Yes, from the title you could easily say laziness is getting better of me. So, the last line I wrote on this blog talked about writing about Delhi elections and Galaxy'15. To begin with, I lost some bucks on Delhi elections. Sometime in late December or very early January, I had bet against AAP with a couple of my wingies. I was pretty sure I would win comfortably but BJP pulled out a Kiran Bedi out of nowhere and my chances went for a toss. Just hours before elections, I scouted for a bhakt to rationalize my risks. I found one, again in my wing. I brought in a loophole in one of the deals I was losing and eventually I am down by just 40 bucks.
Regarding Galaxy'15, well, Hall 3 won it again. Not that I harbor any hall feelings, but that does make up for a good case study. As far as I recall, they have won last 6 editions. And with a big margin almost everytime. And this is achieved mostly by the efforts of a set of chaps who were selected to reside in Hall 3 randomly. I do remember hypothesizing some theories and also explaining India's world cup record against Pakistan with some of them. But I fail to recall even one right now. Perils of not being regular with my blog.
Jumping to the main topic for this post - the Brahmatal trek. Or what happened of it. So we (Aditya, Bansal, Paul & I) left with overflowing enthusiasm in a rather uncomfortable bus to Kathgodam from Delhi. Sometime later, a co-passenger struck up a conversation with me which would remain memorable for various reasons. We already had a bumpy ride to Delhi with some train derailing and we had to get down at Chandra Vihar station (some 15 kms from NDLS). Anyways, we reached Kathgodam around 7:30 and within 30 minutes packed ourselves into a tempo traveller for a 10 hour journey to our base camp. I personally had no complains for this part. In fact, I rather enjoyed it. Also, it is during this journey that I started conversing with this another set of trekkers who would eventually turn out to be great friends over next few days.
DAY 1:
Rains washed out our expectations. Our trek was called off for the day. We were asked to buy ponchos and were given free time till lunch. So we switched on our exploratory mode and started moving towards Wan. We spotted a trail and diverted towards it. It felt just like a monsoon trek in the Sahyadris. Just 15 degrees colder. But it was fun.
Regarding Galaxy'15, well, Hall 3 won it again. Not that I harbor any hall feelings, but that does make up for a good case study. As far as I recall, they have won last 6 editions. And with a big margin almost everytime. And this is achieved mostly by the efforts of a set of chaps who were selected to reside in Hall 3 randomly. I do remember hypothesizing some theories and also explaining India's world cup record against Pakistan with some of them. But I fail to recall even one right now. Perils of not being regular with my blog.
Jumping to the main topic for this post - the Brahmatal trek. Or what happened of it. So we (Aditya, Bansal, Paul & I) left with overflowing enthusiasm in a rather uncomfortable bus to Kathgodam from Delhi. Sometime later, a co-passenger struck up a conversation with me which would remain memorable for various reasons. We already had a bumpy ride to Delhi with some train derailing and we had to get down at Chandra Vihar station (some 15 kms from NDLS). Anyways, we reached Kathgodam around 7:30 and within 30 minutes packed ourselves into a tempo traveller for a 10 hour journey to our base camp. I personally had no complains for this part. In fact, I rather enjoyed it. Also, it is during this journey that I started conversing with this another set of trekkers who would eventually turn out to be great friends over next few days.
DAY 1:
Rains washed out our expectations. Our trek was called off for the day. We were asked to buy ponchos and were given free time till lunch. So we switched on our exploratory mode and started moving towards Wan. We spotted a trail and diverted towards it. It felt just like a monsoon trek in the Sahyadris. Just 15 degrees colder. But it was fun.
Lunch followed and then we decided to explore Eigen Top very close to the village. It was a very easy 3ish kilometer trail. On our way, we also came across the first patch of snow for the trip. Though it wasn't my first snow experience, its always fascinating for folks residing below Tropic of Cancer. Weather was turning beautiful and colder with every passing minute which in turn led to amazing photographs.
DAY 2:
It had poured all night. All my hopes of ascending to Brahmatal were dashed. But we decided we should at least do a day trek to Maling (9350 ft). And it was on this trek that I experienced my first snow fall. We returned to Lohajung by 15:00 and a completely different sight awaited us. The green/brown surroundings were acquiring a layer of white.
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| Post-lunch Lohajung |
We spent our evening by the fire playing dumb charades and sipping steamy soup. Also, we awakened our nocturnal selves and initiated Mafia/Judgement sessions well past midnight.
DAY 3:
And for the third consecutive day I wake up to open our door for tea, a beverage I avoid by all possible means. All 3 assholes in my room conveniently pass on this responsibility to me. And I wake up to see a bright sun over Lohajung for the first time during our trip. The shimmer of snow from all around all the more brightens the ambiance. Post-breakfast, we start our journey on the Lord Curzon trail towards Kuling. It was a gentle trail with a steep climb in the end. Comfortable, except that rain emerged with flirting appearances about an hour after we left.
Moderate sprinkles greeted us back at Lohajung. The white had completely disappeared from the local scenery. And we continued our bulla/mafia sessions right until early hours of morning.
DAY 4:
The final day of the trek started with an insatiable reluctance to get out of the bed. It was only after I heard we would be proceeding to Bekhaltal (~11000 ft) for the day did I make a move out of my bed. This was undoubtedly the high-point of our trip and also relatively more challenging than other days. We packed our lunch packets and embarked on our trail. Just past the halfway mark, we cross the snowline. There also might be a little snowfall, but I can't recall for sure. As we keep moving skywards, sights keep getting prettier (Sadly, I can't think of any comparative word of pristine. That would have been technically correct.) It was impossible to be not spellbound by nature. And the soft snow effortlessly seduced every human soul on the trek. We crisscrossed over a feet deep snow in the final stretch to reach Bekhaltal in about 3 hours.
A camp-fire awaited us back at the base-camp. But we found it more interesting to gather back in a room and hold our own session there. All sort of randomness happened and we finally tucked into our beds out of necessity.
Next morning we scurried around to pack our bags. Goodbyes were announced. And the usual farewell pleasantries followed. But events din't end there. We reached the cab owner's village in an hour or so. And he came along with a gulaal packet to greet us for Holi. Ideas picked pace and soon, we were having our own session there. Some local sweets were also brought in. Some home-made gujiyas were gifted by Shahji (the cab owner).
We reached Kathgodam the same evening. Boarded a train and reached campus next morning. I have been sleeping more than 10 hours daily since then.
PS: Indihikes guys have this awesome policy wherein we get to do a free trek in one year period as we couldn't complete ours because of unfavorable weather.
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| Group Snap |
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