Ever made Maggi in a forest? On a bonfire of semi-dry twigs? Using water collected from a mountain stream? Under the shade of a huge rock because it's drizzling? And shared the same with friends all eating from the same bowl?
That's just one of the many amazing experiences I had during the journey I am writing about here!
I begin with immense gratitude, for having had some moments of tearful-ecstasy in my life till now.
The moments, like when Hrithik in ZNMD has tears in his eyes - like people have when they attend Tomorrowland (or Kumbh Mela) - like what Mr. Sadhguru keeps talking about in his answers - like I had when I was in Ladakh, in the Hunder Valley 4 years ago.
And this blog today is about one such humbling experience.
Such is the immensity of the experience, that I can talk about the Churdhar trek as if I came back yesterday, though we did it last year (April 2018).
Oh what an experience it was! Brace yourself for a long-read, coz this experience deserves to be described in some detail :)
"Background."
My 'inner circle' has been long aware of my 'almost-crazy' love for the mountains.
And yes, I may not have actually trekked or traveled a lot compared to the seasoned pros- but trust me- I haven't shed silent tears for anything or anyone more than I have while longing for the hills (I still silently cry inside whenever I remember being in Ladakh).
Whatever small segments I could manage in my growing years- be it numerous (sometimes customized) Vaishno-Devi or Patnitop (Jammu, J&K) trips, be it spending 3 years at the age of 8 in the Hill-Town of Rajouri(J&K), be it the countless One-day hikes in Maharashtra (Bombay, Lonavala, Matheran), Saputara(Gujarat), or be it the fact that I was born in Jammu - the foothills of Shivalik Mountains, I have always found myself around hills, or amidst them, either physically or psychologically.
The turning point for me as an adult was the Ladakh experience (September 2014), where I began my journey as a "full-time devotee" of the mountains.
And ever since that trip, the only time I actually feel jealous of anyone is whenever any of my friends (e.g. Shandy) goes on a trek/trip to the mountains without me. Big time FOMO, I admit.
So when Shandy suggested this trek - Churdhaar, I was very very sure I am going.
"ABC of the route."
The trek begins in a town called "Nohradhar", an hour's drive from Solan (Himachal Pradesh).
The peak/summit - called Churdhaar, is a shrine to Shiva - and a local deity called "Shri Shirgul-Dev Ji Maharaj". And hence the trek is actually a pilgrimage for the locals.
One side length of the route is around 17-18 km, and it can be classified as an easy-moderate trek.
The most beautiful aspect of the trek is that the entire route falls within a protected forest, and hence there are no settlements en route.
Now since it's a pilgrimage for the locals - the "Churdhaar Seva Samiti" (the local association/committee), allows for a total of 3 cottages/shops in the entire route, to have some support en route.
The first cottage is simply called "Pehli" - and is about 3 KMs from Nohradhar.
The second shop is logically called "Doosri" - and is about 4 KMs from the "Pehli".
The third pair of huts is called, you guessed it right- "Teesri" - and is about 5 KMs from the "Doosri".
At each of these stops, there is a cottage/shop which provides some basic meals, some basic eatables (Bottled Water, Omnipresent Maggi, yes, and Tea), and a place to lie down for some time, if needed (like if it rains, or if someone gets hurt, or if someone basically wants to sleep in the forest for a night).
And after "Teesri" which, you might have calculated - is 12 KMs from Nohradhar, the only next pit-stop is the summit itself (last 6 KMs).
And this last 6 KMs is where the game changes!
Now as we got to know later, there are a couple of other shorter-but-steeper routes to reach the summit. Maybe some other time :)
"Our Experience - the first day."
We 4 started from Delhi in the morning (self-drive), and reached Nohradhar in the afternoon. After booking a basic hotel room, we spent the evening talking to the locals, gathering some food supplies for the trek, and turned in for the night.
Next morning, as soon as 5th of our trek-party arrived on the first bus from his hometown "Solan", we began our journey.
