Great Lakes Trek , Kashmir

Since past two years i have been trying to find out the description which best suits me, not to advertise my self but to find out which way of travel i can enjoy the most , a trekker , a biker , a photographer or just a traveller , i have been struggling with these adverbs a lot . one thing for sure I am suffering from Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS) , a disease which occurs about 8000ft and which whacks out your head , I do suffer from it even at 1000ft , My head gets numb and refuses to store or think of anything else than admiring the beauty of nature. Last year we had a mammoth bike riding covering three heavens in india , spiti , laddakh and Kashmir (http://threeheavens.blogspot.in/2012/06/three-heavens.html) but somehow i was not able to enjoy this to fullest because i was not able to stop and admire as i was riding whole day. I am not one of those petrol heads for sure . In that trip itself i decided that i will not take this form of travelling again and would prefer walking i.e trekking.

              Initial plan was to visit valley of flowers but because of unfortunate floods the route was blocked , which brought the great lakes trek to our attention and within no time we confirmed our bookings on the indiahikes web site. Regular treks in sahyadri region continued as preparation and finally we arrived in srinagar and were all set for trek , here is the detailed account of the adventure...

Day 0 :- Srinagar to sonmarg

Reached Tourist Reception Center taxi stand at 1 :30 , official time was 2. We called our cab driver Javed to pick us up and found out that all other trekkers have already left and only 4 of us are left behind. After some time javed received call from another for pick up and thus we meet Saurav , a frill bengali with a bag which weighed more than his weight , lost in the self produced smoke. Saurav is a veteran of many himalayan treks and this was his second trek in year.

Now followed a long wait for call which did not come , javed received call from one of his houseboat owner friends asking him to pick a foreigner for a trek. Javed maneuvered the SUV through crowded streets without paying any heed to traffic signals or anything that came between ...usual for srinagar drivers. We  picked the foreigner , he was israeli , "you must have completed your army training " vikram asked and he smiled in confirmation. Israeli's are either found in army or in parvati valley ..common indian notion which is pretty true as well. He started asking us questions like how big the group is ? are there any foreigners as well ? he was not sure if he wanted to come for trek with 26 indians . For him indians only travel for picnic and trekking is unknown territory and hence he decided to pull back and got down.

We waited for some more time and then finally left for sonmarg , but there was a strike in srinagar and it has turned bit violent , stones were hurled at the tourist vehicles , javed being local srinagari helped as he took us through small alleys and away from mobs reach. we somehow managed to reach the highway and continue our travel to sonmarg. After 4 hours we reached a place , gangbal , 10kms from sonmarg where tents were pitched in a under  construction rest house, Indiahikes base camp which was moved to this place because of heavy rain fall on the slopes.

After few hours our trek leader , a longggg sardar , Saranbir Singh arrived and briefed us about the trek and general rules like no plastic and no smoking policy. Saurav was not much happy with this no smoking policy. This policy meant his packs of cigarettes would be wasted , he decided to consume them rather than wasting them and we started walking towards the sindh river flowing nearby for the same.

Saran has just arrived from the previous trek and he briefed us about the acclamation, medicines , route etc and enquired if anyone has health issues. Here we met Silva Mani , this was his second time , he had to pull back on the first day itself  last year. First day is 4000ft climb , this must have been to much for bit aged and bulky south indian from madurai. But this time he has come well prepared.

A small walk for better acclimatization , dinner and we surrendered to the warm comfort of our mid extreme sleeping bags.  

Day 1 :- Sonmarg to Nichnai Base via shekdur

Saran demonstrated tent pitching in the morning , after a healthy breakfast of corn flakes and paranthas we started towards sonmarg in vehicles at about 9 am. After some 10 kms vehicles took a detour from the highway towards the hill and halted. We walk from here ,Saran announced.

