KANJI LA TREK

Background: It had been over three years since I had gone up to 5000 m (last during my Everest Base Camp trek) and I had been chasing the views and the feeling of getting the breath knocked out, that usually come with a 5000 m pass/summit. In 2019, I couldn't go to Junargali from Roopkund due to the snow conditions and in 2020, I couldn't go to GV pass during my NK trek, due to weather conditions and other reasons. So, in early 2021, when I was planning my KGL (Kashmir Great Lakes) trek, I saw an opportunity to club it with a 5000 m trek in Ladakh.

After some research, I finalized on Kanji La, a 5250 m high pass. The trek appeared to tick all the boxes - short duration (after KGL, I wouldn't want to go on another 5 day trek and this could be squeezed into 2 to 3 trekking days), was in the greener part of Ladakh (I'm not a fan of barren landscapes and this was right across the Great Himalayas, not tucked away deep in Ladakh) and should offer some good views (due to its proximity to the highest mountains in Kashmir and Ladakh).

Location of Kanji La

Trek Profile

The trek:

04/08/21': After completing the Kashmir Great Lakes trek, I was running around in Srinagar trying to get an RT-PCR test done for entering Ladakh. Luckily, I found a guy who took my swab sample and I could then leave for Sonmarg. I reached safely (no accidents this time, thank god!) just after dark, had a shower after many days and stayed the night there. 

05/08/21': After failing to find a shared jeep in the morning, I found a truck driver who was going to Rangdum and agreed to drop me, for the going rate of 1000. 
At Minamarg check post, my RT-PCR report was checked diligently (unlike at Srinagar airport, a week back) and then my swab sample was taken for the RAT test. After trying to provide a satisfactory answer to the barrage of friendly questions from the checking official and after the RAT test came negative, I jumped back into the truck and sat between the driver and the conductor. We stopped for lunch in Dras and fueled up in Kargil. As evening approached and the truck stopped at Panikhar check-post, the conductor opened the gate and got down. I too got down and suddenly froze as I realized something - one of my trekking shoes was missing! As I had been sitting on the engine, with little leg room, I had removed my shoes; one of them could've fallen at any of the halts we had taken. 
With my shoe gone, I felt like the ground had been swept from under my feet; how would I now trek to a very less frequented 5250m pass? Was there any point in continuing on the journey? Should I cancel the trek plan and go back to Srinagar? 
I was shaken but I pulled myself together. Luckily, I found another truck going back to Kargil; I hopped on and requested the driver to stop at where I had stopped earlier, hoping to find my other shoe. Despite much effort, my search was futile and I didn't find my shoe. 

06/08/21': I stayed the night in Kargil and as the shops opened in the morning, I bought the best available - a cheap pair of Chinese made slip-on sports shoes. I then tried to find a shared ride to Rangdum but the shared jeeps had left early in the morning and the only bus to Parkachik would leave at around 12:00-13:00 and would reach by evening; this could be too late for me to find an onward ride to Rangdum. I called my contact in Rangdum, MP Dorje and in a heaven-sent, there was a 'company' bus going to Rangdum, soon. I got on the bus and reached the last stop, project site #5, 5-10 kms from Rangdum, after which Mr. Dorje came to pick me up. By the time I reached Zuldok (the actual name of the village people mean when they say Rangdum), it was 9. My guide, Tenzin, had been waiting for me at the restaurant next to 'La Himalaya' (Mr. Dorje's hotel that had been converted to the project site office). Based on my earlier chat with some locals, and subsequent calculations, I had decided that I wouldn't cross over to Kanji village but would retrace my steps back from Kanji La to Rangdum. We had dinner and went through the trek planks quickly, before retiring to bed.

07/08/21': After having breakfast and packing lunch and dinner, we started for Rangdum Gompa at 6:30. Earlier, I had talked to somebody who agreed to drop us to the Gompa and slightly beyond, in his vehicle but the price he was asking for seemed quite high to me so I decided to walk the 4-5 kms to the Gompa instead. The walk was flat and we took a short-cut, crossing a stream after taking our shoes off. We reached the Gompa in an hour and then turned towards the valley of the nallah. After walking on the flat river bed for 45 mins (no trail), we started to climb up gently on the right (true left) of the nallah and moved away from it. I had now lost reception of my Jio sim.

