This is a slight different blog post to normal. A tale of a 4,342 meter high mountain, a very long hike and a night sleeping in a cave. It will be something I remember forever, for both good and bad reasons, but before anyone worries - I'm fine!
One of my plans for India before I left home was to do some hiking in the Himalayas, and I was advised recently that the town of Dharamsala is a great place to do so. On my first day here I set out immediately to find a guide to do a multi-day hike, but with winter coming and it being the end of the season, after visiting about ten or fifteen local travel agents I couldn't find a single group going. I was a bit disappointed but at the same time expected and accepted it. I thought I'd wait a day or two and see if anything cropped up but unfortunately it didn't. I knew however that there was a simple day hike to Triund - a smaller mountain which lots of people did, and I chatted to a guy in a restaurant one evening who filled me in on the details. No-one in town sold maps, most likely because it goes against the guiding services they make money from, but I felt that using the Google map and GPS on my phone, along with a bit of intuition would be enough given it was a popular route, and for the most part it was fine. And before you wonder, I have done the odd bit of hiking on moors and mountains before, so I'm not a total newbie to this sort of thing.
I set out from McLeod Ganj (1750m); the small town I was staying in soon after sunrise on Thursday morning with everything I needed for a one-day hike - a good amount of food, drink and first aid etc, and headed on my way through the local villages. A couple of miles or so out of the village of Dharamcot, the route basic map and reality seemed to differ, so I asked locals for directions as I went. At a fork in the path it seems I went the wrong way, and the path slowly got narrower and more off camber. I kept going, thinking it would meet another route, but after scrabbling down a bank to a stream the path disappeared. I decided it was definitely the wrong way, so frustratingly turned back to the point I thought I may have gone wrong - half an hour wasted but no harm done, and I was back on track. I continued uphill, and after a couple of hours I reached a ridge, arriving at the grassy peak of Triund (2825m) and saw for the first time the spectacular view of the Dhauladhar range - a line of snow capped mountains. I grabbed a cup of Chai - milky Indian tea - from one of the makeshift cafés and had a break for half an hour, admiring the view.
Small Buddist shrine at Triund, part way up
As I'd made good time, I decided to go to the point on the mountain where the patches of snow began; known as the snow line, and the guy at the cafe told me it was a straightforward hour and a half hike, so I head onwards and upwards. About halfway along I overtook four Indian hikers and chatted briefly as I passed. The fourth guy turned out to be an experienced local guide who they hired, and I chatted with him whilst he waited, mentioning in conversation that I couldn't find a group to go with so was just out for the day. 'We're heading for the Indraha Pass' he said, 'and you're welcome to join us - we're sleeping in the cave tonight, and you can hire gear at the next stop if you want'. I'd read about the route and cave - the starting point for the final ascent of the pass, and it sounded like a great offer. But I told him I'd think about it and see him at the snow line, and walked on ahead.
The newly formed Team Indraha
When they arrived at the Snow Line Cafe, I asked more questions about the weather, their plans and gear, and decided it would be fine. Too good an opportunity to miss. I had another cup of chai, bought some extra food and hired some sleeping gear from the cafe, who provide such things for hikers. With a sleeping bag and roll mat tied on my rucksack, I set off with the four Indian guys towards the cave, along with hilariously, a stray dog who'd followed them since Triund a few miles back! The terrain slowly turned from grass and trees, to a more desolate landscape of rocks and scrub. We walked up what used to be a glacier, but now is now just a rocky bed - global warming caused it to melt a few years ago, but their pace was a lot slower than mine - the guide was very experienced, but this was the first hike for the other guys. After a couple of hours, at around 4.30pm we reached Lahesh Cave (3274m), a place where shepherds often sleep in the summer, and it hit me - I was staying in an actual cave, up a mountain!
