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 |
 |
| 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...
No comments:
Post a Comment