Rangdum Gompa

Looking back at the river bed

By 9:30, we had reached our first stream crossing and in 30 mins, there was another where we had to take our shoes off. By 10:30, there was another one for which we took our shoes off. Tenzin remarked that the water in the streams was less than he had expected. By 11, we had reached the Marpolong camp - green grass on maroon soil and pastel green rocks, an otherworldly landscape that I could have never imagined! 

Marpolong

We crossed another stream at 11:30, the Marpolong landscape still continuing. In 30 mins, we reached a point where the trail bifurcated and a narrow dirt trail descended towards the river; this was the trail that we took and Tenzin told me that the trail going straight would lead to Pikdong La. Up till this point, we found fresh animal droppings along the way, indicating that this path was well trodden. This was also the point from where Kanji La was first visible clearly. 

Trail bifurcating to Pikdong La and first view of Kanji La (left-centre)

By 12:30, we had reached the banks of the nallah whose valley we had been walking in until then. Tenzin remarked that the water was less than he had expected and was safe to cross (I had discussed this with Tenzin at Marpolong that we'd check the water level in the main nallah and decide whether we'd cross or need to go back to Marpolong to camp). We took our shoes off, folded our pants as far up as we could and crossed the water that almost came up to my knee at its deepest. After the crossing, we had lunch and rested for a while.

Crossing the main nallah

Around 13:15, as we started again, Tenzin told me that this was the last point from where we could fill water! I was surprised and a little angry at Tenzin, as I was carrying only two 1 ltr bottles and he only one 1 ltr bottle. Had he mentioned this before the start of the trek, we'd have carried a bigger container to store water for the camp. There was another nallah coming out of a gorge and joining the main nallah at this point. I told Tenzin that as we continue ahead, we'd need to keep close to the nallah and pitch our tent where the route would start to stray away (I'd later realize that the route indeed keeps close to the nallah).

We used our hands to climb over a rocky face. The trail was very faint and went in the direction of the nallah, above it. After walking on the trail for some time, Tenzin started to descend towards the nallah when the trail became all rocks and scree and thus trickier. We then walked by the side of the nallah, no trail but Tenzin leading the way. The valley was getting narrower and the route was now full of scree, with some rocky patches. After leaving the main nallah, I hadn't found any animal droppings at all, let alone fresh ones. The only trace I found of past human activity on the route was a small empty box of canned fish (foreign trekkers, I guessed). Tenzin had earlier mentioned that due to the ongoing Covid pandemic, almost nobody had gone up to Kanji La in two years; if successful, we'd be the first.

Soon, Tenzin dropped another bomb on me when he said that there was no flat space ahead to camp! This made me angry at him again. I asked him if there was indeed no place ahead to camp and after some thinking he replied that last year when he was with other locals, he had camped about an hour further from where we were. This was some relief but another factor that was on my mind was the altitude. I had slept at ~4000m (Zuldok) the previous night and had no complications. So, as per my past experience (and this is what I had planned in my draft of the trek itinerary), I shouldn't be sleeping at higher than ~4500m that night. From a seemingly credible reference that I found online, the 'Junction' (where the trail to Pikdong La bifurcated) was at ~4300m and around 2 km after it, the route would reach 4500m. Based on this calculation, I concluded that Tenzin's camping spot would be ideal. 

By now, my internal barometer had started sending signals of the air thinning - I wasn't tired (had had lunch and rest only some time back) but was stopping frequently to catch my breath. This and the fact that it was hard to imagine finding a camping spot in such a landscape, was making me impatient and I wanted to pitch the tent in the first level space that we'd find. Luckily, we soon found a place that looked like a camping spot (not the spot Tenzin had in mind).It was some level land on a ridge dropping down in a cliff to the nallah below. It was here that the nallah originated (actually, came out of the scree, as compared to starting as a trickle near a glacier / ice patch) so water availability wouldn't be an issue (I'd later find out that we wouldn't need as much water as I had thought). I also found another empty box of canned fish nearby.

Precariously pitched tent at makeshift camp

It was 14:15 and we were struggling to pitch the tent in the strong wind; we used the guy ropes as we couldn't drive the pegs into the scree / rock and wrapped the ropes around rocks to provide anchor. We threw our stuff in and quickly got inside the tent to keep the tent from being blown away. After we settled in, we started to discuss our strategy for the next day. Tenzin didn't sound sure but estimated it was still around 5 hours to the pass and we'd need to come back and cross the main nallah latest by 12 (before the time we had crossed that day, in case the next day was a hot one and the water level increased sooner). Back-calculating, this meant that we'd have to start around 3-4 a.m. With this in mind, we rested for a while, had dinner around 19:00 and then went to sleep.

