Trek to Auden's Col - Oct 2008

Auden's Col

The most frequented route to reach two pilgrim centres Kedarnath and Gangotri is through Maiali Pass. This is a regular trek route to reach Kedarnath from Ghuttu crossing Khatling Glacier. Another trek route to reach Kedarnath is via Auden's Col. The col is situated on the connecting ridge of Gangotri III (6577m) and Jogin I (6465 m) between Rudugaira glacier and Khatling glacier. British geologist, Dr. J.B. Auden, in 1939 crossed the col from Rudugaira side and descended to Bhilangana valley via Khatling Bhamak (glacier), for the first time And the col had been named after him.

I just happened to see the blog of Mr.VSK Sharma and was fascinated by the photos and the challenges involved in this route. Since Auden's Col was less frequented, I decided to organize this trek and started getting all information required for the trek. The postings about the trek in www.bakpackers.org received mixed response. Some had commented about the strength of the team due to the difficulties involved and taking the risk of inexperienced trekkers. After lots of discussions, explanation regarding the safety precautions, various team meetings, we set off for the very demanding trek.

The team consisted of Manjesh, Bharata, Dipayan, Sai Prakash, Chinmay, Shashank and I

[L-R] Manjesh, Bharata, Dipayan, Sai Prakash, Lacchhii, Shashank, Chinmay

(Photographed by Chinmay)

The trip was from 30.09.2008 to 18.10.2008 by those who travel by train and from 02.10.2008 to 16.10.2008 for those who opt to reach Delhi by Air.

Gangotri to Ghuttu via Auden's Col (17160 ft)

Date	From	To	Kms/ Hrs	Remarks
30.09.08	Bangalore	Delhi	--	By Train
01.10.08				Journey
02.10.08	Delhi	Haridwar		Reach New Delhi. Proceed to Haridwar
03.10.08	Haridwar	Gangotri		By Bus/ Taxi. Stay at GMVN/ Hotel.
04.10.08	Gangotri		--	Rest day.
05.10.08	Gangotri	Nala Camp	06 Hrs	Trek along the Rudugaira ganga. Stay in tents.
06.10.08	Nala Camp	Rudugaira BC	06 Hrs	Starts with steep climb of 200 m followed by gradually climbing trail
07.10.08	Rudugaira BC	Col BC	06 Hrs	Cross the nala coming from right and then climbing..
08.10.08	Rudugaira BC			Rest day.
09.10.08	Col BC	Khatling Glacier	06 Hrs	Look for crevasses and walk roped up for safety. Reach the col, keeping to your right. Stay in tents.
10.10.08	Glacier Camp	Waterfall Camp	07 Hrs	Keep moving along the glacier and watch for the crevasses and reach the moraine. Stay in tents.
11.10.08	Waterfall Camp	Chowki	07 Hrs	The trek is along the trail behind the first waterfall
12.10.08	Chowki	Kharsoli	07 Hrs	The trail moves into deep jungle and finally you reach a big stream coming from your right.
13.10.08	Kharsoli	Gangi	07 Hrs	The trail is well marked and there is no problem following it. Stay in tents
14.10.08	Gangi	Ghuttu	07 Hrs	By late afternoon you reach Ghuttu.
15.10.08	Ghuttu	Haridwar	08 Hrs	By vehicle. Move from Ghuttu to Ghamsali and from there to Haridwar.
16.10.08	Haridwar	Delhi	07 Hrs	By vehicle reach New Delhi Leave for Bangalore
17.10.08	Delhi	Bangalore		Journey
18.10.08	Bangalore			Reach Bangalore

I had been to Khatling Glacier from Ghuttu side and reached Kedarnath via Maiyali Pass and Vasuki Tal in 2002 and was a bit familiar with the terrain. Even then the photos taken by Mr.V S K Sharma looked very challenging. I had a detailed chat with my travel agent who had done a great job during my Kalindi Khal trek last year and had ensured that a very experienced guide who had done this route earlier should accompany us.

Oct 2: Travel to Delhi – Rishikesh

I had booked accommodation in GMVN for the stay at Rishikesh, Gangotri, Ghuttu and Haridwar at Bangalore to avoid wasting time in searching for the hotels. The plan was to meet at ISBT, Delhi by 1.00 pm and proceed to Rishikesh. It was a hot and dusty ride and the distance of 240 kms seemed an eternity. By 10.30 pm we were all in GMVN Guest House and got to know each other.

Oct 3: Rishikesh to Gangotri

We decided to leave Rishikesh as early as possible and made enquiries at the taxi stand. The chaiwala at the roadside agreed to arrange for a taxi. As promised a taxi came along at 5am and we all got into it. The driver was ripping around the hairpin bends and blind curves at breakneck speed. We started talking with the driver to stay awake and to drive slowly. We managed to make it to Uttarkashi safely. It gave us a big whoop of joy as soon as we reached and all of us ran from the jeep with a big sigh of relief.

At Uttarkashi we met Himalaya Sherpa, who was to organise the expedition. Himalaya Sherpa, a staff of NIM, Uttarkashi has been organizing for my Himalayan expedition in this region for quite some time and was responsible for arranging the porters, guides and the equipment required for this trek. Over lunch he explained all the arrangements made and mentioned about the route's difficulty level. Everyone was pretty excited after the lunch meeting with Himalaya Sherpa and we got into our next cab that would take us from Uttarkashi to Gangotri. The journey from Uttarkashi to Gangotri took us about 4-5 hours, crossing many snow clad mountains, apple trees and many streams on the way. We checked into GMVN, Gangotri at about 5 pm and later that evening visited the Gangotri temple.

