Banwari Sharma

Since childhood walking in mountains had been my dream. I used to run to Aravalli hills frequently. It’s been difficult lately due to the heavy work schedule that we rheumatologists have in our country. Around August 2015, my wife started cycling with a group of cyclists.Within a month I also joined her and we started weekend cycling of around 50kms. Instead of getting tired which I suspected I would, I found my practice more enjoyable now !

This year, in April 2017 few enthusiasts (mostly professionals like us) in the group got together and we decided to trek the Himalayas taking the Roopkund trek. We were 16 in all and started from Jaipur on 19th May and by Ranikhet express (train), we reached Kathgodam next morning. Our tour operator ‘Walk to Himalays’ (this one has been a walking tour) had arranged our transfer from Kathgodam to Lohajung. We reached our base station Lohajung around 7 pm (222 kms took about10 hours).

On arrival at Lohajung, the base camp village, we were introduced to our trekking group. We were informed in our evening briefs about how the weather plays fowl in mountains. Moisture, carried by strong winds, precipitates by noon and rain and snow, depending on the season, are likely to fall every day.

Next morning around 8 am, with bags on our back, we started the 6 day trek to Roopkund, comprising of a 60km walk. On the first day, our target was to reach Didna village.

A scenic walk, with plentiful streams, tiny villages, and a gradual gradient, made for an interesting day. By early afternoon, we reached Didna village where we were hosted by a local family. The food we were served was amazing and the accommodation we were provided with, was warm and comfortable. All in all, a perfect start to a challenging journey.

On day two, we set out for BedniBugyal. From 8,600 feet, we were to camp at 11,800 feet in a12 kms trek.The trek began through a dense forest made up of big trees that allowed very little sunlight to penetrate through. As we walked higher and higher up, the tree-line ended, making way for a sprawling meadow the likes of which none of us had ever seen before. The grass over there was fresh and green on everyside and the view all around was simply breathtaking. We sat there, speechless, drinking in the magic and the beauty of the place in absolute silence. The night at BedniBugyal was extremely cold. The landscape was now made up primarily of rocks, highlighting the sheer size and space of the Himalayas. After dinner, we went to sleep in our tents. The cozy comfort of our sleeping bags brought some welcome relief from the strong, bone chilling winds of the mountains.

The morning of day three was cloudy and our trek leader informed us it would rain anytime. Our next target was Pathernachauni around 5 kms trek with 1200 ft elevation gain. We started around 7.30 am, after 500 meters of walk from our campsite we saw a pond in the middle of grassland –BedniKund. Locals believe that Maharishi VedVyas compiled all the four Vedas in this valley. There were two small stone temples near the BediniKund. After an hour of relatively easy ascent, we reached GhoraLautani. GhoraLotani stands at a height of 3945 m and is about 3.5 kms from BeidniBugyal. It gets such a name because horses would never go up from this place – the place from where the horses returned home. From GhoraLautani to PatharNachauni (1.5 kms), the trek was easy, almost going downward. After 30 minutes or so we could spot a campsite on the right side. We were now standing on ground that was 12766 ft (3900 m) above sea level. Over all it was an easy day trek and we all enjoyed the walk through the heavenly Himalayas.

Next morning of day four trek our destination was to reach Bhagwabhasa via KaluVinayak temple. Weather was cloudy and rain was high on cards. We started early morning on this vertical zigzag climb. We took our first break of the day at KaluVinayak temple, up on the hilltop, the spot from where Roopkund, Trishul and Nanda Ghunti, the two majestic snow peaks first come into our view. After this short religious transit with a background of tinkling temple bells, and blowing of the conch shell, we started walking on a slushy path to our final camp at Bhagwabasa. Snow, which we had funin earlier, now seemed hostile as it made it very difficult for us to grip things. We struggled through the white wilderness, slipping and sliding, and finally arrived at Bhagwabasa, a camp in which all the tents were pitched on a vast white wasteland. Weather at Bhagwabasa was cloudy and it started raining as we went into our tents. Most of us preferred to stay in tents that day and discussed about the final submit the next day. Our trek leader checked oxygen saturation of everyone in the team that evening and then informed us that we would start at 3 am next morning for the final destination. All of us slept early, got up early next morning and started around 3.30 am with torch in one hand/ or at head and trek pole in the other in a straight line following footsteps of our trek leader. Bhagwabasa to Roopkund was 3 kms trek, first time we were trekking in dark and on both our sides of trek was heavy snow. The fresh snow from the previous night had covered the route entirely. We walked over a sparkling white sheet, zig sagging along treacherous climbs and a near vertical ascent to mount the summit. Last 500 meters were the most difficult: deep snow, vertical climb, no trace of trek, snowfall also had started and we had to gain 800 ft elevation over 500 meter distance. Our trek team member Pawan Joshi made it possible for the rest of us by cutting ice at every 10 meters to makea trek and slowly after around half an hour we reached our final destination Roopkund.

A feeling of happiness, achievement and relief over whelmed us as we stood for a long time staring at the frozen lake for which we had come such a long way. Roopkund was everything we had thought it would be, majestic, mysterious and magical, and we could only marvel at its magnificence. We were reminded of how miniature we are in front of nature’s glory!

Dr Banwari and Dr Meenakshi Sharma