Not only in India, Goecha La trek is famous globally among the hiking enthusiasts and communities. Although it could have been much more popular due to its splendid trail and variety, that’s not really the case. It is probably due to an understanding that it is a Difficult trek along with lack of right information and analysis. Today we will carefully examine what challenges the trail possesses and who among you and how you can prepare for this trek. We hope that after reading this article you will be well aware of the difficulties awaiting you on the trail and how you deal with these that it rightly becomes a wonderful journey to yourself.
Goecha la trail has many “high offerings” among which few are unique. It should be in every Himalayan hiker’s bucket list. Fanfare is apt. It is a rare trek in India that takes you so close to an Eight thousander yet easy to access.
The forest patch you cross before going beyond the tree line is no less unique. 360 degree view from Dzongri top during sunrise or the close up from Goecha La view point , eerily quiet campsite of Kokchurong by Prek chu, the riot of Rhododendrons in Spring, or foliage during autumn, turquoise Samity lake are some of the main reasons why this trek holds that special place in a hiker’s heart. Sounds Good enough to lure you to the Goecha La trek, right?.
Now let’s get back to the point, should you plan Goecha La?
What are the difficulties in Goecha La trek?
First thing first. Do note that Goechala trek is a physically demanding one which needs sincere preparations and prior high altitude experience(s). Remember that unaware and under prepared people will most likely find it really hard and henceforth struggle on the trail. This is not only a risk to yourself but for all as a team high up on the mountains.
So let’s analyse what awaits for us on the trail:
1) Longer trail length and significant vertical elevation gain – Excellent physical fitness is a must
Let us look at the below graph carefully and followed by an analysis.
Goechala trek Distance Vs Altitude profile graph
From Yuksom to Yuksom as per the usual itinerary most people cover it within 8 trekking days. That means you cover approx. 10 Km each day on an average at least, depending on the number of trekking days in your itinerary and that also includes one acclimatisation/rest day at Dzongri in those 8 days.
Beginners without any prior exposure to high altitude may struggle to cover that much distance for 8 days straight. To compare it with popular beginners’ treks; you cover 25 km in 4 hiking days i.e.an average of ~6 km per day in Kedarkantha and 30 km in 4 hiking days i.e. an average of ~7.5 km per day in Brahmatal.
Not only do you spend more days here in Goecha La, you cover more distance each day in comparison to beginner’s treks. The trail itself, at least till Samiti is nothing tricky. May be a little steep from time to time but you don’t have to negotiate anything technical anywhere on the trail. It’s the duration and length of the whole trek which takes a toll on the endurance of a hiker.
At the same time the trail has significant vertical altitude gain. Yuksom is relatively a low altitude base at ~ 1700 m/5500 ft. On the other hand your highest point Goechala Sunrise Point/View Point 1 is at ~ 4600 m/15100 ft. Additionally two descents (to Dzongri and Kokchurang) which eventually you need to cover. This sums up to a climb of more than 3000 m/10000 ft, which is indeed strenuous.
2) Sustained stay on high altitude and acclimatisation process – Needs prior high altitude experiences
The recommended altitude gain in a day above 10000 ft/3000 m is just 1000ft which you can read here. But practically that is not possible unless you have long holidays and a hefty travel budget. So here is a potential risk and be aware of that. Additionally we sleep multiple nights (4 nights in our itinerary) back to back at pretty high altitude, on or around ~ 13000 ft/4000 m.
Here it is pretty important that you have experienced a few days at around the same altitude before. A thumb rule is that every person needs to acclimatise everytime on high altitude. But people with prior acclimatisation issues are more prone to it. They must take a note on this (probably spending more time during altitude gain etc.) to avoid additional risks.
We highly recommend one acclimatisation day at Dzongri because of that reason and we do have this day in our usual itinerary. If your body stays acclimatised at Dzongri, most likely that you shouldn’t be having any altitude related problem for the rest of the trek.
