This was my second High altitude expedition.
You can find the details of my first expedition here https://gururajnayak1.blogspot.in/2017/03/tapovan-my-first-high-altitude.html
The experience of Himalayas was so mesmerizing that I had
decided last year itself that I am going to be part of the expedition again
next year.
In May 2016, I had registered for Bengaluru Marathon (SPBM)
and the race day was on 16th OCT 2016.
Since my Tapovan expedition was in September 2015, my guess
was that I will be finishing the expedition and then will be running the
Marathon.
I was in touch with Satish constantly just to make sure I
miss none of those 2.
Satish shared the plan with me on 13th July and the
expedition was planned for October end (because of Durga Puja in the Bengal
area). The place finalized was Goecha-la, the base camp for India's highest and
world's third Highest Mountain Kangchenjunga.
The news was a great relief to me since I could concentrate
fully on the marathon training and that would also make sure I would be fit for
the expedition.
But since I generally travel home for Diwali, I had to
convince my mom somehow.
There was a big doubt in my mind, what-if I am not able to
reach the finish line of SPBM? After all it was my first Marathon and just my
2nd running event! 42 Km is no way a joke so you can never be sure if you can
reach the finish line be it your first marathon or your tenth.
Most of the Himalayan expeditions have their base camp
around an altitude of 10,000 ft.
Goecha-la expedition was supposed to be quite different, the
base camp was Yuksom which is at an altitude of just 5,643 ft. Which naturally
means we were supposed to climb a lot more!
So master was organizing practice climbs at Nandi Hills last
4 weekends before the expedition (for those who are not aware, there is a
trekking route for Nandi Hills from behind).
I had an IT band injury in August and I was way behind in my
marathon training and all the 4 weekends I had long runs scheduled, typically
25KM+. I was seriously under-prepared for the Marathon and these 4 weeks were crucial
for me.
I was giving all sort of excuses to Satish as to why I
cannot join the practice treks. But Satish was adamant that I should join them
for at least one practice trek. I finally did a practice trek on 9th October,
the day after running a 23Km. Since I had sore knees due to running I just climbed
up and down Nandi hills once and half the hill second time.
The practice for marathon paid off and on 16th October 2016,
I completed my first full marathon in a decent but not-so-good timing of
4hr20min.
Now I was all pumped up for the expedition which would start
exactly 6 days from SPBM.
Travel on 21st Oct. -
We were travelling in Guwahati Express train. Most of the
people boarded from Majestic. I boarded from KR Puram at 11.50PM.
I met a few fellow trekkers. I knew few of them. But most of
them were new faces.
It was a long journey and most of the time was passed either
chit chatting or sleeping.
The highlight of the journey was the food provided by
Rupesh's family in Srikakulam.
23rd Oct-
We reached Siliguri around 9PM. We were joined by 4 people
who had travelled by flight.
Sid (master's Son & a Chelsea fan) was supposed to arrange
3 cabs for all of us. We met him and our luggage was loaded on the jeeps.
We were 8 people in the cab. Sid was in our cab and that
Chelsea hosted Manchester United in the Stamford Bridge. Unluckily we lost 4-0
that day and Sid was having the final laugh (BTW, Man United took revenge in
the return fixture).
Also in the cab were 3 people from one family (Father,
mother and Daughter) who were speaking Havyaka Kannada. I was sure they were
from somewhere near my native. I asked them and got to know that they were from
Kumta which is just 35KM from my native.
That time, little did I know that I was going to have some
great time with those 3 amazing people.
On the way there was a land slide because of rain and we had
to take a longer route.
24th Oct-
We reached Yuksom early morning. That day was basically a
rest day and master sent us to explore places around like Monastery and market.
We went for a casual walk once after breakfast and again in
the evening.
I could see that Sikkim is so different than other places in
India. The people were disciplined and one cannot see a bit of plastic on the
roads, also people never honk in Sikkim.
We saw trekkers from India Hikes team who started trekking
one day ahead of us.
