Day 1 - Sonmarg to Nichnai campsite
5,6,7 is the schedule setup by Dushyant sir for our first day.
5 is the time for tea - which means we need to get up by around 4.45 am to "prepare" ourselves for tea. I'm pretty nervous considering that I need to finish my brushing and other basic needs by 5am. And also we all need to drink at least 1litre of water early morning. This is a tough task given that the water is fresh and cold from the streams and the weather is very chilling too! But we cannot argue with Dushyant. Also none of us are interested in getting hit by AMS (Acute Mountain Sickness).
So at sharp 5am we get our garma-garam (hot) tea. All of us had brought our tea/coffee mugs. At sharp 6am our breakfast is ready. Around 6.30am our lunch is ready which needs to be packed and taken in our own lunch boxes. Officially this activity has been christened as 'pack-lunch'. At sharp 7am, all of us are ready to kick start our trek. Dushyant comes and gives a briefing session on the do's and dont's, hands over an eco-bag (which we need to always carry to keep the environment clean) and also teaches us on how to pack our sleeping bags and how to unpitch our tents. All these activities charge up the sleepy heads. I have already offloaded by 8kg rucksack but still have my 5kg day bag. I'm feeling good having taken 1.5 ltrs of water. Our oxygen levels are checked using an Oxymeter. I and hubby seem to be in very good shape at this point of time. We take this opportunity to click some pictures in and around the base camp, check out the horses seen nearby and make a couple of calls.
Needless to say that I have already started to feel a bit uncomfortable in my fleece and gloves and cap and everything else. Dushyant has already repeated the importance of sunscreen. Yes it is important. Important than almost anything else. (I realize this only at the end of the trek).
Our trek starts! Lot of energy! I get to see the trail. I cannot call this as a trail!!! This is a steep ascent and the path is only 5 inches wide! My super wide feet (I was called as Miss Big Foot when I was in China), which has become even bigger with my trekking shoes are struggling to find any space to land! My eyes try to look down and I get a vertigo! Oh my god! I cannot fall down from a small hill 5 minutes into the trek. My confidence level drops and I panic. With a lot of pep talk from my hubby, I struggle and struggle and reach a flat land! OMG! I am panting. I need water! I need an energy bar. I just had my breakfast like an hour back and I feel as if I have not eaten for days! I cannot be exhausted this early. I take some rest and now I see a really beautiful meadow right in front of my eyes.
I scan my co-trekkers and all of them look strong (except for a few). Those few make me feel good. That always happens. I am in search of "The Mississippi". Obviously I'm "The Minnesota".
We reach a break point where we recharge ourselves, take some pictures and give away some chocolates to local kids. Our trek resumes and few hours of steep ascent again. Dushyant teaches me a few tricks which will help me get through this. Soon we reach the Table-top Dhaba where we get the privilige to eat some yummy hot omletes! Also we finish our packed-lunch. We befriend a mountain dog too. All good so far.
As if the mountain Gods wanted to test our group, it starts to rain and our rain ponchos/ coats are out. My assumption that I might be able to enjoy my walk if it rains is slashed as I struggle to walk through the slushes. I slip multiple times while walking through those 7 inch muddy trails. I am not supposed to look down the slope as it might once again bring back the vertigo. This is no good for me. With a lot of help from my hubby and my trek mates I some how try to reach a point which looks flat. Beautiful streams and majority of the group has been resting for almost 10 mins now. I have just reached the point and I take a break.
My legs hurt. I have never felt these many muscles in my body. Every inch aches! We have been trekking for hours now and nobody is talking about the campsite yet! I'm almost confident that I am not going to complete this trek. I keep giving hints to my hubby who kept giving me a blank expression. Trek resumes. We walk and walk and walk. We climb and climb and climb. It is raining endlessly. Shravan bhai from India Hikes tries to help me. I am exhausted. Super exhausted. All of a sudden I breakdown. I weep, very badly. My hubby is in shock. I realize that this is not happening. Me completing this trek is a myth. This campsite is a myth. I need to go back!
My hubby takes the small Nike day-bag from me and assures that I will be fine and we will reach the campsite in no time. From nowhere Dushyant appears and takes my bag away from my hubby. So me and hubby walk a lot more easily. Nobody has seen me crying. Thanks to the rains!
I'm struggling to walk through the stones - slippery ones. And all of a sudden as if to please me and cheer me up, there comes a huge flock of sheeps. Cute ones. Really chubby, rosy, cute sheeps. I cannot be unhappy seeing these cute creatures. I manage to touch a few of them though they run away in no time.
Struggling and panting we reach our first camp site! It is raining and I'm feeling very feverish. They give me a seat in one of the tents and a cup of hot water as well as tea. One of our trek leaders Ravi is doing his level best to ensure that I'm not freaking out. But I'M FREAKING OUT!
That night it is freaking cold and I manage to have the dinner followed by litres of water and some medicines. Surprisingly my oxygen levels are pretty good. And I actually don't have fever. I'm just freaking out. We had walked almost 12kms that day! This is Nichnai campsite. We had reached almost 11,500 ft. Sonmarg (our base camp) was almost 7000 ft above sea level. We had made very good progress!
I regain my confidence and sleep for the day. Hoping to have a much better day ahead!
5,6,7 is the schedule setup by Dushyant sir for our first day.