It was around 10:00 AM, and we already were feeling the sun burning our backs as we began the first couple of steep KMs.
Such beautiful sights in the very first hour, the trees, the crops in the fields, the 'drone-eye' view of the Nohradhar town below - and we kept climbing.
Soon the local residents, their homes and fields were left behind, and "Pehli" came into our sight.
Still, we could see the town and parts of the State Highway below.
Soon the chilly wind neutralized the clear-sky hot sun, and the forest area began.
I remember it was a couple of KMs later, that we were completely cut-off from any sights of civilization.
The foot-worn dirt path was very visible in some parts, and there were some stretches where we were only guided by a series of small, laminated well-printed sign-boards, stuck with nails on trees, pointing us to the way forward. A devotee from Ambala had put up these very helpful signs, and these, along with other trekkers going up and coming down, were instrumental in keeping us on the right track.
Very very frustratingly, I developed a slight cramp in my right hamstring around "Doosri", and the group suggested to have lunch, hoping the salt-content would help to alleviate the cramp (This is where I realized we should always carry some ORS on a trek).
We kept a slow and steady pace: the terrain was changing, the cold in the breeze was getting sharper, the sun's warmth was getting milder, and we took a long pause at 'Teesri'. The cellphone reach had long gone, and the smart phones were just digital cameras now.
The "Teesri" was the last place to fill our water bottles, and buy some packed-food if needed, for the rest of the journey.
Now from "teesri", I personally had to make a choice: whether I go forward, bearing in mind that the next 5-6 KMs were going to be the tough ones and that my hamstring pull was not helping. The pain was getting to my nerves, my friends were all helping out and I was relieved of my backpack as well.
The allure of the summit, some encouragement from the friends, and some mystical spiritual pull of "Har Har Mahadev" kept me going somehow.
The mountains around started to drop very sharply after "teesri", and it was clear that we were climbing the highest peak of all peaks we could see around.
Very soon, an interesting experience changed my mood altogether - a group of 4 young ladies, beautiful as they were, crossed us 'running' down the hills. They had some porter to help with their luggage, and they themselves were almost galloping across the rocks.
Now I admit it was a game-changer - and I was motivated by the thought - if these young beings can do this climb, so can I.
"Reaching the abode of Shiva"
Very soon, we realized it was going to be a very different experience than we were visualizing earlier - coz then came snow!
It was April, and still, the snow in the higher reaches of the mountain hadn't melted!
Out of the 2 routes from "Teesri" to the Peak, we had unknowingly chosen the one with a lesser gradient, but a lot of snow (It had many places where the sun wasn't hitting directly throughout the day).
Very soon, we were on all fours, grabbing onto any bushes/rocks around, slipping down, and climbing on somewhere around 2-3 feet of snow at places.
Oh it was scary! There were places where one wrong slip would have definitely lead to a life-or-death situation.
I distinctly remember thinking "If my wife or my parents see me right now, they will never allow me to trek again".
Our water supply ran out in this huff and puff, and oh, so Organic an experience it was when we collected melting snow-droplets in our bottles on the way up. Somehow, maybe the snow was such a sheer punch, I slowly forgot the cramp and the pain, and all I could think of was the peak and that I needed to reach the peak.
The Summit was around 100-150 meters up from this area, and we all decided to rest at the shrine for the night, and climb the summit next morning.
Now the locals, accustomed and acclimated to the hills, many a times begin their trek in the morning, and reach back Nohradhar by evening - basically doing the complete trek in a day. But we being City-Boys, planned to stay on top of the mountain - in the local dharamshala there.
"Dormitory Night"
It was rest time finally, and after a day's hard-work, it felt very well deserved.
The evening was cold - it would have been somewhere around 2-3 degrees, with the wind making it feel like -10.
But the shrine area had a completely different feel to it - a lot of locals and some other guys like us who had reached the peak in the evening were intending to stay for the night, and climb down the next morning. There were some evening prayers happening, with sounds of a bell breaking the silence in between.
