Kashmir Great Lakes Trek - As it happened - Day 3

Day 3 - The Big Day! - Gadsar Pass & Vishansar-Kishansar Twin Lakes

5, 6, 7 schedule. I wake up after a good night's sleep. Our tents are covered with a thin sheet of snow. Last night the temperature had dropped a lot. We fill up our bottles with a good amount of glucose. We need it! It's a big day! We are supposed to reach and cross the Great Gadsar Pass!

I try to incorporate the valuable lessons taught by Dushyant (also backed up by my hubby). I take very short breaks while I walk. My mind is really drifting. I feel exactly like Walter Mitty in the movie The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. It happens to be one of my favorite movies of all time. I try to frame what I'm experiencing in the form of a blog. I've already prayed to all Gods before I started the day. I am talking to myself trying to motivate me. I need to succeed today. I need to do this!

Hours into the steep ascent my heart almost stops! I can hardly breath. Each inch seems like a mile! I can hardly see through the snow falling onto my eyes. I have removed my sunglasses as it was doing more harm than help. I am frozen in this steep mountain. All of a sudden I hear someone screaming 'It fell'. I am nervous. Did someone fall and roll down the mountain??? And someone said 'Sathguru's bag fell'. For some reason in my mind it got translated as 'Anjana fell from the mountain.' I think I'm expecting that to happen at any moment.I feel the path where we are walking cannot be measured in terms of inches. I can hardly keep my feet! The wind is becoming stronger and stronger pulling me backwards. Everyone is struggling! All are trying their level best to make it to the Pass. Coming back to the bag which fell - Shravan bhai runs through the mountain, defying the term called 'gravity' and gets the bag back in minutes! This guy has immense flexibity - mountain's own child! This also gives me a confidence that even if I roll down the mountain, Shravan bhai might probably be able to rescue me. But so far noone heard the news of 'Anjana falling and rolling down'. Shravan bhai keeps chanting the 3 words - 'Chalo, chalo, chalo'. This keeps even the slowest trekker moving. In fact, if I hear 'Chalo, chalo, chalo' in my sleep, I might just wake up and start walking. We are that much used to hearing these 3 words by now. With immense support from my hubby, Shravan bhai, I somehow cross those narrowest possible paths and reach the Great Gadsar Pass!!!!

Words are not enough to explain the satisfaction and happiness I felt at that moment. Tears rolled down! I immerse in the view! Yes I climbed and reached 13,750 ft above sea level!!!!! THIS IS ACHIEVEMENT! AND I'M QUITE PROUD OF MYSELF! I thank God for helping me survive till here!

We can see the twin lakes - Vishansar and Kishansar from here. It is simply marvelous! It is truly surprising how those horses with the heavy baggage tied to them make it to this tricky Pass. I overheard someone saying that at times horses roll down while climbing this pass and have a tragic ending. Fortunately our horses came up safe!

All of us try to click as much as 'victory' pictures as possible. A couple of group pictures taken too. 

After tasting success we all are pretty charged up. There is a reason why Day 3 is called as 'The Day 3'. The ordeal is not over yet. Now starts the steep descent. You need to double your focus now. It has to be focus, focus and more focus. Nobody wants to slip and roll taking the whole team down this steep mountain. The trail is very slippery given than a good amount of snow has already melted. I take advantage of my descending skills. I do a pretty good job in moving fast.

We can see some breathtaking glaciers to our left and some stunning flora of Kashmir valley to our right. I pick those beautiful flowers to make a small bouquet. I love these small and beautiful flowers - violet, yellow, white and what not. Soon we reach a very beautiful meadow where a beautiful lake is to be seen. We are supposed to wait for the entire team here before going further. We relax here for a few minutes, click pictures of the glaciers, meadows etc.

Trek resumes. We walk past the beautiful meadows and reach Gadsar lake where we finish our lunch.

What follows from now is a visual treat. Truly stunning Kashmir valley covered in lavender colored flower blanket. My legs are unstoppable. My DSLR is getting utilized to the utmost! I'm reminded of Switzerland on one side and New Zealand on another side. Kashmir is truly paradise on earth! The unparalleled beauty of Himalayas makes me speechless! My DSLR could not do justice to the beauty of this breathtaking landscape.

After taking a short break with trek mates, I continue to breeze through this breathtaking landscape. I have already forgotten my muscle sore, congestion, cold and everything which happened an hour back. This walk has been a treat to my mind, eyes and soul.

There is an army checkpost on the way towards our campsite. Our ID cards checked. One of the jawan gives a cup of hot water which is a big relief after this long walk. It felt pretty good being at an army checkpost and have some small-talk with the jawans. Also we came to know about some notorious paths/'galis' through which militants are expected to infiltrate. These 'galis' are pretty close to our campsite. I got very excited on hearing this news!

I reach our tent with a feeling of complete satisfaction. I start to feel my muscles aching and breaking! I am feeling very feverish. I take a short nap. My evening is pretty short as I quickly finish the dinner, take a couple of medicines, ginger water and get into my sleeping bag. Temperature has dropped quite a bit. Someone said it is going closer towards -3 degrees. Oxygen level checked and again it seems pretty good. I have ensured that I drink at least 5 liters of water every single day! I drift towards sleep in no time.