A quick one day hike to Deoria Tal.
After the New Year celebrations one thing was pretty clear that i had to complete a trek before starting the 9-6 life. I have met many people in IT who loved travelling but have stopped as they dont get time anymore.
Anyhow, this time the destination was Deoria Tal and then Chandrashila Peak. We were a group of 3 people. Me and Rohit, had done treks before but the third was Aakash, who was new to this.
We left Delhi in the evening and took a bus to Dehradun. We reached there around 4 am. To our luck a bus was leaving for Rudraprayag right at that time which we quickly ran and boarded. The bus stopped at Devprayag for breakfast, where we had some paranthas with some 'chai', overlooking the confluence of Bhagirathi and Alaknanda River.
We reached Rudraprayag in good time and we had to catch our next bus to Ukhimath. The bus was already there at the stop, so without wasting any time we headed off to Ukhimath.
Traveling in the local buses is always fun, looking up at the mountains, scaling there size, looking down at the flowing river. This is partly what i leave Delhi for. This is relaxing.
Well we reached Ukhimath in time and hitchhiked a carrier truck to Sari village which is 1.5 hours ahead of Ukhimath. We sat in the back and enjoyed the fresh air and the company of a little village boy.
We reached Sari by 2 30 pm, where Negiji made us lunch. His shop is the first shop when you enter Sari village. He made the most amazing dal, bhaat and sabzi, we all quickly stuffeed ourself and were ready to leave by 3 30 pm. Deoria Tal is not far from Sari village, we reached their by 5 30 pm which was good for us as we planned to reach before it got dark.
We walked past the trees and bushes and suddenly emerged this huge Tal with trees covering all of it and mountains behind it. It all looked pretty well setup. There was a room, where a forest guard lived. So we were pretty comfortable that we 3 wont be the only ones there, as there were no people around, no one.
We quickly setup our tent and spread all blankets we had with us, to keep the tent warm when we came back.
**NOTE** It is better to camp at a safe distance from the Tal, as at night many animals come to drink water.
There is a dhaba 10 mins back on the trail where where we went to have maggi and chai. There we sat with the shop owner and the forest guard, who told us he slept in the dhaba most of the nights as it was warm there. So it was pretty clear that it was just us 3 there, at night.
**NOTE** There is accomodation/rooms near the dhaba for people who dont wish to spend night in tents.
Well for me the real fun is camping. So, we had dinner there in the dhaba and heard stories from the dhaba owner and forest guard, about how the place looks amazingly beutiful when covered with snow. They were worried how the global climate change had affected the place as there was no snow this season. He told us about the regional movies and songs being shot around Deoria Tal.
By the time we realized it was already 9 30 pm, so we took our headlamps out and started walking towards our tent. All 3 of us stayed close and made sure we kept talking to each other. Just to check how dark it actually was we decided to turn off our headlamps for a while. It was as if i had my eyes closed. I could not even see my friends standing an inch away from me. So well, we quickly turned on the headlamps and headed off towards our tent.
We got inside the tent and it was warm inside. Even though it did not snow, the temprature sure as hell went down below zero.
We were tired by all that rigorous bus journey, so both of them quickly fell asleep whereas i as usual was unable to sleep inside the tent. I could not even go out as it was really dark and i was scared to go out as i would be all alone out there, plus the animals. I did sleep for 15-30 mins i guess, after which i heard the sound of something drinking water from the Tal. That animal could have been anywhere around the Tal but i could hear it clearly, as the area had the silence similar to that of a graveyard. It seemed that it was only thirsty and not hungry!!
After sometime i tried sleeping again but this time it was Rohit who was breathing pretty heavily, and for some reason he seemed pretty loud to me. Suddenly i heard footsteps near the tent. The sound was similar to that of a horse walking on a cemented road, so it clear to me that it was not a leopard nor a bear. Well that helped, i was less scared. I quickly tried to wake up Rohit but he was deeo sleep i made sure i dont make any sound to grab its attention. So i covered Rohit's mouth to lower that heavy breathing sound. It kept walking around for 30-45 mins and for that time i was on full alert. When there was no more sound of it moving, i kicked both of them to wake them up.
Finally at around 4 30 we decided to head out in order to check if the sunrise had started, but it was still dark and freezing, so we came back in. After that i slept for a little over 1 hour. At 6 30 we were back up and out of the tent.
Wrapping up the tent seems like the toughest task when your hands are freezing. Anyhow were wrapped and ready to leave by 7 30. We hoped we could see the Chaukhamba's reflection but it was covered by clouds just like the previous evening. Anyhow, we were heading to Chandrashila from where i could see Chaukhamba up close, so i was not that disappointed. We met the forest guard and dhaba's owner to say goodbye, and then we headed back down to Sari village from where we planned to take a car to Chopta. Chopta from where we would start the trek for Chandrashila.
To be continued in my next blog...