The Monastery
The lovely group
25th Oct-
Yuksom (5,643 ft.) to Sachen (7,200 ft.): 10KM hike
We started trekking after the breakfast. Generally
Master/Satish informs us about the route: something like, easy, difficult,
gradual climb, mix of assent & descent. But Master was doing Goechala trek
for the first time so he had to rely on information provided by our guide cum
cook, Raj (per Govt. norms, in order to get permission it's mandatory to have a
guide). The guides and mules men there count the distance in hours rather than
Kilometers. We were informed that it’s going to be a 7KM gradual assent. But as
we started trekking we were in for a different experience. The route had quite
a few descents which means we had to gain the extra altitude and this is
frustrating while climbing. I was with Master and Sid and we 3 reached Sachen
camp site.
Sachen is a beautiful camp site, covered by forest on all
sides. I and Sid went back to help other trekkers.
Post dinner, we heard an animal howling at out camp. It was
sure that some animal was noticing us. Master asked all of us to get into
respective tents.
Trekking path to Sachen
Hanging bridge on the way
Entering the National park
Camping in Sachen
26th Oct-
Sachen (7,200 ft.) to Tshoka (9,701 ft.) via Bhakim: 7KM
hike
On the second day, I was one of people to start at the end.
We started after packing all luggage on the mules.
I was asked by Satish to stick with family. It was my job to
bring them to Tshoka. Though I started last with Satish, we found the trailing
group of 3 people very soon. Satish started walking with them and I moved
forward and joined the family (Uncle and aunty; as Deepti was moving
not-too-far ahead with Sid). I had to cut down my pace significantly but I really
enjoyed walking with them. We soon reached Bhakim, filled water and started to
move ahead. Jaya aunty gave me Patnjali energy bar :-P
view of a far town from Tshoka, during day and night
Never ending mountains, I remembered our very own Devi Mane Ghat seeing this.
Mt.Pandim seen from distance
The evening view
Small photo-shoot wile waiting for luggage to be loaded on mules, after most of the people had already started
(from left)Vishnu, Sid, Ganeshan, Satish, myself, Gautham & Pavan.
awesome view of night sky, with zero light pollution
our tents as seen from monastery
Monastery and the beautiful lake - captured on the way to Phedang
another one of night sky
27th Oct-
Tshoka (9,701 ft.) to Dzongri (13,024 ft.) via Phedang: 10KM
hike
Master's plan was to hike till Dzongri and take a day off,
but family was a bit tired from first 2 days trek and requested that instead of
walking long and taking rest will move till Phedang and on the rest day will
walk till Dzongri.
Just as we were ready to start the trek, we got the news of
a death at Phedang from one of the Mules men. Unfortunately he was one from
India Hikes group whom we saw in Yuksom.
Like the previous day, everyone started the trek except us 5
who had the responsibility to packing luggage on the mules. Sid & Gautham
did a small photoshoot. Again I was supposed to stick with family. The route
was bit different with wooden sleepers, we walked and reached Phedang. By then
master was having a meeting with everyone who had reached. And we joined in.
The dead body of a Chennai Techie was lying in Phedang near
the wooden hut. And because of that the guide and mules men were not ready to
spend overnight there. So we had no option but to move to Dzongri. But the
problem was that 3 people were yet to come (Satish was with them).
So master had no option but to ask the tired legs to carry
on further. But since 3 people & Satish were yet to reach, Master asked me
to wait with our guide Raj in Phedang. I was supposed to convey the trailing
guys that they have 2 options
1) Walk till Dzongri (their rucksacks will be put on mules).
2) Walk back to Tshoka, with Satish and stay there for 3-4
days till the remaining troop comes back.
Myself, Rupesh and Ashokan went and fetched water (15 mins
walk from Phedang) for everyone and the group started hiking to Dzongri.
Finally after 2 long hours of waiting, the trailing guys
arrived at Phedang.
They agreed to trek to Dzongri. I, Satish and Raj started
walking with them, but their pace was too slow.
I had a long and tiring day and walking at their pace was
particularly difficult.
I walked with them almost till Dzongri. Once I saw campsite,
I informed Raj and walked ahead.
When I reached, everybody was in big tent and were chit
chatting with Master. It was cold in Dzongri and Master asked me to have a cup
of tea. That night the temperature dropped till -5 degrees.
28th Oct-
We woke up in the morning to see our tents covered with a
thin layer of snow.
