Har-ki-Dun & Juda lake Winter trek: An adventurous Himalayan Siesta !!

[hiambuj]

AN ADVENTUROUS HIMALAYAN SIESTA !!

(Travelogue of "INMANTEC Adventure Club's" trek to Har Ki Dun & Juda Lake : Dec 2008 )

This travelogue has been written by Manu & edited by me. The photographs are clicked majorly by Me, also by Dr Rohin, Jiten, Alok & Sany and are copyright of INMANTEC adventure club. Though it has been written by Manu, yet "I" is referring me.

Prologue : The initial discussions of a winter trek started on my adventure club’s forum around summers & the response was over whelming from the very beginning. The same was also being discussed here on BCMT. The itinerary that we had finalized before leaving for trek was :

20th Dec : Delhi – Dehradun by train (Jan Shatabdi) @ 3:30 PM from Delhi
21st Dec : Dehradun - Sankri. Trek from Sankri to Taluka
22nd Dec : Trek from Taluka to Seema
23rd Dec : Trek from Seema to Har-ki-Dun
24th Dec : Trek from Har-ki-Dun to Seema
25th Dec : Trek from Seema to Taluka
26th Dec : Trek from Taluka to Sankri, Sankri - Chakrata
27th Dec : Buffer day / Chakrata local
28th Dec : Chakrata - Deoban - Dehradun; Evening Shatabdi to Delhi

There were 10 members in the group namely Amit (me), Manu, Dr Rohin, Pallavi, Swati, Raji, Sany, Dheeraj, Alok & Jiten. There was lot of enthusiasm in the members & we had few offline meets as well, before the trip.


The D Day : 20th Dec 2008 : Delhi – Dehradun
Its 3:25 PM by my watch. Seven of the ten trekking enthusiasts had already occupied their seats in Delhi-Dehradun Jan Shatabdi express, two (Alok & Dheeraj) had to board the train from Meerut & there was no sign of Swati. I was getting anxious & I called her up in worry “Swati, where have you reached” & she answers “Bas bhaiaya, station ke bahar hoon, auto enter karne waala hai station premises mein”. I told her to come quickly to platform 2 as the train is about to leave. In 4 minutes, the train whistled & I re-dial her number asking “Kahan pahunchi ? ”, “Bas bhaiaya, platform 1 pe enter kar rahi hoon, bahut bheed hai” was the answer. In no time the train whistled again & started moving gradually, I redialed the number & as soon as she responded I said, “train chal padi hain, kahan hai”, “platform par utar rahi hoon” she replied, on which I told “Jaldi Kar, kissi bhi dabbe mein chadh jaana”. 2 mins later when train caught speed, I called up & enquired “ Kahan hai”, she replied “first bogie mein” & I was relieved. A highly anxious start to an extra-adventurous INMANTEC Adventure Club’s trek trip.

The next few hours came to an end as if few minutes cauz we were busy mingling, gossiping, standing near the train doors, enjoying the journey & we didn’t even realize that in no time we were at Dehradun station.

Train Journey :



Our taxi for the base camp of trek had already reached Dehradun & was waiting at the Hotel where we were supposed to put up in night. The hotel was barely 5 mins distant from station & in 30 mins we had checked in our rooms, ordered food, brought some drinks & were ready for dinner. After having drinks & dinner, we were in bed by 11:30 PM, eagerly waiting for the morning. Four O clock was the time decided to leave Dehradun.

Dinner :



DAY 2 : 21st Dec 2008 : Dehradun – Sankri- Taluka
We woke up, puffy eyed having a superficial sleep. After a perfunctory and dutiful routine of freshening up and a refreshing morning tea, we set off in our not so comfortable taxi towards our destination for the day. Very soon, the gorgeous surroundings dexterously removed all trace of drowsiness and discomfort from our lethargic psyches as we cruised smoothly through the sinuous routes! We reached Mussoorie in about 50 minutes and made a brief halt at an ATM & the Kempty fall. The weather was magnanimously pleasant and the brief halt proved extremely recharging for everyone.

Manu's photoshoot going on in ATM :



Early morning clicks :





The journey was a mix of changing scenery, frequent stoppages for multiple pukes by few, some real non-sense gossiping & much more. After a drive of around 4 hours we stopped at Naugaon Our bodies were aching from the drive as we sat down for lunch at a modest looking dhaba. After an hour long, refreshing and reviving break, we got back on the road for the last few hours of our road drive.

