Gr8 Lakes of Kashmir----My encounter with Beauty Bliss and Nirvana----Day 3: Nichnai (11,500ft) To Vishnasar and Kishansar Twin Lakes (12000 Ft) Via Nichnai Pass (13500 feet)

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.

Yesterdays briefing had made us aware of the long day's walk in store for us today. The good news was that our bodies had acclimatized to the altitude quite wel and barring some cough n headache troubles all 32 were hale and hearty. Inspite of insufficient sleep, I did get up at 0430 hrs to complete the morning chores but took a catnap again after tea. Every morning after we got up, we needed to roll up and stuff our sleeping bag into its cover.This seemingly simple little ritual involved literally fighting to stuff that big thing into its small cover..after the ritual there was no extra need for a warm up....Best ritual to start your day... You don't feel the cold and all your body muscles are up and working.

From today onwards Suman had appealed to us to unpitch our tents to save time for the porters and also help us beat the cold. We had appointed Santosh to listen and understand how to do it( he being the JUNIOR in terms of Himalayan Experience) when Suman was taking class yesterday ( Me n Aashish  were busy clicking ---Naughty Students of the class ).How much we under estimated Santosh...even he had not been paying attention( naughtier than us) ... so we were struggling a bit which prompted Deepesh (ATL) to cheekily comment about our lack of attention the other evening...Anyways, we somehow managed with little help from Divya... After breakfast of coffee , cornflakes and collecting our packed lunch, we started the long walk..

You start the trek keeping the tents on your left and the stream on the right. Our first destination was Nichnai Pass --an ascent of 2000 feet at a distance of 2-3 km.








We started enthusiastically and enjoyed the snow covered earth. The snow was much much thicker here 

Immediately after walking 100 mtr we came across our first "SNOW BRIDGE". It is nothing but a thick snow cover and a water stream flowing below it...the whole thing supports on the thick snow. 

The key to cross it is to literally run over that portion so that at any given point  minimum  weight is on the snow. Ofcourse it is easier said than implemented simply because you see and hear the stream flowing below and inspite of yourself, you keep thinking in your mind about how cold the water will be. Myself and Santosh quickly negotiated the section without help wondering about this natural phenomenon..

There was Suman and our guide Chauhan to help the ones who were not so sure about the footing. I remember Suman literally dragging one of the pune Girl ...but thats how you need to cross it....You can't help but remember the famous  Gabbar Singh dialogue from Sholay " जो डर गया , समझो मर  गया "

After negotiating the snow bridge and subsequent snow covered floor, we hit the brown earth covered with loose stones of all sizes and shapes. It starts ascending from here on and our pace slows down considerably. The scene around us is continuously changing for the better and thats what keeps us going throughout, making us forget the strain on the calf muscles.




 

The loose rocks and brown earth beneath reminds us of our beloved Sahyadri terrain. Except the Altitude, this stretch till Nichnai pass can easily be termed as a Sahyadri trek. Even the mules and horses tread cautiously.

 While climbing this stretch I noticed a beautiful Camouflage of Sheep and Stones....

.Its nice to reflect back and comfort yourself that " If you have climbed so much we can climb the rest as wel"   

 

 Nichnai pass is somewhat deceptive. You feel like you have reached the top and then you see at a distance some more climb and one more pass...

After ascending for some time we came across one more stream and we walked past it keeping its bank on the left hand side. 

After climbing for another 15-20 minutes we hit a snow patch again and a stream flowing beneath the snow on left. The rocks were perfect for a break and those who were in the lead waited for the rest to reach the spot. 

Nichnai Pass was still not in sight but our guide reassured us that its another 20-30 minutes ascend max.

While ascending from the stream we noticed on our left the source of the stream...A small lake...Which in turn was fed by the Melting Glacier above....A recurring theme throughout the trek

Finally after an etrenity we reached the Nichnai Pass at 13500 feet. The view from top was breathtaking

Our whole team took a wel deserved break

. Many took a quick cat nap while other used this as their Lunch break. 

It was extremely serene , calm , vast with valleys on either side ( hence the name PASS) 

Since we were not much hungry we decided to postpone our lunch break. We had some biscuits and Chikki and chocolate as a small snack and after taking numerous photos we started our descend. In the back of our mind we were happy that the climb for the day was over, little did we realized that out of 12 kms we had completed hardly 2-3 kms.