08/08/21': It drizzled at night. I got up at 02:30 and peeked out of the tent to find cloudy weather. It wasn't wise to continue ahead in bad weather so I decided to take a call around 5 a.m., when dawn would break. I got up again at 04:30 and found that the weather had improved slightly; after thinking for a while, I decided that we'd go ahead and attempt Kanji La. 

We packed all our stuff (including the tent, which we couldn't leave pitched for fear of getting blown away), kept the stuff we'd need in my backpack and kept all other stuff in Tenzin's backpack, which we'd leave behind and pick up once we were back. Dawn had broken and at 5:15, we had started for Kanji La. 

Tenzin had repeatedly expressed his worry of not making it back to the main nallah in time to cross safely and I decided on a cut-off time of 9:00 (whether we reach the pass or not) and assured him that we'll make it back in time. However, I still wondered if this was necessary; the locals I had talked to earlier had mentioned that there was another route that went around the nallah and was longer by a couple of hours but was safer to cross in case of increased water level. But, Tenzin denied there being such a route and said that the only way around the nallah was to go near Pikdong La, which would be significantly longer. I thought that it was best if I'd take a call around 9:00.

The path uphill was of moderate gradient and was all scree. The air was thin and I was still stopping occasionally to catch my breath but it felt slightly better than the previous day. Maybe I was better acclimatized (my resting pulse had been 75; not bad at all!), maybe due to the reduced weight on the shoulders, or maybe due to a combination of both. Around 6:30, we came across some level ground by the side of the path, with flat rocks enclosing it. It looked like a camping spot but there was barely enough space to pitch a two-person tent. Later, I'd also find some snow melting to water, not too far from the place. 

We had been walking for some time and Tenzin didn't sound sure but he still thought that the pass was very far. So, the possibility of not reaching or being near to the pass by the cut-off time of 9:00 was becoming more real to me. I looked around and wondered if I should instead climb up to the top of the ridge that could be around the same altitude as Kanji La and might offer similar views. But, I realized that from where I was, there was no way to know if the point I was seeing was indeed the ridge and that there was no higher hill behind it. So, I quickly dismissed the idea and carried on ahead.

Around 7:00, I turned back and in the distance sighted Nun Kun (7135 m) - sunlight cutting through the dark cloud cover to light up the peak. This was some reason for cheer.

Nun-Kun visible in the distance in right

Tenzin remarked that there was more snow on ground when he had crossed the previous year and all around where we were then was covered in snow.

As we continued ahead, I noticed that Tenzin had been taking more stops and was falling behind. I asked him what it was and he dismissed it as being nothing. We stopped for a while and then carried on; I being more mindful of adjusting my speed to suit his. 

At 7:30, I sighted what looked like a pass ahead and pointed it to Tenzin. He didn't seem too sure; this was discouraging, but somehow I felt pretty sure and shared this with him. He asked me how far I thought the pass was and I estimated it to be around one hour away, tops. 

Sighting the pass had given me an energy boost; I calculated that even if that wasn't Kanji La and the actual Kanji La was visible only when I got nearer, I still had time before the 9:00 cut-off. This gave me hope. 

While all this was going through my head, I noticed that Tenzin had stopped and sat down. I asked him if he was okay, to which he replied that he had been having a headache (it was why he was taking more stops). I thought maybe it was due to the cold, since AMS was unlikely for a local. He said that he wanted to stay and asked me to go ahead. I told him that we'd wait for a while and then continue when he felt better but he insisted that he stay and I carry on. I still tried to urge him to come with me but it was of no use. I asked if he'd be okay waiting there by himself and he replied yes. I then gave him some medicine for the headache and asked him to drink more water.

