It feels amazingly thrilling when I write these blogs after an interval from the treks. This is kind of doing the trek once again in my mind. I try to recall every detail and all the memory of struggle and joy that used to cheer me up.
So, this time it’s Kalindi Khal, a trek that needs no introduction. As far as my knowledge goes, Kalindi Khal is one of the most glamorous treks in India, standing with a maximum height of 5985 meters between Kalindi Peak (6,102 meters) and Avalanche Peak (6,196 meters). “Khal” in Hindi is similar in meaning to pass or col which is the lowest possible crossover ridge between two tall mountains. Kalindi Khal has a spiritual angle as it connects Gangotri and Badrinath, the two shrines of four in Uttarakhand.
Due to COVID-19, there was no treks in 2020. Many of my trek mates had planned Kalindi Khal a few times before, but it got canceled repeatedly because of many reasons including COVID-19. Kalindi Khal is a long trek and a comparatively expensive one too. That’s why the team needed to be absolutely sure of attempting it. Some of my trek mates were planning Kalindi in June 2021. But it got canceled again because of the 2nd wave of COVID-19 in India. I always had a plan of doing Kalindi in the post-monsoon season as my study suggested more success rate around that time. I was looking for an appropriate team as per my requirement, and around March I came across a very interesting two-liner post on a Facebook group. This post led me to Amitava Chatterjee who was trying to accumulate a team of appropriate trekkers for Kalindi Khal in September 2021. I jumped in immediately. My trek mates whose Kalindi Khal trek got canceled in June also joined in. Amitava Da was looking for a team size of 12 trekkers. After various additions and subtractions, the final number stood out as 10. The itinerary was to reach Gangotri on 3rd September and end in Badrinath on 18th September including a couple of acclimatization and a couple of reserve days.
My preparation plan is simple, 5 days a week throughout the year. There can be a special addition in the workout before the trek but the core remains the same. I cycle 4 kilometers, run 4 kilometers, and do some freehand exercise five days a week throughout the year. In special addition to Kalindi, I hiked Golkonda Fort, Hyderabad, 5 times a day on the last 5 Saturdays before the trek. I must admit, this special hike did wonders for my legs and helped me throughout the trek. The rain of July and August was mostly in the latter part of the day, not in the mornings. So, my preparation remained uninterrupted.
The hic-up before every trek has become a regular practice now. This time it was the roadblocks and landslides because of excessive rainfall in all the regions of Uttarakhand. Along with it, the COVID-19 protocols were varying throughout the states of India. Uttarakhand was very strict about the entry of tourists from other states. An e-pass was mandatory with all details of the tour along with and COVID negative RTPCR report. With all these documents and a backpack of 12 kilograms, I was ready to board my flight to Delhi on 2nd September. Two more trek mates, Navtej Ji and Siddartha joined me at Hazrat Nizamuddin railway station, Delhi. We boarded an overnight train to Dehradun.
3rd September 2021 (Dehradun to Dharali–2680 mt; 220 km drive)
Nanda Devi Express reached Dehradun at 5:30 in the morning. There were four queues to test RTPCR reports and rapid testing was also available for those who did not have it. The arrangement was very agile. After all the formalities we come out of the station within fifteen minutes. A pre-booked cab was waiting for us outside. Anjan Da joined us there. He reached Dehradun on the previous night. We four set out for the President Hotel where two more of our trek mates, Devdutt Ji and Apurva were staying after reaching Dehradun on the previous afternoon. We freshened up in their hotel room. In the meantime, all our bags had been tied to the top of the car. We started at 7 AM.
There was no certainty of staying at Gangotri because of the ever-evolving COVID restrictions. The nearest possible stay could be in Dharali, 20kms before Gangotri. The weather was cloudy in the morning but it got cleared as we progressed. We were literally sitting with sunshine on our back when we stopped for the breakfast. We set out for Uttarkashi after breakfast where Amitava along with Snigharup were making the arrangements for the trek.
The wheel kept rolling, and so did the weather. At lunchbreak, it was raining heavily. Amitava and Snigdharup with the arrangements were following us. To make things a bit challenging, one of the front tires got a lovely sharp nail in it. We found a scenic puncher fixing shop just beside the river Bhagirathi. After a 30-minute break, we had a nice drive along the river. We met another team of guide Uttam Singh Rana and his support staff on the way. They were about to start with a team of 15 for Kalindi Khal on the 4th. We got confirmation from Amitava that authorities were not allowing people from outside the state to stay in Gangotri. So, Dharali was the nearest option, and we reached it at 4:30 PM. In about an hour Amitava and Snigdharup reached. Kunal and Utkarsh also stepped out of a different car just about at the same time. We got a deal of 5 double bedded rooms at Rs. 2000 per day. Things got unbelievably cheaper because of COVID and less tourist footprint. They even provided us a space for cooking on the ground floor without any extra charge. In full-on yatra season, these rooms even get occupied at Rs. 4000 each.
Our cook Mahavir and his assistant Pradip also reached along with Amitava and Snigdharup. They started the arrangement for dinner. It was a get-together time before we headed to the wild. Prior to boarding the train on the last day, I only knew Navtej Ji. We did a few treks together before. The rest of the group was only known to me on Whatsapp. Amitava, Anjan, and Snigdharup were coming from Kolkata. Devdutt and Apurva were from Pondicherry. Navtej, Siddhartha, Utkarsh, and Kunal are from Delhi. I was the sole member coming from Hyderabad. The introduction was easy as everyone had only Kalindi Khal on our minds. We had the legal and financial settlement before going out on a stroll.
Dharali is a very small village before Gangotri. One might not notice the village on the way if the significance is not known. Firstly, Dharali is the base for Mt. Srikanta (6,133 mt) expedition. Secondly, Dharali has a temple known as Kalp Kedar. Thirdly, Mukhwa temple is the winter settlement of Mata Gangotri which is just on the opposite bank of Bhagirathi. Mukhwa is connected to Dharali by a beautiful hanging bridge. So we were already in the sanctum of the Great Himalayan peaks.
