Trek to Brahmatal
After planning, delaying, doubting and re-planning the winter trek, I set out on one of my most unplanned trip to Bhramatal with my senior, Tanmay Nema. Our overnight journey in a sleeper bus brought us to Kathgodam. Here we dined at the Udupi wala while we waited for a shared cab that would deliver us to Lohajung, the base town to Bharamatal. The journey, which would extend over 7 hours through winding mountain roads was an obvious challenge which we were hoping would be kind on us.
We spent most of the journey catching up on sleep and listening to Kumaoni songs. We also spent some time conversing with others in the cab who impressed upon us the power (“Pachak Shakti”) of pahadi water and told us about life in the interior regions of Uttarakhand. The road was patch-work at best and it was about 5:00 before we reached Deval. From here, we paid the cab driver specially to take us to Lohajung. The festival of Holi is celebrated with great gusto in the hills and along the journey we saw processions from villages dancing and singing in the festive spirit. In celebratory mood, our cab driver also gulped down some spirits while driving us from Deval to Lohajung, while we could only watch, dumbfounded. We decided that this risk was not risk enough and so we climbed up and sat on the vehicles roof.
But perhaps, it was not all so bad. Our drunk driver speeding on the rusty mountain road, while we carelessly sat on the roof and enjoyed the chilly wind and the magnificent views at dusk. The car rolled into Lohajung at 6:00. Here we met our trek leader, Krishna bhaiya, who showed us the Lodge where we would rest for the night. After 18 hours of bumpy car and bus rides, it was a relief to be finally able to stretch our legs. The peaks of Nanda gumti were visible from Lohajung and looked magnificent in the light of dusk. We quick freshened up and walked down to a restaurant for dinner.
As the night sky dawned, we were disappointed to find a full moon that obscured the stars. However, we spent a great amount of time gazing at the stars, talking science and figuring out the constellations. The town had already retired and a silence blanketed the town but could do nothing about the dropping temperatures which approached 0 degree celcius by the time we decided to move back to our room from the balcony.
Next morning, after feasting on parathas, we set out for our camp at Begum. The climb from Lohajung to Begum was gradual, and while we stopped for a break mid-way, we were still energized when we reached the camp-site. On the way, Krishna bhaiya taught us the best way to combat wild pigs and mountain bears. He also spent a fair deal of the climb talking on the phone, which we figured was just phone sex with his girlfriend (It wasn’t, we just figured). When we reached the campsite in just over two hours, we were surprised. We were expecting more rigour, we were barely tired. We helped set up the camps and spent time exploring the area around the campsite.
After lunch, it started to snow. The gradual falling of flakes was magical and I could only stare at the sky with my mouth gaping open. It was my first snowfall in all my twenty three years of existence and I witnessed it with childlike wonder. We decided to go for a small hike in the snow and with our trek leader we ventured through the forests. We reached a spot where we decided to stop and marvel at the view. We witnessed as the wind helped snow-flakes defy gravity and circle in whirlpools. In the distance, we could see the multiple layers of cascading mountains we had traveled through the previous day. As the snowfall started to clear and the Himalayas started to come into view, we saw snow capped peaks reveal themselves one by one. But we were blown when a specially tall mountain face seemed to appear out of nowhere and dwarfed the other peaks in comparison. It was a breath-taking moment. We could only stare at the towering Himalayan peak in all its glory.
On our return, we stopped at a point to discuss the rural life in the hills. How the village folk come to the forest with their cattle in the summers and stay over in stone huts for several months. We saw how wild pigs were a menace to farmers and how Paharis are fiercely territorial even in such harsh environments. Upon our return to the campsite, we had evening snacks and played ludo with our trek leader and the cook, who was also named Krishna and belonged to the same village, Wan, as our trek leader. As night dawned, we sat by the camp-fire and ran into two people one of whom turned out to be a junior from our alma mater, DTU. The heat from the fire was a relative relief from the dropping temperatures. I played the pahari tune that the village folk sing during the festival of holi on my harmonica with the help of Krishna Bhaiya who broke down the tune for us.
