The quest for a view

 

My last stint in Chitkul where I witnessed the Milky Way Galaxy in its full glory had left me wanting for more of the stars. In Chitkul, I had travelled as a tourist, stayed in a hotel stepping down in the night to capture the sky. My wife being an avid trekker used to keep boasting about the clear skies and stars during her treks. "You will have to go beyond the towns and villages to see the stars shine brighter".

I have never been a trek person, I am fit enough to climb mountains, but I value a hot shower and a cosy bed every night. Hence, I never joined her for any treks. However, this time I decided, that enough is enough and I need to try it out. So, i started researching about treks which offer good sky views starting January. While researching I hit upon this lovely trek in GHNP called Rangthar-Marahni. That is when it struck me. Last time I was in Tirthan, I showed the Chitkul milky way snap to a trek guide. He laughed and said "Agar taare dekhne hai sir to Ranghtar aao". The more I read about the trek and what it offered, the more I was hooked.

I called up Butts and asked him if wanted to join. He gave the same reply as every year "Aana to hai mereko yaar, but dekhna padega". However, after a few calls and back n forth conversations, he decided to join me. "Last minute kalti mat dena" I told him.

We selected 3 nights in May around the new moon. It was going to be a total of 6 days for us.

Day1: Fly to Chandigarh, travel to Tirthan and stay overnight in a hotel.

Day2: Start the trek, spend the night in Rangthar

Day3: Trek and cross Kundri, reach Marahni base camp.

Day4: Summit Marahni peak, start the descent and spend the night at Rangthar.

Day5: Back to the hotel by evening.

Day6: Travel back to Chandigarh and fly back home.

I called up Pankaj Sood, our trusted friend and advisor in the Tirthan Valley to book the rooms and trek for us. He was happy to hear back from me as I have been visiting Tirthan every year during summer. He was excited about the choice of our trek but also gave me a warning that it is a relatively tough trek. We had 2 months to prepare, so I was confident that we will be able to train hard and prepare ourselves.

Butts booked the air tickets and now there was no looking back. The trip was confirmed. We were going to go for sure!! Woohoooo!!

Day 1

 We had the usual inevitable hiccups that are associated with such trips. Just a week before leaving, Butts fell ill. He started an antibiotic course which helped him recover from the fever and body pains, but his cough didn’t get well. Somehow, he had the josh and that helped him take a leap of faith to go ahead with the trip.

We started the trip on Thursday morning. We reached Pune airport at 5.45, where I was met with a pleasant surprise. Buts had upgraded the tickets to Premium Economy. I am generally thrifty as compared to Butts who is usually more lavish. The “Premium” tickets came with extra leg room and excellent breakfast within the flights. Luckily the flights were on time too and we reached Chandigarh at 1.00 pm.

Our cab driver was waiting for us, and we started our road journey without any further delay. Google maps showed the journey to be 6 hours, but the driver that we would take 8 as the roads near Tirthan were not good. We passed by fields of gold in Punjab, what a magnificent plateau. Had lunch at Manjeet’s which is a popular eatery and proceeded to Himachal. The landscape changed as we entered the new state. The never-ending plateau gave way to tall peaks, gorgeous valleys and winding roads. We crossed Sunder Nagar and Mandi and turned right for Tirthan. So far, we were doing good on time, and I was hopeful of reaching the hotel by 7, but as we left the NH, the roads became extremely bad. There were places where our driver struggled to get the car going on steep ascents due to many potholes. Plus, it started getting dark, so we proceeded slowly with caution and finally reached our destination “Gushaini” at 8.15 pm. The first thing that greeted us was the cool breeze which was a delightful change, the second was the gurgling Tirthan river next to the property. I was super happy.

We were greeted at the hotel by Panki bhai, who gave us instructions about the trek prep and assigned us a cosy room. There was an amazing dinner buffet, which we hogged like pigs. Panki bhai’s place has the most delicious meals. The kitchen is overseen by her wife who ensures that they serve only quality hot fresh Indian food.