Some clicks enroute :















Soon we got our first view of the stunning snow capped peaks. No matter how many snow covered paths you have trodden in your life the first view (of a particular trip) of the snowy peaks beckoning imperiously never fails to excite you!
We stopped at a petrol pump for fuel just before Mori. Much to our delight, the owner of the pump informed us about heavy snowfall in the whole har-ki-dun valley! This news of snowfall really excited us (little did we know that we would encounter so much snow that the trek would leave our thirst satiated for months to come!) Then came the entry gate of reserve forest area where we were stopped by authorities and were asked to pay the entry fee.

On the way :






Views of snowcapped peaks :






After a slick 8 hour and 190 kms long journey we reached our destination Sankari village, Uttarkashi district. As we jumped out of our cars we couldn't suppress our gasps at the marvelous views that greeted our eyes! We hungrily stared, open-mouthed, amazed by the peaceful and yet roaring, magical summons the snow clad ranges were issuing!

We were woken from our trance by our guide Chain Singh ji who brought us some tea and snacks and informed us about the situation ahead. Apparently a landslide precluded the passing through of any vehicle. Thus another car was arranged on the other side of the slide to carry us to our immediate destination Taluka.

The road to Taluka was technically a wide trail running through twisting curves! It was mercilessly destroyed in patches by the slides which made us close our eyes as our driver effortlessly maneuvered through those tough, challenging curves! We had to jump out of the car in order to cross some patches. With streams flowing over the road, and rocks scattered all over the route, it was hard to imagine what would have happened had we brought our personal vehicle! We felt deeply for the driver and his decrepit vehicle as he narrated the gloomy tale of his car's gradual damage and the inaccessibility of any repair shop due to the ubiquitous obstructions caused by the landslides!

After an hour long, bumpy ride, we finally reached Taluka and surrendered ourselves happily into the arms of nature! For the next 7 days, everything changed! From the cemented abodes to tents, from electric heaters to camp-fires, from tiled, cemented, placating washrooms to freezing, open locations, from spacious beds and quilts to cramped sleeping bags, from tubes and halogens to torches and from water to toilet paper! Everything changed! But the heavenly contentment offered by the imminent time fluently overpowered our discomfort as we started loving everything about the changes!

Clicks between Sankri & Taluka :



The landslide area :



Crossing the slide zone to catch the jeep on other side :



Jeep waiting on the other side :



After an entertaining round of songs and a delicious dinner we decided to give our tired bodies the much needed rest and went to sleep!

Bonfire & dinner :






Our camps :



Day 1 & 2 : Delhi > Dehradun > Sankri > Taluka
Day 3 : Taluka to Seema
Day 4 : Seema to Seematra
Day 5 : Seematra to Har Ki Dun
Day 5 : Har Ki Dun
Day 5 : Har ki Dun to Seematra
Day 6 : Seematra to Osla
Day 6 : Osla to Seema
Day 7 : Seema > Taluka > Sankri
Day 8 : Sankri > Juda Lake
Day 8 : Juda Lake > Sankri & Day 9 : Sankri > Dehradun > Delhi

[ht_hanu]

kash kash kash
mein bhi vaha hota..

[aamien]

nice pix, and i believe you are very keen trekker.

[BHARAT]

FINALLY....

Lovely pics Amitbhai.

[anupmathur]

Exceptional photos!
I'm wondering who composed these!

[swift_zing]

amazing clicks..the colors are so pleasing to the eyes !!!

[popsha]

Tyagi sahab ... very nice ... beautiful pics

[illusionst72]

Tremendous stuff!

Waiting for more..........

[hiambuj]

Originally Posted by ht_hanu

kash kash kash
mein bhi vaha hota..

I missed you too my love !!

Originally Posted by aamien

nice pix, and i believe you are very keen trekker.

thanks !! Yes, trekking is another passion !!

Originally Posted by BHARAT

FINALLY....

Lovely pics Amitbhai.

Yeah, FINALLY

Thanks Bharat bhai !!

Originally Posted by anupmathur

Exceptional photos!
I'm wondering who composed these!

Thanks Anupji !!
Errr, who composed actually ??

Originally Posted by swift_zing

amazing clicks..the colors are so pleasing to the eyes !!!

Thanks Anuj !!

Originally Posted by popsha

Tyagi sahab ... very nice ... beautiful pics

Thanks Eric Janab !!

Originally Posted by illusionst72

Tremendous stuff!

Waiting for more..........

Thanks Rohit !! More coming soon !!

[KurtRules]

Sirjee, kamaal kitta! I am hooked!