Ganga temple

(Photographed by Chinmay)

Oct 4: Acclimatization trek on route to Kedar tal

The support staffs for the trek were supposed to arrive only by evening. As planned, we decided to go for an acclimatization trek on the route to Kedar tal. The path to Kedar tal started right behind the GMVN guest. There was a steep ascent at the beginning of the trail and we were walking along the huge gorge created by Bhagirathi River.

We had planned to trek up to the first day camp site of Kedar Tal Trek which is around 9 kms from Gangotri and be back by 4.00 pm. Bharata who had a altimeter had calibrated for 3000m at Gangotri and that was used for measuring altitude through out the trek.

At a steady pace, we reached an altitude of 3540m and decided to return. We could get a glimpse of the mighty Thalaysagar peak (6984m) standing majestically. Enroute we met a team from Delhi who were attempting kedar Tal. The trek back to Gangotri took about 2 hours and we were back at the guest house by 3:30 pm.

By evening the support staff had arrived at GMVN with all camping equipment and I had a chat with Mr. Babloo, Cook, who had done this route. Everyone was excited for the trek starting the next day.

Oct 5: Gangotri to Bhoj Karak

All the porters were up by 5.00 am and doing the final packing and load distribution. The plan was for the porters to carry all our luggage and we would be carrying a day pack with some bare minimum stuff required. Mr Babloo showed us a route map of auden's col. Although it wasn't very informative, it helped us gauge the difficulty level of the trek. We said good bye to Gangotri and started our first days trek to Bhoj Karak at 7:00am along with one porter. Rest of the porters was to come behind after packing the luggages and distributing it among themselves.

Babloo, Nandu and Shailu were the main supporting staff and the rest of the porters were fixed by them at Gangotri for carrying the luggage. Since the first day packing of luggage takes time it was decided to start trekking with one porter and Nandu was to carry the packed breakfast for us and join us enroute. The path started from behind the GMVN guest house into the pine forest.

The initial trail was on the left bank of Bhagirathi River up to the power house and then moved along the Rudugaira River on its right bank. After 2 hours climb trail went down to the river and we crossed over to the left bank over a log bridge setup by the Bakriwala's. The trail was moving up and it was tiring being the first day.

We waited for some time to see if we could sight the porters. After taking few snaps, we continued walking up the steep incline along the gorge hoping that the porters would catch up with us. All of us were very hungry by now and eagerly awaiting the porter's arrival. After another hours trek we reached a nice sunny clearing by the banks of the river where we decided to rest and wait till the breakfast arrived.

The porter who had started trekking with us in the morning had also rested at the log bridge and didn't turn up. We waited here for about 1 hour, but there was no sign of the porters yet. We started wondering if they were having some problems and decided to continue till the camp site, hoping they will catch up with us soon.

We started our climb again, crossing the tree line and reached the grasslands. We met a team from Bengal who were returning after summiting Rudugaira. One member in there team was blind. Chat with him made us feel refreshed. We caught the first glimpse of the Gangotri III peak.

First Glimpse of Gangotri III

Crossing a couple of small streams which were rushing to join the Rudraganga and landslide areas, we reached a small campsite at Bhoj Kharak (3640m) at 12 noon. We met two trekkers from Bangalore along with their porters who had already set camp here. They were on their way to scale the Rudugaira peak. I came to know that he frequents Thuralli for Rock climbing. Immediately we spoke about our mutual friends through whom he had known about Bakpackers club. I enquired about our day's camp site Nala Camp with their porter and found that it is another 1 to 2 hrs of climb. There was no sign of the porters. I was getting annoyed with them not knowing what to do. I was chatting with my Bangalore friends from SAP and the rest continued towards the Nala camp. After half an hour I started walking up to meet the rest of the team members. I found every one resting after about 30 mins into the next stage, unsure of the path to continue.

Crossing the land slide area

We had not had breakfast and had been trekking for almost 6 hours. The trail was a bit confusing. The porters had not yet arrived. I decided to go back to Bhoj Kharak and send one of the porters from the other trekking group to look out for our porter and guide. Luckily one of our porters Nandu, reached Bhoj Kharak by this time and signaled all of us to return back. We got to know from him that there was shortage of porters and they had issues sharing the load. So they were going back and forth between Gangotri ferrying the load. We had our packed breakfast of aloo parathas and sat in the kitchen tent pitched by the other trekking party while a steady rain poured outside.

Here I would like to point out that there had been difficulty arranging porters for this route with no one willing to come for such a difficult trek. Quite surprisingly Kalindi Khal which is also equally tough is preferred by the porters than this one.

The support staff consisted of Babloo the cook, Nandu (Babloo's brother) assisting him and Shailu the Guide, helped by 10 porters from Gangotri. Out of these, only Babloo has done some difficult trek and has also been on this route. Nandu and Shailu had been to Kalindi Khal and had done some few treks. Rest of the team had not seen snow at all. They had been working in the fields and had not gauged the difficulty of the trek. Altogether except for Babloo, Nandu and Shailu, the whole team of porters were short of confidence in doing this trek. This was not a good beginning and I hoped things would be better from the next day.

The rains stopped at around 4pm.Our tents arrived late in the evening. I had a long chat with Shailu and asked him what the problem was. He assured me to sort the problem and from next day it will be alright. We had to camp at Bhoj Kharak instead of our planned Nala Camp.