Mahavir is a very well-known person in the Gangotri region. It is not only because of his cooking; he has assisted many expeditions with some well-known mountaineers. He has also done Kalindi Khal 3 times before that. The dinner tasted awesome that night with some experienced talks about the route from Mahavir. The weather was very comfortable with some chills. I and Amitava shared a double room. There used to be many members always in our room as Amitava was the organizer. The road journey of 220 km got me tired. I slept early ignoring all the disturbances.
4th September 2021 (Acclimatization Day at Dharali)
The altitude of Dharali is 2680 meters which is about 700 meters lower than Gangotri. This brought us the challenge of acclimatization. We always wanted to stay at Gangotri only because of the altitude. But COVID came in our way. We decided to have an acclimatization climb which is at least more altitude than Gangotri. So, the Sattal (seven lakes) opted as the most convenient option.
After a nice breakfast, we started for Sattal at 9:30 am. This is a kind of off-beat day hike from Dharali. Navtej Ji never liked an acclimatization walk. But this was kind of not avoidable because of staying at a lower altitude. The route is a continuous steep ascent. In starting we crossed the village segment. Almost all the houses have at least one green apple tree in them. We were moving slowly as there was no fixed target point. After hiking for a couple of kilometers, we reached the first Tal.
There are seven like this as you go up. The calm green water and the forest around it were beautiful. We kept moving and stopped beside the fourth one. The altitude was already 5300 odd meters and then we had hiked more than 4 kilometers. Hence we considered the fourth Tal as the seventh.. HaHa. Kunal was carrying his videography accessories. His drone flew high above our heads and we all waved at it. After spending a celebratory hour, we decent to Dharali around 1:30 PM.
Mahavir is a great cook, and the tasty food was like a solitaire ring in the mountains. After a delicious lunch, some people went daydreaming. I was watching India vs England test match. My only worry was how will India manage to cope with the English conditions without me watching. HaHa.
At about 4:30 PM we started for the Mukwa village and winter Gangotri temple. After crossing the suspension bridge and a decent hike we got the first glimpse of Mt. Srikanta on the opposite side. The golden sun rays on its western face made it absolutely mesmerizing.
There was an open terrace just beside the temple. We even got views of Mt. Bandarpunch and Mt. Swargarohini from there. All these surrounding peaks were glowing in evening golden light. None of us expected this much from the surrounding of Dharali. After visiting the temples, we got down to Dharali when it was about to dark.
The next day was a big one, as the first day in a trek always set the tone for the rest of it. We had our dinner at 8. After a stroll around in the dark, we got to bed early.
5th September 2021 (Dharali to Gangotri-3023 mt by Car; Gangotri to Chirwasa-3651 mt, 10.6 Kilometers trek)
Blue skyed morning started with loading the backpacks on the vehicles. We all were ready with our packed rucksacks last night. So, we started early at 7:30 am after a brief breakfast and a packed lunch in our bags. The weather condition was looming around our minds for the last few days. But as of then, it was a clear day. We ten along with Mahavir and Pradeep were in a couple of Boleros. The road leading to Gangotri kept gaining altitude as we move on. The Bhagirathi that was flowing beside us in Dharali, went into a 200 meters deep gorge, as we were about to reach Gangotri. We stopped a little far from the temple, as the police were not allowing travelers’ vehicles nearby. The support staff team along with guide Devram joined us there.
The weight calculation for porters is a really important aspect. Porters used to run away in case of weight mismanagement which is a bad dream for an expedition like Kalindi Khal. We had missed a trick by not carrying a portable weight machine. The distribution took almost a couple of hours. We kept exploring the surroundings. The place was really empty in the COVID situation. At about 10:30 AM we started with ten members, one guide, two cooks, and thirteen support staff.
The Gangotri temple was about 500 meters away from the place we were preparing with our luggage. We stopped for a darshan. A pujari from Mukhwa referred us to get an entry inside the temple, as they were not allowing the public. We had some prasad after a brief puja. After filling all the water bottles and pouches from the temple premises, we moved forward.
The trail leading to Bhojbasa heads straight from the temple keeping the river Bhagirathi on the right. After climbing a stair, you get to the main trail on the left. Sun was shining brightly upon us. The trail was surrounded by trees on both sides. We walked about a couple of kilometers before stopping at the forest office of Gangotri National Park for checking our permission and other documents. It was time for us to talk to our families for the last time before the trek ended.
The checking took place in real quick time with less crowd around.
The trail was really prominent and flat. Because of the comfortable gradient, it was a smooth walk. We were gaining height from the river bed as we progressed. Some jungles in-between gave us some canopy from the sun. Gomukh-Tapovan, being a very popular route for trekkers and pilgrims, used to be buzzing with crowds. But thanks to COVID that we met very few people during the whole trail. We crossed some rock fall section but it was not that dangerous
comparatively. Some foreigners, returning from Bhojbasa greeted us with good luck. Mt. Bhagirathi sisters were always giving us the company in front. We got a glimpse of Mt. Manda on our left. Navtej Ji, Devdutt Ji, and I were going well ahead of the team. We reached the Chirbasa forest office and started waiting for the others to come. We were still willing to camp at Bhojbasa
that day but it all depends on the guide, once you are in the mountain. A hardly couple of hours were enough to cover the 9 kilometers till Chirbasa. But Devram was determined to camp at Chirbasa as we missed the altitude advantage of Gangotri. Mahabir arrived in some time and took us down, beside the forest office to the beautiful campsite by the riverbed.
