Tell someone you are
headed to Kashmir and the first thing they will ask you – “Is it safe?”
A trip here last year convinced me it was and when a friend mentioned The Great Lakes Trek, I went
ahead and registered.
As the trek dates came
closer, I started to worry about my fitness level, my preparation was really
bad and I was not sure if I would complete the trek. I was constantly motivated
and encouraged by friends. Finally when the DAY arrived I decided to give it a
shot. The worst that could happen would be that I might have to return without
completing the trek.I was going with five of my friends and all through the
flight I kept warning them about the possibility of them carrying me back.
After a day’s stop
over at Srinagar, the group reported at the camp set up 3 kms before Sonamarg.
Since the tents were already set up all I had to do was choose one, sit back
wait for others to join. Small hilllock was explored in the meantime. Other
than the fantastic view of snow capped mountains and distant valleys, we also
got to watch some birds in action. The stream close to our camp site worked as
a bird bath, it was amusing to watch yellow-breasted greenfinch enjoy a dip in
the water every now and then, russet sparrow juvenile would chirp not stop till
the parent returned with feed.
A lone stone chat appeared from no where,
allowed me a record click and disappeared the way it came.
As trekkers trickled
in, hot pokodas were served and thus began the journey to paradise. The night was spent star gazing as a meteoroid shower was expected. Spirits and energy were high, conversations continued till
late night.
The next day was
supposed to be a 2 hours climb to Shekdur, followed by descent. I was dreading
this part, after all it would tell me how fit I was.
Huffing and puffing I
made it through the first 30 mins realised that it wasn't so bad. The climb was
steep initially, after a while it was a gradual ascent. The high altitude made its presence felt; even a simple walk felt like an uphill. The views were breath taking.
The path started as
meadows dotted with nomad huts , grazing horses and sheep, it then gave way
for Chinar trees whose leaves looked like that of maple, and then we walked
along the Nachnai River crossing small streams along the way. While some of us
hopped on rocks to avoid getting wet, some took a direct dip in the streams.
The camp for the day was
along Nachnai river, since we reached by 2 pm we had plenty of time to explore
and relax. The pass that we had to conquer the next day looked like a tiny dot
at a distance.
While some entertained
themselves by playing Antakshari, Prasad and I walked around trying to find
birds. The white capped water redstart didn't think we had enough exercise for the day and made us walk
around quite a lot just to get a good look at it. Finally when we managed to
identify its territory, we found a spot to sit and watched it feed and sing.
And when that disappeared behind the rocks, we noticed a tiny brown bird camouflaged
beautifully, walking daintily along the edges. Slightest of movement would send
it hiding behind a rock. We later figured that it was a brown dipper. The other
interesting sighting was a falcon, though it was very brief it was exciting enough
to keep us occupied.
We started early the
next day (at least by my standards). While it was cold when we started, layers
of warm clothes were discarded with a short time. The start was not pretty as
we walked past sheep pen we covered our nose, tried as much as possible to
avoid stepping on sheep droppings. Of course when none of that helped we just
cursed and moved on.
Once we got past the Nachnai pass the walk
turned out to be like a stroll in the gardens.
The valley was a carpet if
flowers; one could see pink, yellow, blue, red, white flowers in bloom
everywhere. The guide pointed out the ones that could be eaten. Multiple breaks
were taken to spend time admiring them and the view.
Other than the valley
of flowers, the highlight for the day was seeing Vishnusar Lake.
Crystal clear
water, slight reflection of the glacier and mountains, sound of flowing water, of
course a little bit of sunshine would have made it wonderful. I am not sure if
it was the altitude of the proximity to humans, we hardly got to see birds. The
only lucky sighting was marmot which ventured out every time there was slight sunshine. Our guide managed to strike a deal with the Shepard and procure Himalayas trout. Aditi spent time in cooking it for the team who ate it with relished.
As we sat around the
bonfire that night, Sachin mentioned the trek was good but he didn’t have any
major event/happening to report on Facebook. I think God heard him. As the next
day turned out to be a day designed just to answer his prayer and it matched
scenes from my nightmare.
All along the guide
kept warning us about day 3, it was supposed to be the hardest and longest.
Assuming it will be a steep climb and continuous walking, we had stocked snacks and
water. What we didn’t expect was heavy rains. Just as we crossed Vishnursar it
started to drizzle and from then on it just got heavy. The non stop rains
ensured that cameras stayed in and as we passed Krishnasar lake we didn't bother
to stop, but continued towards Gadsar Pass. The rains had made the track slushy
and as more people passed the track it got slippery People tried scrambling up
where possible. This meant most of us were going up in wrong directions. After
a couple of slips I was starting to get worried. Every two step I took I went
back 5 steps. Then like angels Subbu and one of the guides were next to me,
they ensured I made it to the top. While we waited next to the glacier for the
other to join, the temperature kept dropping. I could feel my fingers go numb. When
we could not bear it any longer some us convinced the guide to let us keep
walking as it would keep us warm. View from Gadsar Pass was beautiful. One
could see 3 lakes from up there. Gadsar Lake itself was among the best we saw,
with chunks of ice floating in it, the shore surrounded by yellow flowers. We
constantly wished the rain would stop and we could enjoy the views a bit more. While
the walk was among the most beautiful tracks, wet, cold and hungry the scenery could not be enjoyed. The downpour continued through the night forcing us to
eat dinner under the umbrella While I kept praying for it to be dry the next
day, Aditi kept reassuring me saying that in Himalayas if it rains through the
night the next day is sure to be a sunny day.