With the pass closer and with the weather getting worse and Tenzin waiting, I increased my pace (but not over-exerting myself). I could now identify cairns atop; now there was almost no doubt that it was indeed Kanji La.
At 8:15, I reached the pass and looked over to the other side; an entire world had opened up! Despite numerous challenges, I had made it to the 5,250 m / 17,500 ft high Kanji La! I thought about poor Tenzin, who had missed the pass by only about half an hour.
I offered my thanks/respects/prayers before the cairns marked with prayer flags (tattered ones; maybe no one had offered a prayer flag recently) and then performed my ritual - celebrating the success and soaking in the views while enjoying a chocolate! However, since I had no chocolate left (I had shared it earlier with Tenzin when I saw that he was struggling), I pulled out the back-up - a chocolate cupcake I had purchased while striking up a conversation with a shop owner in Parkachik.
I climbed up the ridge a bit, to explore the area more. There was snow on the other side (north) of the pass, all the way down into the valley, which I thought would've made it slightly trickier to descend. Due to the bad weather, there was a cloud cover on the horizon of the north side as well, obstructing any potential views of the high mountains. The weather on the south side was getting much worse - dark clouds on the horizon hid Nun-Kun.

Cairns and Tattered Prayer flags mark Kanji La

Kanji La

Looking north across Kanji La

Without spending much time (though I wanted to!) on the pass, I started back. While descending quickly, I reflected on how Kanji La was compared to other high passes/peaks from my earlier experiences; it was definitely one of the least steep and wasn't really as tough as I had expected/hoped. But, it was one of the 'wilder' treks that I had done and the journey to Kanji La wouldn't be forgotten for long!

I reached where Tenzin was quickly and found him lying down and resting. I checked if he was okay; he said he was feeling better and we started our descent. Tenzin seemed fine and we descended quickly. I was conscious that my make-do shoes, which hadn't given me any problems so far, didn't have much protection or cushioning. So, I had to be extra careful during the descent.

It had gotten very cold and suddenly, I felt a snowflake fall on me. Then, there were more and soon, it became a flurry. To me, this was the literal 'icing' to the 'trekking' cake and now in a first, I had seen snowfall in August as well. I only hoped that there was no rain in the lower areas that would increase the water in the main nallah.

By 9:30, we had reached our makeshift camp. It had taken us an hour downhill to cover what took us three hours uphill. After some rearranging of things in our bags (so that Tenzin didn't have to carry more and so that we wouldn't need to exchange from each other's bags later) and after I had quickly stuffed in some bread that I was carrying, we started on our way back to the main nallah.

Leaving a seemingly well laid out trail, Tenzin had taken the route of the nallah that started near our makeshift camp and joined the main nallah near the crossing point. This meant that we were walking mostly right by the nallah and sometimes in it, through rocky terrain, snow patches and between near vertical walls of the narrow valley. I asked Tenzin more than once if this was the right route and he said yes confidently each time. However, I couldn't comprehend how bad the trail above the valley was, that he thought this to be a better route! 

Soon, the walls of the valley closed in and formed a gorge. We now had to walk through the gorge! I was excited for this new experience but was a bit nervous. After stepping into the water and walking some distance, I realized that the water wasn't very deep but the fast current and the uncertainty of what one was stepping into in the dark gorge, made it challenging; not to forget the ice-cold temperature of the water that made it unbearable!

Around 10:30, we had come out of the gorge,near the crossing point. The water level in the main nallah looked to be the same or lesser and we crossed it quickly. After that, we had a meal of yak yoghurt and sattu/tsampa that Tenzin was carrying. I tasted yak yoghurt for the first time; it was very sour but good. We then rested for a while.

Coming out of the gorge, near the main nallah

At 11:00 we got up and started back for Rangdum. We took the same trail and crossed the streams safely. Maybe it was the long time spent amidst barren landscape since the previous noon, but the landscape on the way back seemed more beautiful than from what I remembered during the onward walk.

By 16:00, we had reached the Gompa and in a stroke of luck, Mr. Dorje was not far and on his way back to Zuldok so picked us up in his car. Again, maybe it was the long time spent amidst barren landscape or maybe it was the lighting but the drive to Rangdum presented a more beautiful landscape.

Thus concluded a memorable trek but I was already planning other prospective trips/treks in the area - the Drang Drung glacier (which I couldn't visit due to lack of time; also a 2-3 hour trek as per Tenzin), the Nun-Kun Base camp trek (looked very promising!) and the Parkachik glacier.