3)Reaching Dzongri from Tsokha – Crux day
It is quite evident from the altitude vs distance graph, that the trek from Tsokha to Dzongri is surely a hurdle. You can get a relative estimate of gradient as well the values. Note that from Tsokha to Dzongri a vertical gain of approx ~ 3400 ft within a span of 12 Km hike. Adding to that you first climb to Deorali top which is another ~ 500 ft of additional climb on the day. Gradients are steep and sustained.
But rather than the steepness of the climb, our concern should be the 3400 ft of altitude gain in a day which we already addressed in the previous section. After the active acclimatisation and rest day at Dzongri if you are fit and fine, most likely you will complete Goechala comfortably, and you have overcome the crux part of it.
4) Other factors – Night trek on high altitude – Leeches in summer/early autumn – Damp coldness of Sikkim etc.
If the above challenges are addressed seriously, then remaining factors should not trouble you much. However, it’s better to keep these points in mind.
When you’re hiking at night at an altitude of above 14000 ft it is cold. At late night when we attempt the summit, it’s the coldest. Additional warm layers are required even while climbing steep ascents. By midnight above 14000 ft it’s almost always subzero and that creates a glasslike thin layer of slippery ice on the rocks, which is known as Verglass. You need to be very careful to break that thin layer of ice before stepping into it. At night it’s also dark. Your visibility is only limited to the reach of your head torch. Surroundings seem otherworldly is the night’s moonlit but when it’s otherwise, you need to pay attention to where you are stepping.
Another irritation and often annoying thing are the leeches. This is a common challenge in most of the Eastern Himalayas, especially Sikkim. As long as you’re inside the treeline beware of the leeches. Leches don’t like cold much and are very fond of warmth and humidity. If you’re hiking to Goecha La anytime between May to Sept, be prepared for leeches at least till Tsokha, the 2nd campsite. Carry salt with you in a small pocket container and sprinkle some on the leech/es if any of them stick to you. As a remedy some locals put chewing tobacco on their shoes and socks to keep the leeches away.
Is Goechala a Difficult grade trek?
There is no absolute scale of grading treks in general and are rather relative. Our grading scope is limited within the treks that we arrange(d).
As per our classification Goecha La is a Moderate grade trek with a Physicality scale rating of 7/10. You may also consider it as a strenuous trek of moderate grade difficulty.
So in spite of all the challenges Goechala is not a Difficult grade trek. It lacks really high altitude e.g. 5000 m or plus, terrain which needs negotiations or tricky manoeuvres, scrambling or potential exposures and so one. We will discuss this topic elaborately in another article.
Previously we had an option to visit the actual Goechala Pass, a.k.a. Third View Point. The last 1 Km or so to the pass is on loose boulders, scree, snow/ice terrain above 16000 ft and is not an option anymore. The permitted trail till Goechala First View point has no such challenges.
Can Goechala be my first high altitude trek?
For most of you it is unlikely with a few exception(s). With a strong mindset and excellent physical fitness you may not face problem(s) finishing the trek. Here the high risk is that you are testing yourself on pretty high altitude without any real time experience.
We strongly assert at least one multi day high altitude (above 3000 m/10000 ft) hiking experience even if you have a “professional” level fitness. As mentioned before there’s nothing technical about Goechala but it’s arduous and you need a strong endurance to finish the trek comfortably.
We hope that by reading this article now you have a clearer understanding on whether Goechala will be your next trek or not. :-). If you need more clarifications or have more queries, feel free to reach us via email or phone.
Editors note: This is not a post on beautiful “Bird Photography”, rather to encourage similar trip and field reports from birders. Check the original report published on eBirds here.
We (Avisek Chatterjee, Dipabali Paul and Subhajit Chaudhuri) started our journey on 29th Sep 2016 from Kolkata on Darjeeling Mail and reached NJP on 30th Sep 2016. Then we took a car ride to reach Yuksom, our trek base. HIMALAYA TREKKERS looked after our trek and other logistics arrangements.
