A Sojourn to Himalaya: Dokriani Glacier Trek, March 2009

"The physical journey is merely a manifestation of the metaphysical journey. Out in the real world, nature is supreme. I cannot conquer it, nor do I wish to conquer. Instead, I go humbly to nature for its teachings because I know that this learning can transform me from a caterpillar into a butterfly. It can help me win the battles within and thus prepare me for the battles of daily life outside” thus said Harish Kohli in his book “Across the Frozen Himalaya”, well we guys trek may be for the transformation from a caterpillar to a butterfly or to escape the daily mundane life in the city (or college!) or just for pure fun….no idea!!. We have just been hooked onto trekking since our first trek to Gorson Top from Auli about 18 months back, there was no looking back since then, we have trekked to Triund, Illaka Got, Khera Tal, Kedarnath, Vasuki Tal, Gandhi Sarovar, Tunganath, Chandrasila Peak, Valley of Flowers, Hemkunt Sahib, Har Ki Dun and now to Advanced Base Camp (ABC) Dokriani Glacier.

It all seems quite unreal now, 11 guys from different parts of India get admitted to IIT Roorkee for their Post Graduate study, end up being good friends, they have a common passion for exploration of new places and so they decided to form a team namely Xtreme Shikra and so began our saga of trekking. Roorkee being located near the foothills of the Himalayas was our advantage, travel time was comparatively less to all the places in Uttarakhand.

As unreal as the making of our team, this trek to ABC Dokriani Glacier was planned in a matter of minutes at the slopes of Devkunt, you will be reading more about this further down in the blog. Dokriani is a medium-sized glacier of the bhagirathi basin. The glacier is formed by two cirques, originating at the northern slope of Draupadi-ka-Danda and Jaonli peak, 5600m and 6000m respectively. The glacier is 5 km. long and flows in the northwest direction terminating at an elevation of 3800m. The stream originating from the glacier's melted water is called Dingad which later joins many other snow / ice melted streams and finally merges into bhagirathi river near Bukki village (http://www.uttaranchaltourism.in/glaciers-of-uttaranchal.html#dokraniglacier).

Our usual trekking expeditions consisted of at least 5 members, but due to time constraints there were only 3 of us ready and fired to go for this trek. Apart from me, the team consisted of

1) Giri - A budding Entrepreneur, Man of ideas (most of them faltu) and infectiously romantic.

2) Ranjith – Commonwealth games stadium designer, Man with lot of energy (some secret sources) and he pukes prolifically.

Our guide cum cook for this trek was Mr. Dhanvir (Mob No: 09456378893). There were 3 porters namely Sanjay, Mahesh and Bhupendir.

Day 1 – Roorkee to Uttarkashi

“A Harrowing Journey”

We guys were pretty much excited looking eagerly for the 10 day Sahastra Tal Trek while leaving the gates of IIT Roorkee at around 6 in the morning, that’s what we had planned for the past one month. Our trek itinerary was to go to Sahastra Tal from Bukki and then get down through the Malla Route. It all seemed quite exciting just by the prospect of thinking about it but as in life mostly nothing happens as you desire.

As we were eagerly waiting for the trek to start from Bukki, we were equally fretting about the journey by bus, the most harrowing part. But the journey went on well, Ranjith made history by not puking during a journey in the Himalayas. We reached Uttarkashi safely at around 1500, had our lunch, met our guide Dhanvir and then booked a hotel.

In the evening we went around Uttarkashi with Dhanvir for buying the rations needed for 10 days. On the advice of Dhanvir, Giri decided to buy a new pair of shoes as the present one was not suitable for trekking and he finally settled for a pair of jungle boots worth 230 bucks (A good trekking shoe!!). Finally back to our hotel, fagged out from a nauseating journey we had good sleep.

Day 2 – Uttarkashi to Tela Camp

“Solitude”

By the time we left Uttarkashi it was about 11, on the way we collected the tents, sleeping bags and mattress required for trekking at Bhatwari and finally reached Bukki around 1300 hrs, glad that the travel was over and the trek about to begin.

It was a year since our trek to Khera Tal, a lot had changed since then due to the ongoing construction work there, and the roads were in a pathetic condition. The climate was unusually hot for this time of the year, Dhanvir told us that snowfall had been sparse this time and it had snowed only once in January in the upper regions. It made us sad and happy, sad that the global climate change is affecting us in ways even unknown to us! and happy that we will be able trek to Sahastra tal without any hitches.

After packing the sleeping bags and mattress we started off the trek from Bukki main road, after a steep trail of about half an hour we reached Bukki village. We mingled there with the kids, distributed chocolates and they seemed happy to see strangers amidst them after a long winter hiatus.

Leaving Bukki behind we began to slowly tread away from civilization to solitude for Tela base camp located at an altitude of 2500m. The path was steep with a steady climb and switchbacks with a small descent in middle which was a respite. We reached Tela after a trek of about 2 hrs at around 1715 hrs. After a gratifying dinner we set up the camp fire enjoying the moonlit Himalayas and later retired for the night with hopes of a great trek ahead.

