The thought of trekking at 47 in Himalayas and its strenuous nature set me thinking on age and ageing. It was then wisdom dawned on that age is just a number and a state of mind! What you think you are, you really become, young or old as per your thinking.! It is again related to ones' experience, limitations, expectations and disappointments in life. Luckily I felt I am young in spirit. Most of people would not readily accept
We landed at Dehradun
and after a day trip of Haridwar, we stayed overnight at Dehradun. Next
morning, we drove about 460 km to Sitapur and stayed overnight at Hotel
Shivalik. This hotel has good rooms, clean towels and easy hot water supply
essential in the early morning. They cook tasty hot food and it has a homely
ambiance. I would strongly recommend this hotel in this ghat section.
In the
morning after a quick hot water bath and a cup of hot chai, we were dropped at
Sonprayag. From here our private vehicles do not ply. We had to hop on to one
of those jeeps that are tuned to these rugged roads to take us after a short
drive to the entrance of our trek path at Gaurikund.
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| A VIEW FROM HOTEL SHIVALIK |
All excited we both
carried our back packs with some medicines (for emergency) dry fruits and
electral, wore the winter wear, bid bye to KK and started on our trek with a
prayer to the lord. From here we had the option to take a pony ride to
Kedarnath. Though many including the pony guys suggested that we would not be
able to complete the trek on our own and we better take the pony, we put the
trust on ourselves and started to walk. A few yards on the route, we come across
the main temple of Gaurikund where we paid our obeisance before continuing with
our journey.
Our constant company
during my six hour trek was the imposing Garhwal Mountains, the sound of
gushing waters of Mandakini below us in the gorge and occasional passersby on
ponies or foot and ofcourse regular vrooming of the helicopters above the mountains. Some parts of the trek have well laid foot path with railings,
while at some places it is fully washed off due to the rain.
Here came the moment
of realization that I am not the center of the universe but a mere speck in it
whose very existence right then was fully controlled by HIM. Though we trusted
on ourselves and on our trekking pole to take each step forward, it was our
abiding faith in HIM that saw us through to reach the destination without any
harm.
These pictures might
look scary, but do not be discouraged by them before you take the plunge to do
the trip. With His grace, you will do fine.
After a trek of five
kms, we came to our first stop, Bhimbali. Here we had a cup of hot chai though
refreshments are available. After taking rest for a few minutes to recoup
ourselves, we proceeded on our journey. The route is not so easy from this
point. You have to walk carefully on a slope at your own comfortable pace
giving yourself short breaks. Always remember to keep yourself hydrated during
any trek. All through the distance till the top, there are make shift toilets,
benches to sit and drinking water facility to the travellers.
Having walked another
six kms we reached a place where we could witness the massive
devastation caused by the rage of Mandakini in 2013. The old township of
Rambara is nothing but in shambles. The landslides, the destroyed hotels and
the old bridge brought to us memories of the devastation and the immense power
of nature’s fury. Here we learnt the lesson to “Respect the nature”. Having
prayed for the departed souls due to floods, we took the new route to upper
Linchauli. From this point, though it was quite difficult for us to trek
without frequent breaks, we plodded on.
On reaching upper
Linchauli, we encountered sudden and heavy rains. We sat down for a while at a
tea shop for some rest and recouped ourselves with some hot tea. We were aware
that we had another four kms of uphill walk and time was ticking fast. We did
some good thinking and reasoning and decided to hire a pony for the rest of the
journey to avoid any risk in this rain. If you are wondering, if we could get a
pony after having travelled so far into the trek, rest assured that ponies are
available pony all the way. Do not be bullied into taking a pony at the
beginning of the trek as you can always hire one midway
The ride on the pony
was not as easy as we had imagined. It was quite scary when it climbs on the
edge of a ridge or ambles down some slope. Finally, after a
pony ride for another two hours, we reached the top of the Kedarnath trek, with
the temple in sight. We paid for the ride thanked the pony master
abundantly and started our walk towards the temple. To my big relief, I saw KK
standing near the helipad waiting for us.
Another few kilometers of walking
took us to the temple and Hotel Bikaner place, one of the few hotels in
Kedarnath. I will write more about the temple in my temple blog soon.
NOTE:
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| HAPPY TREKKERS:) |
1. If you are planning
for a trek on the mountains, start your daily regime of walking and jogging 3
months prior to the journey, if possible do some yoga and breathing exercises.
Take the medical advice before embarking on such a journey
2. On the day prior to
the high altitude trek, take the prescribed tab of DIAMOX. You may have side
effects, do understand the side effects by asking your doctor.
3. Carry a back pack
with a padded strap. It is more comfortable to carry and less stress on your
shoulders
4. Do not carry too
many eatables. Carry few dry fruits and liquid to hydrate you. They say iron
rich food helps
5. Thermal wear is not
necessary unless you trek on the snow as you tend to profusely sweat while
trekking. But wear it if you cannot handle cold at all.
6. Take a raincoat for
yourself and your camera if you are carrying as the climate high up there is
unpredictable
7. Above all enjoy the
scenic beauty as the journey is as important as the destination
I HOPE I HAVE
MOTIVATED YOU ENOUGH TO UNDERTAKE A TREK SOON!!!
