27. The next morning
we were up early and by 8 in the morning had started the trek. The first
checkpoint was Hembook Pass and was soon climbing from within the first 100 mts
itself. We climbed steadily past the green grass cover and through the boulder
region till we reached the pass after around 3 kms located at an altitude of
4600 mts . After a short break we descended through a steep incline and
rockfall area which made both Umeid and my head porter Prem Singh ji very
worried and they stayed very close to me throughout this stretch. We crossed
the rockfall area which was littered by scores of boulders and we had to step
over them hopping from one to another, this is the only way to move in this
kind of a terrain. After the rockfall area came the hembook glacier which had
me walking on the glacier itself and i was coming face to face with so many crevasses
that had formed, some old while some were new. The main body of the glacier was
hardly 60 -80 mts away on the mountain rock face while the glacier river was
what on which we were walking. I have recorded moments out here which would be
soon made into a clip for better viewing. The Hembook glacier is definitely one
of the unknown ones and least visited especially during the monsoon season when
the fresh ice is non-existent and what one sees is the centuries old ice that
is the bed rock of any glacier that holds everything together and when it
fissures and breaks it just moves that section of the earth itself. I saw
gigantic rocks easily several hundred tonnes or thousands of kgs in weight
balanced on frozen ice stools, this ice was solid even in peak monsoon and was taking
the weight of these massive rocks so very easily and wonder of wonders i came
face to face with blue ice, the rare category of ice that is easily several millennia
old and so frozen over centuries that it acquires a light blue colour. I was
walking in a magical land barren ruthless remorseless devoid of human presence
and unwelcome in every aspect but the visuals that it was revealing that were
once in a life time opportunity. My guide explained to me that rarely anyone
ventured this side in peak monsoon, generally early winter or late summer is
when trekkers would pass through this area.
28. After we crossed
the glacial river of Hembook i was again face to face with yet another boulder
ridden zone, only this time it was more massive and even longer in length to
cross and to top it of it, extended all the way till the summit of the pass up
ahead known as Baishali Col Pass, the next pass of the trek situated at an
altitude of 4900 mts . The mist was coming up as we started up the incline, my attention
totally on where i was placing my feet. After around 45 min and half way up,
the rains caught up with me. There was still a long way to go and while the
rest of the team had almost reached 100 mts below the summit of the pass and
found refuge underneath a massive rock formation, myself and Umeid were stuck
in the open with me having the camera gear. As the rains increased i realized
that i needed to protect the camera gear, wearing the poncho was out of the equation
as that would hamper my feet movement and with the rains the rocks were getting
slippery by the minute. So Umied gave me his umbrella and used the poncho to
cover his head. I used my balaclava to cover one camera while the umbrella
protected the other and we started again, only this time I was boulder hopping
in the rain with an umbrella in one hand, nothing could have been precarious
than this and come to think of it i would have never attempted this ever if
someone would have suggested this idea but out there, we made do with what best
we could have.
29. Slowly step by step,
boulder by boulder we moved ahead, whole attention on the task at hand and just
not bothering about anything else. Finally, we reached the overhanging rock
after an hour drenched wet and cold. The team had long departed and we just
stood trying to regain our composure and get a grip on the situation. After a
15 min break we started again for the last 100 mts and after around 30 mins we
reached Baishali Col Pass, situated at an altitude of 4900 mts surrounded by
mist rain and massive glacier systems.
30. My team huddled
under the rain capes stood and congratulated me on my successful arrival mentioning
that the worst is over. Soon we would reach campsite and things would look
better. I took heart and one by one everyone started moving ahead, but when i
looked ahead i saw that the things were not so simpler as now I had to do a
steep descent of around 50 mts and up ahead loomed the glacier river of Baishali
glacier. I remember telling myself that the only way was ahead and this is what
lay ahead so get a move on. The descent started and slowly using both hands in
addition i descended in the rain on slippery rocks and soon Umeid and me were
walking on the glacier. The terrain resembled something from other planet as we
moved ahead in the swirling mist and rain while the boots crunched on dry ice amidst
huge rocks scattered haphazardly, the result of upheaval caused by the glacier movement.
After around two kms of this the frozen ice was replaced by minced rock and earth.
The ice was there but it was some feet or metres below, i could see it in places
but now it has this layer of wet sluggish minced rock and earth, slippery and
dangerous for what lay underneath it or how deep it was one could not be sure.
The path continued, each man in his own personal space now moving ahead through
this battlefield and in between as one tried stepping on boulders rather than
the minced rock, could hear water flowing underneath and believe me it is scary
for when what would give way is uncertain.
The path sloped downwards most of the time while we were walking across
it balancing, slipping but moving ahead mindful of the fact that anything from
rock to mud could come sliding down from top of the ridge any moment. The
journey seemed endless and i lost all count of time or distance. I was cold wet
fatigued from the excessive concentration, all senses alert since morning and
the end was just not coming.
31. Finally after
around 2 kms at 1500 hrs we reached a small space between two ridges that had some
firm ground where the tents were rigged up and we stopped for the day. It
rained the whole evening and night while Maggi was made within the tent itself as
we waited for the dark night to end at an altitude of 4800 mts .
