Trekking, is not a safe word to say in front of an Indian Parent, often they quote “why would you want to go walk all the way up a mountain”, “Why would someone risk their life going that high on a mountain”?
There will never be an absolute answer to these questions, the people who see mountains as a piece of hurdle and not a majestic piece of land to explore they will never know how exhilarating it is to go all the way up there and be able to see the world down. This is my first ever trek on a mountain, I share my experience here in the hope that such people who do not see our side of the exhilaration will someday read this and try to reconnect.
Kedarkantha is a Himalayan peak in the Garhwal region of Uttrakhand, with an altitude of 13500ft. and the minimum temperature dropping down to -10C in winters this peak is one the most popular easy to moderate trek. The trek starts from Sankri which is situated at 6600ft and 186km from Dehradun. Sankri is yet again a very common basecamp for many different treks like Har ki dhun, Bali pass trek, Rupin Pass trek, so you will meet many experienced trekkers to an absolute noob.
My journey started at ISBT Kashmiri Gate, New Delhi as most of the journeys to the Himalayas (click here for bus info). The Bus leaves at 09:30 pm, being in a semi-deluxe AC bus I slept easy for the night. If you want to know what to carry in your bag pack for such treks, Absolute essentials to carry for treks are where you will find a curated list. It takes 7-8 hours to reach Dehradun and to go further there are only two buses on the route, which leaves between 5 am to 6 am depending on the number of passengers. No pre-booking can be done you have to reach that place in person. Ask any auto-rickshaw driver outside Dehradun Bus stands to drop you near the Railway station for the bus to Sankri.
Sitting in the AC deluxe bus at night had anyone told me I would be wobbling on my way I would have laughed, but not now this route will make you question your decision twice. In case you haven’t checked the list of important items, let me remind you this is the absolute important time to hold onto your med pack, should you feel sick it will come handy. Mid-way comes Purola this is the last where you will find a signal for the next week, make sure you call all your loved ones and then toss the phone into a corner in your bag. At 6:00 pm I reached Sakri and with the fellow trekkers, I met on the bus, who would be my sole brothers for the next few hard days we walk our way to the Base camp and get ourselves registered for the trek.
A single tent shared with 12 fellow trekkers, trust me that’s a luxury that you would never wanna miss.
Early morning, as I was trying to unzip the tent I realized my hands were next to being frozen, wearing the shoes, was like putting my feet in an icebox, the breeze was refreshing but bone-chilling.
6 Am in the morning we strapped our boots for a warm-up run and met the remaining of the batch of fellow trekkers a total of 45.
Today is an acclimatization day, the camp leader took us for a village tour and games session an acclimatization hike of 5 km with half the trekking loads this helps to understand the terrain and your capabilities better.
Introductions are made and guidelines are set, parameters are over read this is the day where you just listen and walk around learning and preparing. There is a BSNL network tower that is occasionally operated using a Diesel generator generally for emergency purposes.
The evening was equally fun, we were asked to perform something for the locals showing our gratitude and also welcome the batch coming back from the trek. After a great show and dancing with everybody and a delicious dinner, it was time to zip ourselves in the sleeping bags for the night, sleep well the next day will be long they said.
For the next two days, all we did was trek hard and gained elevation to 10800ft with the changing landscape from little snow and trees to walking in the snow for two straight days.
The white canvas of nature painted with the fresh snow on the horizon was worth every second of admiration. Nights were even better, the temperature drops to sub-zero, with clear skies clearer than what I had seen in Komic (read our Spiti Blog) Milky Way Galaxy so huge as if it was just a hop away. This is what we miss out every day in our city lives, and it was time to sleep, sleep in the lap of the mountains.
The Summit Day: 3:00 am in the morning I woke up tired and exhausted yet rejuvenated by the sight of the clear peak, it had freshly snowed and the whole place was tingling white in the moonlit dawn. By 4 am we had our breakfast ‘1 hardboiled egg’ yes you need that protein and the energy, you have a quick mouthful and start your trek. Trekking a summit is a very different story in many aspects, you gain altitude rapidly, the path is steeper than ever, winds fiercer and thus these make summiting any peak more eventful.
As we neared the summit lined up enthusiastically I realized though my surroundings seemed to be on a turmoil I was at peace within, just me, the mountain and all the time to live the dream which I had been reliving in my thoughts for months now.
Someone shouted “you have reached the Summit” all my joy knew no bounds no more land to walk further I gaze down at the world below. This was my first Summit I felt like hugging the mountain but for obvious reasons I hugged everybody and celebrated.
Believe me when I say you can develop lifelong friendships in those 7 days. Those days without cell phones, honking, scratching and hustling sounds in urban areas make you think more clearly and optimistically. You realize how less you need to live a happy life, which we have forgotten or maybe just ignored due to the lack of knowledge or will.
Walking down the summit made me both happy and sad. Happy because I accomplished a challenge but sad that no school or teacher had taught me that finding happiness was so EASY. Time to now close the blog, share, and comment down below some of the stories of your first ascent and descent.