The next morning the
rains had stopped, the mist hung low.
Chirping birds welcomed the day. I got to
make a picture Rose Finch for the first time and managed to get really close to
Fire Fronted Serin.
While we traced the path we had to take I noticed a raptor
circling and landing along the path. On closer observation I could see a lot of
crows doing the same. My sixth sense told me there could be a carcass there. I
was hoping that we would go as close as possible to it.
We started quite late
and it gave us time to access weather conditions. After waking through a small stretch of narrow and slippery path things started to look better.
Clear sky,
green grass and horses grazing made the setting look like scenes from an English
movie. Since there were no rains one could stop often to smell the flowers and
eat wild strawberries.
As we got closer to
the spot where I had seen the raptor land, I noticed a bunch of them. Since
the group was slightly noisy, as soon as we approached they started to hop
away. It was surprising that they didn’t fly away, but choose to hop to a higher
point. Even when the guide followed them except for one that flew, the rest
just hopped higher. After watching them for sometime we moved on.
When we crossed the
Indian Army camp close to Satsar Lake, we were greeted with chocolates,
biscuits and hot water. For people walking for hours that seemed like heaven.
The 7 lakes of Satsar were not very impressive as the earlier ones but were
still beautiful. As I walked past the lake the terrain changed and became
rockier. One had to jump boulders to get across. The camping site was beautiful.
It was in a valley next to a stream. The day was extremely cold and I chose to
spend most of the day inside the tent. When I did manage to step out I joined
the group playing a game called Mafia.
Day 5 started with me
chasing a falcon for a shot. The closer I tried to get further away it went. I
finally gave up and headed but. We started the trek with some boulder crossing
and soon were on the path towards Zach. Since the top of Zach pass was not
visible we had no clue about the distance that needed to be covered. When we
could finally see the pass, people on top of the Zach Pass looked like ants, it
seemed like there was lot of walking to do. But in reality it was not that bad.
Finally when the pass is conquered the view of 2 lakes at the base of Mt Harmukh
is spectacular.
On a clear day one can see 4 lakes from here. Due to the cloud
cover I didn’t get to see all 4 at the same time. The camp was supposed to be
at one of the lakes. The decent to camp site looked scary. It was almost like a
vertical drop. Since it was a rocky terrain one could not just run down. By the
time I reached the camp my knees were wobbly and I could not wait to rest them.
Being one of the first
to arrive meant that I had the lake all to myself. I used the opportunity to take a quick dip. The water felt refreshing, especially when one
has not had a bath for 5 days. The only uncomfortable bit was realising that
the place had locals fishing close by.
Later in the evening when
the rest of the group took a dip, some of us decided to explore Gangabal Lake.
From Zach pass it looked twice the size of the lake we had camped next to
(Nundkul). Walk up to Gangabal provide us with some impressive view of Nundkul
and a nice walk along the stream. It was hard to see the complete Gangabal Lake
from the side we were on, but it still looked very beautiful.
Back at the camp it
was time to cook, someone had suggested we cook for the porters and cooks who
had travelled with us. Brilliant idea but most of us were not used to cooking
for a large number. Though all the girls put in a lot of effort, I would not
for sure say this was a great success. Note to self: never get roped into such
idea.
What made up for
dinner experience was the performance by the locals (helpers, mule owners).
They sang a lot of Kashmiri songs, danced to some and had all of us tapping our
feet. While some were sad about the trek ending, I was looking forward to a
proper bath and a soft bed.
Before the trek, I had
read that the descent on the last day was steep and tiring. So when the trek
started I expected the descent to start almost immediately. But that was not
the case. There were hours of gradual climb to complete before the descent. The
view continued to be stunning but there were lot more people doing short treks.
At one point where we stopped for a break our guide dislocated his elbow while
trying some photography stunts. Luckily
Ankur and Nanditha managed to do first aid and we continue walking.
Soon the meadows that
we trek on gave way to pine trees.
The fragrance of pine was captivating. I
spent some time trying to figure which part of the tree emitted it but could
not identify it. There were a lot of butterflies puddling on horse dropping.
Constant stream of horses and trekker didn't allow me enough time to capture
the fluttering beauties.
The decent was
gruelling, my heel and toes had started to blister, and walking had started to
get painful. While I could see the end point of the trek, it seemed to really
far away. Finally after asking multiple people walking by I was overjoyed to
hear that I was almost there. It was a relief to reach Naranag and sit. Felt
like heaven to take off the shoes. After a plate of Maggie noodles, reality hit
me. The trek was over, while I had spent the previous night hoping for it to
end quickly now I wished I didn't have to head back. I wanted to walk in the
flower filled meadows again. But like all good things it had ending and with a
heavy heart I had to accept it.
The hope that I will
go back there again continues to live on.