5 is the time for tea - which means we need to get up by around 4.45 am to "prepare" ourselves for tea. I'm pretty nervous considering that I need to finish my brushing and other basic needs by 5am. And also we all need to drink at least 1litre of water early morning. This is a tough task given that the water is fresh and cold from the streams and the weather is very chilling too! But we cannot argue with Dushyant. Also none of us are interested in getting hit by AMS (Acute Mountain Sickness).
So at sharp 5am we get our garma-garam (hot) tea. All of us had brought our tea/coffee mugs. At sharp 6am our breakfast is ready. Around 6.30am our lunch is ready which needs to be packed and taken in our own lunch boxes. Officially this activity has been christened as 'pack-lunch'. At sharp 7am, all of us are ready to kick start our trek. Dushyant comes and gives a briefing session on the do's and dont's, hands over an eco-bag (which we need to always carry to keep the environment clean) and also teaches us on how to pack our sleeping bags and how to unpitch our tents. All these activities charge up the sleepy heads. I have already offloaded by 8kg rucksack but still have my 5kg day bag. I'm feeling good having taken 1.5 ltrs of water. Our oxygen levels are checked using an Oxymeter. I and hubby seem to be in very good shape at this point of time. We take this opportunity to click some pictures in and around the base camp, check out the horses seen nearby and make a couple of calls.
Needless to say that I have already started to feel a bit uncomfortable in my fleece and gloves and cap and everything else. Dushyant has already repeated the importance of sunscreen. Yes it is important. Important than almost anything else. (I realize this only at the end of the trek).
Our trek starts! Lot of energy! I get to see the trail. I cannot call this as a trail!!! This is a steep ascent and the path is only 5 inches wide! My super wide feet (I was called as Miss Big Foot when I was in China), which has become even bigger with my trekking shoes are struggling to find any space to land! My eyes try to look down and I get a vertigo! Oh my god! I cannot fall down from a small hill 5 minutes into the trek. My confidence level drops and I panic. With a lot of pep talk from my hubby, I struggle and struggle and reach a flat land! OMG! I am panting. I need water! I need an energy bar. I just had my breakfast like an hour back and I feel as if I have not eaten for days! I cannot be exhausted this early. I take some rest and now I see a really beautiful meadow right in front of my eyes.
I scan my co-trekkers and all of them look strong (except for a few). Those few make me feel good. That always happens. I am in search of "The Mississippi". Obviously I'm "The Minnesota".
We reach a break point where we recharge ourselves, take some pictures and give away some chocolates to local kids. Our trek resumes and few hours of steep ascent again. Dushyant teaches me a few tricks which will help me get through this. Soon we reach the Table-top Dhaba where we get the privilige to eat some yummy hot omletes! Also we finish our packed-lunch. We befriend a mountain dog too. All good so far.
As if the mountain Gods wanted to test our group, it starts to rain and our rain ponchos/ coats are out. My assumption that I might be able to enjoy my walk if it rains is slashed as I struggle to walk through the slushes. I slip multiple times while walking through those 7 inch muddy trails. I am not supposed to look down the slope as it might once again bring back the vertigo. This is no good for me. With a lot of help from my hubby and my trek mates I some how try to reach a point which looks flat. Beautiful streams and majority of the group has been resting for almost 10 mins now. I have just reached the point and I take a break.
My legs hurt. I have never felt these many muscles in my body. Every inch aches! We have been trekking for hours now and nobody is talking about the campsite yet! I'm almost confident that I am not going to complete this trek. I keep giving hints to my hubby who kept giving me a blank expression. Trek resumes. We walk and walk and walk. We climb and climb and climb. It is raining endlessly. Shravan bhai from India Hikes tries to help me. I am exhausted. Super exhausted. All of a sudden I breakdown. I weep, very badly. My hubby is in shock. I realize that this is not happening. Me completing this trek is a myth. This campsite is a myth. I need to go back!
My hubby takes the small Nike day-bag from me and assures that I will be fine and we will reach the campsite in no time. From nowhere Dushyant appears and takes my bag away from my hubby. So me and hubby walk a lot more easily. Nobody has seen me crying. Thanks to the rains!
I'm struggling to walk through the stones - slippery ones. And all of a sudden as if to please me and cheer me up, there comes a huge flock of sheeps. Cute ones. Really chubby, rosy, cute sheeps. I cannot be unhappy seeing these cute creatures. I manage to touch a few of them though they run away in no time.
Struggling and panting we reach our first camp site! It is raining and I'm feeling very feverish. They give me a seat in one of the tents and a cup of hot water as well as tea. One of our trek leaders Ravi is doing his level best to ensure that I'm not freaking out. But I'M FREAKING OUT!
That night it is freaking cold and I manage to have the dinner followed by litres of water and some medicines. Surprisingly my oxygen levels are pretty good. And I actually don't have fever. I'm just freaking out. We had walked almost 12kms that day! This is Nichnai campsite. We had reached almost 11,500 ft. Sonmarg (our base camp) was almost 7000 ft above sea level. We had made very good progress!
I regain my confidence and sleep for the day. Hoping to have a much better day ahead!
Someone said "Chasing angles or fleeing demons go to the mountains". Everyone of us find our Demons as well as our angles while trekking. Agreed that first day was bit more toward demonic side :) but it was an eye opener for everyone of us. Waiting for more days of hard work to be documented ...
ReplyDeleteDay 1 and day 6 still remain as the most challenging days for me not because they had the toughest terrains. Because I had worn out physically/emotionally on these 2 days. Day 1 - my fears. Day 6 - exhaustion. But dar ke aage hi tho jeeth hai :)
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