My ardor for mountains pulled me to the pinnacle of the earth, the Himalayas, to explore its beauty and serenity. It had always been my dream to do that. So I peregrinated to the great lakes, located in Kashmir, India. The nearest airport to get there was Srinagar, the capital of Jammu & Kashmir. The hiking base camp is located in Sonmarg, which is very well accessible by road, and, is around 50 miles from Srinagar.
Sonmag Valley
The trek was an eight day endeavor, covering up to eighty five kilometers on the whole. We started our trek from Sonmarg, which is the foot of the Himalayas and covered up to 10-15 kilometers each day, hiking and camping in the banks of a river or a water body. Our final destination was Narnag.
It was dark by the time we reached our base camp (Sonmarg) and we decided to start our hike early the next morning. We set up our tent & slowly got out of our comfort zone to surrender ourselves to Mother Nature and decided to do so, for the next eight days.
Brilliant rays of sun entered the tent and woke us up from the sleep which had taken us to another dreamland. It was going to be a big day for us; hence we started off our day pretty early. The first day of our trek was fairly easy, the ascents and descents followed by meadows of clouds and a lush green canopy of deodar and pinus trees along the foothills of the Himalayas. They were the final stretch of trees that we saw as trees do not grow over above a certain altitude due to the lack of favorable weather conditions.
The trails were very well defined with a few army base camps where we had to undergo some legal verification of identity. This was necessary since it is a very sensitive region separating India from Pakistan. So it is mandatory for one to carry their passport or any identity proof when they decide to hike in the Himalayas.
Dal Lake
The sun had decided to play with us that day. It was a warm day and the sun had almost drained our bodies. We had to hydrate to keep ourselves moving ahead. I was blithe to see the Sindhu river flowing all the way to slake our thirst and keep us alive.
Hiking is all about going one step ahead. When we hike in a group, the speed of the hike depends on the slowest person and it’s a matter of chivalry to wait for everyone to come along and also help when they need. It secretly teaches so much about individual personality. Away from civilization, surrounded by mountains, what mattered to me there was not luxury and flamboyance but sheer survival and humanity. All that came to my mind was how do we take the next step and how do we survive this moment. Such is life, never run after superficial things; realize what the essential is and what makes you content.
With such random thoughts coming into my mind, I grew more philosophical than I was ever; it was just me and the mountain and the silence which kept going. Sometime later we reached our camp site which was by the side of a flowing river. I spent the rest of the evening humming tunes of Enya and remembering our loved ones.
The day two: we were aware that it is going to be one of the most difficult trails in the whole trek; hence we were mentally prepared to face it. The trail from Nichnai pass to Vishansar lake which is at a height of 12,000 ft. over the sea level was one of the daunting experiences that we faced. The boulder pavements were taxing on our legs big time. However, it was worth it. It was magical how the snowcapped mountains transformed into rivers and the rivers transformed into green carpets and psychedelic flowers and these carpets getting transformed into boulders. Each step was breathtaking and the view was spectacular. The pictures might not even justify half of what we saw in reality.
When the Mogul emperor invaded India, back in 1600 AD, he opined, "if there is a heaven on earth, it definitely has to be here in Kashmir”...
We saw a few shepherds rearing sheep and each sheep had a bell tied to its neck. It helped the shepherd track his cattle if it strayed away. Even today in my dreams, I hear the knell and the
sheep and I want to go back to the Himalayas yet again because it made me feel a part of it.
Our enthusiasm to see the twin lakes - Vishansar & Kishansar had reached to another level where we just kept hiking without stopping in between. All good things take time, and similarly, after a tedious hike, there stood, in a majestic way, the twin lakes, welcoming us with its arms wide open just like how a mother would welcome her children. We forgot all the pain that we took to reach that point and we surrendered ourselves to what we saw that day. Turquoise blue, clear glacier water was tremendously fascinating and we were speechless seeing this. We spent the rest of the day fishing the trout and cooking dinner, paying tribute for such an adventure that we did.
