We left from KMVN (Bageshwar) early morning at 5:30 in a private taxi to Loharkhet. My images of porters vying with each other for their services were shattered, when we could find no able bodied men to carry some of our stuff. I guess most porters were busy collecting Yarsa gamboo, the herbal potency drug found in the hills around this area - far more lucrative than the porter job, allegedly. Anyway finally we found two college lads, who were more eager to make some quick bucks, than serious porter duties. These kids neither had a backpack or ropes or even the skills to tie ropes around our luggage. While we were prepared to lug most of our essentials, we desperately needed someone to help us with our tent and sleeping bags. The deal was struck at Rs 400 per porter, for two porters for the first day to Dhakuri and one porter beyond Dhakuri. Well, hiring a mule for Rs 4000 would have been a better deal, in hindisght, for you don't have to hear the constant grumble of these porters.
First day's hike from Loharkhet involves crossing of a low-altitude pass (Dhakuri top) to enter the pindar valley. The hike upto Dhakuri pass is a relentless steep climb for about 10 kms, which we made it in good time, considering we had a varied age profile. My 9 year old son and my 63 old father-in-law represented the extremes of this age spectrum. The last two kms of the climb seemed endless to my wife and father-in-law, while my son kept throwing the question "Are we there yet ?" incessantly. My 20 kg backpack and the blazing sun did not make the matters easier for me either. While it was no doubt a relief after reaching the Dhakuri top, the incredible views that you read in the travelogues were virtually non-existent for us. The next 1 km downhill got me and my son run down in excitement, call it a day and rest on the nice grassy meadow at the Dhakuri campsite. After a lunch of Rajma chawal, we pitched our tents and lazed on the meadow. I excitedly woke up to see the panorama of peaks in the evening, only to be greeted by thick clouds all around.
 On the way to Dhakuri top
Day 2 - June 23, 2010 - Dhakuri (2680 mts) to Khati (2210 mts) - 8 kms
We started our trek towards Khati, which is mostly a downhill trek, with one porter (Anil). Intially the trek goes through a forest of pine and rhododendron. After an hour of walk, we reached a small village, where our college punk developed serious illness all of a sudden and was no longer able to honor his contract of portering duties. After some wheeling and dealing, he passed the buck(or maybe subcontracted) to Pushkar Singh, who would be our new porter. The moment Pushkar accepted the offer, Anil became the cheeful college kid back again, with his body relieved of all illness instantly. We lost more than a hour amidst all this drama. To make the matters worse, we were caught in a rain, which turned into a hailstorm. Lucky as we were, we found shelter in a cottage, just 1 km before Khati. The idea of reaching Khati and pitching the tent in the rain and slush was given up, to the offer of sleeping under the warm razzai in this cottage run by Anand Singh. At Rs 150 for a night for four people, this place was a steal. Money aside, the views from this cottage was just too beautiful. The weather cleared completely by 4:00 PM and we could see the both the Sunderdunga and the Pindar river valleys converging at the Khati village, not to mention the peaks of Maiktoli and Panwalidhar rising at the Sunderdunga valley head and Nanda Khot at the Pindari valley head.
 Day 3 - June 24, 2010 - Khati (2210 mts) to Dwali (2575 mts) - 11 kms
Today we had about 1 km of unfinished trek to Khati and about 11 kms from there to Dwali. Pushkar Singh started grumbling about the load, although it was well under 20 kgs. While i would have tolerated that attitude, he came under a round of verbal firing from my father-in-law, an ex-Army man !. That surely silenced Pushkar for the rest of the trek. But in return he made sure that none of the dhabas would serve my father-in-law, the green chillies, that he was so fond of having with his rotis.
As we descended towards Khati, the beautiful snowy peak of Maiktoli made an appearance around a corner. The rains from the previous day had cleared the sky and the visibility was great.
  The beautiful Maiktoli peak
After passing a water-powered flour mill, we reached this nice little village of Khati, an exact opposite picture of our filthy, busy, noisy cities. It's from Khati, the two valleys of Sunderdunga and Pindar fork out.
 Khati village Here my father-in-law met his old friend Ratan Singh, who used to supply provisions to the NCC treks to Pindari glacier. My father-in-law as an NCC officer, used to organize these treks, 20 years back. It was pretty amazing that he recognized my father-in-law instantly. Not sure if the present looks or the old memories of the belligerent army officer, triggered that instant recognition. We had our breakfast at Ratan Singh's dhaba and started our push towards Dwali. My son and wife had suffered vomiting and stomach upset after the previous night's dinner, which put them in a not-so-good-condition for today's trek.
The trek to Dwali goes along the Pindar river through a jungle, which was quite hot and oppressive. The trek is pretty gradual, without any steep climbs or descent. The initial infatuation with the river and greenery, later gave way to monotony. The monotony was broken, once in a while, with sneak peek of the Nanda Kot peak, through the forest vegetation. We crossed a bridge midway, where the milky waters of Pindar was a sight to watch.
