DAY V: Towards the abode of the mountain Goddess , Dagla beckons !!!
The next morning i
got up to a quiet morning with no wind or rain, the mist played her games in
the distance on both sides of the ridge as i sat in my sleeping bag watching
the same. Premsingh ji soon served me
two cups of hot sweet tea to get the circulation going and to get me the
inclination to leave the warmth of the sleeping bag and the tent. The next hour
or so i kept myself engaged clicking pics as the mist revealed one peak after
the other and i tried to get them visual in the lens. Chaukhmaba , Mandini even
Neelkanth and Sujaal ..what an hour it was as we were all caught up in the excitement
, Finally it was time to move for the day and i quickly went about the
preparations to begin the day’s trek . Today we were supposed to climb even
higher towards DWARA KHAAL ( PASS) located at 4400 mts above sea level and thereafter
descend the other side into Mandini region. The trek was again a series of one
step after other carefully placed amidst fog and rain through trails built for
either the Bharal ( The mountain goat) but
now mankind was also using it . Most of the time I was walking on the edge of
the land with maybe a feet of earth
available on any one side before the land just fell away into the depths.
I would definitely like to say that in monsoon doing this trek there can be no
lapse of concentration for even a minute of it would either result in a broken
ankle because of a misjudged step or worse a drop over the side. The guide
cannot do much because he is some metres ahead in the rain n mist looking at
the path ahead and it is just not feasible to connect each other with ropes for
there is no straight path even for 10 mts .
18. Finally we reached
the goddess of the pass and paid obeisance to the shrine there, rested for a
few minutes and then once again moved ahead towards the pass. The pass was
finally reached after 1.5 hrs of trek from campsite. we waited for the rest of
the team to catch up and then a small prayer was done to the guardian deity and
we moved ahead thus leaving one region and entering into the Mandini region. The
route was now downhill for around 2 kms crossing a boulder region which
definitely fatigued me even more, for today i was tired do not know why but the
strain was telling in each step that i took. Onwards we went in the rain and
mist each huddled in his own thoughts, my guide Umeid understood that i was
having trouble walking and he stayed very close to me. After we left the
boulder region behind we now were walking on slopes of small mountains that
were interconnected. After around 4 kms I finally reached campsite at around 2
in the afternoon, the team had already reached and set up the tent and i
gratefully stepped inside.
19. Dagla that the
name of the place where we had camped, a meadow on the mountain slope all covered
with grass and flowering plants for they were all in full growth in peak
monsoon Dagla sits on a small ridge and towards the left of it are the valleys
that lead to kalimath and Guptkashi quite a distance away while to the right
are the big Himalayan peaks of Mandini and Hembook . In the evening the rains
abated and after some hot Maggi and a cup of black lemon tea i definitely felt
much better. I was invited to the kitchen shelter and with Umeid and Premsingh
ji warmed myself in the heat of the wooden sticks that were burning merrily.
Soon soup followed as the discussion flowed on many topics, slowly i too was
recovering especially my right knee that had a history of its own.
20. After a while I wandered to do some photography with Umeid in
company as we walked among the foliage clicking and talking till it started to
get dark . After an early dinner I turned in for the night curled inside my
sleeping bag as the rains built up outside .
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