Camp site at Bhoj Kharak

Oct 6: Bhoj Kharak to Rudugaira Base Camp

With assurance of porter's problem solved, we started at around 9am with Nandu leading the team. Day's camp site was to Rudugaira Base Camp. Rudugaira Peak is an easy peak to climb with not much of technical, more of a trekking peak. There were many teams mostly by Bengalis attempting the peak and we met many teams attempting it on our way back also. With nandu leading the way we reached Nala Camp (4000m) in 1 hour after an initial steep climb.

From here it was mostly steep climb till we reached a landslide area and a waterfall. After crossing the waterfall area it was a continuous climb and at certain places it was more than 70* gradient. We finally reached the Rudugaira Base Camp (4350m) at 1.00 pm. Babloo and Nandu went looking for the perfect place to camp. The camp site was very good with lots of rock shelters, last grassland and after this the entire route was on the rocky ridge / snow ridge. There were no streams near by and getting water was a problem at this camp site. We had an excellent view of the peaks around us. Rudugaira peak to the South-West, Gangotri I, Gangotri II, Gangotri III to the South and the Jogin I to the South-East were all smiling at us. We also caught the first glimpse of Auden's Col from the campsite.

Rudugaira Base Camp

All the team members were dead tired after a long steep climb to the camp site. Weather was very good and we had our packed lunch enjoying the views of all snow peaks surrounding us. Suddenly we could see clouds forming over the peaks in the horizon and the whole place was covered with clouds and it started snowing heavily. We covered ourselves in different rock caves. Few porters arrived within an hour's time. It was again not well with the porters. The porters pitched the tents at around 3pm. One of the poles of the mess tent was with a porter who was using it as a walking stick. He had not yet arrived and the mess tent was not able to be pitched. Again there was problem in distribution of load.

There were 5 newcomers in the team of porters who had not done any trekking and were experiencing difficulty in carrying huge load. This made the other 5 nepali porters carry extra load. This was delaying the arrival of the whole team in time. It was later learnt that they had kept the extra luggage down 3 kms away from the camp site. There was water scarcity in the camp and we had to melt snow to drink water and to cook. It was time I decided to solve the problem myself else it would be worst for the days to come. I had to speak a bit harsh with Shailu who was supposed to arrange for good porters for such a difficult and challenging trek. I even threatened to take the team back to Gangotri if things don't get solved. Shailu and babloo had a lengthy discussion with the porter's team and later assured me that everything will be fine from the next day.

Oct 7: Rest Day and Acclimatization

It was a very cold in the morning and as per Bharata the temperature was -4* C. It was a rest day and hence there was no hurry in having breakfast and packing our sacks. We got up a bit late than usual and after breakfast every one tried out the gaiters and snow boots brought by Shailu. While most of the snow boots were pretty old, I was given a brand new Asolo snow boot, being the leader of the team. Bharata and Chinmay felt comfortable with the new Lafuma shoes that they had bought for the trek. We decided to go for an acclimatization walk wearing the snow boots just to get practiced walking with a heavy shoe. We decided to walk along the ridge of the Rudugaira peak and climbed upto an altitude of 4550m. We could see the rudugaira peak from a close distance and it looked like an easy walk up to the summit. We also got a very clear view of the Jogin I, Gangotri I, II, III peaks and Auden's Col.

At Rudugaira base Camp

Jogin I

Auden's Col

Gangotri Peak

We stayed here for about 30 mins, discussing about the possible route to auden's col. We reached the camp site at around 12:45 pm and had a hot lunch. It started snowing again and soon the entire campsite was covered in snow. The temperature dipped to below zero Celsius again.

Oct 8: Rudugaira Base Camp to Auden's Col Base Camp

I came out of the tent to check the weather. It was a very cold morning again, but the skies were clear, Gangotri peaks were shining. It was a treat to watch the sun rays on the snow clad peaks.

I wanted to reach the Base camp of Auden's Col before noon and have sufficient rest for the summit climb the next day. However, our problems with the porter did not end. The first timers in the porter's team got scared seeing so much snowfall and decided not to proceed further. Manjesh who was also trekking for the first time in the Himalayas was also suffering from altitude sickness and was not inclined to continue further.

Porters who returned back

The porter's problem was really creating a big headache. It was getting late for the day. Babloo and Shailu who had one to reccee the route to Base camp had taken Manjesh's Rucksack and some of the rations kit with them and dumped it at the base camp to make it easier for the porters the next day. This was also creating problem as to who will come to take the rucksack of Manjesh. I tried in vain to convince the porters to continue the trek especially with the younger ones, but they were reluctant to continue. Finally we decided to send those porters with the extra luggage.

Provisions, vegetables, shoes, feather jackets which were brought for the entire team including the porters had to sorted out and babloo was instructed to sort the luggage and keep only what is required for the next part of the trek. It took almost 1 hour of precious time and after a lot of discussions, 4 porters decided to leave with the extra rations and other luggage that was not required. Manjesh too decided to accompany the porters back to Gangotri.

Now we were left with 6 porters with Babloo, the cook cum guide, Shailu and Nandu to assist him had to share the extra luggage. This kind had never happened in any of my previous experience. I have never imagined localities born and brought up in the mountains being so much afraid to negotiate snow.

