TRAVELOGUE OF PINDARI GLACIER TREKKING 2015

Towards the left of Dwali lies Pindari Valley and the Kafni Valley is in the right side. Dwali is located next to the confluence of rivers. The magnitude of destruction due to cloudburst was evident. The old Dwali trail was barely in existence. The bridge was found to be broken. The Banks near Dwali washed away in multiple sections. In Dwali, other groups have already reached. Somehow we were accommodated in a room in KMVN TRH with only basic amenities. Not much change was visible with what we found in 1982. Maintenance was found to be poor.  But we were in a great mood as we overcame the hardest part that day. First bite of cold was felt at night. After dinner we had a small flute session of old Hindi song by Sekhar and then we immersed into deep sleep with a happy note.

4^th day (06.10.2015)Dwali to Phurkia (Altitude 10500ft)Distance : 5 km.

We were in a relax mood on 4^th day morning. Some snaps were taken when sun rays turned the distant peak (Nanda devi East)  into Golden yellow colour. We all enjoyed the moment.   

We started our trekking after having break fast at about 9 A.M. Although  the distance is short , the altitude gain was around 2000 ft. There were patches of very steep ascent  throughout the journey.  At this altitude climbing up in the hill was felt by all of us. 

The first part of journey was through the forest of mainly of rhododendron  and it was the same route that we trekked 33  years back.  

Though most of the trail was quit o.k apart from occasional steep ascent, there was damage part too where we had to be little more cautious. In one occasion we had to negotiate a snow wall with great effort.

One thing is worth mentioning that all these days so far we have got excellent weather condition.  So with the gaining of height, snow peaks became closer and larger. Gradually Nandakot peak was visible with its dazzling beauty.

As the trail was following the Pindari river, at times we did have a view of  river flowing through the gorge down below.

 At about 1 pm. We reached Phurkia.

After reaching  Phurkia , we found heavy rush due to accumulation of parties both onward and return journey.  Our guide Khilap somehow managed one small room with broken windows and seemed to remain to be used only in dire circumstances. The room was just enough to accommodate eight of us. Of course the luxury was that the room had a fire place and during that night it gave us comfort to some extent. It was biting cold during night and our assumption was that the minimum temperature was close to Zero. We were to start at 4 A.M in the next day. So we were almost forced to go to bed at 8-30 pm.

5^th day ( 07.10.2015)Phurkia to Zero point & back Distance : 12 km. 

We started at 4-15 AM. It was pitch-dark . The period was in a  new moon cycle. Only very thin defused light just faded the surroundings. Every body of us was carrying a torch light. Movement was slow and cautious. Nice to see the tiny dots of light moving along the hilly terrain in the sea of darkness. Almost an hour we had to go through this ordeal . We were above 10000 ft already , so large tree has already vanished. In place bushy trees were found to be scattered here and there. As lights slowly drove away darkness , the  majestic surroundings started appearing into fore.

One by one full horizon started to dazzle . Colour of  Sun light of the peaks changed every moments.  Every one of us  started taking pictures . Every moment was precious. It is impossible for any word to describe the scenario , so let the pictures below talk. 

Half the path still remained.  Altitude has started coming into play. Most of us were just crawling step  by step.  We reached Baba Ashram one by one. We took breakfast there and decided to take a tea break only on return journey. The remaining part was the last lap of the journey. It was slightly above one kilometer. Actually what was Zero point earlier ,  that part caved in due to land slide. It is evident that the Zero point is not static now-a-days. It is shifting backwards as the day progresses.  The last part was the traverse along a mountain terrain beyond which Pindari river flows deep down a gorge.

Amongst us , who had visited earlier , were not delighted to witness the present-day-zero point. It  was on a narrow ridge from where full view of the glacier and Trail’s pass was not available. That Pindari glacier has gradually been receding is well pronounced in the pictures taken during 1982 and on 2015 (shown at the start of the blog). The clear portion of the snout of the glacier (in the picture of 1982) has completely vanished from the scenario , may be due to the effect of global warming.  When we reached zero point it was crowded with many other fellow trekkers of different groups gathered all the way from Mumbai, Bangalore , Pune. Everybody were busy taking photographs. We did it too.

