Woke up to a fine morning. The cold water of the stream was thoroughly refreshing. After a piping hot breakfast, we set off for the trek to Bedni. The briefing was that it was a bit of a steep climb till we hit the bugiyals (or meadows), and almost flat from there. As always, we took off in two ropes. The climb was through a dense moss- and fern-laden forest. The foliage was wet and slippery – sticks were necessary to gauge the depth of the step. Slowly but steadily, we climbed the incline. Very frequent breaks for water and nutrition kept us going strong. We could see a lot of rare flowers – the blue poppin being one.
En route was Tolpani village, where we paused for a break. The inhabitants were spread across 5-6 houses, and the rest of the village was made of shocking-light-green fields, interspersed with dark brown wood. Filled the view in our eyes and cameras, then filled our water bottles from a thin trickle in the middle of the village. Restarted the ascent through the rest of the forest.
Pic - Tolpani village - Benny
When we hit the bugiyals, the landscape was a sheer treat to the eye. The brown and green wet foliage and oak trees now gave way to endless patches of meandering light-green curved slopes. What a sight to behold! Then just like the previous day, it started to pour. Out came the raincoats and ponchos. Without losing time, we set off on the next leg. The clouds did obstruct our view of the entire range of bugiyals but whatever we could see was spellbinding. The knowledge that we were around 10,000 ft above sea level and were gaining more height steadily, and the clouds overtaking us at our level, coupled with the scenery unfolding in front of us - gave one a heady feeling - as if on top of the world. :-) We walked in the rain, saw flocks of sheep dotted on the meadows, and noticed that more flowers popped up than before.
We halted for a snack break at Bedini bugiyal. Had yummy stuffed paranthas with pickle, apple, and chocolates. That is when the Sun came out for a brief while. At that height, it did hurt and prick. Off came the sweaters and raincoats, out came the sunscreen lotions and sunglasses. But just as it had appeared, the Sun disappeared quickly and left behind a
drizzle. This was the time when Ritu and I rued not carrying a sweater in the day bag. The raincoat did do its work but the cold and wind got to us. Made a mental note to not depend on the morning’s forecast but lug a sweater anyway.
Pic - Bugiyal - Benny
After a while, the terrain was almost flat, only the rain and wind to battle with. At this point, Raghu realized that he could not see Vikrant at the front or rear of the rope. Frantic shouts from him resulted in no response. We figured he must have gained distance and kept going to beat the rain. And so it turned out to be, as we later found out.
After walking on flat terrain for a long while, we hit a 65-degree incline. At this point, Srini announced that he needed help to climb the incline. I wondered why and thought that probably the umbrella in his hand was hampering his climb. Then it was revealed why – he suffered from acrophobia and had chanced to look down on the valley below. Till then I was happily gaining elevation. Then I too glanced down to my left and suddenly realized we were doing a pretty steep incline. :-)
When we hit flat terrain again, we could see Lammergeiers, the birds that Arjun had talked about. They are large predatory birds of the vulture family, and breed on crags in high mountains.
Just before we reached Bedni, a worried Rajesh asked Abhinav to accompany Subbu, who was not feeling too well after a vomit. He also had a severe headache. Abhinav, the samaritaran that he is, hand-held Subbu till he reached the camp.
Bedni Bugiyal houses the Bedni Kund or lake at the centre and is also famous for a stone temple. We were told that on a clear day, one could see Nanda Ghunti and Trishul peaks to the north, and the Chaukhamba and Neelkanth peaks to the East. For now, we could see the valley down and beyond, and hear water gushing down in full force.
Pic - Tolpani village - Benny
When we hit the bugiyals, the landscape was a sheer treat to the eye. The brown and green wet foliage and oak trees now gave way to endless patches of meandering light-green curved slopes. What a sight to behold! Then just like the previous day, it started to pour. Out came the raincoats and ponchos. Without losing time, we set off on the next leg. The clouds did obstruct our view of the entire range of bugiyals but whatever we could see was spellbinding. The knowledge that we were around 10,000 ft above sea level and were gaining more height steadily, and the clouds overtaking us at our level, coupled with the scenery unfolding in front of us - gave one a heady feeling - as if on top of the world. :-) We walked in the rain, saw flocks of sheep dotted on the meadows, and noticed that more flowers popped up than before.
drizzle. This was the time when Ritu and I rued not carrying a sweater in the day bag. The raincoat did do its work but the cold and wind got to us. Made a mental note to not depend on the morning’s forecast but lug a sweater anyway.
Pic - Bugiyal - Benny
After a while, the terrain was almost flat, only the rain and wind to battle with. At this point, Raghu realized that he could not see Vikrant at the front or rear of the rope. Frantic shouts from him resulted in no response. We figured he must have gained distance and kept going to beat the rain. And so it turned out to be, as we later found out.
After walking on flat terrain for a long while, we hit a 65-degree incline. At this point, Srini announced that he needed help to climb the incline. I wondered why and thought that probably the umbrella in his hand was hampering his climb. Then it was revealed why – he suffered from acrophobia and had chanced to look down on the valley below. Till then I was happily gaining elevation. Then I too glanced down to my left and suddenly realized we were doing a pretty steep incline. :-)
When we hit flat terrain again, we could see Lammergeiers, the birds that Arjun had talked about. They are large predatory birds of the vulture family, and breed on crags in high mountains.
Just before we reached Bedni, a worried Rajesh asked Abhinav to accompany Subbu, who was not feeling too well after a vomit. He also had a severe headache. Abhinav, the samaritaran that he is, hand-held Subbu till he reached the camp.
Bedni Bugiyal houses the Bedni Kund or lake at the centre and is also famous for a stone temple. We were told that on a clear day, one could see Nanda Ghunti and Trishul peaks to the north, and the Chaukhamba and Neelkanth peaks to the East. For now, we could see the valley down and beyond, and hear water gushing down in full force.
As we reached the camp, we could see the group 1 guys sipping soup, sitting at the edge of a mound overlooking the valley below. The divine hot soup followed by lunch instantly revived our tired systems.
By the time group 1 had reached Bedni, the tents were being put up. They got wet in the rain. By the time we in group 2 reached the camp, all was set. Then there was the question of where to dry our shoes and stuff. Ritu resourcefully left our shoes to dry at the kitchen stove. Rest of the wet stuff had to be managed some other way.
Post-lunch, most of us huddled in one tent and reveled in jokes, leg pulling, and tomfoolery. Ananth narrated how he and Thara were almost attacked by a cow. Initially, it chased Thara and when Ananth shouted across, it happily went over to him. Guessing that it was possibly the stick or the yellow jacket that provoked the cow, Thara shouted to Ananth to throw away the stick. He did and because of that or for other reasons, the cow finally relented and left them in peace. Ananth reminisced about what he felt at that moment - whether it is ever a sane decision to bring one’s family along on a trek. You do not want to throw them into danger or worse still, stand on helplessly when they are in danger. The fun part was that while narrating Ananth would use his arms to animate the narration. Now, sitting in a 8 x 12 ft tent, you cannot possibly do this without hitting the others. Thara cribbed that she always had to watch out her space at home because she would never know when she would be hit!
This time I shared the tent with Ritu and Deepika. It was a surprising revelation from Deepika that she had not carried her trek bag even once since her journey began. What pampering!
There was a phone around and some of the trekkers went to try their luck before we would be totally cut off from civilization.
Next day, we were destined to Pachar Lauchani.