The flat campsite was mesmerizing with enough space for even playing football. There was a dome made for a stay without camping, our support staff along with Kunal went for it. The rest of us didn’t want to miss the feeling of camping after a long time. Mahabir started cooking after setting up the kitchen tent. We pitched our tents and went to the riverbank. The Bhagirathi
was flowing west and beyond that, it was a 75-degree wall of an unnamed snowcapped peak that is connecting Mt. Brigupanth through a high ridge toward the south. If you cross this ridge, on the other side Kedarganga valley is waiting for you. We dip our legs in chilly Bhagirathi and spent the afternoon there. After a long time of COVID restrictions, we were finally “into the wild”.
Mahabir cooked a heavy meal for our dinner, as there was barely any lunch that afternoon. We fired up a few dried blocks of wood from nearby. It was a fantastic cold and starry night to remember.
6th September 2021 (Chirbasa to Bhojbasa-3827 mt, 6 Kilometers trek)
The lazy day began a bit late for us. My tent partner was Siddhartha and Apurva. We had a nice breakfast and started at 10AM. It was a sunny day without a patch of cloud. The
distance we needed to cover was 6 kilometers, that too with only 150 meters incline. One can call this a very easy day. Devram warned us to stop before the marked rockfall zone and wait for him.
I, Navtej Ji, and Devdutt Ji started ahead of the group. We climbed the height that we declined last day, to get on the trail. The surrounding of the route was pretty similar to the last day. Only the rock fall zones were closer to each other and more dangerous comparatively. A couple of wooden bridges over the tributaries of Bhagirathi kept us on the trail. We reached the place Devram mentioned and started waiting for him. He arrived with other staff in 15 minutes and
moved on. The marked rockfall zone was not as dangerous as we thought. We reached the upper ridge of Bhojbasa by 11:30. From here, GMVN cottages, Lal Baba Ashram, and the military settlements including a dome were sitting below with Mt. Bhagirathi sisters standing tall in the far distance. People from all over the world come to Bhojbasa for yoga practices. Many yoga masters used to train people in the mighty Bhojbasa. Once the whole group got together, we walked down.
15-20 years back, it was possible for the trekkers to continue on the left side of Bhagirathi till Gomukh. A huge landslide divided the trail into two parts at around 2000. Since then, the route to approach Gomukh from Bhojbasa is on the right side of Bhagirathi. So, we needed to cross the river here. A manual pully transport system has been installed, roughly 5 years back to make the river crossing easy. Mahabir and Pradeep along with their kitchen stuff had been transported first, as they had to start preparing lunch. The first transport is always tricky here as the cart stop in the middle. Someone has to get down on the riverbed from the cart, cross the river and start pulling the line from the other end. Luckily there was dry space to jump on in the middle. Mahabir and Pradeep managed to make the first attempt smoothly. Similarly, all the support staff and members crossed the river successfully. This was a quite time taking process. Reaching the other side, we all helped the next batch by pulling the line. It was a muscle job for sure.
A group of mountaineers from the Indian Army was camping on that side. They were on a load ferry for their Mt. Satopanth expedition. We set up our campsite 500 meters ahead of them. By the time the group reunited, Mahabir was ready with lunch. It was a lazy afternoon. Some fell asleep under the sun and some started chit-chatting. After spending a relaxing couple of hours, me and Devdutt Ji went for a stroll toward Gomukh. The landscape was rugged soil and rocks, along with patches of green. There were some thorny little plants with red, white, and purple flowers. The surrounding was beautiful and vibrant all around. We stopped after a kilometer as it was getting dark. We could see the grass line dissolving ahead toward Gomukh. The reason is not the height but the landscape of a big river being born itself.
That evening was starry as well. We spent a long time inside the tent discussing the challenges ahead. Dinner was served at 9:30. After dinner some dark clouds cover the sky and we got inside our tents.
7th September 2021 (Bhojbasa to Gomukh-4016 mt to Nandanvan-4479 mt, 8.5 Kilometers trek)
We woke up at 6 with dense fog around us. The Indian Army’s Satopanth team had already started their load ferry by then. It’s going to be a long day for us as well, we have to cross the whole of the mighty Gangotri glacier. So, with some decent breakfast and packed lunch, we started moving toward Gomukh at 8.
Sunlight emerged when we were about to reach Gomukh. The landscape was somehow different than the rest of the trail. The last kilometer before Gomukh was totally sandy and flat with high cliffs on both sides. It was a nice and easy walk as there were no negotiations with bolder.
We stopped near Gomukh on hard ground, which is made with a mixture of sand, mud, and stones. On the east, way down we can see the snout from that place. The shape of the snout keeps changing by the time the glacier melts. Most of us kept our backpacks on some steady rock and descended toward Gomukh. The color of the ice is greyish blue.
The huge wall of the glacial chunk is standing tall and from a blue snout river Bhagirathi is coming out. This is the birth of probably the most important and most worshipped river in India. Amitava, who lost his mother recently, was carrying her ashes with him. She always wanted to visit Gomukh but the wish was never fulfilled. Hence, her son decided to perform the ritual on Gomukh itself. We all prayed for peace for her departed soul. Kunal did some great camera works with his drone. He almost placed it inside the snout.
After a good one hour, we started climbing the Gangotri glacier. Any active glacier is dynamic, so there can’t be a fixed route. We were struggling with the rough mixture of boulders, ice, and mud. Once we reach the top it was better to step on competitively. Me and Navtej Ji were hiking together. We found one trekker along with a porter descending toward Gomukh. He was Bharath from the team ahead of us. Due to early signs of AMS, he had abandoned the trek and was descending down to Gangotri. The rest of his team decided to carry on. It was a relief that this happened to him at Nandanvan. Higher camps could have been tricky to return from.
According to my study of vlogs and blogs of previous trekkers of Kalindi Khal, the hike of Nandanvan is one of the most challenging in the whole trek. Practically, Nandanvan was the first serious challenge in the trek so far. The rugged and unstable surface was very tricky to deal with. After crossing a comparatively flat surface with moderate cracks, we stopped for our lunch. The whole team got together. It was about 1PM. The weather got a bit cloudy.
