Kashmir Great Lakes Trek - As it happened - Day 5

Day 5: Zach Pass and Gangbal-Nundkol twin lakes

Having a partially injured knee can bring your enthusiasm down when you are in a trek like KGL. This was happening to me. As far as the landscape was concerned I really want to enjoy the entire trek to it's fullest. As far as physical conditions are concerned, 50% of my energy level was getting drained away in managing my leg. I even talked to Ravi to find a way to skip Day 5 and start descending to Naranag. But I was told that there is only one way to reach Naranag - complete this trek. Okay so I need to go with the flow. Also we were told that today was the last day with ascends. And the next day which is the last day is going to be much easier than today. So it was all about gathering some energy and tackling this day.

The trek for the day starts with ascending through a whole bunch of boulders. Okay so my knee is in a certain situation. And I need to ascend through boulders. Seriously?! But out of nowhere I got this energy. It was like lightening struck me! I started playing around with these boulders and lo and behold, I'm running through the boulders! I am having fun, super fun! This is not boring like the normal ascends which we have been doing. This one is tricky and fun. I thoroughly enjoyed the climb, in fact my run, and reached the top in no time. I could not believe myself! WOW! I felt like a hero!

This was followed by more ascends (the normal ones) which I struggled. I guess I was in love with boulders but not with normal slopes. We reached the last pass of our trek - The Zach Pass.  Yet another mind-blowing view! We could see the twin lakes of Gangbal-Nundkol and also 2 more lakes (whose name I cannot recollect). Another victory moment. I guess we were at 11,800 ft above sea level now.

By now I have completely forgotten about my knee. From here we had to go through a very steep descent. It was very tricky given that the path had loose rocks. Boulders are fun and safe as they are big and chunky. So you can land on them safely. Loose rocks are very tricky. You can slip if you land on them carelessly. You need to focus a lot while descending through a narrow path with loose and sharp rocks. Hence all of us together walk quietly. Focus, focus, focus. For some reason my legs are unstoppable. Anurag, one of our trek mate, helped me in certain tricky situations.

Pretty exhausting descent. It is amazing how locals, who are not wearing any kind of shoes, glide through these slopes. I saw one old local lady who took minutes to descent through this slope. Experience cannot be beaten!

Steep descent comes to and end and we take a short break for our lunch. We click some pictures here. Adithya had pointed out some wild flowers. Interesting ones. Also we spot some garden lizards. Weird creatures! I am super scared of these reptiles!

Soon trek resumes. My legs are again unstoppable. Descend, descend and more descend. Then we cross a small stream and there is a pretty meadow. This is followed by an ascend again which drains away a whole lot of energy from me. This is followed by a meadow walk. We can already see those orange tents, our campsite! On almost all the days, campsite always sounded like a myth. This is because even after walking for hours together, the campsite was just not possible to be spotted.

Any campsite will have a huge obstacle to cross and today was no different. Yet another hurdle created by some boulders. Again I jump around and in record time reach the campsite! It was just 1:35 PM! Wow! Dushyant had estimated 3.30-4 PM. Me, hubby and few others were very well ahead of time! Moment of happiness!

We get enough time to take rest, unpack our rucksacks, munch some snacks, have a cup of tea etc. The group was pretty relaxed as the trek is almost coming to an end. There are no more campsites to conquer. Guys in the group take this opportunity to take a dip at a nearby lake. Pretty cool experience they might have had.

Our campsite is at the foot of Mount Harmukh. This one has some religious beliefs associated to it. It is believed to be the abode of Lord Shiva. Below pictures are taken by the avid photographer of the group - Deepak.

I and hubby spend some time at the lake shore. The Nundkol lake is sapphire in color, pristine and very attractive. A soothing experience. Another beautiful evening to remember.

As I said in the beginning, half of us had not really registered for KGL. It just happened that our original plan got cancelled and we were put into this. For us, this is the last campsite and the next day we are descending back and returning to Srinagar. The original KGL group is staying back and they can enjoy their rest day.

Dushyant arranged for another fun evening to share our KGL trekking experience. Also he distributed our KGL Trek completion certificates. Proud moment!

This was followed by something very special. The next day, i.e., Sept 11th, I & hubby are celebrating our 2nd wedding anniversary. A pretty interesting date to remember. In fact it is for the anniversary that we planned to do this trek. During a conversation we had conveyed this to the group as well. Also our trek mate, Shikha, was celebrating her birthday on the same day. All of a sudden a beautifully decorated cake appears! OMG! India Hikes has arranged a cake for us! To celebrate our wedding anniversary as well as Shikha's birthday! This was unbelievable! How can someone bake a cake in between these mountains? Kudos to the chef!

Cutting cake in the middle of mountains has been the most special moment I can remember till date! Thanks a ton India Hikes!

So our trek was coming to an end. This is the last day in our respective tents. I go to sleep with mixed feelings. I'm pretty relieved that I'm going back and hence my legs can relax. But I was sure that I will these mountains and the people! One more beautiful day to remember.