The wind was chilly, and the entire area - which housed some 3-4 dormitories, some 10 odd shops (some dhabas, some tea-stalls etc), a temple, an open stretch/ground, and grand views of the hill-towns around - had only 2-3 electric solar lights being the only source of light.
Someone pointed us to a hill full of human-made lights, and said- that's Shimla!
We had some very frugally made Daal-Chawal-Roti in one of the dhabas - the highlight being there was a big fire-place in the dhabha, and the warmth made us stay there for as long as we could. And as soon as we filled our bellies, all we wanted was to get snug in one of the dormitories/dharamshalas.
The people managing the shrine area had made available blankets and some thin mattresses on rent - around 20RS per blanket.
Again, the place being a shrine had made it feasible for us to have some basic food, some basic accommodation, along with some refuge from the cold biting wind outside. So much gratitude we had for the Churdhaar Seva Samiti!
I slept like a log.
"The Tears of being in Heaven"
The 2nd day began around 7 AM, and after some basic clean-up, we spent some time in the shrine.
There were prayers being offered in the local tradition, with around 100+ people gathered, and we paid our respects before starting the climb towards the summit.
These last 100 meters reminded me of Lord Of The Rings, when Sam and Frodo were climbing the hills of Mordor. Only difference being, every step I was taking was like a mini-nirvana in itself.This lasted for about 30 minutes - and we reached the Highest Peak in India, outside the Himalayas. This peak is visible from Simla, Kasauli and Kufri, owing to its height. We were standing at around 12,000 Feet, and we had started from Nohradhar at around 5,000.
And as if blessings showering from the Shiva himself, snow-fall started as we climbed the last few steps!
Actual snow-flakes, and there we were: standing next to a magnificent idol of Shiva, right on the highest perch of the mountain.
It was like standing in the heaven itself - every mountain around us seemed dwarf, and for a second, I felt Vertigo.
And then the realization hit - this is it! This is ecstasy! This is Nirvana! This is what it feels like to experience something beyond this physical world!
This is the kind of place where Gods actually might have actually lived!
I felt humbled, I felt small, I felt like I was nothing as compared to this creation. And at the same time, I felt happy, I felt ecstatic, I felt a part of me saying to the rest of me: "This is what you need. This is what you can experience whenever you want to". And I felt tears welling up in my eyes.
I wanted to stay there for long, but it was as if I was scared - as if staying there for long was too much for me - as if I didn't have the capability to handle that immense of an experience.
And of course I wrapped this feeling in a blanket of practicality - that the snowfall was increasing, that we should start trekking downhill sooner to avoid any accidents etc. I was stupified enough to not understand what exactly I was feeling.
This time, we took the 2nd, steeper route to 'Teesri'. Of course, this route didn't have the snow yesterday, but today, we were walking/jumping/climbing down the rocks while the snow turned the grey/brown mountain into a white paradise right in front of our eyes!
Everyone had one statement on their lips - "What more would this trek have in store of us!?!" Experience after experience, Nirvana after Nirvana right since last day was like filling us - and this snowfall was the icing on the cake!
And as if this wasn't enough, after a brief respite from the snow (as we were climbing down rocks and boulders), as soon as we hit the walkable-mud-trail, it started to hail! We sought shelter beneath one rock after another, but the next 30 minutes was like a downpour of hail!
The pleasant weather after the snow/hail/rain made the walk back till "Doosri" like walking in a forest from a fairy-tale, so much so that it was unanimously decided that we should stay for the rest of the day in "Doosri", and even spend the night at the camp.
"Making Maggi in the forest, while it was raining!"
But if we had learned anything in the first 36 hours on the mountain, it was to "give it a shot".
And that's what we did as soon we crossed "Teesri" on our way down.
It was still drizzling intermittently, and we managed to find a rock huge and slant enough to be a rain-shed.