Views of Nun-Kun

09/08/21': Last evening, I couldn't find a ride to Parkachik, from where I had hoped to take the 7:00 JKSRTC bus to Kargil (the same bus that starts from Kargil around 12:00-13:00, reaches Parkachik around 17:00 and starts back the next morning). So, I had to wait for a ride out of Zuldok (which was an adventure in itself!)

DEO TIBBA BASE CAMP AND CHANDRATAL (attempt!)

Background: It had been almost nine months since my last trek (NK) and I was desperately itching to go on a trek. Covid situation and lockdown rules permitting, I had started to look at trek options in Kumaon and Himachal, of easy to moderate difficulty and short to medium duration.

I had been wanting to do Pindari/Sunderdhunga for quite some time but the Uttarakhand entry rules and the time and effort needed to reach the base villages of the treks were prohibitive factors. That's when the idea of Chandratal trek came to me - a guide I had met on my Hampta Pass trek years ago was from Jagatsukh and had recommended this trek.

Planning: I searched for more info on Indiamike and on Google and was able to draft an itinerary. I shared the idea first with my NK trek mates - Prashant (another guy with the same name, not referring to myself in the third person 😀) and Ashutosh, but found no takers. I then shared in my wider travel/trek group to look for partners (more than trek partners I actually needed people to hitch me a ride/share the expense of getting to Manali 😁, since HRTC had not resumed services).

When I still couldn't find any partners, I decided to go solo (I was able to find shared rides to Manali on some online portals). I spoke to Bhanu (whose contact I had got from Indiamike) and finalized the itinerary and the dates - I'd be reaching Jagatsukh on 19/06 and starting the trek. HP had started easing lockdown from 14/06 (so I imagined there would be a balance between tourist convenience and the no. of tourists rushing in), Monsoon had just set in and I learnt from my enquiry with Bhanu that there was only about 1 foot of snow near Chandratal; the timing seemed ideal. 

However, couple of days before I was to leave, I got a message on my trek group - Prashant had a change of heart and was ready to join. Soon, Ashutosh also agreed to join and the NK trio was ready to trek again😎 I agreed to push the start date to 25/06. After much back and forth, we finally decided to take the car and drive ourselves as opposed to hiring a driver and renting a car.

Map of the trek route

The drive: On the evening of 23/06, we took the Eastern Peripheral out of NCR, connected at NH-44, bypassed Chandigarh and entered HP near Swarghat (where our e-pass was checked). We reached Manali late in noon of 24/06 and stocked up on some ration and some other trek essentials.

The trek:

25/06/21': We reached Jagatsukh by 8:00, met Bhanu, had breakfast and briefly ran through the trek plan. Bhanu then took us to his home (we all envied him for his simple yet comfy house 😇) and started to arrange for pack lunch. By the time we left Bhanu's, it was 10:30 already. Bhanu drove us 11 km to the Duhangan Weir site in his Van. En route, we were stopped once at a check-post of the private company that operated the weir, but the guard let us go after talking to Bhanu for a while. We reached the weir site (3000m) at 11:30 and started for Chika.

The trek begins

We covered the 2 kms in 1 hr and stopped at Chika (3100m) for lunch. Bhanu showed us the 'sarai' that locals use for accommodation during their fairs and festivals at Chika and he also showed us the 'Nag' temple. At 13:00, as we started after having lunch, it started to drizzle and we pulled out our ponchos.

We covered the next 4 kms to Dudu Patthar (3500m) in 2 hrs and from what I had gathered, I imagined we'd cover the next 2 kms to Seri (I'd later find out that I was wrong about this) in the next hour. I ran another calculation in my head and the 2 kms from Seri to Tainta looked achievable by dusk (I'd later find out that I was wrong about the altitude of some campsites). However, when I shared this thought with Bhanu, he informed that there was a river crossing after Seri and the streams swell up with water later in the day and it's best to cross in the morning. After hearing this, I settled for Seri as the night halt.

As we crossed Dudu and passed by another makeshift campsite nearby, I stopped to turn back and saw one of my mates gesturing to come back to where he was. I rushed back (thinking it was a sprained ankle or something for which they'd need the first aid I was carrying in my bag) and learnt that Prashant wasn't feeling well; he claimed he had AMS 😮. I was surprised - true, we had ascended 500m since we began but I thought AMS at 3500m was very unlikely! (and to a person who has done 5000m+ treks). I asked him if he had any symptoms and he said he felt very tired 😕. I asked if he was delusional or had any other symptoms, to which he replied 'No'. He looked pretty much his goofy self so I was pretty certain it wasn't AMS. However, we had a decision to make - to camp there or to proceed to Seri. While we were deciding, it began to rain heavily and there were also hailstones falling intermittently. The decision was made.