Trip Highlights:
Location: Dzongri Goecha La trek, West Sikkim, inside Kanchendzongha National Park. Trail Length: Nearly 80 Km. Trail Altitude variation: From Yuksom (1710 m/5600 ft) to Goecha La 1st View Point (4600 m/15100 ft). Time of visit: 1st Oct to 8th Oct 2016. Bird species found: 84 species (+5 other taxa)
Continuous rain and accompanied cloud cover hampered the mountain peak views and bird watching to a great extent. The trail became extremely slippery and muddy along with yak and horse dung everywhere. However overall terrain is fantastic and great for birding. We were disappointed by the adverse weather due to a sudden depression formed in bay of Bengal. To give you an idea, below are some photos of the trek. All documentation purpose and records shots are shared by Dipabali Paul.
We camped beside deserted Bakhim Forest hutTsokha Trekkers HutDzongriThansingKokchurang
We followed the below itinerary:
Trek Day 1 – 01st Oct: Yuksom (1710 m/5600 ft) – Sachen (2200 m/7200 ft) – Bakhim (2620 m/8600 ft). [Good weather]
Trek Day 2 – 02nd Oct: Bakhim – Tsokha (2960 m/9700 ft). [Good weather]
Trek Day 3 – 03rd Oct: Tsokha – Phedang – Deorali Top – Dzongri (3950 m/12,950 ft). [Rainy and Cloudy]
Trek Day 4 – 04th Oct: Dzongri – Kokchurang (3700 m/12,135 ft) – Thansing (3940 m/ 12,920 ft). [Rainy and Cloudy]
Trek Day 5 – 05th Oct: Stay Thansing. [Rainy and Cloudy] (we can’t camp at Lamuney due to heavy rain)
Trek Day 6 – 06th Oct: Thansing – Lamuney – Samity Lake (4320 m/14,170 ft) – View Point 1 (4600 m/15100 ft) – Thansing – Kokchurang. [Rainy and Cloudy]
Trek Day 7 – 07th Oct : Kokchurang – Phedang – Tsokha. [Rainy and Cloudy]
Trek Day 8 – 08th Oct: Tsokha – Bakhim – Sachen – Yuksom. [Rainy and Cloudy]
Here is the list of bird species that we observed on the trail. I hope that this will give you a fair understanding of the avifauna distribution on this trail during autumn.
Bird species identified on Goecha La trek
Common name (Scientific name) – Numbers observed – Remarks/place
Hill Partridge (Arborophila torqueola) 1 Continuous calls at Tsokha and Bakhim
Tibetan Snowcock (Tetraogallus tibetanus) X Call heard while going from Samity Lake to View Point 1.
Blood Pheasant (Ithaginis cruentus) 8 Seen 7 (5 Male 2 Female) on the way from Phedong to Deorali Top on 03rd Oct 2016, Seen 1 Male on the way from Kokchurang to Phedong. Head calls near Dzongri Top 0n 04th Oct 2016
Himalayan Monal (Lophophorus impejanus) X Call heard at Tsokha, Bakhim and Thansing
Rufous-bellied Eagle (Lophotriorchis kienerii) 1 On the way from Dzongri to Kokchurang.
Snow Pigeon (Columba leuconota) X Plenty in Thansing. Few in Dzongri and Tsokha.
One Question May Remain Unanswered, Why We Climb Mountains …
Historically it says that Panpatia Col is the connection between Badrinath and Kedarnath . This route is one of the highest passes of Himalayas where one has to walk over the mysterious Panpatia Glacier. Legendary mountaineers Shipton and Tilman first crossed this in 1934, albeit with hardship. Later in 1998 famous mountaineer Martin Moran and team successfully walked on this glacier, almost following the same route of Shipton and Tilman. Those were the legendary mountaineers and many attempts after that by the new age mountaineers. The shorter route that was first attempted was under the leadership of Tapan Pandit from West Bengal in the year 2007.
