Day-6: June 17th, Bhagubasa(~ 14500 ft) to Roopkund (~ 15500 ft) & Junargali( ~ 16000 ft) and back to Bedni Bugyal I had a sound sleep the previous night because of the long and tiresome trek that we did. I woke up without any symptoms of fever and was perfectly fit to trek to Roopkund and Junargali. It snowed the previous night which is common at this altitude levels. We had some tea and maggi for breakfast and we started for Roopkund at around 6.00 AM. We carried warm water with us as it would be difficult to drink from the icy streams. After walking for about a kilometer, we saw first signs of the snow patches on the trail. We walked on hard ice and snow which was a kind of fun for us. Walking on snow was easier compared to hard ice as the hard ice walk looked like walking on greasy roads and our guide used ice axe to cut steps through the ice.
The whole trail is surrounded with huge mountains and it was totally a different experience. Now, we could see peaks of Mount Choukumba rising over the clouds more clearly than before. After one point the well-marked trail disappeared under heavy snow and we were treading cautiously. The final half kilometer is a 60 degrees climb over heavy snow and we were climbing up on all fours to get a better grip on the dangerously perched rocks. As usual Aswin was way ahead of us and he was climbing effortlessly while we were taking regular breaks to counter the thinness of air.
For some of the guys, it was difficult to trek as it takes some hardship to walk on the ice. While me, Raju, Karthik and Murali scaled the last climb without any support, our guide has to use trekking ropes to help the other guys. All of us were so elated as if we scaled mount Everest. We trekked faster and better as compared to our last Himalayan trek where we walked like zombies. I was captivated by the 360 degrees view around us. We could see clear sky above and around us and the horizon was as clear as it could be. We were all enjoying the place and happily clicked some snaps. We thanked our porters and guide. Our porters also did a small pooja for goddess Nanda devi for which we offered our prayers and a small donation.
The lake was completely frozen and there was no sign of any of the famed skeletons anywhere around it. While we were enjoying the surrounding locations and the beauty of the lake, Karthik was desperately searching for skeletons but got disappointed later as he couldn't find any. Mohan reminded us that we still have to trek to Junargali and we should hurry as the weather can turn worse at any time of the day. We all had a glance on Junargali and it looked like it was about 400-600 feet high and the climb is a steep 60 degrees up. Raghu, Vivek, Karthik, Hari, Vasanth and Pavan refused to come with us and told us that they are satisfied with the views at Roopkund and they don't want to strain themselves more. While me, Aswin and Murali decided to trek all the way to Junargali, Raju and Ram told us they will trek as far as their body allows them to do so.
As the trail to Junargali was steep, we were talking smaller steps so as not to strain ourselves. After sometime, Vasanth joined our group as he thought himself of doing the trek till Junargali. It was almost hiking in soft snow for the first 200-300 feet and then we reached a point where we had to negotiate the rocks. At one point, the trail became treacherous and we had to climb up using rope held by our guide and porters on either side. This is where we encountered an event we never expected of and we got shaken by it for the next couple of minutes. The story goes like this: When we were trekking the treacherous path, Aswin was resting on a rock, waiting for us. As were approaching him, he tried to get up to resume his trek but his camera got stuck to a rock, detached from the strap, fell from the cliff and started rolling down the snowy mountain. Everybody thought that it will stop on the flat terrain below us but to our shock, it slided over and leaped over another cliff and broke into pieces. Later, when Aswin went to collect the camera, he found his camera in a battered shape but luckily found his memory card which was dear to him. Whoever were on their trek to Junargali, imagined themselves in place of camera for some time and wondered what would have happened to them if they had the same fate.
We all reached Junargali and its a ridge which one uses to cross over to reach Shilasamudra It took us around 45 minutes to complete the steep and treacherous trail from Roopkund. It was indeed a great feeling to be here on the top at ~ 16000 ft. The feelings were simply out of the world. The views from Roopkund were limited as the lake lies in a shallow crater like formation behind the mountains. However, the views from Junargali were great and one could get 360 degrees view from here. We could see mount Trishul as well as mount Nandghunti ranges so close. One can also see a snowy patch far away to his/her right which would cover some 3-4 football fields. If we go along the Junargali ridge and trek down, we can reach Shilasamdra(Shila – rock, Samudra – sea) and Homekund.
From the past trek experiences I had, I always felt happy after reaching the peak but after that the descent is always killing and a boring one. Sometimes its more challenging than the climb as it hurts the knees very badly. I was getting down faster and trekking down alone as I wanted to reach the Bhagubasa camp and take rest. After all of us reached Bhagubasa, we had ice - cold lemon juice which was a refreshing and luxurious drink for us at such an altitude.
Since we have done the trek successfully, we felt that the burden to complete the trek has been removed from our mind. Raghu, Ram & Vivek informed us that they were not feeling well and they are going to load their rucksacks onto the mules. Even our guide agreed to that as the mules were carrying less weight now due to our consumption of the food items. As usual Raju, Vasanth and Pavan's rucksacks were loaded on the mules. We had a little lunch and started for Bedni Bugyal. Now we were walking coolly as now we were not much concerned about our health. When we reached Kalu Vinayak, we once again offered our prayers to Lord Vinayak and our guide blew couch shell to perform pooja. When Murali got to know that whoever lifts Kalu Vinayak stone and does three pradakshinas(revolutions) around the shrine, will get married soon, he immediately did it as he might be wishing to get married soon.
The weather was excellent while trekking down to Bedni which made the trek down the same trail dissimilar. We didn't took much breaks and wherever we stopped, we took snaps of the alluring nature. We reached Bedni by 4.00 PM and all of us immediately ordered maggi and omelet. That night, we had a good sleep as we got tired of walking ~ 20kms on a single day.
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