The Financial Express December 11, 2011 5 F O O T L O O S E

Himalayan revelation

A trekking trip to Dayara top in Uttarakhand in the company of Bachendri Pal and Premlata Agrawal converts a bunch of bound-to-desk scribes into adventure lovers

SubhashNarayan run onto them. But a reality check came from veteran Bachendri Pal, N INVITATION for a whotoldusitwouldtakeafewdays trekking trip to the to reach anywhere close to those Himalayas is not the peaks.“But our trek will take us a best offer that anyone lotcloser,”shesaid. Acan make to journal- Day one of the real trip started ists.Used to a sleep deprived from the base camp a little early. lifestyle where the day starts well The November chill early in the past afternoon and evenings often morningwasuncomfortableforus end in the wee hours,getting into a city dwellers.Besides,it was an ef- disciplined regime,even for a few fort to wake up at five in the morn- days,canneverbewelcome.Butthe ing and get ready for a long trek to bait for this particular trip could Guin (9,500 feet), a beautiful little not have been better—a chance to meadow surrounded by dense trekwithtwomountaineers,oneof forests from where Neelkanth and whom is already a legend and the BandarPoonchrangesrise.Again, otheronwaytothesameleague. Bachendri Pal was a big inspira- (Fromtoptobottom)Shrikanthpeak The challenge was to scale a tion, as even at 57 years of age,she oftheGarhwalHimalayas,theGuin height of over 12,000 feet to Dayara was the first one to get ready and meadowsandthecampsiteat top in Uttarakhand, trekking well forceotherstofallinline. Dayarameadows over 10 km of rocky tracks passing The trek started with a gentle through villages, forest and mead- climb on a makeshift cement track signed golf course atop the Hi- ows. And to keep our feet moving that passed through villagehouses. malayas. The place resembles Gul- weretwostalwarts—BachendriPal, Gentle as it may be,the climb soon marg in Kashmir,barring the the first Indian woman to climb Mt started testing our stamina and population and any infrastructure. Everest,andPremlataAgrawal,the each step slowly became an effort Ourfirstthoughtwaswhythisplace firstpersonfromJharkhandtoscale with frequent breaks a routine. had not been developed for tourism. the world’s highest peak this year. “You should see this as a challenge. Buttheimmediatenextonewasthat Thefirstlegof thejourney(with If people twice your age could do it thevirginbeautyof theplacewasits all comforts) started from Delhi with ease,nothing should stop you. USP and any ‘development’ would and ended at Raithal village (7,100 It’s all in your mind,” said Bachen- just ruin it. Dayara meadows pro- feet), located at a distance of 40 km dri Pal, trying to encourage us. videa360degreeviewof thegreater fromUttarkashitownonthewayto What kept us going was the beauti- Himalayas and provide several oth- Gangotri.Thevillage,weweretold, fullandscapeallaroundus.Attimes er routes for trek enthusiasts.From wasourbasecampwherewewould we were in the middle of the jungle, hereyoucangetaclearviewof of the rest and get acclimatised for the strugglingtostealalittlewarmthof snow-covered peaks such as Drau- gruellingjourneyahead. the sun, and at times we were sud- padikaDanda(19,000feet),Gangotri Raysal is a small village with a denly in the open, exposed to the mighty Himalayas that seemed warned for the night. Immediately was a sight I am not likely to forget! 1(20,000feet),BandarPoonch(20,500 hundred-odd houses scattered closer with each step. After nearly after sundown, the temperature Soon we were on with our sec- feet), Shrikanth (21,000 feet) and along the ridges of Garhwal Hi- four and a half hours we were at started dropping and we were all ond leg of the trek, which we were KalaNag(21,000feet). malayas. The beauty of the place is THE CHALLENGE campone,midwaytothefinaldesti- shivering at minus two degrees told was less arduous.But climb- As night fell, the moonlight thatthesnow-cappedmountainsof WAS TO SCALE A nation,Dayaratop. centigrade.But even the chill did ing up starting from 9,500 feet is it- turned the meadow into a silvery the greater Himalayas make a 180- HEIGHT OF OVER Guin gives a spectacular view of not deter us from moving out to see self a task and the steep climb desert, a sight we drank on, un- degree arc around the village and 12,000 FEET, TREKKING the Garhwal Himalayas. We had to the millions of stars dotting the slowed our movement to just a few mindful of the minus five degrees. the sunrise brings with it a stun- WELL OVER 10 KM OF camphereforthenighttobeginour sky, aviewnotpossibleinDelhi. metresinaminute. The next morning we prepared to ning visual of orange-and-gold second leg of the trek the next day. The next morning brought an- But the sight that waited for us at climb down, but no one seemed huedmountainsslowlyturningin- ROCKY TRACKS AND Campinginthemeadowsinfrontof other surprise—a white blanket our final destination, the Dayara willing to leave the place.All of us to blue and grey as the sun rises. BRAVING MINUS FIVE thebeautifulrangesandsurround- around our tents.The dew had meadows (11,500 feet), was worth were converts by now, willing to The ranges engulf the village in a DEGREES OF CHILL ed by forests was an unimaginable frozen, covering the grass and con- everyeffort.Themeadowsgiveafeel takeupthechallengeof thenextbig way, givinganillusionthatonecan experience and we weren’t fore- verting the meadow into white.It of greensanddunesoraperfectlyde- trekkingtrip.

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