In our attempt to Panpatia we planned to follow Tapan Da’s (elder brother in Bengali) footsteps. We took logistical support and expedition guide from HIMALAYA TREKKERS. Finally a motley group of five people decided to attempt the Panpatia Col in the beginning of post monsoon, early September 2017. The next few days of our life were like an absolute dream intertwined with scare, which I attempt to chronicle in this blog along with some tips, and tricks that may help the reader be better prepared for this marvellous expedition. Check Panpatia trek details page for more information.
Best Time & challenges and Difficulty level for Panpatia trek:
We attempted this expedition post monsoon and learnt from the locals that this is the best time to experience the serene mountains in solitude. The trek may get easier and little comfortable in summer. However irrespective of summer or monsoon it is indeed a difficult and treacherous trek to attempt.
Heavy snowfall may happen anytime and that has resulted in human casualties in the past. At the time of writing this blog, I received some grave news about the team that started couple of weeks after us, were trapped under heavy snowfall. This resulted in a causality of one of the team member whose body was discovered days later.
Shoe is very important, as 80% of the terrain is with boulders (in post monsoon especially). Needless to say three to four months of preparation will surely help
Extra ration for additional days is must. So even if we are stuck, we aren’t empty stomach.
We carried trekking gears like couple of ice-axes, spikes for everyone, 100 meters rope , 5 kilogram filled oxygen cylinder.
Generally, a porter in High Altitude will carry 20 kg and we took help of seven person apart from Cook and Guide.
Ration planning was nicely done by our support team. It was 9 days camp for 14 people with three triple sharing tents and one kitchen tent. We carried 25 kg rice, 20 kg wheat flour(aata) , 8 kg lentils, 60 pieces eggs, 30 kg fresh vegetables (including 15 Kg of Potato and Onion), 4 L of cooking oil, other ingredients like spices, salt, sugar , ready to eat noodles, tea/coffee/soup etc. Most importantly 40 L kerosene (we had two kerosene stove for cooking purpose). Additionally my incorrigible non veg friends bought a sheep (yes!) from the Shepherd’s (camp) and which served three full meals to the team, leaving me. Haha
Day 0 (6th September’ 2017) – Overnight train from Delhi to Haridwar
We all met at Delhi Airport. Saptarshi Roy, Arunava Patra, Soumitro Das, Rajarshi Sarkar all from Kolkata and myself Anomit Roy joined them from Hyderabad. Old friends’ new venture everyone was excited. Well we were anxious in addition. For sure, it is going to be a hard one and we were not sure if the preparation was enough for us. We boarded the train from New Delhi Railway Station around 23:50 .( 12205 nandadevi exp ). Destination was Haridwar. Before I forget to mention, food is very important to any of our expeditions and as you would see, we will never ignore it. So Five full stomach with ample dose of Hyderabadi Biryani was an apt start to the Panpatia Col Expedition 🙂
Day 1 ( 7th Sep’ 2017 ) – Drive from Haridwar to Joshimath – 270 Km
Reached Haridwar early morning at around 6 AM, thankfully the train was late by only one hour. Our first destination from here was Josimath which is one of the famous hill station in Uttarakhand,India. The distance between Haridwar and Joshimath is aroun 280 km which takes almost 12 hours (including breaks like breakfast, lunch etc ) . We had a pre booked car, which costs around five thousands rupees for us.
We reached Haridwar before sunrise
Enroute We stopped at Devprayag which is one of the Panch(five) Prayag of Alaknanda River where Alaknanda and Bhagirathi rivers meet and take the name Ganga or Ganges River. Rishikesh to Josimath is very picturesque road overlooking the Alaknanda River on the sides and the great Himalayas on the horizon. We took our lunch break at NandaPrayag. People like seafood can enjoy fresh river fish here.