We started towards the Col BC at 9:30 am. The team strength got reduced to 15 (6 members and 9 supporting staff). After negotiating the rocky moraines we crossed a stream and then climbed up to reach the ridge of the Gangotri Glacier. From here it was walking along the steep ridge crossing many rocky patches and snow ridges.

Walking on snow ridge

It was a never ending walk and we were getting tired. Shashank and Saiprakash were finding it difficult and were walking slow. Here I have to mention the grit of Shashank in coping up with the difficulty in spite of him visiting the Himalayas for the first time. We finally reached the Col BC at 1:00 pm. The Col BC (4560m) was setup along the Gangotri III glacier system.

Crossing a stream

Glacier Lake

Base Camp at 4560m

Base Camp at 4560m

For the first time the entire team managed to reach the camp site together. There was no place to pitch tents. It was fully rocky and some how we managed to setup the camp just in time. There was a very heavy snowfall in the afternoon and it snowed continuously for a couple of hours. We had to sit inside the tent for the whole day and it was very cold in the night.

Oct 9: Col Base Camp to Advanced Base Camp

It was supposed to be our D Day. We were supposed to cross over Auden's Col and reach Khatling Glacier Camp. Babloo, Shailu and me discussed a lot on the team strength and about the porters. For the first time I had to help and motivate the porters also instead of they helping the team members. This was a new experience to me. All our plans of starting the trek at 5.00am vanished in thick fog. Visibility was very poor due to the extreme cold conditions. We could start only at 7:30am. We had to negotiate a ice wall. It was decided to trek together till the ice wall and cross over fixing a rope. After about an hour of climbing on snow ridges, we reached the ice wall. The first timers were finding it difficult to traverse the snow patch.

Shailu and Babloo, climbed the wall and fixed a rope anchoring it to an ice axe. It was around 70 feet high and rope was fixed up to 50 feet and the rest had to be traversed without rope. We took turns to take support of this rope and climb up the ice wall. I was the first to climb up the wall and the rest of them followed. It took us nearly 1 hour for the whole team to climb the Ice wall.

Traversing after climbing the ice wall

The other side of the ice wall was rocky and we descended to again reach the snow ridge. It was a steady climb till the end of the ridge. The snow had hardened and it was difficult to walk on the hard snow. It was very slippery and most of them had to be helped to traverse on the snow. Absence of crampons was being felt.

By the time we reached the advance base camp of Auden's Col it was 12.30 pm and still Shashank and Saiprakash had not reached. Auden's Col was looking very close and we could see the numerous crevasses on the trail of the pass. Shashank and Saiprakash reached the ABC at 1.00 pm. Babloo was not confident of crossing the Auden's Col the same day.

Negotiating the snow ridge

Shailu, Babloo and Nandu helping us cross the slippery gully

From here it was 500 mts to the pass and babloo estimated that it would take another 2 hrs to reach the pass and another 3 hrs to reach the Khatling Glacier camp site. The weather was very good and the porters were getting restless and somehow wanted to cross over and reach a safe point. Babloo was not ready to take the risk given the weather changes. We decided to camp at the Advanced Col BC (4720m) which was on the Jogin Bhamak and make an early start the next day.

Oct 10 – ABC to Auden's Col

It didn't snow the previous day and the entire team was in high spirits to start the final assault towards Auden's Col. The sun was shining bright and we started the trek at 8am. We started on the gully in front of our camp and started the gradual climb on the right of the gully. Now most of them were accustomed to walking through knee deep snow. Auden's Col was getting closer and closer. The snow ridge suddenly ended due to Jogin Glacier had broken and created a huge gap. Babloo went ahead with Nandu to check the possibilities of crossing to the other side while we were waiting on the snow ridge.

Entering a Gulley

Auden's Col

Much needed rest

They both came back and took us down the gully and climbed onto the next ridge. Now after the completion of the trek, I realized that we should have camped here instead of Advance base camp. From here it was just climb, climb and climb through knee deep snow till the pass. The spectacular scenery of the Jogin Bhamak and Gangotri peaks were motivating us to move ahead. Every one was moving silently at their own pace. No one had the energy to speak. It was never ending climb negotiating huge crevasses all along.

I was counting 20 steps before having a break, slowly increasing it to 30 and finally to 40 steps without any halt. It was very tiring. Others were extremely slow with only Bharatha and Chinmay at the sighting distance. The whole team never met in between till we reached the pass taking rest where ever they are, we crossed many beautiful ice formation and glacier tables, a stone slab supported over the surface of a mountain glacier by a column ice.

The climb to the top looked very difficult from here. We had to negotiate the huge crevasses, knee deep snow and the steep climb. It was already 12.30pm and yet another 100 ft more to reach the Col. We were lucky to have a clear weather without any clouds.

Climbing up the slope

Crevasses

Negotiating the crevasses

We reached a near 80* gradient slope and again Babloo had to fix rope anchored to the ice axe to make us climb it. Snow level was more than knee deep high making it very difficult to climb. This was a tough stretch and we took a long time to climb holding on to the rope. Babloo and I were pressing the ice axe with our hands and legs while Bharata and Chinmay climbed up. Once on top, Babloo and I went ahead to create a path for the rest of the team, while Bharata and Chinmay took turns holding the rope for the rest of the team to climb. Our hands, legs and hinds were numb with cold by the time everyone was up the rope.