Since we had trekked till Dzongri the previous day, this was
a rest day. We just went for a casual trek after the breakfast.
In the evening gathering, Master asked who all want to go to
Summit (the aim of expedition was just till Goecha-la view point 1)
With me 3 guys, Ganeshan, Vishnu & Pavan were ready.
Satish was ready but he was supposed to go back to Tshoka to bring gas
cylinder. Problem was that the combined high altitude experience of we 4 was
not much. As per this plan we 4 were supposed to be away from group for 2 days
and the main concern was that we will be all on our own without any guide or
seniors.
That night temperature was again around -5 and people were
suffering. One girl was unable to sleep all night and master had to wake up at
3.30AM to take care of her.
29th Oct- Dzongri (13,024 ft.) to Thansing (12,946 ft.) via
Kockchurang (12,152 ft.): 14 KM hike (+4Km to Dzongri top)
We woke up early in the morning to see the first rays of sun
on Kangchenjunga from Dzongri top (13,778 ft.).
For most of the people in the group, this would be the
highest point they would reach so we had an elaborate photo session on Dzongri
top.
After our photo session, master called us and said that he
had changed the plan and that the whole group will move to Kockchurang. The
reason for this decision was that, we the guys going to Summit, would be away
from our group for just one day instead of 2 days as per earlier plan. Gautham
also joined us for Summit.
So master told to prepare food and asked others to get ready
for trek. The food was carried to Kockchu on mules.
5 of us made sure that we packed all the necessary things
for night's stay and Summit in one ruck sack. We carried one 5 member's tent in
another ruck sack.
I walked along with Master. We knew that we were supposed to
loose altitude a bit. But we were gaining altitude as we walked. Then in the
final stretch, there was a steep and never ending climb down. This made many
people lose their cool and few even questioned Master's decision to move the
troop.
Once all reached, we had food and were ready to say good bye
to the team and move to Thansing. We reached Thansing and roamed around for
some time. We stayed in wooden hut instead of pitching tent because we were
supposed to start early morning @ 2 and un-pitching tent and all would be
difficult.
We roamed around a bit and Vishnu wrote a letter to Master
saying we reached safely and would meet the troop back the next day post summit
attempt.
We later got to know that Master was really tensed when he
heard there was a letter from us(he had some tragic incident informed via
letter in past expeditions) but once they read it, all were happy and Master
has preserved the letter as a token of remembrance.
We had nothing to do except planning for the big day. We packed
the essentials (torch, food & gears for cold) in back packs. We talked
about the plan for next day. Master had told us to go till View point 1 and
come back.
But since we had more time, we thought we will decide @View
point 1 if we can move till View point 2.
We had an early dinner and slept off, keeping multiple
alarms.
30th Oct-
Thansing (12,946 ft.) to Goechala (16,272 ft.) and back to Kockchu:
14KM hike
We woke up at 2AM to a bad news that Vishnu had lost his
specks. Since he had high power it was difficult for him to continue without
glasses. Luckily he had carried goggles.
Since our guide, Raj was in Kockchu with the group, it was
difficult for us to find route in the darkness.
So we started to walk with another guide who was guiding a
group of 4 trekkers from some European country.
We were walking very slowly, crossing few frozen and few ice
cold water streams. Some of us slipped walking on them.
We reached Lamuney (13,743 ft.) in some time.
It was still pitch dark. We started walking ahead and
reached Samiti Lake. At Samiti we have to walk along the banks of lake in some
places. We could feel the ice cold water in those places.
After Samiti is one of the tedious climbs. Until we crossed
Samiti we 5 were together, then when we started the climb, few people stated
lagging behind. I was walking with the guide and reached Goecha-la view point
1. I was more than willing to move ahead till View Point 2.
It was very cold (feel was -15degrees). Even though the sun
had raised, we were in valley and Mt Pandim was blocking us from sunlight.
While walking the body will be warm but as I reached View point 1 and was
waiting for others, I started feeling the effect of cold. Ashokan reached after
10mins. The 10min wait was like hell in that cold. Ashokan had rum in his bag
and we both had 1 shot each. This helped a bit, but the relief was temporary.
In some time Vishnu reached followed by Pavan & Gautham.
