Surpassing the sar pass - part 2

http://karthik112490.blogspot.in/2013/06/surpassing-sar-pass-part-1.html

I had concluded my previous post in the Khora tatch camp ( the link for which is put up above). On the morning of the third day, we started our ascent to the third camp. Zirmi tatch. The trek today was extremely short but steep. We started quite late today at around 10.00 Am in the morning. We would have hardly traveled about an hour before we came to lunch point. We had to stay here for a couple of hours and then trek upwards.. The slope was a bit steep but it was a peaceful trek today.  Our group usually split into 3 during every trek. The first one was of guys who were the fastest, the second medium and the third consisted of people who were slow or deliberately stayed back to have a peaceful trek. Surya always used to come only in the end for the sake of photography. He spotted a viper on the way. ( The only wild animal to be spotted in our entire course of 7 days). We reached Zirmi tatch in the afternoon. Zirmi tatch was the most beautiful of the camps we had so far come across. Set on meadows, and a view of the pristine mountains nearby, Zirmi tatch was indeed a very beautiful place.

 

As usual, we were invited with a welcome drink, tea and snacks. We had discovered a hill nearby and we played a game of frisbee there. Well..At least we stood in a circle and threw the disc at each other. We had in our group a couple of national frisbee players and they were teaching us the basics of the frisbee game.

A view of the snow glaciers from meadows

After a heavy session of frisbee throwing, we had our dinner and another round of campfire. Our tent, had been decorated with a plethora of plants  and we slept in the constant fear of leaches. In the middle of the night, there was a big noise and dogs howling. The howling subsided a few minutes later. I was convinced this time that it was a bear which was making the dogs howl. The next day, I asked the kitchen staff about the bear. They said there was none. Disappointed, i asked about the dogs howling to which they replied " These dogs howl even if the see a mouse". So that was my last hope of seeing a wild bear and it vanished into nothingness.

 We prepared to leave to our fourth camp ( Tila lotni). The trek to Tila lotni was both difficult and exquisite. During the course of this day, we walked through clouds. It was such an ebullient feeling to see clouds envelop you as you walked on. The visibility was quite poor for the initial part of the day and it improved as we went over the clouds.As we trekked further, the grass became lush green and flowers of all colors were cropping out of nowhere. Imagine walking through the clouds with snow capped mountains in the back drop, lush green grass and a rainbow of flowers. That would be a miniature version of what I experienced. Snow tracks started becoming very frequent. Gradually, we took our own time to enrich our eyes with nature. The trek though very beautiful was a bit arduous. It was probably the most arduous of treks.

Walking through the clouds

On the way to Tila lotni

 We had read in previous blogs that the snow level was much lower and that it was snow covered from the lunch point. However, as we had travelled in June, all the snow had melted away. But it was an exquisite sight nonetheless.

Once we reached the camp, we were given instructions. We could see the Sar pass directly in front of us. It was a beautiful site. We embarked on another frisbee game.

At Tila lotni

 After the game and usual dinner, we retired to our tents. This camp was not like the usual camps. The other camps were built on flat areas on hills. Here on the other hand, the camps were on the sloping hills. As a result, our tent was extremely lopsided. The construction of the tent is such that, there is are 3 poles in the mid line.  Two at the ends and one in the center. The slope was so bad that all the 6 of us adjusted in one half of the tent. The guys at the end had their legs blocked by the middle pole in order to not fall.

The night became extremely cold. In spite of having thermals, a jerkin, gloves, monkey cap and being in a sleeping bag, I could feel the cold.The temperature must have touched zero that night. I slept uneasily. The big day was the next day.

Myself with Gautham, Rajesh and Surya in our tent at Tila lotni

The next day finally arrived. We were woken up at 3.00 Am and we were to leave at 5 AM. We had upma for breakfast at 4 AM. The sun was slowly climbing out as we were about to leave. My.. what a sight it was.. simple words could not describe it. The entire sky was a dull shade of orange. Only the whites of the snow stood out in the light. The snow with its streaks on the mountains, gave it a very serene look.

Near dawn at Tila lotni

A view of the Sar pass mountain

That day our trek had to create the pattern  of inverted "L". We had to climb up the nearest hill ( Non- snow) and walk straight across. Walking in the snow is hard enough and ascending is much worse. Today would be our longest day in terms of the number of hours. We were given solid food ( Biscuits, maa and not the usual Chapathi & dal). After a steep ascent, it started to rain. It was the first time we encountered rain during the entire ascent. Trekking in snow is difficult. Trekking when its raining even more. We immediately took out our rainsheets/ rain coats and our cameras went in.  We had to reach the sar pass mountain by walking towards it. We had reached the altitude on this hill and we had to walk straight. Walking on the snow is very tricky. If one slips and falls, we would fall by around 300 ft and trekking up in the snow is very painful. We had to tread carefully and step only where the previous person had stepped. The snow on many occasions was very deceiving and would just sink when we stepped on it.

Trekking on the snow.

A while later, we reached the lunch point. A plate of maggi cost Rs. 50 here and a glass of tea was 20!.But the experience of maggi and tea at such an altitude in that weather was awesome.. It was raining quite heavily now and my gloves had already been infiltrated with water. My hands were starting to feel numb and the shoes were also starting to get moist. So we decided to move on before the rain became more intense. Luckily, the rain stopped after some time and the sun came out. It was a beautiful sight to see the sun rays on the clean white snow. A long walk later, we came to our final destination. We could see the YHAI flag from the distance. A sigh of relief and satisfaction overcame me. I had finally achieved what we had come for. However we stayed for a very short time there . We had to descend immediately due to lack of time. I dint have enough time to relish  the success of the trek or enjoy the pristine beauty of the snow laden peaks from the top. Quite unfortunate really.

However, the part next that was totally awesome. The slide..memories of my childhood where i used to slide in the playground flashed in my mind. From the sar pass top, we slid around 500 m  which included a lot of ups and downs.. The altitude which took me ages to climb, seemed to disappear in seconds.. that too in a blur. Seconds later, as the slide ended, everyone was sitting on the snow and pushing themselves to slide further.. :D... On the downside, all our tracks were completely drenched and our legs were becoming numb.

A couple of our own slides later, we were out of the snow covered area and we had reached the tea point. We were quite tired at this point after having played in the snow and bcoz of the numb legs. The break here was quite long and i used it to take a good nap. A day and a half trek remained after this.

( continued)