday night about todays trek, Suman dropped a bombshell...Today again we will need to go through the rigors of climbing to 13500 feet for Jazz Pass and then descend to 11500 feet to reach the campsite of Twin Lakes Nankol and Gangbal . The only incentive ( if one can call it that) was that tomorrow would be a rest day as Weather God had been extremely kind to us , providing tailor made weather all throughout..
To start our days trek , we needed to cross the stream and circumnavigate the mountain directly in front of us . What made it interesting for me was that the path consisted of rocks, boulders etc.. A terrain we were more comfortable with than Zig Zags and Switch Backs.
I managed to click early morning hues of sunrays ...
The weather surprisingly was cloudy and foggy.Looked like in all probability we would be running out of luck and we would be required to use that poncho we had been so religiously carrying throughout...
We started after the usual routine of 0530-0630-0700......Surprisingly Santosh, me and the Bangaluru gang of Chinmaya, Parikshita and Rajesh move ahead. Its back to what we have been doing for last five days ....Go up and down till we reach the next set of lakes.
Immediately after the mild n gentle climb to reach the top of a hillock we see the trail full of boulders...actually you can't call it a trail ...its boulder hopping and each one makes his own route...the biggest advantage is that you gain height quickly.
Also , your attention is on the next boulder and in general continuously in finding the shortest and easiest route which keeps your mind off the strain of climbing...The downside is that the boulder jumping is a bit harsh on the knees....
It was fun finding our way through.... We were taking usual breaks for clicking photoes ,admring the view, soaking in the excellent cloudy ,misty cool weather which was sheltering from the sun while we were ascending...
We reached the top of first ridge fairly quickly and had one more break cum photo session at a stone structure resembling an entrance....All of us had goo modelling time... the bengaluru trio for some reason were very much attracted towards my old n out of fashion Ray Ban shades and had their photos clicked with it.....I was wondering..."what's with today's generation...You cannot fathom what will interest them...
By the time we completed the photo shoot others had reached the spot one by one and we dutifully vacated the narrow space for them to rest and moved on. The Pattern was still the same for one more ridge and we continued gaining altitude quickly.....
At this point only we were joined by one of the guides who for some reason deviated us from the boulders and got us on a pony trail....the moment realized where we have landed and what laid ahead of us, I frantically shouted at the gang below in general and Aashish in particular to go up as much as possible before joining the trail, knowing fully wel how much boring and tiring those Zig Zags were going to be...
So it was back to boring switch backs till we completed ascend to the second ridge...by now the mules n horses had overtaken us inspite of taking a longer route...
After a rigorous ascent of 45 minutes or so, we hit a small snow line and atop was jazh pass.... We (rather our guide Chauhan) had strict warning not to start the descent till all were atop and group photo was taken...This gave us ample time to
relax, take a nap, click endless photos ,try to locate twin lakes and our camp site,
 |
| Campsite in Orange alongside the Nandkul LAke |
sing songs, listen to some classics on mobile....though I'm not very amenable to music amidst natural surroundings while trekking ,we had loads of time to kill
Now this was not the first time we were on the snow this trek but i don't know what triggered it but suddenly most of us were throwing snow at each other just like kids.... age group of 11 to 48 and all were making snow balls and hurling at each other with bare hands not remotely concern about snow bite or catching cold... what an amazing 15 minutes we had... Dr. charu and Dr. rupinder were entrusted with the job of shooting us.....
The cloud cover on the other side of the pass was pretty thick when we had arrived but as the sun progressed ,it was melting bit by bit , giving us the glimpse of the twin lakes, the Harmukh peak and the steep steep descent awaiting us....The hide and seek game of clouds was a challenge for photographers... testing his patience for the perfect shot.....
After an eternity and Chauhan getting extremely restless, we finally had all 32 on top at Jazh Pass .... A good group photo in the form of souvenir later we started our descent....
We had absolutely no clue about the distance and the campsite from top was looking deceptively close....The trail was narrow initially with full of loose rocks n scree.We heard Chauhan grumbling to Suman about how difficult it would have been to take everyone down if it would have rained.....but the weather was near perfect...unbelievably perfect rather with clear sunshine the moment we started descending ....
The twin lAKES WERE STILL NOT CLEARLY VISIBLE..
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| Nandkol Lake |
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| Gangabal Lake |
This trail must be in use very frequently... there are so many vantage points for clicking pictures....Descent was getting a bit boring inspite of the fact that we were taking as many shortcuts and straight line descents as possible...even the heat started getting to us as we were loosing altitude very fast....
After descending for god only knows how many feet, we came across a small stream.....what a relief it was....the water was refreshingly cold and me santosh aashish who were not too far from each other decided to have our packed lunch there itself... we were joind by Aparna mam...When you are with Aashish photo shoot cannot be too far behind...so we had our group click....After filling our water bottles and washing our hands n face as much as possible we hit the dirt trail once again....
After a descent of 15-20 minutes we landed on a small valley and to our utter shock our campsite was on the other side of the small hillock... Enough was enough and we just collapsed on the soft lush green earth ... even with blazing sun on top and no tree to cover us , I had a good power nap with my rucksack as a pillow....what a great feeling it was....नीचे जमिन और उपर आसमान …लहराति हवा और थका भागासा मैं
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| Campsite |
After a nice power nap and realizing that we have to reach the campsite, me n santosh started to climb the last hill for the day and probably the entire trek....
The campsite from top of the hill looked beautiful besides the lake....our fellow trekkers from earlier batch had their rest day today and we shall have ours the next day....
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