Devprayag: Confluence of Alaknanda (R) and Bhagirathi (L) forming Ganga
Finally reached Joshimath , just before the sun wished us good night in this beautiful hill station. Friends who aren’t interested in strenuous treks should try Joshimath & Auli as their next holiday destination, Its serene surroundings and virgin beauty can put any other hill stations like Manali or Mussoorie to a tough competition.We directly went to Joshimath GMVN hotel and got a budget friendly dormitory for us. It costs us around 1500 rupees per night for 5 of us.
A views from Joshimath GMVN
Day 2 (8th Sep’ 2017 ) – Acclimatisation walk to Auli and back – 5 hours
Irrespective of you being an experienced trekker or not, thumb rule of any high altitude expedition is proper acclimatisation. We choose this day for a gentle hike from Joshimath to Auli followed by our rationing and logistic preparation in the evening.
Auli , is a place that I would like to revisit again and again . Picture won’t do justice to the spectacular view of mountain ranges stacked one after other that you find here.
At Auli
The evening was kept for our rationing at Joshimath. It is quite a big town for you to get all the necessary groceries and vegetables that would last the trip. Now we met our Guide Mr Balwant Singh Panwar, and Assistant Guide Mr Dilip Singh , along with six other support stuff. Mr Pushkar was our designated cook for the trip and we were elated to know that he is equally proficient in churning out vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes.
Provisioning in the evening, Joshimath
Day 3 (9th Sep’ 2017 ) – Drive to Benkuli 30 Km towards Badrinath – Trek to Khirao – 3/4 hours
Good Food assured, Great Team as company and Awesome Mountain ahead, we already had a great start. Our first destination would be Belenkuli on the way to Badrinath from Josimath (around 22km from Joshimath). On our way we bid good-bye to the comfort of motor vehicle at Benekuli and from there on rely on the most primitive mode of Human transportation-Legs for the rest of the journey. First leg of our journey was to reach Khirao Village, which would also be our first campsite of the trek.
Road head at Benkuli, 30 Km from Joshimath towards BadrinathOur 5 member “trekking team” nicknamed The Pandavas 😀
Benkuli is around 2300 mtr and is the starting point of this expedition. Initially Terrain was rocky with loose boulders scattered everywhere. This was combined with steep ascent that lasted a good 40-45 mins, which elevated our heart rates to the required level. The steep ascent was followed by a quick descent and later one more ascent. As per the prior information, this was supposed to be an easy 2 hours walk but it was certainly not or maybe we are getting a bit old. Anyways, a walk however difficult when surrounded by the green meadows and the inviting mountains up front gets so much less tiring as we proceed. Tiredness replaces an elation a certain high that can be only achieved in the arms of the great Himalayas.
Climb to Khirao village
Khirao is a very small village with some handful families living in seemingly harsh conditions. It gets its name from the river Khirao-Ganga that’s flowing right beside it. In fact we will trackback this river throughout our journey right up to it’s source glacier in Panpatia. The first day of camp was set up at the upper part of this village, near to Khirao Temple. Campsite at an altitude of approximately 2755mtr. Team took almost 3 hours to reach here.
First view of Khirao village
Day 4 (10th Sep’ 2017 ) – Trek to Shepherd camp – 5/6 hours
Woke up early to receive the first bad news of the trek – It has been raining from 4 o clock in the morning. With nothing better to do, we continued to enjoy the rain sipping hot tea prepared by Pushkar. Rain started slowing down at around 6:40 AM but this would certainly delay our previous planned start of 7:30 AM. Our next campsite from Khirao is Snout, which is a good 7 to 8 hours of walk. Nobody seemed to be bothered by this delay as Himalayas is the only place where once you are in the zone the time or distance does not matter and you live in the moment while the vastness sinks in.
Morning view at Khirao campsite
At 8:30 am we started our walk after a sumptuous breakfast with Aloo Parantha. Pushkar started living up to his reputation of being the master chef on the mountains. As lifelong foodie, we highly recommend him for your any trek in this region.