Panki gave us another pleasant surprise when he announced that we would be accompanied by Sanchit, an avid photo/videographer who would capture the moments of the trek and convert it into a promotional youtube video for the upliftment of tourism in the area.

The hotel manager came and checked our trek stuff that we had to carry the next day. He gave us a thumbs up after going through all details. We retired to bed early, as a long day awaited us tomorrow.

 

Day 2

We woke up to the chirping of birds in the morning and soaked in the river view, the tall mountains and the fresh unpolluted morning air. We had piping hot breakfast which again was amazing where we met Sanchit. He came across as a jolly, smart guy who had relocated to Tirthan from Indore a couple of years back. Post breakfast we got ready to leave for the trek by 9.45. Our guide was Hardesh Kumar already ready too with his crew. There were a total of 9 men to accompany us. They would be carrying tents, food, and other gear needed for survival in the wild.

We got into a mini truck and set off for Pekhri which we reached around 10.45. Just for reference Pekhri is situated at 2100m above sea level. Our goal for the day was to reach Rangthar which is a meadow on top of a mountain perched at 2900m. One the way we would cross Lakcha village which is approximately at 2500m. This is where we would have lunch.

We started the ascent slowly and steadily. Stone steps laid out by villagers gave way to trails and every 15 mins the landscape started getting better. We crossed fields, apple orchards, apricot trees and took breaks to soak in the views. There was only one distant mountain with slow covered peaks that was visible from here. It was looking breathtaking even from a distance, I secretly wished that we would go closer towards it during the next two days.

Halfway up, we enjoyed packed lunch at the lakcha village after which the trail got steeper. The sky was overcast, the wind was howling and we could see rain clouds following us. However barring a few drops here and there, it didn’t rain much. Sanchit was leaving no stone unturned to capture our ascent and the views around us with his mirrorless DSLR. I was worried that if the sky didn’t clear up, we would not be able to see the stars that night.

We reached the Rangthar campsite around 4.30pm and I was mesmerized by the view from there. Though it was still overcast and the temperature was under 10 degrees, the visibility was ok and we could see the GHNP snow mountains in full glory. We just sat there admiring the beauty for the next hour or so while the crew set up the tents and served hot tea and maggi. By 6pm by the grace of God, the sky started clearing up and by 7pm there was not a single cloud. It was totally clear; we were in for a treat!! Such is the unpredictability of the mountains; no one knows how the weather will behave after 4 hours.

As the sun set, first Venus and then Jupiter came into full view. Shining bright, making their presence felt in the other naked sky. We finished our dinner in a hurry to ensure that we were fully prepared to enjoy the stars. By 9 pm, we could see a million stars and by 10pm we could see a gazillion. But the star of the show “The milky way” was not visible yet. Using the sky guide app, we came to know that we would get a good view post 11 pm, so we stayed awake, bantering away, killing time and enjoying the sky.

Around 11, we saw the faint outline of the cloudy milky way galaxy. by 11.30, it was up in its full glory, but I was not very happy as there was ambient light due to the villages below. Due to which, the view was slightly hazy. However, we clicked pictures using our iPhone and Sanchit’s DSLR. The photos came out to be terrific though (despite the ambient light). Around 12 we retired to our tents, snug into our sleeping bags looking forward to the next day.

Surprise visitor to our camp was a white-tailed fox, who observed us from a distance and then ran away.

 

 Day 3

 Clear sky, crisp mountain air, dew on the grass awaited us the next morning. What a fantastic view to and feeling to wake up to. Today was going to be the toughest day of the trek. We had to make it to Marahni campsite which is at 3500m. On the way we would have to cross the Kundri Peak which is at 3350 feet, then descent a bit into the Kundir meadow and go uphill again.

We started early, by 8.30 to make the most of the gentle morning sun (before it turned harsh). The ascent was steep right from the start, but we covered good ground. Butts was in high spirits today, challenging himself to do better than the previous day. Slowly we grinded our way to the top. Progress was slow, but we were not worried about time, so we took It easy. Two hours into the trek we reached the Kundri top from where the view of the Tirthan valley was mesmerizing. Post that we had to walk through a fairy tale like oak forest towards the Kundri meadow. The air was much cooler here, though there was ample sunshine.