There was quite a distance to cover. So, without taking a long break, we moved forward. After crossing a few unstable humps, we gathered below a 75-degree wall. The destination was above it. Everyone took some anticipation in their own way and Devram went for it first. One always needs to keep some distance from the one ahead in this kind of situation. Because even a rolling stone can be fatal. It was an almost 250-meter climb until we found the flat surface of Nandanvan. In between, we stopped for some breath on a small hump, which can accommodate a maximum of 3 people at a time. The view was magnificent from the edge. We could see Bhagirathi’s sisters and the mighty Shivling at the same time. The rest of the peaks toward Chowkhamaba was hidden by clouds at that point in time.
We settled and pitched our tents around 4:30PM on the flat ground with two beautiful narrow streams flowing toward the Gangotri glacier. The place is heaven with a huge widescreen where we witnessed the drama of Mt. Shivling and the clouds. Every second was a new blockbuster. We managed to get a glimpse of the Kedar Dome and Mt. Kharchakund too. Bhagirathi 2 was blocking the view of her other sisters from our campsite. Dr. Siddhartha managed to convince Navtej Ji to do some stretching. It was quite an evening after a long day and more rewarding views.
I and Apurva were worried about our team in English conditions. We were expecting that the army, who were camping 200 meters from us might have information about it through a satellite phone. But Nah! Anyway, after a nice dinner cooked by Mahabir, we got inside the tent by 9 PM.
8th September 2021 (Nandanvan to Vasuki Tal-4962 mt, 7.3 Kilometers trek)
The morning was full of sunshine and the drama of the clouds of the last evening was missing. The distance to the next camp is not much but Vasuki glacier and an almost vertical wall on the opposite side of the glacier stand as a decent challenge. We all had watched videos of trekkers reaching Vasuki Tal and it felt manageable though one has to climb gripping a fixed rope. We started around 9:30 AM. The delay happened because of some arguments happening between the porters and Devram. It was all about the weight distribution. A portable scale could have fixed all the issues, but we missed the trick.
The initial trail took us through some mid-sized grassland and some very narrow streams with crystal-clear water. We reached the famous ridge between Bhagirathi 2 and Chaturangi glacier. The visible path ahead was only the trail on the ridge. It was about a 3km long stretch. Beyond that, the fan-shaped Vasuki Parvat can be seen from that point itself. The mysterious sounds were coming from Chaturangi glacier on our left.
It was all about broken ice pieces falling in the glacial pools echoing on the surrounding ice walls. The feeling was surreal and very hard to explain. We marched forward on the ridge. The porters were going well ahead of us that day. Maybe they wanted to avoid further arguments with Devram. It was a well-defined trail but the indescribable views were stopping us repeatedly. The Bhagirathi 2 wall on our right was almost 80 degrees. I don’t think anyone ever attempted climbing on that. After a kilometer, we found some yellow-colored tents way down toward our right.
I was wondering how these people will get their water as no source was seen nearby. Devram told us that near evening time a glacier-melted source opens up and that was the only way. Those people were set for Bhagirathi 2 and the summit was roughly 2-3 camps away.
Once the ridge took a turn toward the right, we started going down to the Vasuki glacier, which originated more inside from Vasuki Parvat.
The way down was full of loose rocks, a very tricky part to handle. With the balancing act way down, as we got some window to look forward, surprisingly the opposite wall had very less similarities with the videos and images we have seen before. We couldn’t even see the fixed rope or any route to go up. Meanwhile, the weather got a bit gloomy. To add to that, a super chilly wind started blowing through the glacier.
None of us were prepared for this sudden shift in weather. But we were already in the middle of it and Devram was way ahead with the porters. We started to shiver and pulled out the main jacket from the backpack. Mahabir’s head popped out up on the ridge, and we took a deep breath. Through a very dangerous moraine and steep zone, Mahavir took us to a place where barely a person can stand. We could see a yellow rope hanging up and Devram was helping the porters to go up grabbing the rope. It looked way too challenging than what we were prepared for. The scene of the porters going up one by one from a very low angle was breathtaking. Devram started calling us, and I took the first attempt. He told me not to hang back and try to put as much weight as possible toward the front.
I followed the same. It was not that tough. But once I reach the top of that rock, which was hiding the whole thing from the opposite wall of the glacier, it was very tricky with barely any grip on my shoe. The slope was way down to the glacier, almost 350 feet. I crawled somehow and reached the ridge from where the Vasuki Tal could be seen way down on the opposite side.
One by one all our teammates climbed it safely. In the end, Devram came up and everyone thanked him for his support. We got to know; the previous route was completely damaged because of a huge landslide. This route was just opened by the army for their Satopanth expedition. We all gathered and clicked some snaps to remember a climb that would get our hearts in our mouths.
The weather was gloomier by the time we got down by the lakeside. We forgot to have lunch in the engagement of the adventure. So, before pitching the tent we settled on some scattered boulders and started eating. The place was a huge flat surface with all sides covered with height. The shallow lake, fed by the ice melts of Vasuki Parvat was situated in the middle. Both sides of the lakes were comfortable to set up camps for big groups. That is why people prefer Vasuki Tal for setting up basecamp of expeditions like Satopath. On the other side of the lake, two big groups were present with almost 7 tents each. They should be Satopanth expedition team and a group for Kalindi.
By the time we finished our meal, there were snowflakes. We all had chosen camping sites because there was no storage on a flat surface. We had a little extended chatter that night as the next day was a rest and acclimatization day.