That night we had a difficult time sleeping because of the cold.
Next morning, the pachak power of the mountains finally showed its effect to us. Enjoying the pahari chill and the adrak chai that we were served, we took in our surroundings. Today, we were headed to Bekaltal, the first frozen lake that we would see. The trek wound through steep jungle and eventually, thick snow. The sight of thick blankets of snow, covering entire mountain sides was surreal. As we started to walk on the snow we realised that it was not easy task. We would frequently slip, or our foot would get stuck in the snow.
Bekaltal, the frozen lake was a beautiful sight. We threw a pebble into the lake and instead of breaking the surface, it smoothly skid across it. Beside the frozen lake, we took our first long break and dozed off in this magical and calm setting. We also clicked a ton of pictures and used some of the snacks we had brought along. While we lazed, we let Aerosmith play on the phone speaker.
The goal of the day, was about an hour’s trek from the Bekaltal lake. Here we had lunch which comprised of namkeen parathas and achar. Then we made a snowman, and coloured it with gulal. This was our way of celebrating holi. We also met fellow trekkers here, who in passing wished us holi, and coloured each other with gulal. The trek back to our camp was particularly strenuous towards the end. However, at the camp we were greeted with pakodis. Sitting idyllically, we stared at the clouds above as they passed us. We realised how infrequently we took time out to do this and just be in sync with nature sometimes. Soon after, we slept as we read our books that we had brought along while Chet Baker played in the background. We woke up in the evening and played a game of ludo with our hosts and had dinner. That night, we wrapped our jackets at our feet to protect us from the cold. The trick worked, however we still slept fitfully.
On the last day of our trek, we departed for the peak at 8:00 after having morning ginger tea and dalia. The climb to the peak was steep. The snow was difficult to navigate and we stopped at a rest point. Here, while the sun warmed us, we enjoyed views of undisturbed snow covered mountain slopes. While I played the harmonica for a while, Tanmay Bhai used the signal opportunity to video call friends. We set back for the peak and before we knew it we were standing on it. Due to clear weather, we witnesses the entire range from Trishul, Nanda Gumti, Ali Bugyal, Bedni Bugyal to Pindari Glacier. We could only guess where Brahamatal might be, the snow was so heavy. We saw spots where the snow had not deposited or melted and the contrast proved that the snow indeed was 6 feet deep. On the peak, we clicked many pictures, had a snow fight and found ourselves a nice rock to sit on. Here we talked and chilled while Chet Baker, again was a soothing influence.
Soon after we had allowed ourselves to be sun-burnt, we were on our way back down to the base camp. We slid most of the way down on the snow tracks. We were back to our base camp very quickly. Here again, we had some snacks, and rested for a while. When we woke up, we set up a game of “Pithu”. It was one of the most authentic and laughter filled moments we experienced in a while. We felt so free from our earthly cares and so close to nature. The pithu game exhausted us completely and when Pakoris were served, they were welcomed most graciously. Then on, we played a game of ludo and later another game of pithu. This time we played Delhi vs Wan and the cook also joined us. The game was stopped when pahari women who were returning to their villages stopped by our camps for tea. We chatted with them and tired to pick the stock of leaves that they were carrying for their cattle. They laughed when we had a hard time doing so while we were shocked how they managed this daily labour so effortlessly.
We also trekked some way down to a place where a shepherd lived and his sheep were grazing on the mountain side. We spent some time around the sheep, watching them move around and trying to pet some of them. Then when it was almost dusk, we came back to our camps and stayed in our guide’s camp, till dinner, chatting and playing another game of ludo. The dinner was absolutely delicious and was followed by another round of ginger tea.
We soon retired to our own tents. The next morning we had to trek back to Lohajung and were there in little time. We finally let go of the bet we had set at the beginning of the trip and checked our emails for updates. The journey back was tedious and we had to wait and switch multiple cabs before we reached Almora, where we fed ourselves. From here, we left for Niglat, where we were to rest for the night. On the next day we visited Nainital, and then found our way back to Delhi.
