The next day morning the rains had stopped and we were ready to
proceed ahead with the destination being Satopanth
Lake. The route involved primarily walking on boulder ridden glacial terrain.
Anyways as we trekked i could gear the various glaciers that surrounded us
breaking intermittently or maybe it was the part of the mountains that was
breaking off, i am not sure for all i could hear was the sound but the fog
covered all visuals. Slowly by 1100 hrs i had my glimpse of the acclaimed
Satopanth, the lake of truth. The campsite was rigged up and there were few mendicants
who were staying there till winter, having built small caves using the big boulders
as support.
11. The lake was truly
magnificent even in the mist and i could see that the water level had reduced, Umeid
and i did an entire circumference of the lake while the weather held and after
that we just sat near the lake looking at the green waters. Post lunch the
rains started and i could discern that they were not going to stop till the night.
Had a few polite conversations with few of the mendicants over a cup of tea.
Overall it was a soothing time spent out here. Tomorrow i was terminating my
onward journey to Swaragarohini and rather starting the return leg. The weather
was just not conducive and i had no hopes of seeing the elusive glacier with
its steps up close among the mist, hence the decision to return back.
12. The next morning
was cloudy and the fog bank had partially covered the lake but the stillness of
the water was so loud , sometimes i feel that the proverb “ silence speaks
loudest” is actually understood in places like these . It was a Monday morning
and the Ekadashi of Saavan was as per my team most auspicious hence after a
quick dip in the lake , we were off by 0700 hrs on the return leg. The distance
we covered very well indeed and at the ridge of Chakratheerth we did see the
sun break the fog cover to offer us a glimpse of the mighty mountain ranges otherwise
the mist swirled all around all the time. Sahasradhara was reached by 1100 hrs
and after a quick tea break we were off with a target to reach vasudhara ahead
of even laxminban and set up camp out there, the same was reached by 1600 hrs
with the last km in pouring rain. However, the team set up the tent quickly and
we finished for the day.
13. The entire day and night it rained and the following morning too the
drizzle continued but we were determined to reach Joshimath today and for that
we had to reach Badrinath first. The same was accomplished by 1000 hrs and we
got a shared Tata Spacio Cab to Joshimath by 1300 hrs. However, it looked like
there were other plans set in store for us for as we neared Lambhagad, a
location notorious for streams running on the road as well as rock fall
immediately after the stream. We could see a car stuck right in the rock fall
area. It seemed that the rock fall had boxed the car and hence it was now stuck,
the occupants had abandoned the vehicle and rushed to safety as the rock fall
continued while the rains opened up . After waiting for 30 min the decision was
made to hike into the adjoining mountain slope and circumvent the rock fall
area arriving on the other side. So once again the equipment was unloaded and
loaded onto the shoulders and we set off in the pouring rain for what i hoped
was the final part of the trek. It took us an hour but finally we circumvented
the rock fall area and arrived on the other side where we picked up a taxi
again which dropped us at joshimath. The evening was spent rearranging the
backpack and drying some clothes, just relaxing by walking on paved paths for a
change, the magnitude of what I had seen and accomplished in the two treks back
to back was yet to sink in but the experience had definitely given me something
more that had been added to the core of what I am . The next day morning
boarded the early morning bus for Haridwar which saw the culmination of a magnificent
trek and experience.