Day three was again to reach the highest peak in our trek which is around 12,800 ft. above sea level and it was more of ascents and descents. The rich fertile soil in the Himalayan Mountains is a home for a variety of flora and fauna. We saw a variety of species of colorful flowers and berries. It looked as if someone has covered the mountains with a well embroidered carpet. I took off my shoe and walked bare feet to feel every step of mine in this soft carpet.
Our baggage/tent/food supplements and water were carried by the horses all the way and it was daunting for horses too, to hike the Gadsar pass. The river crossing had had damped our feet and our shoes were heavy. Each step had become quite tedious till we saw the magnificent Gadsar Lake standing in front of us with molten ice floating on its surface. It is considered to be the most pious lakes of all seven. There is a mythological story behind this lake which says, there lives a humongous creature deep down the lakes, whose existence is still not known. This creature is known to swallow whatever comes by. The shepherds never dared to rear their sheep close to the Gadsar lake because they didn't want to lose them forever. India is a land of mystical stories, we still believe such things do exist and do not debate over it, anymore. I was listless that day at Gadar, and suffered from altitude sickness. I had severe headache and I felt breathless. I thought that the humongous creature had chastened me for me going an inch close to the lake. But nature has its own way to heal. With a few meditation & breathing exercises, I was back to normal and I was all set to hike the next day to see one more beautiful lake - Satsar.
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| Horse carrying the luggage |
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| Gadsar lake |
Each lake has its own beauty to glorify. Where one lake showed off its Turquoise color, the other was a home for fishes and the other had mystical story to tell and Satsar has a creative boundary to show. We were never bored of seeing these lakes amidst the mighty mountains. It was as if someone has just painted the canvas and allowed it to dry. Such was the pristine landscape.
We were almost at the midway and we had three more days to go, our next destination was another set of twin lakes, Gangbal & Nandkol, which literally tested our stamina and will power. It was a gloomy day with no sign of sun to turn up. The cold pricked us like a thousand tiny needles. There were showers to complement our difficulty. The whole trail was filled with massive, scary, slimy, slippery boulders. A small slip of a step would have cost us our lives. We had to be extremely cautious and extremely careful crossing the boulders. With the weather being so bleak, the boulders seemed like chunks of ice cubes and we literally crawled over them like a reptile using all its four feet to cling on. It was a never ending trail, I had lost hopes of making it, as the rain had completely drenched me from inside, I was shivering and there was absolutely nothing to do about it. Just as I thought of giving it up, a sudden spiritual thought came to my mind, that, "Separate yourself from your body, and you are just a soul." I then ignored the cold, made my mind strong and just kept moving till I saw the twin lakes hiding in a veil of humongous fluffy clouds. I cannot express what joy that gave to me. Things started changing suddenly. The weather got better, the rain stopped, the much awaited sun appeared, shooing off the clouds and the two lakes were visible like two glittering gems kept together. It looked to me as if those two lakes were giggling & making fun of me for going through so much difficulty to see them. I did not bother about what I went through, what mattered to me was what I just saw, priceless beauty and I knew, it is worth everything that I did till now.
Our camps were set besides Nandkol Lake, we spent the rest of evening playing Frisbee and sipping hot cups of tea & Maggi. Maggi at this high altitude takes taste to a different level. It felt like the most delicious thing that we have ever had in our lives. We left blessed.
The next day was to rest. We bandaged our wounds, dried our clothes and shoes. In solitude I sat there appreciating things around while the others were in their own world. Some wrote their personal journals, some sang songs which soothed their mind, some sketched the landscape and some took photographs.
We could not believe this whole hike of Himalayas was finally going to come to an end. The final day was to get down at Narnag and it was all descents.
I had no clue descents would tax our knees to an extent where we craved for ascents.
With a spree and enthusiasm to finish the hike, we kept going down with a sense of pride and achievement.
The landscape is something which could not be described in words. There was the river, mountains, trees, canopy, fresh air, colorful flowers; it all looked like a fairy land to me.
With a final bit of energy left in us, we got down at Narnag, hugged each other for being there at all times for these eight days, making some good friends and some really good conversation.