Aerial view of the path from ABC to Col

From here, there was another 70* climb to the top. Since trail straight ahead had lots of crevasses, we decided to climb up and then traverse up to the pass. This proved wrong since the snow level was almost up to my waist. We did not have ice axe also to arrest our fall having anchored it below for others to climb up. I was trekking in shorts and the snow had totally wet my shorts. I was feeling cold and was not able to traverse that stretch. My knee was paining like hell. Finally I was able to reach the top by around 3:30pm. It took nearly 8 hrs to climb 500 mts.

On top of the Pass

Babloo then took a different path down and brought the whole team safely on top of Auden's Col. It was 4.30 pm when the entire reached the col. The reading on Bharata's altimeter showed 5242m. There was a mix of joy and relief on every members face. We joined together for a pooja on top of Auden's Col and thanked Mother Nature for having been kind and give us good weather for the climb. We could see the "Rabbit's ears", which we had heard a lot about it and it was very satisfying. Group Photos were taken and it was time to descend down to Khatling Glacier.

View of the Khatling Glacier on the other side

Rabbit's ears - the rock formations on either side of the Col

Crevasses on Khatling glacier

Khatling Glacier view from the top

Team on top of Auden's Col

The climb down the other side was supposed to take at least 2 hours and it was almost 5pm. So we decided to risk camping on Auden's Col itself. I don't if any one had camped there on the top. There was not enough space on the Col, so the porters pitched only the kitchen tent and it was decided that all 15 of us will spend the night in the same tent. The tent was pitched in between an ice pond on one side and a huge 100m drop on the other. As evening fell, the temperature started falling and we all slipped into our sleeping bags, huddled together for warmth.

Oct 11: Auden's Col to Bakriwala Camp

The weather was good till about 12am, when suddenly there was a huge storm with gale force winds which threatened to sweep the tent into the huge valley below. The entire tent was shaking, the pole supporting the tent collapsed and the porters put in a huge effort to put the tent back up in shape. Snow started entering inside the tent and my sleeping bag was fully covered in snow. Luckily snow stopped in the morning at around 7.00. The storm continued all night and did not stop till about 10 am. The whole tent was a mess by then and everybody's confidence was shattered. When the weather turned a little better, Shailu and Babloo stepped out to take stock of the situation. Heavy snowfall in the night had covered the path to descend down the Auden's Col in snow. It was a rocky patch and the snow on top of the rocks was making it difficult to manage to get down. Shailu had fixed a rope and went down to check the route. It took him 45 minutes to reach down and found there were huge crevasses all around. There was waist deep snow field to negotiate as soon as we got down the Col and we had to trek almost 3 hours before we reached Khatling Glacier.

Descend from the top of the Col

Shailu, Babloo, Bharata and I climbed up the side of the rabbit's ear to take a closer look at the other side. It was 11.00 am and after lots of deliberations and keeping safety aspects paramount, it was decided not to get down to the Khatling glacier side and go back by the same route we came. There was huge relief among all of us and we started the descent down Auden's Col at about 11:30am praying for the weather to hold good till we reached a safe altitude. I was very much disappointed not to cross over and complete the trek as per our schedule. But then the porters were not of much help and it would have been difficult for just Babloo and Shailu to take the whole team to safety.

It was decided to walk longer today and reach as low as possible. We passed the Advanced Col BC, descended down the huge ice wall to the Auden's Col BC and went further down to a camp known as the Bakriwala camp. This camp is regularly used by shepherds and is lower than the snow line. There was a running stream near to this camp which made things very easy. It had been a very exciting and challenging trek I had ever done till date. Last year's kalindi pass trek looked easier compared to this one.

Oct 12: Bakriwala camp to Gangotri

It was a very pleasant morning, bright sunshine, relaxed people, and getting back to civilization by sunset was motivating us to cover a long distance in one day. Babloo and Shailu informed us about a route that bypassed the Rudugaira Base Camp and taking us straight to Bhoj Kharak camp and to Gangotri. But it would take us around 8 hrs. We all agreed to finish the trek and rest at Gangotri.

We had a heavy breakfast and started trekking towards Gangotri. Having completed the toughest part of the trek, we were feeling a bit more relaxed now. The route took us deep into the valley along the streams that form the Rudraganga River. It was a very difficult descent as we had to walk over huge rock boulders and cross the gushing mountain streams a couple of times. It was extremely demanding on the knees and Shashank slowed down after reaching nala Camp.

On our way back

We reached Gangotri at around 3.00pm and immediately made arrangements for our onward journey to Uttarkashi. Shashank reached very late, after thanking the porters and guides for the great help to reach the pass, we got into the jeep reaching Uttarkashi at 9.00 pm.

I thank the whole team who were very co-operative and especially Shashank and Chinmay who showed lot of grit and determination, having trekking for the first time in the Himalayas. To do Auden's Col as their first Himalayan Trekking is a great achievement.

Kalavara Betta (Saturday 27th December 2008) -- My last outing of the year

Kalavara Betta (Saturday 27th December 2008) -- My last outing of the year

I was planning for a weekend outing for the new year and was feeling a bit bored sitting at home on a weekend when i received a phone call at 5.00 pm from one Mr siddarth, a resident of New Delhi who had come to Bangalore 4 days back to his friends place. He wanted to visit Kalavara Betta before going to Mysore and was insisting me to take them to Kalavara Betta and come back on sunday morning.