Somehow, we setup our tents but by the time I got my stuff in, some of the clothes I was wearing and a part of my bag had got wet in the rain. A group of locals camping at the same spot was a big help - we prepared our dinner (khichdi) in their tent (bigger!) and I put my stuff to dry. Meanwhile, we measured our SPO2s and Prashant had his as 92 - we were all a bit relieved.

Soon after dinner, we retired into our sleeping bags and hoped that everything would be fine the next day.

26/06/21': I woke up in the night to find clear skies outside and went back to sleep happy that the next day will be clear as well. However, when I woke up in the morning, I was surprised to find mist all around and was very disappointed.

I woke up my mates and enquired if they were ok and ready for a long day to Chandratal and back. To my surprise, Prashant, the 'AMS guy' was ready to go but Ashutosh wasn't and wanted to stay at the camp and 'chill'. Here was another seasoned trekker so I imagined it was due to the trail running shoes that he had bought for the trek (instead of trekking shoes), that was slowing him down and he didn't feel comfortable trekking the ~12hrs that day. I proposed that we move to Tainta that day and then attempt Chandratal the next day and come as far back as we could, but he wasn't happy with this proposal and insisted that the two of us attempt Chandratal with Bhanu.

After a breakfast of oatmeal, we kept pack lunch in our day-pack and started at 7:15. Around 8:30, we had reached a wide expanse and could sight the Tainta waterfall and the campsite that Bhanu indicated was Seri. In another 15 mins, we had reached Seri (3800m) and Bhanu showed us the cave that can be used as shelter and he mentioned that it can accommodate even 20 people. He also showed the route that goes from Seri to Malana, over a high pass. Seri was beautiful and it reminded me of the Balu ka Gera campsite of Hampta trek. I only wished that by some magic, the sky would clear soon.

Seri; reminds of Balu ka Gera, doesn't it?

Seri; looking back where we came from

Cave at Seri, used for shelter

After walking through marshy land, we reached a stream and crossed the icy cold stream after taking our shoes off. Almost immediately after the crossing, the path started to climb up a hill, roughly parallel to the waterfall. The steep climb and the thinning air made us stop to catch our breaths, a few times. 

Around 10:30, I crossed an uphill section and a beautiful sight unfolded before me - a lovely grassland flanked by the snow patches at the base of the mountains, and the stream flowing by. I climbed over a big rock, which made a good vantage point from where I could see the stream cascading down into a waterfall and could see both where we came from and where we'd be going. 

First view of Tainta

Looking down at Seri and the stream we crossed

The side valley leading to Malana

We stopped by the stream and I sat down to open my pack lunch as I soaked in the beauty of the Tainta camp-site (4000m), carpeted by pink flowers. Tainta was the most picturesque spot so far and we clicked away photos, happily. I could only imagine how much more beautiful it would look if the sky was clear and we could see all of the mountains!

Tainta camp-site

Prashant wasn't feeling so good and he didn't want to continue further. We could spot what looked like tents some distance ahead and with the prospect of warm hospitality, I persuaded him to at least walk till there. 

We crossed the stream again by taking our shoes off and continued ahead through the flat grassland. As we got near to the tents, Bhanu moved away from the path, towards the rocks on our left. It was around 11:30 and we had reached a point from where the path to DTBC (Deo Tibba Base Camp) and Chandratal climbed up ahead through rocks and the path to the tents went down on the right. I asked Prashant again if he was sure he didn't want to continue ahead and he asked us to go ahead and said he'll wait for us at the tents.

There was no trail but we crossed the stream again and climbed ahead, through rocks and snow. After a while, another view opened up - high mountains hidden behind clouds (my rotten luck!), snow all around and the stream now a trickle in the valley down on our left. Bhanu informed me that it was Deo Tibba Base Camp. I could also spot some man-made object (maybe some sort of a shelter) in the distance. 