What fun it was trying to find dry twigs and branches to light the fire, and only an expert fire-lighter could get the fire going in such a place!
Then came on the Bluetooth speaker, and the maggi was made with love and care (twice, coz the pot we had was big enough only for 2 packets at once), and shared the most amazing Maggi of our lives.
It felt like cavemen, only it was a ready-to-cook omnipresent maggi. But even that maggi felt like we had hunted for it or gathered it, cooked it slowly, and only then we could have the pleasure of eating it. Oh how amazing each bite tastes when we feel we have worked for it!
"Bonfire in the evening, and bulls in the night"
It was lunch time when we reached "Doosri", and the lone-guy manning the cottage had "kadi-chawal" in the menu.
 |
| This is were camped for the 2nd night |
It was like being in 500 BC - we spent the afternoon gathering firewood from the forest around, chatting all the while, and planning our evening.
As soon as the day's light started to fade, we started our bonfire a short walk away from the Cottage, with a warning from the shop-owner to stay within a 10-second runnable distance, in case any wild bulls came charging through the woods.
The night was beautiful - distant yet strong gurgle from a river nearby, clear star-filled sky in the close-up, fresh oxygen-laden chilly wind, warmth of the raging bonfire, and some idiotic-philosophical questions/answers with the friends. The plan was to stay up till midnight, but the shop-owner gave us the last call for coming inside the cottage at around 8:30 PM, and we had to abide. His house, his rules. No one wanted to stay outside, the lore of Wild animals in the hills of Himachal is enough to scare us city-boys.
We had dinner, and took to our beds for the night towards the backside of the studio-apartment-type cottage. No electricity, no sounds, no lights: just the sounds of the wind lashing against the stone walls, and our own voices as we chatted within ourselves and the very hospitable host for the night.
The oil-lamp the shop-owner had was shut by 9 PM, and the cottage was locked from inside. The beds we were sleeping on, were basically thick foam sheets on top of flat stones, and double-blankets on top of everyone for the night.
Around midnight, we distinctly remember bulls walking around the cottage, and it was a very real possibility of a bull-attack on a cottage in the middle of nowhere: the cottage wasn't as strong as an angry bull. Thank God they are vegetarians!
It rained over the night as well, and there were knocks on the door a couple of times during the night. The shop-owner turned the guys away, warning them not to trek ever during the night.
We heard some stories next morning from the host, where trekkers got lost while climbing during the night, and the local panchayat (of whom our host was a member as well) had to organize search parties to track.
"3rd day - back to civilization"
And we all had new-found appreciation for the the one small trickling source of water at "Doosri". This water pipe was basically gathering water from a small pond, which was being fed by streams hidden in the mountain.
We expressed our gratitude to our host, and along with the charges for the food and stay (around 250 per person), we tried adding some extra - which he promptly refused. Such honesty and simplicity set the mood for our morning in the most gentle way, and we started our walk back to the civilization.
Gathering some wild-flowers on the way back (used to make some organic 'chutney' or 'sauce'), we managed to reach Nohradhar around 10:00 AM, around the same time we had started 3 days ago.
But I could feel the change from 3 days ago. The sense of accomplishment, combined with a sense of "oh how beautiful mother nature is" and "how amazing experiences there are right in our backyards".
It was also the realization that what I had experienced, was like a burst of eye-opening moments one after another. And that I simply needed to do this more often.
We had no use of our cellphones (except for the camera), no internet, no electricity, almost zero signs of civilization for most of the 48 hours we spent on the mountain - it was a complete city-detox!
"Final Words. "
Trekking combined with Camping is something which puts a lot of our self-inflated sense of 'life' into perspective, and really changes the way we look at our life.
It's a combination of going beyond our personal limits, experiencing something spiritual, having some unfiltered conversations with your friends, knowing your own self, and knowing that we actually know nothing of the immensity of this creation.
We may watch a 1000 HD youtube videos, but a minute on a mountain will be more of an experience than watching all those videos combined.
Comments
Post a Comment