I was not very much keen on taking them to Kalavara Betta since my last visit to the place had a bad experience of huge crowd gathering there and making a lot of noise besides turning the place into a open dust bin. Besides trekking had been prohibited for some time due to the problems with the local villagers and I was not sure if the problems has been resolved. Also finding a vehicle posed a problem. It was then decided that they will arrange for the vehicle and my job is only to take the team of members to place and guide them for the trek.

As planned i met the team at their residence in Jeeven Bheema Nagar and left the place by 10.00 pm reaching the base of the hill at 12.30 am. Surprisingly, there were not many vehicles parked. There were hardly around 75 people on the top compared to the now usual crowd of over 200 on an weekend. The ban on trekking has really worked reducing the maddening crowd who has littered the whole place, not a good scene compared to the one I had seen 2 years back.

Forest department who use to collect entrance fee were not there. I came to know from the so called guides (local villagers) that there exists some differences between the forest officials and the local trust as to who has to get the collection. We set off for the trek as the last team for the day. Weather was pleasant and not very windy. We reached the top of the hill at 3.00 am. Usual chaiwallahs were moving around with flasks and fire woods for camp fire. Surprisingly it was less noisy on the top with most of the team huddling together around the camp fire. It wasn't that cold. We slept for some time till morning. Sunrise wasn't spectacular with cloud covering it was not worth the wait.

We left for the base at 6.30 am and reached the base of the hill at 8.00 am. We were in for a different kind of an experience. Our driver had slept inside the car and had not noticed the air of the one of the front wheel removed. Later it was noticed that all the vehicles had the same condition. A localite who had collected 30/- as parking fee told that the police had come in the night and beat a few local people who were waiting for some clients to guide them to the top had removed air in all the vehicles and had even torn in the seats on some of two wheelers. I came to know that the police are not interested in allowing any trekkers around.

Actual problem is not known, but such an act by the police department needs to be condemned as nobody is interested in going against the prohibition. For the last 2 months or so when the trek was prohibited there has been no trekkers in that area and it started only when we came to know that they allow. There was no police men available at the area to speak with us. It is not known whether it is the act of some of the locals who now a days don't get any body asking them to take them as guides or the policemen who had done this job.

We tried to speak with the incharge of the trustee who pleaded ignorance and was not of any help to us. Chikkaballapur being 4 kms away, it was a difficult job of getting any help to get air pump. Luckily for us they had removed air in only one tyre , we could change the tyre and leave the place. There were quite a few vehicle were both the front wheels air had been removed and the plight of the two wheelers, it was a bad scene which needs to be looked at.

Any how for those who wish to visit the place need to be cautious about this kind of problem and make sure you clarify the permission part before venturing into the trek.

Amedikallu

Its been a long time since i trekked in Charmadi range.. Narayan came up with a idea of trekking to Amedikallu. So Narayan, Anirudh,Prithvi and I left on 8th of february 2008 to Dharmasthala. Amedikallu can be approached via Shiradi Ghat and Charmadi Ghat side. If you go via Shiradi Ghat get down at Kokkada which is 15 kms before Dharmasthala and take a deviation towards Shishila , which is 18 kms from Kokada. From Kokada there are buses to Bangalore every half an hour. The other route is to reach Dharmasthala and take the first bus at 7.00am to Shishila via Kokkada which takes around 2 hrs. Road from Kokkada to shishila is not good.There is only one direct bus to shishila and if you miss that bus reach kokkada and from there take another bus to shishila.


We boarded a bus to Dharmastala on Friday night. From Dharmasthala we took the direct bus to Shishila. Our local contact from Shishila village, Gopu Gokhale had arranged for a Guide (Channappa), who was waiting for us at the bus stand. Gopu Gokhale's house was our base camp. After a nice breakfast at his place, we took an auto from Shishila to reach the starting point of the trail to Amedikallu . We reached the starting point of the trek at 10.00 am. It was very hot.

Amedikallu is one of the significant peaks of Charmadi range .Ethina Bhuja and Ombattu Gudda are other prominent peaks which are parallel to each other.The name Amedikallu is a combination of two words: Ame - Turtle and dikkel - Tulu word for Stove.

Amedikallu has a huge monolith at the top which appears like a giant turtle and 3 huge stones which give an appearance of a stove. Initially the trail was pretty wide through a fairly dense forest, later, the trail narrows down, the forest cover increases and the climb becomes steeper. After trekking for nearly an hour , we had the first sight of Ethina Bhuja on to our left side. We took some rest, took some snaps of the peak and started trekking again. It was a strenous climb with no water source at all. After an hour of steep climb we reach the first and only water source before reaching the top. There wasn't much water flowing. We took some rest there and filled our water bottles and started the climb.

We come out of the forest cover and entered the grassland.

Now we had the first sight of the 3 stones (stove), one part of the name Amedikallu. We were in the open area and it was very hot. We were very tired because of the heat. Ethina Bhuja was standing majestically at the left of us. Our Guide told us that there is a route from amedikallu to ethina bhuja inside the forest, but its difficult to locate the path,since the forest is very thick and not many people frequent that route.

For the next 2 hours we climb continuously, mostly through grasslands. The grass was dry and it was very very hot. This part of the trek was tough and there were no trees cover at all. We could see many surrounding mountains, Yerikallu, Ettina Bhuja to name a few. We had many photo-breaks throughout this climb. At last we reached a Rock shelter at 2.00 pm. Mr Gopu Gokhale had given us packed lunch. We had our lunch and slept there for an hour. Our guide told us that it is another 1 1/2 hour climb to the top.

At 3PM, we decided to move ahead.