Looking back

Views from Deo Tibba Base Camp

Without any trail visible, I followed behind Bhanu as we continued ahead close to the ridgeline, in snow that was knee-deep in places. The snow was soft and would sometimes suddenly cave in below the feet, sinking us deeper, twisting the ankle or hitting a rock.

It was around 13:00; we hadn't covered much distance after the tents and the climb wasn't steep but walking in the snow had slowed us down to a snail's pace. It was also getting close to the cut-off time of 14:00 that I had set out in my mind. I asked Bhanu how much further was Chandratal and he pointed ahead and told me that it was behind the mountain on our right, was most probably still frozen and that it would take around 2 hours to reach, given the snow condition.

Chandratal behind the mountain on the right?

There were dark clouds ahead and weather wasn't getting any better. I thought that if we continued ahead, we'd reach Chandratal at around 15:00, plodding for hours through snow that might only get deeper. We might bruise our legs badly, hitting more rocks, or worse; twist an ankle. Even if we did make it safely to Chandratal, we might not get much of a view and by the time we'd get back to DTBC and Tainta, it might start getting dark and we might reach our camp near Dudu only after dark. Based on this, continuing ahead didn't seem a good idea and Bhanu agreed with me.

So, with a heavy heart, I turned back; it wasn't the first time I was turning back on a trek or that a trek hadn't been fully successful, and it was not likely going to be the last (law of wasted effort)

As we walked down to the tents, I tried to accept the fact that Chandratal wasn't on the cards this time (you climb a mountain when the mountain allows you) and thought of the things I could have done differently - more research on the snow conditions? (I don't think I could've done a better job; Bhanu was the only lead I got and that too after much research), camped at Tainta and started very early for Chandratal, when the snow was hard? (yes, this would've probably worked and I had already proposed this for another reason but it didn't happen).

We reached the tents around 14:00 and found Prashant enjoying the hospitality of the campers, who were from a commercial agency running treks to Deo Tibba summit, and whose trekking clients had gone up the mountain that morning, to attempt the summit. After chatting with them for a while, we started back for Tainta.

At Tainta, we stopped for a bit after the river crossing, to enjoy the beauty of the camp-site. We then began our descent to Seri and reached around 16:00 (the river crossing didn't seem such an ordeal on the feet this time). Walking through the soft grassland of Seri was lovely. 

By 17:30, we had reached our camp and Ashutosh greeted us with the khichdi he had cooked, which I devoured immediately.

Soon, it began to rain, after which the sky cleared. The three of us chatted as we enjoyed the beautiful evening and watched the sun set.

27/06/21': It rained some more at night but we woke up to a clear sky, without a speck of cloud; my mind wandered away into 'could've, should've, would've' but I quickly told myself 'Que sera sera' and decided to enjoy the rest of the trek that fine morning.

After a breakfast of oatmeal, we started for Chika around 8:00. After a while, when we crossed tricky sections, I reminded myself how important a guide was in finding the trail on this trek (as the route isn't well marked).

Sometime before Chika, I also saw what looked like a bear pugmark.

Shortly before Chika, we came across a group of local women - the first group we had seen on the trek. We reached Chika around 10:00 (we had taken a few stops) and came across the rest of the group, who even invited us to join them for breakfast.

On our way down, we came across more people coming up (maybe because it was a Sunday). I crossed the small bridge before the weir site and reached where Bhanu's van was parked, by 11:00. 

As I waited for the others, looking at the water in the nallah, I did a quick mental recap of the route - on the way up, after crossing the small bridge, the trail stuck to the true right of the Duhangan nallah, upto Seri where we crossed it and went to the true left. We then crossed the nallah again at Tainta and then again before DTBC). 

I also did a recap of the water availability - water was available in plenty all through the trail; upto Seri, carrying lesser than 0.5L and filling up at streams should've been sufficient and between Seri and Tainta, since there weren't as many streams, 1.0L was sufficient. 

I was shaken out of my recaps as the rest of the group arrived and we then drove off to Jagatsukh.

On the way down in the van, we were chatty and discussed world affairs, social media addiction and the prospect of settling in the hills 😃, amongst other things, before reaching Jagatsukh around 12:00.

Bhanu had insisted that we have lunch at his place but we said our goodbyes to him and drove off to Manali, from where we'd drive to Delhi the same day (and what would be an experience in itself!)

Thus concluded our DTBC trek but I was already thinking of my upcoming KGL (Kashmir Great Lakes) trek...