9th September (Acclimatization Day at Vasuki Tal)
The late morning started with the sun picking between the clouds. Mahavir made a fantastic noodle for breakfast. After the meal, me and Navtej Ji went to the other side of the lake to meet the other teams. As assumed the last day, one of those was starting for Khara Patthar on the way to Kalindi. They were 14 members from the Karnataka mountaineering association with a big team of support staff. Uttam Singh Rana and his team were guiding them.
We wished them all the best and moved to the other team. That was a team of successful Satopanth climbers. They just came down from the summit camp on the last day and were all set to move down to Bhojwasa that day.
After we returned to our tents, Amitava called us for a puja arranged by our support team. In the mountains, these pujas are always very open and non-conservative. One can even offer chocolates and energy bars to the mountain god. We all prayed for our good fortune ahead.
We again went for a stroll toward the route of Khara Patthar. We found a couple of memorial stones of climbers who lost their lives in Siachen glacier, I didn’t understand the meaning of putting the memorial in Vasuki Tal. We sat on a huge rock just beside the Chaturangi glacier. The whole place of Vasuki Tal is an elevated plain with glaciers all around. After a good sunbath, we returned to our camp and had lunch. The weather was getting dark slowly. The clouds covered the Vasuki Parvat fully by then. The rain and snow started after an hour. It was not heavy but continuous. Around 5 pm we got a break and went for a stroll towards the old route of coming into Vasuki Tal.
The landslide could be seen clearly. After a good couple of hours, the rain hit back. Our dinner was served inside the kitchen tents. Till the last second before sleep, the raindrops on the tent were creating worries for the next day.
10th September (Vasuki Tal to Khara Pathhar-5140 mt, 6.4 Kilometers trek)
The early day started with a cloudy sky and thick fog around. The night before was not of the best ones for me. Some oily food costed acidity in my stomach and got an interrupted sleep. The foggy and chilly air gave some
relief to my exhaustion. As it was a flat and bit crowded place, one has to walk a long way to find a place for nature’s call. By the time I came back from my temporary hideout, the weather got a bit clear. After an ice-cold splash of Vasuki Tal on my face, I felt very much relaxed. I didn’t take a risk of a heavy breakfast that morning.
We started moving on at 9AM. That morning, the management of weight among the porters was smooth accidentally. So, they were the ones leading the pack. But it was a bit late for some of us to realize that we, the members of the plains should not always follow the porters, especially when the task is to cross a mammoth glacier. Snigdha and Anjan were already down to Chaturangi when Devram called them back. I and Apurva were about halfway down.
By the time we came up, the porters crossed a quarter of the glacier already, that too on a less recognized trail. From that ridge, we could actually see the huge head-up rock, for which our next campsite is named Khara Patthar, which means a standing rock. We again came down to the glacier where Devram wanted us to cross from. We came across some flags marked by the Army team on the Satopanth expedition. We were majorly walking on the Satopanth glacier till then. On our right, the mighty Mt. Satopanth was standing with the gorgeous tabletop shape, about a couple of kilometers away. Devram, who summited the mountain, roughly showed us the summit route. The white moraines of the Chaturangi are the contribution of Satopanth glacier. Going forward, we started walking on a glacier called Chaturangi but left only with three colors in it. It was a continuous and strenuous glacial walk. Snowflakes accompanied in several intervals along with sunshine. Around 2PM, we reached the gorge beside the Khara Patthar campsite.
The complete gorge was full of huge boulders. We could see the way up to the campsite. But to reach the start of the climb, it was a kilometer of unsteady and giant boulders to deal with. That single kilometer took more than an hour. The struggle made us very hungry. We sat on the boulders before the climb and ate our lunch. The weather was playing hide and seek for the whole day. By the time we finished our meal, it decided to rain. So, the ponchos and rain cover came out and we started climbing the 150 feet vertical wall before it got too wet to grip.
I have never seen a place like the one that came up after the climb. It looked like a meadow, but if one looks close enough, one can find out big chunks of moss on the boulders. Below the boulders, several small streams were flowing down to the gorge, which couldn’t be seen in maximum parts, but heard. Even some tiny red flowers were popping out on the mosses. The place felt like a true textbook description of Tapovan or the garden of heaven.
I was the last one coming. So, without any hesitation, I pulled my poncho on my head and sat in the beautiful place. The campsite was within touching distance. As the rain got heavy, I rushed to pitch the tent.
In a while, hot soup has been served by Mahavir, who came up very early along with the porters. After an hour of rainfall, the sun picked between the clouds. We all came out of the tents to enjoy the golden hour. The distance was not a huge one that we covered that day, but the undefined route through the glacier took time. As the daylight dissolved, the rain resumed. We did dinner with snowflakes falling on our plates. As the night progressed, the snowfall got heavier. The tired legs and the sound of the snowflakes falling on the tight tents got me to sleep very quickly.
11th September (Khara Patthar to Sweata Glacier intermediate camp-5328 mt, 5.5 Kilometers trek)
The start of the morning was completely covered by clouds. The stones got slippery outside because of the fresh snow cover over them. People would have called it a rainy day easily if we were in school. So Dr. Siddhartha was keen to use the reserve day on the campsite. But Devram took a call to move on. Some porters were engaged in the same mess of weight distribution. Even though some of them were almost going back, Devram stepped in and solved the issue. We were in the middle of multiple glaciers, going back also wouldn’t have been easy for anyone.
We started around 8:00. Devram warned us that it was a long day, maybe the longest of the whole trek. With moderate speed, the next campsite can be reached in 10-11 hours according to previous experiences. But as the route is completely through the glacier, the distance can vary against the previous experiences.
Initially, we hiked around a 150-meter ridge, where the Khara Patthar is located. Then a trail took us by the side of Chaturangi for about a kilometer. It was time to hit the glacier after that. A 100-meter descent through loose boulders and muddy soil landed us on Chaturangi again. Once you are on the glacier, you are on your own. There was no trace of any trail or markings. The usual drill of walking on the moraines and hard ice started, like the last few days. The weather was gloomy and there were occasional snowflakes which gave us some relief in the full-focused walk.