Started waking slowly so as to give time to body for acclimatization. Walk was a gradual ascend through grass lands. It was tiring , high altitude has started showing his powers. After a walk for an hour or so we reached a table top , route from here lead to pine trees. We waited for everyone else to catch up , a man was walking way behind saran and was almost dragging himself , Silva Mani. Somehow he managed to reach the tabletop , considering his condition saran had to ask him to rethink on his decision. Mani agreed and saran called altaf to inform him that  , he needs to take mani back to base camp.Unlucky for mani , but he did take sensible decision to quit.Mani though gave his stick to Altaf saying I was not able to trek atleast have my stick complete the trek,

The route now lead us through pine forest , hike was steeper now, a hike for hour and half and we had crossed the 10000ft mark , trees were getting sparser now and we reached another table top near shekdur in a while. A full view of the sonmarg valley was visible now. 

the start

table top near shekdur

Our mules were yet to arrive with lunch hence we decided to continue , now it was a plane route till shekdur. After a walk for an hour or so we decided to take a halt near a water stream , weather was changing and lunch was necessary before we move any further. Mules arrived after some time and even before we can relax and have our lunch it started hail storming heavily , temperature was meant to drop now . We had puri bhaji and hails for lunch ..it was simply delicious.

Hailstorming continued fore few more hours and stopped after we reached the nishnai base. Because of unpredictable weather we had to stop a km before the actual nishnai pass start , tomorrow that meant an additional hour of walk.

Hailstorming was still giving guest appearance and everytime it happened temperature dipped even further. After sunset we were feeling really cold now with winds starting as well , surrounding mountains had turned white now and weather was really worrying.

Dinner was delicious and hot and we were extremely eager to return to our sleeping bags in no time. Everyone was praying for better weather tomorrow.

Day 2 :- Nichnai Pass and Vishnasar 

Last night was cold ...very cold woke up early in the morning to witness frozen ground ..frost was everywhere even our tent was fully covered with ice ... temperature read 1.6 degrees on vikrams watch dial. Temptation to dive back into the sleeping back was high but saran's whistle was louder , hot tea was commiseration.
Breakfast of hot cornflakes was served and we were waiting eagerly for the sun to come out ..finally after some time  Mr.Sun did make a friendly appearance ..we let the ice on our tents melt before we unpitched them.

After a quick roll call and briefing we started towards Nichnai pass which as per Saran was just 30 minutes away.

Ascend was gradual , top was visible at some distance which was less then 2 kms but we were at 11000 ft ... small hike ...increased heart beats ..sip of water and back to work this went on for an hour and half and we almost made it to the top ...wait a minute ..its a fake top ...actual pass was still some distance away walk for another half hour was due .

Nichnai Top

Ice peaks were visible at a distance from the top , "POK" altaf , our guide pointed , "you are nearing LOC 3" Saran. Nichnai pass was cold and very windy we had to move forward.

Once you reach the top there is only one way to go ...down :) ... descend for some time and then a nice long walk through the grass land . After two hours of walk we were able to see our camp site at some distance ..but we were not able to spot the lake ..there was a small pond but it couldnt be Vishnasar. Finally reached the base , dinner tent and horsemens tent was ready , we pitched our tents , "Vishnasar is on your head" Chacha , one of the old horsemen told us and we were relieved.

Vishnasar 

Weather turned bad again in the evening ...light showers and hailstorm ..temperature dropped again and we had to retire back to mid extreme sleeping bags.

Day 3 :- Gadsar pass , Krishnasar 

Morning was sunny , we asked our old horsemen about the weather , he smiled back and said "dont worry son , weather is going to be brilliant from here onwards", we had every reason to trust old mans talks.

 In yesterday night briefing Saran has told us that tomorrow is going to be toughest of all days and rightly so today is about 2000 ft climb then almost same descend. Gadsar pass was the first destination.

Vishnasar is located at 12000 ft just half an km away from its twin Krishnasar . Both lakes are treat to eyes and we were told that they look even better from Gadsar pass. But for that we had to reach the top. Ascend was steeper than Nischnai climb and chiseled  rocks made it bit more tougher. Finally after hour and halfs hard work we reached the top and view was worth dying for on both sides.

Vishnasar and Krishnasar

Getting down

Initial descend from Gadsar pass in steep but i felt like home thanks to Sahyadris ... quenchua shoes , however useless in sahyadris proved their worth here but if it would have been raining we would have been descending on knees.

Descend took about an hour and then there was a long walk for about 3 hours before amazing gadsar lake took our breath away.

The lake appeared closer than it was we thought it would be 10 minutes descend to the lake but it was not but it was worth every penny.

After enjoying delicious packed lunch by the lake side we continued our journey towards cam site which was still 2 kms away.