Almost an hour and half continuous ascent just after leaving Khirao CampBeautiful Bugyal on our wayThese flowers resembling Sunflower are my inspiration towards destination
Around 2 pm our expedition guide Balwant Ji stopped us at Shepherd Camp as he sensed heavy rains going forward. He decided to camp here as It would be risky to drench our groceries and supplied at such early days of the trek. Shepherd camp is at 3400 m approximately. The local name of this place is Gaddi Gadira.
Shepherd campA local Gaddi (shepherd) trimming and collecting wool
3 pm – Rain started with cold wind around. We came inside tent. Around 4:10 pm – Still inside the tent. Rain has stopped now. The Tent’s was setup to open to this wide thoroughfare of mountain ranges. The wallpaper of Lush Green Mountains, Cloud cover peaks and one small stream flowing in front is as scenic as it can get. . The team bought almost 12 Kg of lamb meat from local shepherds here and looks like it would be our dinner for the next three nights, at least for the non-vegetarians amongst us.
Day 5 (11th Sep’ 2017 ) – Trek to Moraine camp – 7/8 hours
8 am – Leaving camp late . 8:45 am – It was first time ever I saw the Mystic Mt. Neelkanth . Emotions were expressionless except the jaws felt down !!
Mt. Neelkanth from Dan KharakSome teams camp here at the snout of the glacier moraineBeginning of moraine
Reached Moraine Campsite around 4 pm. The altitude is approx. 4000 m here. Everyone was pretty exhausted after walking on rocky terrain for long. A proper trekking shoe is a must if you are to survive this terrain. The path to Moraine seemed like a never ending one. Which personally I have never experienced. Continuing to the 3rd day tradition this day did not go well for me. After lunch at 1 pm, I decided to move with porters to reach to the camp as early as possible and did not want to finish the day under fading sunlight and dropping mercury. Well in retrospect, it was not the wisest of decision. After an hour of a gruelling walk through very harsh terrain I found that, porters took the harder but faster path while the rest took a comparatively easier route. “Always follow your Guide” – Mountain’s Rule number One 🙂
Moraine camp
I travelled with the porters for another 30 mins to finally re-unite with the guide and the rest of my team. By now my body was super exhausted and I had almost finished my water as well. Each minute of the next couple of hours walk was punishing that I pushed through with a zombie like stroll. I was totally dehydrated by the time we reached campsite. This route also had very few water sources so my suggestion would be to carry additional water reserves. Had plenty of water mixed with salt and lemon, sat still for almost 30 mins with chocolate in my mouth, puked a few times followed by a bowel movement. All these aided to a quicker-than-expected recovery, Sapta Da mentioned that running noses are the signs of better acclimatisation at high altitudes and found some solace in his words.
7:30 PM: Finished today’s diner and back inside sleeping bag. Very cold outside, shivering a lot inside the tent too. Around 8 pm I crashed for a well-deserved sleep.
Day 6 (12th Sep’ 2017 ) – Trek to Parvati rock (below Parvati gully) – 6/7 hours
6:10 pm – “Point of No Return” from here. Another day traversing through the boulders. we were discussing amongst us that it may have been easier before monsoons as walking on ice is much easier than these loose rocks. Of course that would mean we had to setup our camps on snow and icy ground, which may not be a good thing for these many days. The day started with walking on moraine, followed by crossing a glacier and a prompt steep ascent. We reached the campsite at around 2:45 pm and were greeted by steady snowfall. We camped at an altitude of approx 4510 m.
Moraine walk beginsGlacier has openedFirst ice field crossing to reach Parvati rock campsiteA tough ascent on the boulders alongside the waterfall awaits for usFinally on the ridge, a relief!
8:30 pm – Its getting colder, all five us were sitting in a single tent. Outside of tent looks like a white screen with almost zero visibility. Every day the weather goes bad after 12 noon or so . We were contemplating to have an early start from now on. If we start the day earlier, we may be able to avoid such spurts of bad weather enroute to our campsites.
