Halfway to Heaven ..

Well back safe and sound from my first trek in the Himalaya ... wow ...

I left Tuesday morning .. expecting to join a group .. but as is so often the case in India .. things were not as expected, and I was the only one going .. with not one .. but two guides .. Mr Deep ... an ex-army guy about 45 and his young sidekick Daschen .. great guys as it turned out, although communication was limited since they spoke only Hindi and Bahari.

We headed out from McLeod Ganj to the first stop, Gallu temple, picked up a sleeping bag and tent for me and continued up the mountain to Triund, which is on a ridge about 1000 metres above McLeod Ganj. By the time we got there it was quite foggy in cloud, then, miraculously, it cleared and I was blown away by the sight of the Himalaya Massif, snow covered, rising behind us. A picture seemed in order, but when switched the camera on nothing happened - I'd left the battery, which I had diligently left in it's charger in my apartment!

Ahh well ...

I stole the pics from the net ... The first one is of Triund, the second of Indahara Pass taken from Snowline.

We continued on to Snowline another 4 km (3hrs trek) where we made camp. There were two young hash smoking Czech guys camped there along with a stone and tarp shelter selling tea, food and just abt anything else you could imagine! Mr Deep started to make dinner on an ancient gas stove that, he and Daschen had carried in one of the two huge canvas bags they had carried up ... I was even more amazed when a bag of flour, a rolling pin, board and cast iron grill emerged from the bag and young Daschen was instructed to start making chapati's while Mr Deep made chai, then cooked soup, rice, dal and vegetables. I was fed (delicious - I was starving) while they watched, me making appreciative sounds, refusing to eat until I had finished - very weird feeling.



Mr Deep and Daschen slept in the shelter with the stores keeper, and I got the tent - a small one person Indian version of a Canadian Tire 29.95 special.

The stars were amazing - the milky way was the brightest I think I've seen it!

It was a bit of a chilly night, my altimeter watch said -5 and 3150 metres (10, 320 ft), and I was up at first light to drink a most welcme cup of hot chai followed by a porridge breakfast.

Mr Deep and I headed out about 7:30 for the pass. By 10:30 we had made it to 3800 metres (12460ft). The view was magnificent, but I was bushed. Every few steps I had to stop to catch my breath ... and clounds were starting to gather, so we headed down making it back to Snowline just after noon, in the middle of a hailstorm. Good thing we got off the mountain when we did!

We decided to break camp and head down to Triund where we could spend a warmer night, arriving there about 4:00 pm The weather lifted by evening, as it often seems to here, and I had a good night and unevenful trip down to McLeod and a welcome shower.

It seems my timing was good, we had a terrific thunderstorm last night and today it's pouring. (good time to catch up on internet!)

Last night was fun however - Roger and Sue, an English couple who are in my building, have their son, and two of his friends visiting. They are all musicians, and put on a great show at Capre Diem - a place that has become a bit of a travellers hangout. Halfway through the evening we lost power (happens a lot here) and out came the candles adding to the ambience of the evening.

Tonight I'm heading over to Manali for a few days - only aboput 40 miles as the crow flies, but an overnight bus trip from here. Sounds like an interesting spot.