Immediately on the other side of pass was a descend through the snow...quite a steep one at that and though the snow cover was thick, the blazing sun on top make it a very soft and at times slushy. We had great time descending this patch.

After descending almost 500 feet quickly through the snow, the descend became gentler but the sight ahead made us gasp....It was beautiful no doubt but it was endless... We needed to walk on and on and on...

The Lake was no where in sight meaning more WLAKING

The path was littered with beds of many many wild flowers  growing on a very very thin cover of soil....

After covering a distance of another 3-4 kms in this region and gradually loosing some more height we came across a flat land and few shepherd huts and you guessed it right , A STREAM.....

It was ideal location for lunch break in terms of time of the day,location and the call for calories from our body... We could not resist putting our feet in the stream......Its so deceptive.....You have a Noon Sun blazing over you, you are sweating from the exertion and when you except the water to be mild, its iciness hits you like sharp pins ....Its extremely refreshing after you endure the initial thermal shock....

We complete our lunch quickly and take a quick nap waiting for the others.... We feel like staying here and putting up tents then and there itself but its not to be the end of our walk....

We somehow pulled ourselves up and crossing the stream on boulders started the last leg of our journey... a good 3-4 km more.

This walk initially was characterized by small small boulders which were interesting to traverse but slightly difficult on legs .....

 The terrain flattens out into a vast vast endless meadow , its getting hotter but atleast the walk is easy on legs, only trying out our patience.

After almost 2-2.5 kms of meadow walking you take a left towards a small hillock... you can either circumvent it if you are too tired or climb it if in a hurry to finish the trek... I chose to experiment and hence climbed it  following Rupinder jee while santosh and his small group did not want to take a chance in terms of taking the wrong path and coming back, so continued on the slightly longer route.

Once on a hillock I got the glimpse of the most coveted view..... our CAMPSITE and Vishnasar lake....though too far off

Though the campsite was visible, it was long away. Even the first view of The Vishnasar Lake was deceptive. It does not reveal the hugeness of the lake at all. Anyways after crossing the streams at multiple levels and taking many detours we finally reached the Camps to be welcomed by Tang ( this time Orange flavored).We settled into our tents for a while but it was very very hot inside so started exploring the campsite.The grapevine was that the next day would be a rest day....It originated from the leaflet we were given at the start. The reality was that the rest day or a spre day is kept to compensate for the vagaries of Nature...
Since there was no apparant indication of rain or bad weather,Suman said the decision would be take early morning tomorrow....Till then for all practical purposes we would be proceeding to Gadsar tomorrow.What it meant was that we needed to explore Vishnasar Lake today itself.
After munching some popcorns ,me rajesh parikshita and chinmaya alongwith Pradip da and aashish decided to explore Vishnasar lake.




We had absolutely no clue what was in store for us...when we climbed the small hillock which was preventing the full view of the lake, the reality struck us...Everyone was spontaneously  WOW...It was one of the best Lakes I had seen so far...no doubt ...no comparison with anything......

It was absolutely serene and calm.The evening Sunrays falling on the peak  and snow were creating different hues...We just went berserk with photographs.... Different angle ,different composition... but it was not enough

I tried the panorama and stitch assist mode to completely capture the lake and mountain....It was beautiful

The Glacier feeding the LAKE

 Once again, sitting here it dawned to me why the sages and yogis chose Himalaya as their favorite destination for "तपश्चर्या ". Its absolute NIRVANA.

Just to get the feel of Peacefulness around us , all of us decided to be absolutely QUIET for 10 minutes. Aashish being Aashish , decided to stay away from us knowing fully wel that 10 minutes is too long a time to stay quiet....


It was divine 10 minutes....Absolute Divinity...

The fading light brought us back to reality from our revelry and we headed back to the campsite.

The Campsite bathed in Golden was a site to behold...

We returned back to know that there won't be a rest day tomorrow and we would head for Gadsar Lake.

Tomorrow would be the toughest of all days in the trek as we would climb to Highest point at 13750 feet. Another long long day was in store for us. By now we were clever enough not to worry  and take things as they come. So after  a healthy dinner and again Limited EDITION Sweet dish, we retired for the day. Me n Aashish had a backlog of sleep to complete and were hoping for a peaceful night.

To Be Continued.....