Now the valley was full of flower edelweiss , synthia ... a treat to eyes. After 2 hours of walk we reached the gadsar army camp after our documents check we were good to go.

Gadsar army camp

Today the weather was nice and was a great time to enjoy some cricket.

the great spanish batsman

In the evening Saran asked everyone to gather in the dinner tent and asked us to introduce them selves to others , bad weather has prevented this since last two days. And for the first time we came to know that there is a great musician among us , Manoj was carrying guitar but had not got chance to play it , a volley of songs old and new went on , everyone was in happy and singing mood. 

Day 4 : Gasar to Meghantop via satsar

Weather was excellent on 4th day even though morning was freezing and cold ,I used to pay little visit to horsemens tent everyday , they would always have a camp fire burning outside and its nice to cath up with men from mountains , their stories were fascinating and they know more about these mountains than anyone else. Old chacha confirmed that weather is going to stay nice and clean but also warned that Meghantop is going to be coldest of all camps. Meghantop , name itself suggests that clouds rest here hence we should be expecting rains , fog and cold lower by few degrees than first day. 

         There was another old horseman who was limping , He told me that a axe has caused deep cut on his right foot just two days before the trek , I asked him why he did not abandon the trek then , his explanation was heart warming , in mountains once the winter starts for almost 6 months people are forced to stay home hence they have to work as hard as they could for the remaining 6 months, our old man was the head of horsemen and has leased horses from the horse owner. I asked him how much he would earn in 6 months ...not more than 30k he said ..no wonder this trek was crucial for him.

       Old horseman also told me that at the back of mountain to our right is a valley called Gurej valley which is a boarder district and infiltration often occurs through this valley thats why there is a army camp here .

A routine of breakfast , briefing , health check followed and we started walking , Javid bhai , the guide had told us that today would be just a 30 minutes ascend and then normal walk for few hours thats it. What he has not told was that we had to do river crossing today , river even though quite small was carrying cold water from nearby glacier but it was a great fun crossing it , we were glad that Mr.Sun was out.

Javid bhai , ascend day 4 in the backdrop

   Ascend on day 4 though not as steep as day 3 was still energy consuming , took us about an hour to reach the top of a mountain , others were way behind so we had a little rest , Javid bhai told us to have our jackets ready as route onwards is very windy and cold . Nanga Parbat was visible to our right , Pakistan it is . Saurav added to the info "few months back 12 mountaineers were gunned down there" , we had Miquel and Maria raising eye brows at us :) . Both miquel and maria had gelled very well with the group , even thought they had to bear hindi songs for 2 hour last night :) 

     Miquel and maria had just finished their crockery making lessons in vietnam few months back , both physiotherapists were on a vacation for 3 years , Miquel , a mountain runner and maria , equally fast were heading to Nepal and rajasthan after this ...lucky guys. We did share india travel tips and information about places they must see. After telling them about famous festivals due post october we had them in dilemma , they just realised there is so much to India :)

Route onwards was thankfully not much windy and even javid bhai was surprised by such a nice weather. took us 2 hours to reach satsar army camp , documents check went on. By the time few army guys requested Manoj to play few songs for them and there was no way denying them so a small but great musical break happened.

Satsar , group of 7 small lakes was visible from the camp. Not all 7 lakes cab be seen , two of them are on the mountain top others are small but beautiful.

Altaf and one of 7 lakes

Road from army camp to meghantop is rocky and takes about hour and half before we reach the camp site . Meghantop also , surprisingly was not much cold and windy ..we were lucky as previous batches have experienced horrifying rainfall here.

We had reached early so there was plenty of time for chatting and relaxing. Me and saurav had a long chat with miquel and maria from topics ranging from history , politics , travel and all other possible topics.

Paid a visit to our cook friends Mahavir and Riyaz as well , we would continuously tease them to make Goshtaba , a Non veg dish . But non veg cooking is not allowed and rightly so. A day back at the Satsar camp a chicken tested Saran's patience and mettle by standing next to him . "Chicken knows the indiahikes policy" we joked . Mahavir served us a hot italian pasta here on meghantop ...taste of which still lingers on my tongue.

When weather turned cold and windy we returned to dining tent to play some mafia. 