Day 7 (13th Sep’ 2017 ) – Trek to lower Panpatia ice field – 3 hours
8:45 pm – It was more or less a rest day for us. We just walked for 3 hours to reach to the base of Panpatia glacier and ice field. This place is just below our final ascent to reach the Panpatia Ice Field. We reached the campsite by 11:30 am. This was a tricky and risky terrain while crossing the rocky Parvati gully. Several times our guide helped us to cross possible traps we were unaware of. Altitude now is approximately 4800 m with the atmospheric oxygen dropping to around 57% that of sea level. Climbing 300 m took us three hours and I advice every caution while crossing this treacherous terrain. I may not be the most eloquent while describing the beauty of Himalayas hence I leave you with this picture worth of thousand words and hope it does some justice to its unspeakable beauty.
High altitude Life form 🙂Sunset time
Tomorrow is the day , we all eagerly waiting for …… The camp on upper Panpatia ice field.
Day 8 (14th Sep’ 2017 ) – Trek to upper Panpatia ice field – 6/7 hours
5:30 pm – We are sitting inside tent on the snowfield. Only two tents today. We five will sleep in a single tent and Kitchen tent will be for rest of the support team. A mixed day . We reached middle of the Panpatia ice filed by morning 9 am. Weather gods had smiled on us with a pleasant sunny day. We spent almost an hour or more on photo sessions in the great Himalayan studio. Around 10:30 am we started towards Panpatia Col. Initially we had the plan to cross the Col on the same day but the mystery land had something else for us !! The route was surrounded by deep crevasses, we had to use rope to cross one of the crevasse. By 12:30pm weather changed all of a sudden and we were engulfed within clouds with reduced visibility. Team moved forward slowly decided to set campsite around very near to Panpatia Col at around 2:30 PM. Guide did not advise us to move forward. This deviated us from our earlier plan to cross the Col by today and now had to settle down here, 300/400 mtrs away from Col. Pushkar hit his peak form and, we received hot tea , popcorn , hot soup , hot Bournvita energy drinks all in quick succession.
Climbing from Panpatia lower ice fieldMt. Chaukhamba – all four towersHappy time on the middle of the ice fieldMore joy, this time a somersault 🙂Crevasse filled Panpatia ice filedWeather turned bad on upper Panpatia ice field
The day was eventful we had one of the porters down with AMS (acute mountain sickness) attack around afternoon. We were equipped for such events and team made good use of the oxygen cylinder and feet massage to keep him oxygenated and warm. Another porter had not used any sunglasses throughout the day and got severe eyes pain due to the reflected sunlight.(A note to future climbers to double check that the porters that travel with you are equipped with such bare essentials for such treks.) On top of all this our guide Balwant himself was not doing great and had vomited multiple times on the way up here.
7:15 pm – Have to be active, it is freezing even inside the sleeping bag. Did not dare to go out of the tent, so thought of scribbling a few lines while am awake. Today morning while walking on the ice field, Guide had shown us snow leopard’s tracks on the ice. It was quite fresh and as per him the elusive animal had crossed, the field today early morning (may be 4/5 hours before we reached there). We were discussing that at this point we won’t mind inviting leopard inside the tent to get some warmth out of it’s cosy fur. We hoped it has finished its diner, so it should not mind the warm shelter aided with the cumulative fat of five of us. I always prefer company of people who crack jokes and laugh aloud. You would be surprised how quickly a good laugh can warm your body. Sapta Da asked other porters (who are in the kitchen tent), not to let the AMS sick person completely sleep but to check regularly how he is doing. We were going to live every moment of this night … long night! Good Night.
Day 9 (15th Sep’ 2017 ) – Crossing Panpatia Col – descent – Sujal Sarovar and further down – 12/13 hours
11 pm – The Magic Day!! Morning 8:30 am we moved forward. Then comes the famous descent from the Col. We walked almost 20 mins on the snow and then suddenly saw the steep descending path that awaits us. For a while I was taken aback and thought I might not be able to make it. Took a little pause summoned up courage and started my struggle.