Chandra Parvat could have been visible with a clear sky. The route was 50 percent on the Chaturangi and then the confluence of Sweta comes in and you have to take left and walk along it. The Chaturangi was more of hard ice and had few untrustworthy boulders on it. Huge depressions of glacial ice with steep slopes down were meeting some glacial pools or snouts of aged black ice. We were walking along those steep ridges. Some loose step of someone was rolling a boulder down to the pool. The sound of it in that lonely remote place was cosmic.
We stopped beside one pool for lunch which was middle of some boulders and reachable. So, it was expected to be less cold and drinkable. The packed lunch tasted great after the struggle of the whole 1st half.
Everyone was a bit tired because of the long glacial walk in the 1st half. We started again after 30 minutes after lunch. All our water bottles got filled with the water of the glacial pool. The route after lunch was more on the confluence of two glaciers. The slopes we were passing through were steeper as we move on. There was one slope I remember, which can be called a technical one with almost 80 degrees slope, on a rock fall zone and we were stepping on completely loose boulders. Though we crossed it without any rope, it was a very tricky one to handle. After that crossing, we reached a place, where we realized that we were standing completely on the Sweta Glacier. The Chaturangi could be seen behind coming from the right side. We were heading toward the left. It was already 4 pm and Devram told me that we need to walk for at least 4 more hours to reach the Sweta Glacier campsite.
The weather was getting cloudier, on the other hand, it felt to be snowing in an hour or so. The porters were going much ahead of us. We kept walking. Around 4:30pm Mahavir said that there is a less popular intermediate camp in the middle of the glacier. Camping on a glacier is risky, but thinking of possible snow and night glacial march, we decided to camp there. The campsite was just a few minute’s walk from there.
It was not a designated campsite. It might have been used by the army, long back on their Kalindi expedition. We cleaned the small boulders and pitched our tents. A group of porters was well ahead of us. None were daring to call them shouting, as glaciers used to be fragile in places and cracks could have been triggered because of the vibration created inside the gorge. By the time Devram reached them and brought them to the camp, it started snowing.
The snow got heavier with time. We all got inside our tents. The elevation was already over 5000 meters. Spending some time outside would have been helpful but we had no other option. By the time dinner got ready, our surrounding was under 2.5 inch of the snow layer. But the intensity got lesser as the night progressed.
We completed our dinner in groups. The only shed was the extension of the kitchen tent and a maximum of 3 people could fit at a time. The absence of a dining tent was a huge mistake by the organizer. It kept snowing all night but the intensity was low. We three, from inside kept tapping the tent the whole night in rotation.
12th September (Sweta Glacier intermediate camp to Kalindi Base camp-5580 mt, 8 Kilometers trek)
The gloomy morning started early around 5. Anyway, we slept in rotation to keep the tent tapping for a while. The surrounding was fully covered by a blanket of snow. It was hard to step on the slippery boulders with the fresh snow cover on them. Finding the hide for nature’s call was a task itself as there were no big boulders nearby so we needed to walk a long way on those stones. Nothing was clearly visible on any side; it was a thick cloud covering all around.
We had a brief breakfast and started moving around 7:30. It was a huge task to pack the wet tents. The intention of the early start was to avoid the snow as much as possible. The route was the same as the last day until we reach the west bank of Suralay Glacier. It was around 11:30 and the weather was a bit less cloudy than morning. Kalindi Khal could have been visible with clear weather from this place. A huge glacial snow patch was lying in front of us. This looked like a highway made of hard snow. Some shallow crevasses with ice-cold water flowing through them were lying in between the highway.
Then the unexpected happened. On the other side of the glacial snow patch, a moraine ridge was visible. It was about 700 meters away from us. We saw a group of people emerge from the middle of a thick layer of fog, on that ridge. None expected anyone here and I was astonished by their dramatic appearance. I and Navtej Ji were waiting for others and by that time Mahavir reached. He said it had to be the group ahead of us. By the time our people gathered, the whole group become visible on moraine ridge. We get down on the glacier. The water flowing below could be heard.
We crossed very carefully, Devram and Mahavir safely led our way on the tricky patch of hard ice. Once we climbed on the moraine ridge, the other group was ready to get down on the glacier. Several exited discussions and inquiries made the whole story clear to us. They started for Kalindi Khal at 8 that morning. Visibility was very less due to cloud cover and whiteout. Hence the delay. The approach was through the middle of the icefall to save time. But that enlarged the risk of crevasses. They were roped up and one of the members fell into a couple of crevasses in succession. There was no injury but the trauma of the incident made the member unstable. He was scared to move on. So, the whole team decided to go back to Gangotri. This shows great team bonding. But in my opinion, they could have decided to make the person carried up to the summit by some porters as they were very close to the summit. This could have given them an opportunity to cross less difficult terrain on the other side. From that particular place to Gangotri is comparatively tougher and there are almost 6 major glaciers to cross before they reach Gomukh. The guide was very discouraging, even with us. He even indicated that by looking at the weather around we would be unsuccessful to cross the pass too. Devram stepped up and gave us enormous courage. We didn’t even talk to that guide once after that.
The moraine ridge was in the middle of the glacier. From the West bank, it looked like that would be the last ridge before the ascent of Kalindi. But there was another similar glacial snow-patch was waiting for us before we reach the final ridge. So, the same drill continued. Once we reached the last ridge, Kalindi Khal along with the huge Avalanche peak become fully visible. The weather was getting better toward the east side. This view gave us ample encouragement to cheer up.