 Nanda Kot peak (on the left) along the way to Dwali
 Pindar river
The fact that i had to pretty much drag my son along, who was suffering from the after effects of vomiting, made today's trek a never ending one. When we were about 3 kms from Dwali, we came across a pack of mules, on which my son took a ride. As we approached the final bridge to crossover to Dwali, i could see my son at the top of a mini-hill waving his hands in joy !. Dwali is where the Pindar and the Kafni rivers meet. Being a base for treks to both Pindar and Kafni glaciers, it wasn't a surprise that the traffic at Dwali was quite high.
After the lunch, we wasted no time in pitching the tent and huddled inside as it was getting cold. The rest of the evening and night was spent in the anxiety that our tent would get flooded from the heavy rains, as it kept thundering and lightning. Fortunately the rains poured in the valley far down, close to the Khati village.
Day 4 - June 25, 2010 - Dwali (2575 mts) to Phurkia (3206 mts) - 5 kms
Our destination today was Phurkia, which was only 5 kms away. It was a nice bright and sunny day. The trek from Dwali to Phurkia is an uphill climb all the way. The trek goes through forest cover intially and then the magnificient pindar valley opens up with lush greenery all around. The tip of Nanda devi east was rearing high up in the horizon.
 Picturesque pindar valley with Nanda devi east (on the right side)
After a stiff climb we reached a nice meadow, where we rested for a while, watching the sure footed himalayan Thar goats climbing some insanely steep cliffs on the opposite side of the valley. We kept wondering what drove these creatures to take this kind of risk. Was it for survival from it's predators ? Or was it just plain thrill factor ? Who knows ! As we started moving higher up in the valley, Nanda devi east gave way to Nanda Khat, which started dominating the scene. Nanda Khat (not be confused with Nanda Kot) has this undulating top with three little peaks, which resembles the head and shouders. Our initial plan was to trek to Zero point and camp there as we had the tent with us. But since we did not carry any cooking provisions, we decided to drop that idea in favor of camping at Phurkia. In hindsight, it was a big mistake. We could have packed some food from Phurkia, for dinner at zero point and the morning breakfast would have probably been taken care at Baba's ashram. We missed spending the night in some glorious settings.
Day 5 - June 26, 2010 - Phurkia (3206 mts) to Zero point (3900 mts) - 7 kms
Zero point (3900 mts) to Dwali (2575 mts) - 12 kms
We left Phurkia early in the morning around 5 AM, so that we would be at Zero point by 8 AM, before the clouds could start playing spoilsport with the views. The trail from Phurkia to Baba's ashram near Zero point is almost flat and a slight uphill climb for about 1 km from the ashram to Zero point. The trail is now in a alpine zone, and in the absence of any trees, the views truly open up. The views of the Pindar valley gets more dramatic, as we proceed towards the Pindari glacier. The first rays of the morning sun was shining brightly over the Nanda Khat and Panwalidhar peaks.
 Panwalidhar and Nanda Khat peaks
 Early morning sunrays over the Nanda Khat peak
As we came closer to Baba's ashram, we got the first views of the glacier and the Changuch peak dominating on the right side of it. From the ashram, we start climbing up a ridge, the ridge which itself is the left lateral moraine of the receding Pindari glacier. My son had psyched himself up that the air here was thin and he was entitled to feel tired, which was in fact true - hence the frequent stops. We made it to zero point by 8:30 AM. There's a sign which says "Danger ahead" and we moved a little further of it, embracing the danger. Here we stood on a thin ledge, which drops off precipitously to the floor of the valley. Right opposite to us was the stunning view of the Pindari glacier, with it's steep icefall virtually impassable and the Nanda Khat and Changuch peak flanking it's sides.
 Wife and son - ecstatic at Zero point
High above the glacier is the Traills pass, which can be crossed by those with mountaineering skills, which leads to the Milam valley. The panorama of the peaks from zero point (from left to right) include Baljori peak, Panawalidhar, Nanda Khat and Changuch, which lies on the southern outer wall of the Nanda devi sanctuary. One look at these mountains enforces the impenentrability of this wall, which leads into the Nanda devi basin. There are only two gaps in this formidable range into the Nanda devi basin, one via the Longstaff col on the Milam side and the other via the Sunderdhunga col from the Sundergungha valley side. Both of these routes were crossed by Tilman and Shipton from the Nanda devi basin side, which i remember from reading the classic "Nanda devi exploration and ascent". Well, none of these routes are for us mere trekkers, which involves considerable technical climbing.
We came back to the ashram and chatted with the fast talking, ever smiling Baba, over tea and some biscuits. Baba mentioned an interesting exploration idea, regarding a trail behind his ashram which leads up a mountain. It was not known to me that Baba had another ashram up there which overlooks the Kafni glacier, where he goes for meditation occasionally. It's also the same route that leads to the Shalang valley on the Milam side via the Dhanu Dhura pass. Even for those without the amibitions of crossing the Dhanu Dhura pass, just the climb up this peak towards the Kafni col would be interesting extension to the Pindari trek, offering some great views of both Nanda devi and Nanda devi east peaks. Not to mention the vantage views of the Pindari glacier from there. With a nine year old and 63 years old in my group, it was amply clear that i had to reserve this venture, for any of my future treks to this area.