We stayed there for half an hour. On our way back we made a halt at Swami Dharmananda Ashram. Some of us visited the temple inside. Baba was kind enough to serve us tea. We made a photo session with Baba.

Returning to Phurkia was less arduous for obvious reason. It took only two hours to reach Phurkia. On the way we had taken many snaps  which will add value to our photo gallery. One of the memorable shot was of one brave mother accompanying her two children returning from Zero point. What a unique way of baptism in adventure sports!

 After we returned at Phurkia , nos of trekkers were less . As most had left for dwali on the same day. From the beginning we had decided not to overdo at any point of time considering our age. We got another room that day and we comfortably stayed the rest of the day. In Phurkia itself after discussion with Khilap Singh, we decided to spent a day at Dhakuri TRH. In the next two days we did enjoy a great deal , taking rest, enjoying the beauty of nature, taking photographs  etc. The trail between Dwali to Khati did not seem to be as harder in the return journey as we passed through the difficult portion in the morning iiself. We took some beautiful snaps  in our return journey too.

On our return journey our stay at dwali was also comfortable and in the khati we stayed in a private lodge(Sangam) which is  located in a better place and having solar lights too. In the evening we had  roamed  around inside the khati village, talked with the villagers and had tea. It was a wonderful experience.

The highlights of our return journey was of course staying at Dhakuri TRH.   Dhakuri  is located  on the traditional / old Pindari Glacier trekking route. Now as road connection reaches Kharkia most of the trekkers prefer that route to save nos of days. But in the process this trekkers also miss one of most beautifully located bungalow in Kumayun Himalaya.  We started from Khati  at about 9 AM.  The distance is around  8 KM.Another memorable incident during our journey from Khati to Dhakuri was the distribution of Musks & whistles among the village children of Khati by Sharma.  Even on receipt of such small things (compare to children of city- dweller),the kind of glow seen in the face of those little children made everybody of us blessed and the moments will long be remembered by all of us. Bravo Sharma, kudos to you for offering us such a blissful moment.  We had our lunch at Kharkia and left most of the luggage at Kharkia . From Kharkia, Dhakuri is only 3 Km.  but the trail was mostly steep  uphill, a good portion is through forest. 

We reached Dhakuri at about 3 PM. Dhakuri TRH was not only  beautifully located but it was also found to be best maintained amongst others  in this route.  It was afternoon and cloudy so we did not have any view of snow peaks  that day. We were in festive mood. Bungalows were found to be scattered in a meadow. In the following morning we did have excellent view of snow peaks situated with a radius of 180 degrees. It is suggested while in the Pindari trekking one should stay a day at Dhakuri.

We had enjoyed the view from Dhakuri Bungalow till 8.30 and started our last lap trekking to Kharkia.

The rest part of the journey was a routine affair. We returned home as a mentally & physically healthy person.

Looking back to our success story we wonder how we have come across as a winner against all odds. Probably because none of us, during the days of trekking, ever thought of his limitations , age , physical discomfort , inexperience etc. Those who were having experience of trekking , knew that it was always a tough call whether you make at 32 or in 62 but we had the mindset  that we would not bother about the destination. It was the day to day journey which was most important to us.  Our attitude was like that it was the repeat performance only with a time-gap.  All the participants have contributed in successful implementation of the program.  The mental frame was  tough enough to make us thinking always in a positive way. May be it developed through our preparation for four long months. Thanks to our fellow members who though did not participate, always encouraged us  all through the period. We were fortunate enough to have a guide like Khilap Singh and his assistants  (eight in all). Their contribution were well felt whenever we faced difficulty on the way. We were lucky to have excellent weather condition throughout the days. Thanks to those who have chosen the period of journey.