Once we reached the last ridge, the feeling was that the campsite was nearby. But it took us two more hours to reach the base camp. The route was completely along the moraine ridge. We stopped just below the Kalindi Khal. The huge and
scary icefall of Avalanche peak with blue ice in places was standing tall in front of us. Kunal flew his drone and got fantastic footage. We were all busy indulging in the heavenly landscape. Meanwhile, dark clouds from the West started surrounding us. Within 10 minutes it started snowing. We rushed to pitch the tents.
This was the highest camp I ever spent a night at, more than 5500 meters. There was no point in standing out in the snow on a high camp like that, with the big day coming up. We all got inside the tents. Majorly, there was an indication of clear weather the next morning as a different part of the sky was showing glimpses of blue continuously. We had an early dinner. The plan was to be ready to move by 4AM the next morning.
13th September (Kalindi Base camp to Kalindi Khal-5995 mt to Arwa Nala-5017 mt, 14 Kilometers trek)
The excitement of pass crossing and worry of the first glimpse of the weather after opening the tent zip didn’t let me sleep properly that night. I don’t think Devram slept that night at all. I was in a dizzy state and could hear Devram running around outside all night. I stopped trying at 4 and came out of the tent. The weather was opening for sure.
A glimpse of blue sky was visible on the pass side. We didn’t have that kind of sky till we crossed Gomukh. It was a sight that relaxed the anxiety inside me. Devram started calling everyone. A decision was taken to rope up everyone from start and to climb as close as possible to the southeast face of Kalindi peak. After all the arrangements we step on the ice field at 6. I must say, starting an hour before would have been helpful. Kunal and Utkarsh were in front of the row; Navtej, Devdutt, and Amitava were at the end of it. The rest of us were in the middle. It was a hard toil as we chose the toughest route to climb Kalindi Khal. The snow was less in places where the boulders were coming opening under footsteps. There were also places where up to knee it was going inside the snow.
The unpracticed roping up also created some turmoil. Some of us were pulling due to their comparatively high speed and some of us were getting pulled. With all these pushes and pulls, it took 4 hours to reach the summit.
At 10 am all of us including the support team reached the top of Kalindi Khal. The happy avatar of everyone came out. I was carrying the national flag. We all took a lot of photographs. Kunal took off his drone and captured fantastic footage of the summit celebration. The snowfalls of the last few days left the pass completely covered with snow.
There was not a single stone visible in the surrounding. The side we climbed from was having clear weather. But on the other side, a huge cloud was approaching us. Because of the covering on the Badrinath side, none of the peaks like Kamet, Mana, Hathi were visible. Devram had given us a deadline of 30 minutes on the summit. We all got ourselves roped up again and started the descent at 10:30 sharp. We were happy to be on the top of Kalindi Khal but the monster-sized cloud gave us a frown in our celebration.
The initial descent was moderate. The snow cover was giving us some cushion for our feet. It was an enjoyable walk after a 6000-meter pass. In an hour of descent, we got into the clouds completely. I was walking with my new microspikes. I must say, it was a completely wrong choice as it frequently came out of the shoes. The slope also got steeper and the visibility was getting less with time. We glissade some slopes and some we walked down. With the clouds engulfing us, snowfall also started. But walking along the ice field was fun. By 12 we were completely inside an absolute whiteout. All the sides were looking similar. The visibility was maximum of 10 meters.
We were in the middle of nowhere. All of us put our backpacks on ice and sat on them. Navtej Ji tried GPS route tracking, but it conflicted with the route idea of Devram and Mahavir. Someone played a popular Kishore Kumar song and all got their attention to it as there was absolutely nothing to do or to see. Devram and Mahavir went for route searching.
As per my calculations, we started moving from there, not before 2pm. The experience was completely out of this world. It felt like someone forgot to place the background behind us and some unknown characters are roaming around. The whiteout was also playing tricks on our eyes. Sometimes it felt like there is a huge rock wall in front of us, a minute later it turned into an ice field.
We kept walking slowly as Devram and Mahavir led us to some unknown destination. They kept checking the depth and hardness of the ice with every step. It seemed that the cloud was standing in one place or might be moving in the same direction as us. So, there was no improvement in visibility. We crossed numerous crevasses on our way. Around 5pm we saw a valley and a wall of mountains at a far distance. Seemed like the ice field ending on the valley itself. The cloud got a bit thin and, in another hour, we reached the end of the ice field.
The moment we stepped on the boulders; the drizzle started. We removed the rope and without any delay started moving down. The campsite was being seen. The porters were ahead of us while descending. We all hoped that they found a suitable place to pitch the tents. The river that comes out of Kalindi icefield is Arwa. We kept moving down by the south bank of the river.
At about 6:30 the yellow kitchen tent became visible. Rainfall got a bit heavier by then. At 7 I reached the camp and found out that the groundsheet of our tent was missing. I did some arrangements with some rice bags and put up the tent with the help of Dr. Sidhhartha and Apurva. We all were wet including our backpacks. There was very little energy left that day to go to the kitchen tent and try drying some clothes. Mahavir cooked Khichdi and a sweet dish that night. Everything tasted remarkably good. A Combiflam helped me get relaxed and after a few happy discussions, I fell asleep.