From Zero point we trekked back to Dwali for about 11 kms, with a lunch break at Phurkia. On the way, we saw some Cobra lily plants which my son got so fascinated with.
 My son with Baba  Splendid views of Changuch peak from Baba's ashram
Day 6 - June 27, 2010 - Dwali (2575 mts) to Khatia - 5 kms
Khatia to Kafni glacier (3860m) - 6 kms
Kafni glacier to Dwali - 11 kms
There's three ways to do the Kafni glacier trek from Dwali. One may do the whole trek in a single day, but would entail a trek of 22 kms round trip. The key is to leave early in the morning around 4:30 so that one reaches the Kafni glacier idealy before 9 AM. As the day progresses the clouds start moving in, making the entire 22 kms trek a futile exercise. The second alternative is to take it easy and trek from Dwali to Khatia and stay in the Zilla Parishad rest house and start early the next day morning, to reach the glacier by sunrise. The third option and the ideal one if you have a tent, is to trek from Dwali and camp at the beautiful meadows at Wayaligar, to catch the sunrise over the glacier, next morning. My wife had developed some infection and was not in a position to do the Kafni trek. While my son was enthusiastic to do the trek, 22 kms in a day would have been too taxing for him. So i decided to go alone and do it as a day trek and return back to Dwali.
I left at 4:30 in the morning with my porter and started trekking along the Kafni river. Kafni river is fed by the Kafni glacier which becomes a tribituary of the Pindar river joining it at Dwali. The Pindar river itself joins the Alakananda river eventually, which again is a tribituary of Ganga. It's a stiff climb from Dwali to Khatia, which is about 5kms in length. The trail is in a bad condition owing to a large landslide along the way, which means a lot of boulder hopping. As we were trekking in the quietness of the morning, there was a sudden flight of a bird making a high pitched sound, which broke the monotony of the trek. My porter identified the bird as Monal pheasant, which happens to be the state bird of Uttarakhand. We made it to Khatia in about 1.5 hours, took a small break for a cup of tea and started trekking again.  Lush green carpet at Khatia
It was another fine morning. Khatia was carpeted with lush greenery all around, created by plants which looked almost like spinach leaves. As we started moving higher, Kafni glacier came into the view partially with the Nanda Kot peak shining brightly above it in the early morning sun. After close to an hour of trek, we reached the bugyal at Wayaligar. The lush green meadows with sheep scattered around on it, contrasted with the pristine white of the glacier and the Nanda Kot peak was a sight to behold - pure postcard beauty !. My impression was that, as we moved higher, i would get the full view of the glacier with the Nanda Kot peak. To the contrary, as i started moving closer, the full view of the glacier presented itself, while Nanda Kot started dissapearing from the scene. To me the perspective of the Kafni glacier with Nanda kot along the trek from Khatia was much more spectacular than views of the mere glacier (minus Nanda Kot) at the destination.
 Nanda Kot peak with partial view of the Kafni glacier   Alpine meadows at Wayaligar - a truly stunning location ! The bugyal at Wayaligar was a logical resting place for us, amidst some stunning scenery. This is an ideal camping spot with sheer seclusion. KMVN is in the process of building fibre glass hut accomodation here. While the convenience of the huts would certainly move the Kafni trek up in the popularity charts, this meadow would no longer be the same exotic destination that it is today. From here we trekked for about an hour and reached close to the snout of the Kafni glacier by 8:30 AM. Frankly, to me, the black snout of the glacier is like an anti-climax to the white beauty of glacier. We ate our packed Parathas, relaxed for an hour and started our trek back to Khatia. By the time we reached Khatia around 11, the clouds had moved in and almost covered a good part of the glacier. It would have been a sheer dissapointment to reach the glacier around this time.
 Kafni Glacier
After the lunch at Khatia, we made a quick dash to Dwali and reached there by 1:30 PM. I slept like a log, the rest of the afternoon. The Khichdi at Tara Singh's dhaba that night in front of the fireplace in the constricted kitchen was a comforting finale to a tiring day of trekking.
Day 7 - June 28,2010 - Dwali to Khati Today we trekked back from Dwali to Khati. We decided not to pitch out tents and we checked into the Sangam hotel. Boy, were our instincts right ? It poured heavily that night.
 Daring the Cobra Lily !
Day 8 - June 29,2010 - Khati - Bageshwar
My wife's condition had gone from bad to worse. We were told that there were Jeeps available at Waccham village to get out of the Pindar valley, without having to cross the Dhakuri pass. Waccham is about 7 kms from Khati along the Khati-Dhakuri trail. Just 1 km before Dhakuri, there's a deviation in the trail to Waccham. Given that my wife was in a bad condition, we decided to skip Dhakuri and took a jeep from Waccham to Bageshwar.
|