Vishnu and Pavan were not really comfortable & Gautham's
left little finger was numb from cold.
So we decided not to continue and walk back from View point
1. Since all were suffering from cold weather, we could not spend much time
there.
We quickly took some pics and in 15 mins started walking
back. We felt a little better once our body warmed up. When we reached a place
where it was not windy, we tried using lighter to burn some tissues for
Gautham's finger. The lighter never worked, probably because of little oxygen
at that altitude. Luckily we had carried match stick as well. After wasting a
good number of match sticks, finally we were able to light some tissues we had
carried and because of that warmth Gautham started getting feel of that finger.
It was a big relief for the team.
We started walking back and came near Samiti Lake where we
were able to come out of the shadow of surrounding mountains and get some
sunlight. We had breakfast and some snacks we had brought. We spent some time
in the sun and started walking back to Lamuney.
Lamuney brought us the memories of Tapovan (3 of us;
Gautham, Pavan and myself). Similar to Tapovan, Lamuney had bushes and flower
plants of different colors. It was a treat to watch them.
We clicked some pics and started walking back to Thansing.
Once we reached Thansing, we started searching for Vishnu's
specks. After searching everywhere in the log hut and not finding, the only
possible thing was that it fell below the fixed wooden planks. As we waited for
the caretaker, we had hot tea and biscuits. The caretaker demanded Rs.400 to
remove and nail back the planks. Finally Vishnu got the specks as well. We
started walking back to Kockchu to meet the group, we had hardly walked 500mtrs
when we met a few of our group members and Master. Master had taken them for
casual trek as it was a rest day for them. We were congratulated by our group
members. We reached Kockchu by lunch time and were waiting for hot food.
Meanwhile we pitched the tent we had carried and slept a bit.
We had lunch and evening all of us gathered in big tent and
we were sharing our experience with the group.
31st Oct-
Kukchurung to Tshoka (16 km hike)
We took a group picture and started walking to Tshoka. The
route till Phedang was narrow and slippery (different route than the one via
Dzongri), that is why mules & yaks are not taken on this route. Since no
domesticated animals roam in this route, it was a paradise for wild animals
like bear and snow leopard (wild animals do not like the smell of droppings of
domesticated animals so avoid those routes). On the way we could spot pug marks
of Bear & Snow leopards. 4-5 people slipped and fell down. I reached
Phedang with Master and Rupesh. We were waiting at log hut till everybody came
and then we started walking till Tshoka.
5 of us along with Sawmya had a small party (approved by
master) in one tent and slept late.
1st Nov
TSHOKA to YUKSOM (17 km hike)
We had breakfast and as usual I was among the last people to
start after packing luggage on Mules.
Once the mules were packed I started walking with Vishnu. We
had hardly walked 300mtrs when I stepped on a dry root for support while
turning. Unfortunately the root gave up and I was air borne on the steep side.
I fell down and after 2 rotations I stabled myself but the momentum of my
rucksack took me another rotation to stabilize. I had severe pain in my left
knee and thigh. I walked slowly from then. Even Vishnu was tired since we had
walked 15+km on previous 2 days as well. We crossed Bhakim, Sachen and finally
reached Yuksom by lunch time.
By the time I reached Yuksom my knee had swelled. I applied
Volini and that went off in 2 days.
Few people left Yuksom the same day. We said good bye to
them
Evening we had a small party and had lot of fun.
2nd Nov
We were a day ahead of schedule. We were supposed to stay at
Tshoka for a day but since the gas cylinder was leaking Master did not want to
take chance. So we had a rest day at Yuksom.
3rd Nov
I, Rupesh, Raj, Madam, Sawmya, Priyanka, Pooja, Ashokan and
Krishnayya sir started in the morning to NJP. We reached NJP by afternoon.
Ashokan booked a room since his train was the next day. We all went to roam in
the market and had some awesome street food in Siliguri.
We had a night train to Kolkata
4th Nov
We reached Kolkata in the morning. We booked a room,
freshened up and went for saree shopping. Pooja & Priyanka had evening
flight. After they left we went to KC Das and has some awesome sweets.
Later, 5 of us boarded night train to Bengaluru.
Pic Credits : Sid, Rupesh & Gautham
