Wednesday, June 06, 2007

trekking snaps


Hello all,
http://s180.photobucket.com/albums/x293/urmishthaj/?action=view&current=4da4aa86.pbr

Not only an adventure ride but, an experience of a lifetime that brought a sense of self motivation and a never say no attitude. Life in the mountains is dealt with hardships, but is lead happier than our's (at least that is what I learnt from my experience). The best example of this was observed when a lady treaded a rocky path from a height of over 10,000ft down to 5,000ft for her child's medical aid. Yet there was not a trace of tiredness on her face. In fact, the smile never faded from her face! Lots to learn from such examples after introspecting our lifestyles....
The link above contains few snaps of the trek I had been to. It was a trek to Kedarkantha, Uttaranchal with the Youth Hostels Association of India (YHAI). Our reporting camp was scheduled at the Mussorrie Youth Hostel. From here, we left at 07:30 am on the 15th of May for our base camp at Sankri. At Sankri, we reached at around 17:00 hours. From thereon, began our much awaited adventure.

All participants received a warm welcome with a campfire in the night. (The campfire here was not the one by burning woods. Because it is a tete-e-tete with the purest of nature's form, the campfire meant lighting few spotlights in the shape of a bonfire.) That was the camplight.. The first step to be able to enjoy the purity of nature is to conserve it.The next day we were acclimatised to the weather there and given a task of rappling and exercises and few kilometers of walk. Thereon, we started with our adventure journey from the 17th of May.

The route was divided in to 6 camps at Juda Talao (8,000 feet), Lohasu Thatch, Kedarkantha Base (10,000 feet), Kedarkantha Peak (12,000 feet) to Dhunda (10,000 feet), Talaoti (11,500 feet), Gian Gad (7,500 feet) and back to base camp Sankri (5,500 feet).Throughout our trek, we were taken care of regarding all essential aspects like food, accomodation, guidance, assistance, medication and encouragement. 05:30 am bedtea, 06:30 am breakfast, 07:30 am pack lunch. On arrival at the next camp, welcome drink at 16:00, soup at 16:30, tea and snacks at 17:30, dinner at 18:30 and milo at 19:30. All the scheduled and executed at the fixed hours. You can experience a virtual adventure ride through the snaps attached herewith... Hope you enjoy the virtual journey as well... For those who were part of the trek, it will be a wonderful reliving experience...

Our's was a group of 16 participants from varied backgrounds and places. But, one thing was common among all of us... The love for nature and adventure. People from the age group of as young as 19 years to 67 years formed the group. The young poured in the energy and enthusiasm, while the senior members provided the much essential experienced cautious steps to be taken.

Thank you for your time,
Regards
Urmishtha