TwinPeak Series - 4th Note: Making the most of what is given

The first few nights we camped well below the snow line. So during these nights we always found ample driftwood to enjoy a few hours of a very welcome campfire. As soon as the tents were secured, the porters would begin building a fire and as soon as it was ready all of us would troop out of out tents and jostle for space around it. It was wonderful to warm ourselves and each of us would try and manoeuvre ourselves as close to the fire as possible, our hands splayed out in front of us, our faces craning froward.

While all of us sat facing the fire, I was amused to note that the porters would often squat facing away from the fire, their backs jostling for the warmth with the same intensity as our hands and our faces. You see, for a porter his back is everything. An aching back effectively means he is out of a job. So he knows that when it comes to getting the most out of a limited warming opportunity, he would rather warm his back than his hands or his face.

TwinPeak Series - 3rd Note: Its all about timing

Valley of Flowers has such an aura among the outdoorsy crowd. There are as many stories about its beauty, its grandeur, as there are visitors. So I was quite excited about finally paying a visit to this famed valley on my way up to Bhyunder Khal.

Just like Hemkund Sahib, its equally famed neighbour, the Valley of Flowers too is closed to visitors during the winter months and it formally reopens on 1st of June. The entry to the valley is through a tiny checkpost just ahead of Ghangaria. So having camped overnight at Ghangaria, we reached the checkpost early next morning. It was May 30th, a day before the formal opening. We however has special permission to enter the valley early so we were waved on without much further ado.

After crossing the checkpost one follows a rather well marked path up and down the mountain which is quite steep at times. After almost an hour of more or less continuous climbing one eventually reaches the head of the valley. This is the point from which one can see the entire valley open in front of you in a huge V, the banks of the opposing mountains stunningly converted into a lush carpet of flowers. It is said that through out the season the flowering changes every two weeks, so every two weeks the stunning carpet is relaid, awash with new colours, new patterns, new beauty. They say the view is simply mesmerising.

Maybe so, but I do feel that the 'over-the-top' description may be a bit euphoric simply because of the effort one has put into trekking up to the head of the valley. I mean one is all huffing, puffing, sweaty and hot, limbs are aching, throat is parched and what not. One has seen nothing but scraggy brown mountains for the last one hour and suddenly one's eye falls on this carpet of flowers. No wonder the mind goes ballistic.

Anyway, lets come to our effort, it was ditto till we reached the head of the valley. We were huffing, puffing, sweaty and hot. Our limbs were aching, our throats were dry. We had seen nothing but scraggy brown mountains for the past hour and our now finally our eyes fell on the immense valley in front of us.....

But as we stood there our eyes fell not on a riot of colours but on a carpet of green shrubs. It was too early in the season for the flowers to bloom. Some change of the plot... eh?????

Heartbroken but otherwise just as tired and achy, I remembered what one of my teachers often said...... "Effort is not everything, timing is equally critical for success"

Unfortunately for us, our timing was off by atleast a week or ten days.   

TwinPeak Series - 2nd Note: Morning Blues (or, the lack of them !!)

On our way up we stayed overnight at an ashram in Rishikesh. It was a very peaceful place. There were a bunch of buildings on either side of a wide path that lead to a short flight of stairs that took you straight into the Ganges. Despite a late night I was up at 5 in the morning feeling well rested and fresh. So I decided to explore the ashram. 

I was hoping it would be too early for anybody else so I could be just by myself but the moment I stepped out I saw many people already up and about, some were meditating under a giant peepul tree, others were on their way to the ganges for a dip, some were already on their way back. There was a group besides a small shrine right next to the stairs, singing bhajans softly and melodiously. 

As I walked towards the Ganges, a gentle wind caressed my face, as if a divine hand was touching me, blessing me. I took a deep breath and stood still for a moment. I wonder if you have heard the sound of vocal silence. There were myriad sounds, the ganga was gurgling, the peepul leaves were rattling in the wind, one could hear the strains of the singing wafting about, there was the soft chatter of the pilgrims yet somehow despite all these there was a sense of silence all around. A sense of calm, a hiatus, as if the world was at standstill, yet to wake up. 

