Trek to Roopkund - Part 6

Day 6 - 20th September

Summit Day

Have you ever had tomato soup and pop-corn at 4 in the morning? Well, that’s what we are doing now. Most of us spent a sleepless night yesterday - some owing to the excitement of summiting today, some because they were trying to capture star trails in their cameras, and the rest of us thanks to the snoring ballads by Rhushi. (‘I did not snore at all yesterday,’ he said as soon as he woke up... :P) Everybody had gone to sleep fully dressed yesterday night, so that all we have to do today is wake up and start walking. Everyone is looking fatter with the multi-layered clothing.

An early morning start

We start off half an hour later by the light of our headlamps. Today we have to go to Roopkund, (and Junargali if possible), come back to Baghwabasa, and then proceed to Pather Nachani, or even further till Bedini Bugyal. That is a runtime decision we have to take, depending on how tired we are and how much time we have at hand. As we have to come back to Baghwabasa on the way back anyway, we all leave our rucksacks behind, and just take our water bottles and sunglasses with us.

It is very cold in the morning, and more so because the sun is not yet out. As it is dark, there is nothing much to see around us. The snow covered peaks are faintly visible in the distance. I can see a single file of flashlights bobbing up and down along the trail behind me. The gradient is gentle initially, but becomes steeper as we go on. Ravi, Vineeta and I along with Sardar bhai have gained quite some distance on the others, when there are some flashing signals exchanged between him and Sandeep, who is at the far end of our queue of trekkers. Sardar bhai asks us to wait. In a minute or two Sandeep comes running and joins us and asks us to go slower. He wants the team to walk together today.

More and more snow

Trishul, at dawn

It has started to light up a little now. We cannot see the sun yet, but can see the sunlight striking some of the far off peaks. The top of Trishul is glowing softly golden. It looks exactly like a cone of vanilla ice cream, with a drizzle of honey on top of it, waiting to be licked. The slopes along the trail we are walking on are becoming predominantly white, with the grey rocks creating interesting patterns in between. I find myself walking solo again. Ravi and Vineeta are so far ahead I can barely see them. I can see the others some way behind amidst the meandering trail.

The ice covered rocks

After a while I come to a stream... it is not even a proper stream. It’s just some of the snow that has started melting down which has created a rivulet of water some 5 meters wide. It looks easy enough to cross, just that my shoes will get a little wet. I don’t give it a second thought, and take a step into the water.  But what I don’t know is this – there is a thin, almost invisible layer of ice which has been formed on all the rocks at the bed of that stream. At the first step I take, my foot slips a couple of feet. Heaven and earth mixes into one for a second before I regain my balance. Suddenly I am acutely aware of the slope on my left hand side, down which I would have tumbled. One slip is all it has taken to scare the daylights out of me, and I am not kidding when I tell you this – my mind rewinds to the last time I called up and spoke to mom.

With trembling knees, I come back and wait for the others to join me. In a minute or two, Dipesh and Alhad come in sight. I tell them that I dare not cross the stream alone. Dipesh has a walking stick with him, and tries to break the layer of ice with the end of the stick so that we have a better grip over the rocks. But the ice is quite hard and does not give way. I have this oh-so-brilliant idea of walking up the slope a little, where there is more snow, my logic being that it should be easier to get a grip on snow rather than ice. Which, as it turns out, is quite stupid. After climbing up a few feet, I realise that the snow is as slippery as the ice; and having slipped one more time, (and yeah... remembering the last phone call to  mom again),  I stay put where I am. The three of us wait for Sandeep to come. He is being looked upon as some superhuman force, who would have the ability to pull us out of any fix.

Sandeep reaches the stream soon enough, and takes a measure of the situation. He tries to find some rocks which he can dump in the water to make way for us. But there are very few stones around, and most of them are stuck fast in the snow. As I stand looking at all this, my knees start shaking again with the cold, and I sit down on the snow. Another extremely stupid move, I tell myself as my bum goes numb in half a minute. By now, Sandeep has decided that this strategy of trying to build a path with stones will not work. I see him take his shoes and socks off, and roll up his pants. Has the guy lost his mind?? Agreed, bare feet give you the best grip, but to think of walking barefoot in the ice water is pure madness. But that’s exactly what he does; he walks into the water, and helps us across one by one.

The last stretch

The last bit till Roopkund is a test of stamina. It is very steep, and the snow makes it difficult to walk. The thinning air has made life a little more difficult, and there is severe glare from the sunlight reflecting from all the snow around us. The Roopkund lake is in the middle of a sort of a crater, and cannot be seen till you reach the lip of the crater. So we have no idea how much more we have to climb. I am sure Sardar bhai would have become annoyed with our continuous questions – ‘Abhi aur kitna door hai? Aur kitna time lagega?’  At last, he is fed up, and he says, ‘Dekhiye, aap log trek pe aaye hai, to chalna to padega. Baar baar aise nahi poochhte.’

At last the moment arrives – at about 8:30 in the morning, we reach the top of the crater, and see the lake, the legendary lake shrouded in the mystery of all the skeletons found near it. But the lake is free from all the drama surrounding it; it just sits with dignity and serenity in the middle of the crater, all its stories hidden away underneath its frozen surface. But we are not so good at hiding our feelings, and the emotions come bubbling up to the surface. There are hugs and high-fives all around. It is indeed a great feeling to be standing 5000 meters above most of the people in the world.

First view of Roopkund

There is a Shiva temple near the lake, and prayers are offered to the God whose trishul created this lake. As we walk down to the lake, we see some skulls and bones on the ground. Sardar bhai and Mahesh bhai enthusiastically dig up a few more for us to see. As we are circling the lake, we hear a thundering sound which echoes in the crater.... it’s the sound of the ice sheet covering the lake cracking in the sun. As the snow has already started melting, it is decided that we won’t be going up to Junargali, which is another couple of hundred meters higher. I am a little (... no, very much) disappointed. :( 

Mahesh bhai has trekked from Baghwabasa to Roopkund with a packet full of aalo parathas. As we tuck in those, I express my nervousness at having to descend these slopes. How are we going to climb down these tricky slopes in the middle of this melting snow, I ask. ‘Well, you will have to do it,’ Sandeep says. ‘Climbing up is optional, but going down is mandatory.’ 

Don't we guys totally rock??!!!