We stopped for having our packed lunch after crossing the Kundir meadow on a ridge which provided amazing views all around. Post lunch, the weather suddenly changed and it became overcast with a light drizzle. Though the rain wasn’t enough to make us wet, the accompanying cold breeze was spine chilling. Finally after an arduous journey we reached the Marahni campsite around 3.30 pm.

Words cannot describe the view that lay infront of us, Gigantic snow lad Himalayan mountains stared us right in our face. Challenging us, humbling us! The wind was howling, the cold was bone freezing, there was some rain, but little did we care. What lay infront of us was stuff that dreams are made of. Raw naked pure nature!! We prayed for better weather while enjoying hot tea and bhajiyas. And again by 6 pm the Gods smiled and the sky changed. No clouds, no wind, wohooo!!!! Since we were dead tired by the tough ascent today, we decided to have dinner and retire early promising each other to wake up by 12 am to witness the milky way again.

Trrring-Tringgg-Tringgg…my alarm went off at 12 am. I woke Butts up and headed out of the tent to grab a view of the sky. What we saw that night, I have never seen in my life. No ambient light. Clear sky. End to End view of the fabulous milky way staring down at us. I was spellbound. I wanted to capture this moment and make it last forever. Butts was in the same zone. The temperature was sub zero, but we were in a hypnotized state.

Sanchit was not up yet, so we called out to him multiple times, but he seemed to be in deep sleep. The tripods and DSLR were with him. Stupid iphone doesn’t let you take a 30 second exposure without tripod. ☹ After trying to wake him up for few mins, we gave up. Gave the sky a good final look and went back to sleep.

 

Day 4 and 5.

Again, woke up to a crisp clear cloudless sky with the sun beating down on us at 6 am. Had quick breakfast. Today’s goal was to summit Marahni which is at 3700m and then start the descent to Rangthar campsite. The ascent to the peak was pretty steep and we had to zigzag our way carefully to the top. Progress was extremely slow and the air was thinner too. After around 90 mins or so, we reached the top.

So far, the trek had offered partial views of the peaks. From the top it was different. We had a complete 360-degree view of mountains all around us. GHNP peaks, Kobri, Tirth, Rakhundi on one side. Balasheh Pass on the other. Tirthan and Sainj valley mountains on the third and the snow-clad peaks of Manali on the fourth. This was too much for me, I didn’t know how to soak it in. Started feeling giddy, legs went weak, had a funny feeling in my stomach. “Is this real??” that was the constant thought in my head.

Butts declared that this was the most beautiful place he had been to in his life and let me tell you, Butts has been to New Zealand, Australia, USA, etc. Nothing comes close to the Himalayas. The grandeur, the sheer size, the expanse, it is surreal. Peak, after peak after peak, it was only the Himalayas, nothing else. We sat there for a good hour while Sanchit made some videos using the drone.

Around 11.30 we started our descent. This is when I realized that I am afraid of heights 😊. Progress was slow, the guide helped us a lot. After 45 mins or so, we were off the peak and back to the trails where it was easier to walk. Or we though so. The descent was brutal. We didn’t realize that it was this tough while going up, but no every step was a blow to the knees and toes. After countless steps and some missteps and with tired legs we reached Rangthar campsite again.

We airdropped photos and videos, chatted like crazy, had a fun dinner and slept off with a sense of achievement. Something that has been lacking in our lives for a while now. This summit was a big deal for Butts and me. I was so happy that everything turned out well.

Next morning, we trekked three hours to reach Pekhri and another hour to reach the hotel.

This is a lifetime memory; one we are proud of and we will cherish to the end of our days!

 

Heartfelt "thank you" to :

1.      Butts: for accompanying and fighting it out in the truest of spirits

2.      Our guides Hardesh and SherSingh: For assisting us when we acted like kids

3.      Sanchit: for making it memorable by capturing our moments, we met as strangers and departed as friends.

4.      Panki Bhai for making all the arrangements

5.      Our respective better halves who supported us so that we could make this trip.

6.      The Gods for blessing us with good weather throughout