Adventure is something that beckons you, until you give in. This year, I, Anuj Shetti, and ten of
my friends, namely, Nivedita Naik, 24; Balkrishna Naik, 44; Nilesh Gawde, 35;
Akhil Naik, 27; Peter Dias, 36; Amit Parulekar, 43; Pritesh Wadkar, 28; Kalpesh
Naik, 28; Arvind Gawde, 35 and Sunil Jadeja, 43, decided to explore the great
lakes of Kashmir.
Our journey began from Dabolim airport on August 12, 2018 at
midnight. The eleven of us, all trekkers with varied levels of experience, some
of us first-timers, took a flight from Goa to Srinagar via Delhi. We landed at
an airport with airtight security, bringing forth the realisation that we were
finally in Kashmir. From Srinagar, we took a road to reach to our base camp at
Sonmarg (8792ft), which is situated in a valley at the bank of Nallah Sindh. We
reached Sonmarg late afternoon.
Day One was our first day at Sonmarg. The base camp was in a
permanent structure (Hotel Sunshine) and not tents. It was in a valley
surrounded by the Himalayan mountains, with small patches of snow at the peak.
The view was astonishing. After registration we made a trip to a small market
about 2km away. The day ended with some hot milk and a plate of crispy pakoras.
Our second day began with morning exercise, which was more of a
punishment for some of the trekkers. This was followed by seeing-off one of the
batches that was proceeding to higher altitude. For me, this tradition – a kind
of guard of honour – is the best part of YHAI. This was followed with us lining
up for our acclimatisation walk, a sort of curtain raiser of upcoming days. It’s
an important part of trekking for, no matter how fit you are, these mountains
can be overpowering. The evening was easygoing with a small walk to the banks
of Nallah Sindh and a cultural programme session by the campfire. Due credit
goes to Amit Parulekar, who stood in as emcee. We performed Goan folk songs.
Day Three was special for it was Independence Day. On this
memorable day, the YHAI official made a special arrangement to celebrate
Independence Day with the Indian Army. Celebrate our Independence day with the
world’s fourth largest army – Indian Army will always be an experience of a
lifetime. I had goosebumps with the patriotic environment in their camp area. I
felt proud being surrounded by our jawans. After flag hosting ceremony, tea and
snacks were arranged.
Day Four marked the actual beginning of the trek. We were part
of a group of 38 trekkers raring to witness the wonders of nature. We set out
at 7am for our first higher camp– Nichnai Camp (11948Ft). After a strenuous
bout of trekking, we stopped at the lunch point, a place called table top.
Following lunch, we continued on a steep slope through mixed terrain, reaching
our higher camp site Nichnai at around 3:30pm after a walk of around 12km. The
Nichnai camp site was well located on a flat green surface surrounded by dry
cold mountains with a small stream of glacier water flowing just next to our
camp.
Following a bone-chilling night, we began the next day with hot
breakfast. Then, after bagging our packed lunch, we set out for our next higher
camp i.e Vishnusar. Gaining an altitude of 12152ft we had to cover an
approximate distance of around 10km. I was very excited as we was supposed to
get the first glimpse of our first lake – Vishusar Lake. After a long walk, we
reached our campsite at around 4pm, which was situated just below the Vishnusar
Lake. Despite being tired, we went ahead to get a glimpse of Lake and the view
was astonishing. The water was as clear as crystal. It was mesmerising to see
how fast the clouds moved over the Himalayan Mountains.
At the onset of the next day, we were already warned that that
day’s trek would be tougher. The weather in the mountains is always
unpredictable and the sudden rains proved that. We all waited for the rains to
go and then, without wasting much of our time, our group donned rainwear and
set off. The goal was to cross the Gadsar Pass (13800ft) – the highest point in
our trek. After around an hour’s trek from our campsite we reached the
Kishansar Lake. Kishansar Lake along with Vishnusar Lake form the first set of
twin lakes in the whole trek. Both the lakes compliment each other in terms of
grace and beauty. The next part of the trek was the Gadsar pass, which looked
easy but the climb literally took our breath away. We reached Gadsar camp at
around 4pm. The camp site was on flat ground surrounded by mighty mountains
with a flowing stream next to it.
Day Seven was our trek from Gadsar Camp To Satsar Camp at an
altitude of 11860 ft; it seemed never ending. We have to cross Satsar army camp
on our way and the army jawans welcomed us with open arms. They shared their
experience with us. We asked them lots of questions and they were very
accommodating.
The trek to Satsar was long and tiring. What kept my spirits up
was the beautiful meadow and wild flowers. At last we reached Satsar camp site.
After a welcome drink, we were informed of the existence of an unnamed lake
nearby across a cliff. In spite of tiredness, everyone was excited to visit the
unnamed lake, which turned out to be a cascade of lakes. The view of two lakes
with a small waterfall was breathtaking.
Day Eight, which would take us to Gangbal Camp ( 11482 ft) was
also special because it was the birthday of my friend, Nilesh. Before setting
out, he was showered with wishes. Then we made our way over rocky terrain
(moraines), ascending over a vast bed of rocks, sometimes slipping, sometimes
hopping. After a continuous ascent, we reached another area of steep green
meadows – Zach Pass. The view from here was brilliant; we could see the third set
of twin lakes, Gangabal and Nandkul. Our camp site was near Nandkul lake. This
was the most beautiful camp site in our entire trek. Here we arranged a
surprise party for Nilesh, with a cake and everything.
The last day of the trek started with a gentle slope; eventually
becoming steep to the point of putting tremendous impact on our knees and toes.
Descent, descent and more descent. We kept going downhill, vaguely wondering
who said descending was easier than ascending. We continued our descent amongst
forest cover before reaching Naranag village – tired, exhausted, but with a
sense of accomplishment.
After
checkout we headed back to Srinagar and did local sight-seeing, where we
visited Dal Lake, Gulmarg Hill Station, Maharaja palace, Shankaracharya swami
temple, Srinagar gardens- Pari Mahal, Chashmashahi, Shalimar, Mughal Nishat,
etc. We also enjoyed Shikara and horse rides.