Upper Panpatia ice field campVery steep descent flattens after 200 m or so
Today we had to release two porters to carry the ill porter in rotation. So in reality, we were 3 porters down. We decided to share the extra loads of the two porters making it a tougher day for all of us. Thankfully, the person with eye pain is doing better now. After reaching the campsite, we asked him to apply sliced cucumber on eyes, the household trick worked magic for him. The morning, descent was risky and tough, almost 70 degrees of inclination that led you back the dreaded boulder filled terrain. We took a lunch break and Pushkar quickly cooked some noodles for us at around 12:30 pm. We also filled up our bottles and continued our journey to the next destination, Sujal Sarovar. Enroute Crossed a small but very beautiful glacier which was followed by the boulder filled path for . the rest of the days. By now We all were quite irritated with boulders. So far 75% of the journey was on boulder filled path
Hot lunch enrouteOne last time on glacier and ice fieldSujal sarovar
It took us almost three hours to reach Suja Sarovar from the place where we had lunch. Sujal Sarovar had a supreme view , with Mount Chaukhamba’s reflection falling right on the lake. Unfortunately we weren’t able to setup camp here on boulders. May be during pre-monsoon this place remains covered with snow making it possible to camp. We continued to move and had to walk another 3 hours to reach campsite that didn’t really have any names. Camp is approximately at 3900 m. We came down a lot in 9/10 hours of walk today. Just like life going down is always faster than climbing up.
Day 10 (16th Sep’ 2017 ) – trek to Kachni Khal and descent to Madmaheshwar – 8/9 hours
We let our muscles relax a bit and had a late start at around 11 am. Reached Kachni Khal around 2 pm . Nice Bugyal views with Bramha Kamal bloom all around.
Towards Kachni KhalBrahma Kamal
From Kachni Khal we are supposed to reach Madhyamaheshwar today. We were already late for our destination. This was a proper wide trail except a very few places that still had some of the dreaded boulders. This is very beautiful trail and the icy taverns of past few days being replaced with the dense green vegetation is always a heavenly feeling. We had grossly underestimated the distance and reached Madmaheshwar only by around 8 pm in the evening. It would be at least 8 to 9 Km away from Kachni Khal as opposed to 5 Km marked on stones.
Walking down to MadhyamaheshwarBuda Madmaheshwar on the ridge, still quite a bit to walk
Day 11 (17th Sep’ 2017 ) – trek to Ransi – 8/9 hours
Last Day of our trek. Madhyamaheshwar to Ransi is almost 20 to 22 Km distance though we were in no mood to start early . Last night we reached here by 8 pm and got a room with cosy beds and blankets beside the temple! Guide was busy pushing us with continuous “Chalo bhai , chalo chalo” (lets go brother). Ransi to Madhyamaheswar is a beautiful trek too. We reached Ransi just before sunset.
Madmaheshwar templeLovely walk to Ransi
Day 12 (18th Sep’ 2017 ) – drive to Haridwar – 9/10 hours
Today we drive back to Haridwar via Ukhimath and Rudraprayag. All well that ends well!
Chaukhamba one last time
P.S. All photos are shared by Author.
Last but not the least:
Don’t take this account for granted. Though we were casual with respect to early morning start but remember that 5 of us knew each other for at least a decade or more. We have done multiple treks together and we knew each other’s strengths and weaknesses. Our guide has lead these type of treks for more than 15 years. Mental attitude and understanding matters a lot. Mentally prepare for unfavourable conditions which are beyond your control, simply expect the unexpected. Also we got relatively good weather when required. Carefully select your logistics and support team, in case you are planning independently. Hope you have enjoyed reading and it will help in planning key areas. Your comments are more than welcome 🙂