Meghantop was surprisingly warm and we did not complain ,

Mahavir , the great cook

Campsite , meghantop

Italian Pasta in kashmir at 12000ft

Day 5 : Gangbal and Nandkol via Jhas Pass

We were all looking forward to the 6th day , the rest day but before that there was one more hurdle we had to cross , Jhas pass (13200 ft ), second highest to Gadsar pass (13800 ft).

The day started with a rocky trail , huge boulders at times but rocks were making ascend bit easier as compared to loose soil we had experienced earlier. After about 45 minutes we reached a hill top , trail from here onwards was bit steeper ascend ending at jhas pass. Our horses had taken a different route , a longer one to avoid boulders , they were visible from the top , making their way to ravine , on the right side at the top we saw a man making his way easily on a difficult mountain , it was our injured uncle.

After ascend for another 40 - 50 minutes we had reached the Jhas pass and twin lakes of gangbal and nandkhol were clearly visible, it was a mesmerizing site , Saran hailed our luck as no other batch was able to witness this view because of thick cloud covering over jhas pass.

After some photo sessions we continued our descend ..it was very steep and slippery because of the chiseled rocks. Descend was about 1000ft deep and took us almost 2 hours to reach the base , had our packed lunch , filled water from nearby natural stream ..camp was just few minutes walk from here.

Just few minutes walk was still 40 minutes long and the view was getting more and more prettier as we approached nandkol. Previous batch was enjoying their rest day. Pitched our tent such a way that it faced lake today , after enjoying noodles we were in for a game of cricket.

After down we gathered in dining tent , miquel and maria taught a indoor spanish game which everyone enjoyed to fullest and then Manoj's tuned in with his guitar , he also played a song written and composed by himself and which is to be released in december , We would often ask miquel and maria to sing a spanish song for us and they would happily oblige.

At night we were invited by other batch for the camp fire , songs continued here as well before we surrendered to our sleeping bags.

Rocky ascend

At jhas pass

red foliage at jhas pass

Horses descending the top

Day 6 : Rest day 

 we spent considerable time just lying outside the tent , soaking in the sun and watching beautiful nandkhol lake and harmukh peak next to it.

A small hike and walk for 15 minutes took us to adjoining gangbal lake , it is huge probably bigger than any . Saurav lend me his wide angle lens while he went for swimming in the lake with few others , water was too cold hence i decided to stay away from it.

Javid bhai told us that there is annual pooja which happens here and many devotees visit from naranag , no wonder there was so much plastic litter around.

Plastic waste at gangbal

Harmukh peak

Camp fire at night continued for hours , antakshari was neck to neck competition between delhi and rest of india , it resulted in a friendly tie . It was a full moon night and we were celebrating for the one last time.

Day 7 : Gangbal to Naranag

   Last day of the trek and no one wanted to go home , shabir has burned the camp fire again very early in the morning i was sitting besides it and admiring the beauty of harmukh peak for one last time. Captured the reflection of nandkol lake with first rays of sun shining it ..this was the most scenic site.

Daily activities finished as usual , last night Mahavir has created a cake for us with "Happy Trek" written over it.

A small but joyous certificate destribution ceremony happened , we had contributed some money for the horsemen which Saran handed over to them later. 

Took us bit more than 4 hours to reach naranag , last patch of the descend was full of loose soil and rocks and was very irritating .

few of the happiest days of the year finally ended , we bid adieu to each other , to our guides , horseman but we so wanted this trek not to end . hopefully some other time once again ....

Ancient temple Naranag

Some Tips 

• Drink lots and lots of water , this helps in acclimatizing and reduces stomach problem as well.
• Cover your ears , throat and feet well , while walking you may not feel cold but as soon as you stop cold winds will make you freeze.
• Let your trek leader know of any slightest health issue , its better to cure it when its at beginner level.
• Carry camel bags , I find it easier to use than water bottles , this way you also tend to drink more water.
• No plasstic no littering on mountains please , we would like our next generations to visit these places as well.
• Carry your original ID proof.
• Trekking in kashmir is safer than hiring a tourist taxi and taking ride around dal lake , i havent seen drivers more reckless than kashmiri drivers.
• Carry dry fruits , medicines and electrol.
• Carry your bags yourself , there were few carrying 3 bags and ended up handing all to the porters , travel lite. 

Mahavir and Altaf

Miquel , Saran and Marian