14th September (Arwa Nala to Unknown camp beside Swaraswati River-4577 mt, 10.5 Kilometers trek)
The morning after, the struggling and glamorous pass-crossing was also a gloomy one. I had a sound sleep and was feeling fresh. After the experience we had after crossing, none really thought much about the weather. It was snowing occasionally. After breakfast, we started at 8:30 with a target to reach Gastoli at a stretch. Normally people camp twice after crossing Kalindi. But, with the last few days’ weather and it was mid-June already, we decided to reach the civilization as soon as possible. The tents and some parts of the sleeping bags were still wet. But the excitement of reaching Ghastoli made us tolerate everything. The initial route made us follow the Arwa river. After a couple of
kilometers, we emerged into a vastly open valley just after the Arwa took a sharp East turn. As we progressed, behind a rock ridge the snout of Saraswati river opened up toward the West at a distance. Many small streams were coming out of the snout. All these shallow rivers were playing around in that huge open valley. We removed our shoes and crossed the streams. Due to clouds and snowfall last night, the flow and depth of the streams were very less than expected. After the valley, we kept following the south bank of Saraswati. The gradient terrain was very comfortable to walk on. Small grasses and thorny bushes started coming under the feet. We crossed a place where we saw a mark of the designated campsite. We couldn’t see the confluence of Saraswati and Arwa as it was much away from the trail. After couple more kilometers, we reached a river that was flowing with comparatively more amount of water at a time and deeper. Shoes came out of the feet again. To cross this river usually people needed to fix rope on a sunny day, clouds saved our time in that aspect. After the river, we came to a place where many signs of camping were visible, but it was old. With some medium-sized rocks, ITBP marked their name on a sandy surface.
All the indications were being very close to Ghastoli. A bit ahead of that place we came beside a small stream that was meeting Swaraswati very near to us. We crossed the stream but surprisingly there was no trail after that. We kept searching for any sign of trail but came out unsuccessful. Devram told us to climb the ridge just beside the river. We were pretty sure that the route follows the river to Ghastoli. So as there was no marked route, we stuck to the riverside and kept crossing numerous humps. There were many signs of recent landslides which might come on the old route.
Kunal and Utkarsh were going ahead of me. Meanwhile, it got cloudier and within a span of 15 minutes, it was a partial whiteout again. I could barely see Kunal and Utkarsh. But there was no sign of anyone coming behind. I was a bit puzzled for a moment and decided to move on at speed and stay behind the two ahead of me. It was not a cakewalk over the rocky humps with slippery mosses over them. I fell and hurt my knee in the process but not losing vision of the people ahead was more important than the pain. Thick clouds around were even blocking the sound coming out of my mouth, shouting was not an option.
We three gathered on a high ridge. It was a Y junction below. A small river was coming through a gorge and meeting Swaraswati from our right side. We all were confused about the route and started waiting for Devram. His silhouette emerged out of the thick fog after 30 minutes of waiting. We were relieved that everyone behind us was on a similar path to us. This unexpected change of route took the breath out of everyone behind. All gathered after another 15
minutes. We started following Devram and saw the kitchen tent pitched in the distance after 30 minutes of walking. The visibility was getting lesser and it started raining as we were pitching our tents. None had any idea of the distance of Ghastoli from that place. Saraswati was roaring just beside the camp. A brief dinner with khichdi saved the souls that night.
15th September (Unknown Swaraswati Riverside camp to Ghastoli-3997 mt to Mana-3200 mt to Joshimath-1875 mt, 8 Kilometers trek/1.5 hours drive)
The morning was reminding us that all’s well that ends well. It was absolutely clear without a single bit of cloud. I opened the zip of the tent with a doubtful mind about the weather and the sight was totally joyous. I woke up at 6 and started waiting for the sunlight to hit the valley. At about 7:45 a clean sunshine touched us after Bhojwasa. We gone
through a lot in last few days with bad weather and uncertainty looming around all the time. Now it was time to go home with a satisfied heart and a happy soul. We brought out our sleeping bags and all wet items from tents. Along with
the moist gears, we sat in the sunlight. The river was looking dangerous last day in that weather but now it was soothing to sit beside. The ration was touching the bottom and only some noodles were remaining. Mahavir cooked it deliciously.
It was feeling like a lazy Sunday morning. None were ready to move but we had to reach Ghastoli as early as possible to get an army transport for Mana. Although we had no idea of the distance to Ghastoli from that place. We start moving at 10:30. The trail was prominent beside Swaraswati. The most significant thing was the color of the river. If you mix a couple of drops of Cobalt blue in a bowl of milk, something similar may come out.
We kept descending with the amazing view of the valley. There were couple of loose rocky patches on the way. But after crossing all the glaciers in last few days, it didn’t hurt much. There were some streams coming from the ridge on South. None of them made us open our shoes at all. At around 1pm a huge ridge which was blocking the continued vision became visible through the gorge in distance. It felt like Ghastoli is situated just below that range. In another half an hour the green roofs of ITBP huts become visible. The Swaraswati is meeting another river here coming from the North and flowing down toward Mana. We crossed a small river and after a small walk got manmade road under our feet. It was feeling of rejoice that the expedition ended successfully.
The ITBP personnel were very welcoming. They welcomed us with tea and biscuits. After some documents checking and a photograph for their documentation, they arranged us couple of vehicles that dropped us in Mana. The road was
beautiful with lust green meadows and high mountains on both sides of the road. They even stopped for us to see the amazing Swaraswati going underground in Bhimpool. We couldn’t thank them enough.
The Badrinath temple was closed for public due to restrictions. So after seeing the temple from a distance, we moved down to Joshimath in a hired car. Amitava and Dr. Siddartha stayed back with the support stuff. They were arranging to camp beside Alakananda.
That night we partied hard in the Joshimath hotel. The bath in hot water after 12 long days was very satisfying. None were in mood of sleeping even with the tired bodies.
Next morning, we booked a tempo traveller to Haridwar and started at 9. Kalindi Khal has always been a special trek for the trek enthusiast. So, the news of successful crossing got very positive responses. The tempo dropped us at Haridwar in the evening. Anjan and Snigdha took a train to Kolkata on the same time. Rest of us stayed in a hotel near to the station. Except Apurva, we all took a night train to Delhi. Next morning me and Devdutt took respective flights back home and rest of the people found their way home in Delhi.
Crossing Kalindi Khal is a huge achievement in my life. Firstly, it’s a 6000-meter-tall pass and secondly, I experienced so many aspects of naked nature at once. I still have dreams of walking on icefield and glacial moraine often. Luckily, all these are dreams of pleasure.
Arpan's Blog 