We had to reach the top of the huge turtle shaped monolith rock from here. The path was inbetween Stove and the turtle shaped rock. We had to cross over to the other face of the rock by walking along its side through the dense forests. The growth was thick and Mr Channappa led us excellently from the front by clearing out the thorny trees. Now we were at the back side of the turtle-shaped rock and it took another 30min of difficult climb to reach the peak.

We had finally reached the camping ground which is about 25m below the peak. Our guide suggested that we camp here and go to the top without our sacks . We were all very tired.

We pitched our tents and started trekking to the top of the peak. It took us another half an hour to the top. We could see all the surrounding peaks . Kumaraparvatha was covered by clouds. After some rest and taking snaps , we came down to our camp site. totally we had covered a distance of 6-8km, which took us nearly 6 hours with an hour rest after our lunch. While we sat down to enjoy the surrounding views, the guide went down looking out for a water source. It took him 45 min to get water. We had taken a 5 ltr can and that was just sufficient to prepare vegetable bath. Everyone was tired, and immediately went to sleep.

We got up at 6AM when it became bright outside. We were above the clouds and we could see the lower mountain ranges completely covered by clouds. Took some snaps of the beautiful sunrise, started preparing tea.Since we didn't have much water left, we decided to have breakfast until we reach a water source. By 7AM we started getting down. We had taken chappati's from Bangalore. By 9AM we had reached the water point ,had our breakfast. Our guide washed all the vessels which we used for dinner. After a long break, We started trekking down. We wanted to finish it before the sun fully comes out. We were into the open area and were sweating.

From here onwards it was a continuous descent through the grassland. It was a pretty tiring descent in hot and humid conditions. We managed to reach the end of the trail at 11AM. Channappa went to bring the auto. We took bath in a near by stream. It was very refreshing. Gopu Gokhale served us luxurious lunch on plantain leaves. After such a sumptuous lunch We slept in his house for some time, since the next bus was only at 4.00 pm to Kokkada.

We visited Shishileshwara temple on the way. The temple is on the banks of Kapila river. One can feed fish here and we could see hundreds of them fighting for the food which people offered. The fish have grown so fearless that they come and fetch directly from our hands. We reached Dharmasthala at around 6.00 pm. Finally we were in Bangalore at 7.00 am.

Points to be considered.

01) It is better to do the trek from November to january.

02) Since the water point are not closer, it is better to go with a guide who can fetch us water.

03) Amedikallu is not a day's trek. It takes atleast 6 to 7 hours one way.

04) Be careful of ticks during summer.There are plenty of them enroute.

05) Gopu Gokhale in Shishila provides excellent service including arranging for guides, transportation, food.

KALINDI PASS EXPEDITION --- AN ULTIMATE HIGH ALTITUDE TREKKING

Kalindi pass one of the toughest trekking expeditions in the Himalayas lies between two religious place—Gangotri and Badrinath. This route offers all the elements of Mother Nature one can ask for, Tough, Beautiful, Serene, Rugged, Rigid, yet fall short of appreciating the beauty

Below is a mix of both a travelogue and a description of the route, by a team of 16 members from Bangalore.

TEAM

Lakshminarayan V (Leader), Sunand S, Sandeep, Santosh, Jaimon Jose, Annapurna Lolla, Rohan Prabhu, Rajendra, Sreekanth R U, Vivek S, Chethan N, Arjun Ravishankar, Kumar Gopal Rao, Rudresh M N, Mamatha Bhargav and Jith Veeravalli.

Given the toughness of the route and the height of the pass (highest in trekking) this trek is sure to squeeze out the juice out of every ardent trekker and give a lifetime experience.

Selection of the team had to be different than the normal high altitude trekking because of the toughness of the terrain. There were many enquiries and interested trekkers. Most of the organizers do not take first timers to this trek.

It was really a challenge to lead a team of 16 members totally inexperienced in high altitude trekking to take them to the top of the world. Some of them had done a few high altitude treks, but most of them had not seen Himalayas at all.

Team kept meeting regularly, discussing about the treks, difficulties to be faced and how to prepare for any eventualities. A few had the fear about altitude sickness, frost bites, etc. Answering all the queries made me prepare for the problems likely to be faced by the members.

Route taken

Initially the plan was to start from Badrinath cross over Kalindi pass on the 3^rd day and reach Gangotri , the same way as I did in 1994 with a 3 member team. But on enquiries made with friends in Gangotri, I found that it will be difficult to gain height for an inexperienced team from 10000ft to 19700ft in 3 days.

We changed the plan to suit the team strength and decided to start from Gangotri and reach Badrinath which has a gradual height gain.

From Delhi we reached Rishikesh and then proceeded towards Uttarkashi to reach Gangotri.

Gangotri, one of the char dhams is considered to be a very sacred place, situated on the banks of Ganga, this Himalayan town offers the much required initial starting push.

At Gaumukh

The trek starts—Gangotri to Nandanvan

The documents are checked at the check post, which is at 1 km from Gangotri. The trail is well laid and is shared by mules up to Bhojbasa for 14 kms and further for another 3kms after which moraine starts, trek gets tougher by the distance, most of the time trekking on the glacier, with never ending pile of boulders. The mighty Shivaling standing majestically at our right keeps us company through out our trek from Bhojbasa to Nandanvan. View of Bhagirathi peaks in the morning at Bhojbasa gives us a boost to undertake the tough part of the trek.