Just then I heard behind me a giggle. Two kids, the girl was no more than 10, protectively holding on to the hand of the boy who was a few years younger, were walking purposefully towards the Ganga sharing some private joke. I let them overtake me and silently observed them; they looked so alive, so full of life, so full of energy and purpose. Never have I seen little kids so alive so early in the morning. My thoughts went to my daughter and how difficult it was to wake her up in the morning for school. How she wangled every minute, how she dilly dallied for as long as she could. And here we have kids half her age fresh and chirpy atleast an hour before I would even begin to wake my daughter.


I put it all down to the amazing energy of the place……

TwinPeak Series - 1st Note: Call of the mountain

It happened all over gain, that familiar restlessness, that need to don the boots and strike out on a narrow ledge somewhere high up. The mountains were beckoning and I was a willing listener....

The old trekking group regrouped, made ambitious plans and began the preps in earnest. This was was going to be less of a trek and more of a proper expedition, it was going to be longer, higher, steeper and narrower than we had ever done before. We planned to cross not one but two high passes, traverse not one but three valleys, walk along and among several glaciers, trudge thru miles upon miles of ice / snow fields, camp on narrow snowbound ridges and face blasting winds that would freeze us in sub-zero temperatures. The fact that we were taking on all this willingly and happily didn't quite make any sense to all those that I spoke to about my plans, so I stopped speaking about it... just put in all my energies in getting into top shape.

Normally we do things like clock work, schedules are maintained, we leave on time, arrive on time, start things on time and more often than not finish them on time too.... but this time things were a bit different, one of the chaps was late in coming so we left Delhi 2 hours behind schedule, things compounded and we were very late in reaching Rishikesh for the night halt, next morning the trend continued and we were eventually stopped at Joshimath. It was nightfall and we weren't allowed to drive any more. That meant that we would have stay the night here and travel to Govindghat in the morning. So the early morning start of the expedition was ruled out, all we could aim for now was to hopefully start by 9 am, and even that would need us to really push things in the morning. Next morning we were really at it, pushing things, getting stuff started but something kept happening and minutes kept slipping... the 9am deadline came and went. I kept looking at the watch and wondering why. It was only a little before 10 am that we eventually looked all set to go. The porters had loaded up, the team was all assembled and ready, all we now had to do was walk across the bridge and trek up the steep slope on the other side towards Ghangaria. In two days the Hemkund Sahib Gurudwara would formally open after the long winter break and we were hoping to beat the pilgrim crowds by going past Ghangaria by nightfall. Already the Gurudwara at Govindghat was jam packed with pre season pilgrims and we had to weave our way past the gurudwara gate and then onto the bridge to get to the other side of alaknanda. This was technically the beginning of the trek and as we did a quick headcount and found a member missing. We immediately patched him on the wireless and it turned out he had met someone near the Gurudwara and would join us in 10 mins. I was amused, that naughtly djinn was at it again, leaking away our minutes. I looked skyward and wondered why couldnt we keep to the time.

Just then I heard a commotion across the bridge and instantly I knew why all these delays had happened. The Guru Granth Sahib at Hemkund would be moved down to Gobindghat every winter and two days before the season opened it would be taken back up to Hemkund Sahib in a impressive procession. What I saw crossing the bridge was the beginning of that procession. First came a jathedar sprinkling holy water, purifying the path, then came the nihangs and the resplendant guards, then the young acolytes, followed by the conch blowers and the air was rent with the chant of 'bole so nihal, sat sri akal', then came the bearers of the guru di sawari, chanting the mesmerising 'wahe guru, wahe guru', one of them was carrying the granth on his head, as he passed me I bowed my head in silent thanks. To me it was all very clear. This was a sign, my path ahead had been blessed by a most potent force. All of us were destined too begin our venture in the wake of the guru granth sahib.

No wonder there was a spring in my step and a warm feeling in my heart as I began the trek.