Day 3 – Tela Camp to Buoo Base Camp

“Recurring Memories”

Waking up to a cup of hot tea was rather refreshing in the morning, we were happy to deviate from our daily morning routine at college after quite a long time. After a quick breakfast and some packing we were set to go for Buoo top.

The path to Buoo top was through Tela top, we hadn’t forgotten our misadventure during the last trek to Khera Tal where we got lost in the woods in our desperate desire to reach Tela top. Well the story was during that trek we had indeed reached Tela top, but didn’t know about it so in our desperate attempt to find it we were trailing towards an unknown top which was in fact Buoo top (which we found out in this trek), finally giving up to exhaustion we decided to descend but none of us knew the route back, it seemed excitation had got the better of us during the ascend and we broke the basic logic never go ahead without your guide but finally after some meandering in the woods with some stroke of luck we were back on course, the memories of those few moments were rekindled within our minds while now taking a respite at Tela top.

The path from Tela top to Buoo base through the woods was of gradually rising gradient with quite a lot of small bugiyals (Meadows) strewn in between. Finally reaching Buoo base at about 1330 hrs, we pitched our camp inside the Gujjar hut.

After a supplemental lunch we began to tread for Buoo top, it was quite a steep trail with patches of ice strewn around. After 1.5 hrs of trek we reached the top, it was enthralling. We had a fascinating view of Dayara Bugyal, Kalanag, Banderpunch glacier, Jaonli Peaks, Drawpadi Ka Danda and Dokriani Glacier, thanks to the clear skies. After relishing the views for about an hour, we began to descent to our base camp.

In the mean time our porter Mahesh was sent to Bhatwari market to fetch mutton and he was back by 1700 hrs! that was fast we admired the villagers prowess. I was contemplating about the possibility of the trek to Sahastra Tal, as Ranjith and Dhanvir began to cook the meat, Giri was out in the woods clicking photos to his heart’s content and the porters were mincing the vegetables. While the meat was now left to boil each one of us except Ranjith had a peg of rum and then as the songs were playing in the background through the mobile phones we began to dance, they were just random steps. After some hard foot tapping we had our sumptuous dinner, it seemed we still had a lot of energy left out and again after dinner we were back to dancing and singing. As the flames of the camp fire was becoming dimmer and the stars in the night sky shone bright we danced away to sleep.

Day 4 – Buoo Base Camp to Devkunt

“Along the Ridges”

The next morning we woke up with a slight headache the aftermath of yesterday’s high energy activities, but after a breakfast of dhalia and boiled egg it receded and we were quite fine.

We were planning to reach Kalunti which was about 13 Kms from Buoo base, we slowly began to trod away from Buoo base. It was a steep trail in the beginning for about an hour, then the climb became steady with equal no of ascents and descents We were actually walking along the ridges starting from Buoo top, it was awe inspiring. It seemed as if we were walking in the sky and the world was below and far away from us, if only that was true!

After encountering knee deep ice at some places we reached Devkunt around 1200 hrs, here Dhanvir informed us that the trek to Sahastra Tal will be very difficult, since he didn’t except this much of ice and if there was more ice in Goni pass (in all probability there will be) which we were supposed to go after 2 days of trek then we won’t be able to make it. Now the onus was on us to decide whether we wanted to trek to Goni pass and decide or to decide here itself. In a matter of minutes the world came crashing around us, we were confused but determined to go. After several minutes of discussion we decided against going and instead resolved to go for ABC Dokriani Glacier, a new plan at 3500m!!

Now as we descended to the base at Devkunt for camping, the atmosphere was quite drab on not being able to go for the desired destination but life must go on and we were now determined to trek to ABC.

We reached the base of Devkunt around 1630 hrs and there was a Gujjar hut here too. Gujjar’s are a nomadic people the huts are strewn around this area, this was there summer camp. We were thankful to them as we again pitched our tent inside the hut.

After a cup of hot horlicks as we were brooding on the course of events that led us to call off the trek to Sahastra Tal, Giri posed us a question as to what the Himalayas meant to each one of us as an individual. That was a difficult one to answer, I began by answering that it signified beauty and that it teaches us to be humble, Giri said that he wanted to be like the Himalayas and achieve greatness in life; Ranjith said that it signifies the happiness that one achieves after reaching the desired destination in life, he forgets the tireless working but remembers only the achievement just like the wondrous gaze at a beautiful tal after a hard 5 day trek!. Each one of the answer reflected upon the individual personality and it was indeed very diverse.

After dinner as we were cocooned in the sleeping bags inside the tent, I was still thinking about Sahastra Tal but tiredness caught up with me and soon gave away to sleep.

Day 5 – Devkunt to Dokriani Base Camp

“Across the Jungle”

As morning light broke away the darkness Sanjay woke all of us with a hot cup of tea and after a breakfast of noodles, we began the trek to Dokriani BC.

After a very steep descend of about 6 Kms we reached Jungle camp around 1330 hrs, located at the main crossing of the Dingad river, the water level had receded compared to last year because of the sparse snowfall this year.