Bhagirathi 1, 2, 3

Gaumukh, the birth place of Ganga is visited by many religious people. Mules go up to 3 kms before Gaumukh and thereafter had to be trekked on the huge pile of boulders to reach the birth place of Ganga. The glacier has been receding over the years and off late this is at a much higher rate much thanks to the Global warming.

The entire route from here looks like a desert filled with boulders. The trail from Gaumukh gets tough wi10th steep ascent towards Nandanvan with no greenery and very few potable water points.

Nandanvan camp site had everything required for camping,-- flat plain camping area, good view of peaks --Shivling, Kedar Dome, Bhagirathi 1,2,3, Chandraparbat, gentle streams flowing, especially early sunrise when the first rays of the sun hit the peaks and summit points turn golden colour, offering opportunity to take some photographs worth winning awards. This is the last greenery point for the whole trek and the only good camping spot, rest all was on the boulders.

Shivaling Peak

Nandanvan to Kalindi Base

Trek from Nandanvan to Vasuki Tal is initially a gradual height gain through the land slid zone and mostly on the ridge traversing the caved in glacier. I was surprised to see the difference in the route from 1994 to 2007, the glacier which I had crossed enroute had all caved in and we had to fix ropes to cross a small cliff to reach the camp site Vasuki Tal – a High Altitude Lake. An acclimatization walk in the evening to a high point before getting down to the camping area made us get acclimatized to the higher altitude. One gets to view all the surrounding peaks in the back drop of the Vasuki taal.

A steep climb in certain places and a gradual ascent in most of the route take us to Khara pattar our next camping place. The trail towards Swetha Glacier is through ridges and across glacial terrain and one witnesses many landslide zones along the path, comparatively challenging days trek, not to mention the beauty of the glacier and surrounding peaks gives one company throughout.

The trek to Kalindi Base is again on the never ending pile of boulders on a narrow ridge and then gradually ascends on snow and ice terrain to the Base camp, a very small area, surrounded by ice and moraines, the tents have to be pitched on rocky surface, sure to give all a nice acupressure. Time for all to get ready for the final attempt to summit, the high altitude makes the camp even more adventurous. The minimum temperature going subzero, heavy snowfall gives us the real High Altitude feeling. We discuss about our plan to the summit and everyone is eager to reach the top.

Kalindi Base to Badrinath

Kalindi Base

Every one is geared up for the challenge ahead. It’s a step climb from the start walking only on snow and ice, the whole team stays together helping each other, nobody, except me, has seen so much of snow, the conditions change very soon and whiteouts are an order of the day, the terrain is filled with crevaces, and the altitude makes us move very slowly. At last after a tough climb of 3 hours we reach our goal – Kalindi pass. The summit point (19700 ft) is like heaven not because of the breathtaking view, the weather conditions barely allow us to view anything beyond a few meters, and the great feeling is due to the sense of achievement by an inexperienced team.

After offering our prayers to the almighty and some snaps we start descending keeping every step very carefully, ropes are fixed to ensure safety to the trekkers, the route towards Rajparao is very dangerous as it is full of crevaces and utmost care is required while trekking in this terrain. After a long grueling trek in a white out condition, one touches boulders and sees the brown color, a little distance ahead Rajparao campsite is fixed much to the relief of the trekkers. We had trekked for nearly 11 hrs from kalindi Base to Raj parao in one day.

Descending from the top

Rocky terrain and land slide zones does not leave us, but this time it is on a gradual descent towards Badrinath. Every one wish to reach the next camp as soon as possible to end this walk on rocks and boulders. Crossing many streams and ridges the route takes serpentine trail gradually losing height, we come across the Himalayan flora.

At Ghastoli there is an ITBP Check post where our documents are checked again. The final days trail is an easy trek from Ghashtoli to Badrinath where one gets into mule trail and later on the road being constructed. The route leads to Mana village which is just about 3 km away from Badrinath, walking steadily one reaches the final destination of the great Himalayan Expedition – Badrinath.

A Summary

DAY	FROM	TO	ALTITUDE	TREK DISTANCE	Time Taken
	Gangotri		3010m
DAY 1	Gangotri	Bhojbasa	3900m	14 kms	6 hrs
DAY 2 (Rest day)	Bhojbasa	Goumukh and back	4000m	5 kms + 5 kms	5 hrs
DAY 3	Bhojbasa	Nandanvan	4465m	7 kms	6 hrs
DAY 4	Nandanvan	Vasukital	4950m	7 kms	5 hrs
DAY 5	Vasukital	Kharapattar	5120m	7 kms	4 hrs
DAY 6	Kharapattar	Swetha Glacier	5337m	7 kms	5 hrs
DAY 7	Swetha Glacier	Kalindi Base	5650m	7 kms	5 hrs
DAY 8	Kalindi Base	Kalindi Pass	5970m	6 Kms	3 hrs
DAY 8	Kalindi Pass	Rajparao	5460m	8 kms	8 hrs
DAY 9	Rajparao	Arwa Tal	4701m	13 kms	3 hrs
DAY 10	Arwa Tal	Ghastoli	4100m	16 kms	6 hrs
DAY 11	Ghastoli	Badrinath	3110m	16 kms	6 hrs

Category Tough

Maximum height gained 19700 feet

No of days 11 days

For further details on trekking in this route or for any other Himalayan expeditions please contact Lakshminarayan v at lacchhii@gmail.com or call 9449649236

for more photos http://picasaweb.google.com/lacchii/KalindiPhotos