We all chatted outside for a bit - they all worked in the finance department of an American pharmaceuticals company so I learnt a bit about their lives. Then came a problem - the meths cooker they'd hired wouldn't light, and they'd not checked it. The guide tried to mend it but it couldn't be fixed, so instead him and I went out to gather stuff to light a fire. We were well above the treeline so there was no wood, and all we could find was bracken-like material. Remarkably, they managed to get a fire going with it for long enough to boil a couple of pans worth of 'Maggi' - India's version of supernoodles and we ate until full. Phew.
Fantastic view and sunset. We were so far up the horizon looked plain odd.
Tea time
Cave man. And dog.
Funnily enough there wasn't much in the way of entertainment, which was a strange sensation for me. I'm always surrounded by sometime to read, somewhere to go, something to do, but here - nothing. The guys had a pack of cards, but without much light they decided to just go to sleep. At 8pm! I got into the sleeping bag fully clothed, which wasn't enough for the zero degrees of the cave, but would have to do. The guys all slept in a line for warmth, and I was stuck on the end between them and the stray dog! She had followed us all the way, and decided to come and huddle up next to me for the night to keep warm! As far as a pillow goes, my rucksack folded in half had to make do. It was eleven hours between going to bed and waking up, and I reckon I slept for about three of those - it was pretty awful. I was cold, the guys snored, the mat and pillow were uncomfortable, and to top it off the dog barked twice in the night which startled everyone, for us to discover she was barking at a mouse that was running round the cave! Some experience.
Sunrise
At daybreak it was time to get on. With a big hike ahead of us, I was expecting the cooker to get going for a big breakfast, but the guys had no such plans, and I had to make do with a couple of handfuls of almonds and some bite-size chocolates. With a mountain stream nearby though, at least we had plenty of water. I walked with the guys for half an hour or so, but spent three-quarters of the time with the guide waiting for them to catch up - they were all extremely unfit. I wanted to get back to my hotel that night, and there was no way this would happen at this speed, so I asked the guide if the route to the top was straightforward - he said 'yes, just follow the painted arrows and piles of stones, and we'll follow on behind'. The path on the whole was well-constructed, well marked out, and whilst steep; pretty safe to walk on. At an altitude of over 4,000 meters though, I was well into the zone where the altitude has an effect - I had a slight headache, my pulse was very fast and my breathing heavy; having to stop every ten paces or so. Up to 4,500 meters though it isn't necessarily unsafe, just uncomfortable.
Three hours after leaving the cave, the end was in sight and after walking the last five meters across soft snow, the most amazing view opened up, as I finally reached the ridge of Indrahar pass - 4,342 meters above sea level - just over half the height of Everest. In front of me lay an amazing panorama of the next range of even higher mountains, further into the Himalayas. I stopped in awe for half an hour taking it in, eating some snacks and snapping some pics.
At Indraha Pass, 4,342 m
I couldn't stay forever, tempting as it was, so descended slowly and carefully, passing the Indians after an hour or so (I did ask but didn't remember their names!). They were going to be camping halfway down at Triund, whereas I wanted to get right to the bottom to my hotel, so we said goodbye and I pushed on back. About halfway down the tiredness started kicking in - going downhill requires concentration rather than pure fitness and is very hard on the knees, as well as toes which constantly bang against the inside of your shoes. I really couldn't wait to get back, yet was getting more and more tired.
A few hours later I was finally down in the valley - it was heaven when I eventually got to the surfaced road, and even better when I saw the hotel and limped in, slumping straight on the bed. After over ten hours, and about fourteen miles of walking, seven hours of which were just descending the 2,600m altitude drop, I was finally back. I'd managed to squeeze into two days what the guided tours do in four and was really paying the price. Everything was aching terribly and I was extremely hungry, but I'd done it. The experience of a lifetime.
P.S. - in case you were wondering - yes I'm still keeping up with the blog, in fact I have four of them written and saved on my iPad ready to go, but like every simple task in India, just finding WiFi is an ordeal and it's taken days to do so!
2 comments:
What an experience dude!
Thanks, it certainly was
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