On having our lunch and half an hour of rest we began the arduous uphill climb to Gujjar hut located at an elevation of 3500m. The trail to Gujjar hut was a continuous ascend in the woods with lots of switchback, it indeed tested our nerves. After a strenuous trek of about 2 hrs we reached Gujjar hut, the end of the woods and start of the bugiyals.

We were firstly baffled at the sight of Gujjar hut, this was the same place which we had visited last year during the same time and it was draped in snow, all that was left now was the dry grass.

After a small descent we crossed the Dingad river again, now the trail to Dokriani BC located at elevation of around 4000m was a very gradual ascend but we were jaded and the dearth of trees made the trek to BC quite a hard one due the shortage of O₂. We reached the base camp around 1700 hrs and the porters were quite surprised at our gait, they expected us to reach the place around 1900 hrs.

There were about 3 to 4 stone huts made by NIM (Nehru Institute of Mountaineering) for their training process which usually starts in April, we pitched our tent inside one of the hut and it was also quite warm inside. After having a cup of horlicks I began to shoot the splendid sunset, it was a beautiful sight as the red and orange colors draped the skyline and massif of the peaks around us.

As we retired for the night I was thinking about the snowfall this year, global warming has affected the climate through out the world in a big way. One can only hope that the situation will improve and it will require only a small amount of personal sacrifice and contribution from every individual.

Day 6 – Dokriani BC to ABC

“Through the Glacier”

We were excited thinking about our glacier trek while having our breakfast, one could easily see the route from BC to ABC and it seemed like a cakewalk but it was indeed a hard one as we found out later!

Dhanvir advised us to take trail that passes through the valley made by the receding glacier so that we can take a closer look at the glacier and also walk directly above it, we agreed. The valley was filled with moraines that made it more difficult for trekking. Finally we reached the glacier after about an hour of trek there were markings on stone for each year indicating by how much the glacier had been receding each year. According to a study by Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology (http://www.wihg.res.in/), the glacier had receded at an average rate of 17.4m/year during the years 1991-95 and had vacated an area of 3957m² and the same phenomenon is continuing, albeit at a slower rate. At this rate it seemed nothing of the glacier would be left out after about 25 years!!

We began the trek above the glacier this one was particularly difficult as the glacier was covered by a single layer of pebbles and stones and as the sunlight was becoming sharper, the glacier was melting and losing the hold on the pebbles and stones making it very slippery. We finally reached the end of the valley of moraines located at an elevation of 4500m at about 1500 hrs and after taking some snaps we began the small ascend for the ridge directly above us.

The descent to BC was also strenuous as the path was strewn with moraines, what seemed like a cakewalk turned out to be a bone breaking walk! We learnt a lesson on never to under estimate any trails in the Himalayas.

Back to camp Ranjith was gracious enough to prepare a delicious boiled egg curry; it seemed he still had some energy left. There was enough rum left to suffice each one us, so we again drank the toast and cheers was for Dokriani glacier, wishing it a long lifespan we slept soundly.

Day 7 – Dokriani BC to Uttarkashi

“A Long Day”

There was an air of sadness and happiness, sad that this was the last day and happy that we will be having chicken after 7 long days.

Dhanvir doubted whether we will be achieve the trek from Dokriani BC to Bukki main road in one go, he said it normally requires two days with a break at Tela. But we were determined to go; our inspiration for this task was the chicken we were planning to have in Uttarkashi!

We left BC at about 0900 hrs and reached Jungle camp at about 1130 hrs, this was the easy part as it was a continuous descent. The trek from Jungle camp to Tela was difficult as it involved both ascent and descent; finally after a back breaking walk we reached Tela at about 1430 hrs. We were well on course and happy that our inspiration worked well!!

Again after about 2 hrs of trek we reached Bukki main road and it was back to civilization, the dust, the smell and the noise. As there was no share jeep available, we booked a vehicle till Bhatwari and from there we caught another vehicle to Uttarkashi. Then after reaching we had a cup of juice and then went off for having chicken and ate to our heart and stomach’s content.

This was indeed a long day firstly for the patience with which we had to wait for having chicken and secondly for the long dreary march from BC to Bukki main road.

Day 8 – Uttarkashi to Roorkee

“Back to the Rat Race”

We decided to travel by share jeep till Rishikesh as the journey by bus made us uneasy, but this turned out to be quite a nauseating travel as well. Ranjith was awake during the whole journey counting each and every kilometer till Rishikesh!

After reaching Rishikesh we took a bus to Roorkee and finally we were back to our respective rooms and the rat race.

Looking back it was a difference experience altogether as each one of the treks was indeed. The sharing of the joy, pain, sorrow and elation during the treks made the Xtreme Shikra a close knit community. The treks taught us to value the experience that one goes through life.

The Himalayas indeed brought out the diverse emotions from each one us and it reflected on the true character of a man as he waged battle with the mountain to reach new heights and passes but its unique bio diversity needs to be protected from the global climate crisis and this requires small sacrifices from each one of us and I do hope that everyone of us makes that and thus making this world a better place to live, because this is the only home we have got!