Gidara Bugyal | October 23 - 28 | 2022

...walking barefoot on Asia's Highest Alpine Meadow...

Trail Walkumentary

We got to the basecamp at Bhangeli the same day team India knocked it out of the park in a nail-biting chase with Pakistan before finally claiming victory. It was 5 o'clock in the evening and we were standing huddled together in one room watching the game being telecast on the grainy screens of what was probably the only television within a 5 kilometer radius of the small Himalayan village! It had been a hectic day involving some very bumpy hours inside a vehicle followed by a steep climb up with heavy gear and excess luggage all the way to the picturesque (but by no means easy to reach) village of Bhangeli.

The night sky was crystal clear, which I found encouraging because I was hoping to capture some star trails along the way. I had brought along with me some new equipment that I had purchased to aid me in astro-photography. Among them was a sturdy tripod for my DSLR and a wired remote that would allow me to operate my camera from the warmth and comfort of my tent. (While we are on the topic, there was a third piece of essential equipment that I had planned to bring along but couldn't because it arrived a day later than expected and missed me - that's the story of my dew-heater (meant to keep dew from condensing on your lens). The moment I stepped out from Delhi Airport and into the warm embrace of Delhi, was precisely the same moment the delivery man knocked at the door of my house in Kolkata).

Next morning we said goodbye to our super-warm blankets in Bhangeli and set out for our 5 day long exile deep in the heart of the Himalayas. The October sky was a deep shade of blue, I was managing to capture this perfectly with my new 360 degree recording equipment (Insta360 X3). The trail was continuously steep without a break or pause. There was a section where we had to cross a river balancing ourselves on three logs that had been laid across presumably by the locals for conveyance. Camping equipment and cooking essentials were following along on mule-back. We stopped for lunch sometime around noon right at the center of a beautiful clearing in the forest.

Clearing

After toiling and sweating for a few hours more, we finally reached our first campsite - Rikoda, where we stayed the night.

We caught the Himalayan glow against Mt. Srikanth just before sunset. 'Himalayan Glow' is a term used to depict the phenomenon of a snowcap turning flaming red, painted by the dying rays of the evening sun. I was fortunate enough to capture this on my camera!

That night I attempted my first star trail.

Himalayan Glow - Mt. Srikanth

It is difficult to put to words how dark it can get post sunset at 10'500ft on a no-moon's day - or, for that matter, how cold! It was after everyone had receded to the insides of their tents post dinner that I set out with my tripod and camera. I found a quiet area not too far from the tents and set up the apparatus. My hands were positively numb with cold and I was wearing 3 layers of clothing apart from head and neck gear. The sky was riddled with stars, much to my delight! I had only the mules to keep me company. Even thought I could barely see them in the dark, I would often catch their heavy trod near me. Their presence gave me a sort of reassurance. If a situation was to arise such as that of a wild animal venturing anywhere near the campsite, I knew I would be alerted well in advance if I observed any agitation in the behavior of the mules. After having setup all the apparatus and automating it, the camera started shooting and I settled in for what later turned out to be one of the longest hours of my life. After a while I started seeing things in the dark like shadows moving near the tree-line or wondering if the occasional rustle of leaves nearby was caused by the careful tread of a stalking leopard. I was relieved when the my watch display finally read 12am and I had enough shots to compose. Here's what it looks like!

Star-trails at Rikoda

Early next morning we started for our next campsite - Dokrani Bugyal. Mt. Srikanth was in full display. The terrain gradually started transforming, occasionally giving way to open grassy sections resembling ocean-waves but green. We first had to climb all the way down to a river, cross it and then go up the other way. During the climb down, we found ourselves in a narrow, winding trail that hugged the mountain wall and went steeply down all the way to rocky river-bed.

Rocky River-Bed

The climb up the other side was very steep. We had to stop multiple times to catch our breaths. The 10+ Kilo bag-pack wasn't helping much - this included 3 kilos of photography equipment - so much for a few star-trails!

I think its important to mention that I was on a preventive course of Diamox throughout the trek. This helped me acclimatize faster with the altitude and kept me safe from any issues that might have been caused from the lack of oxygen that high up. Diamox works in a rather funny way but before I get to that, let me give you a brief about what it means to have a low oxygen reading at high altitude. When your oxy-meter reads something around 85% - 89% in high altitude (10k feet or above) what it essentially means is that your blood contains more CO2 than what is normal at sea level. This CO2 does not exist in gaseous state, instead it forms solid carbonates and bi-carbonates. Enter Diamox! The job of Diamox is to help you excrete these carbonates and bi-carbonates via the inhibition of carbonic anhydrase enzyme. In layman's terms, it makes you want to pee more!! ;)

It got especially tiring at the last stretch before reaching Dokrani. The campsite was visible at a distance but that did little to energize us. Finally the snow had to come to our rescue! It came down in a drizzle, like small flakes that hit the ground a bounced off, and lasted for no more than 5 mins. But that was enough to give us the willpower to climb the rest of the way to the campsite. Dokrani was situated on a slope. The entire campsite was tilted at a 30 degree angle! Tents had been pitched along a small stretch of comparatively flat land bounded on one side by a ledge that led on to an 80-90 degree drop.

As per the itinerary, we were supposed to spend a day at Dokrani for acclimatization purposes. The plan was to climb a short distance and then come back down to Dokrani, spend the night and start for the summit the day after. At least that was the plan until that evening when we were informed that due to unpredictability of weather conditions (the short drizzle of snow indicating that more might be in store) we were going to utilize the small window for summit that was available to us the next day itself, effectively skipping acclimatization day.

Early next morning we started for summit, it was going to be quite a long day. The plan was to come back down to Dokrani after summit so we left most of our things behind, effectively reducing the weight of our bag-packs. I left most of my photography gear behind, including my tripods. The day's trek was divided into 4 parts:

• Climbing up to Dokrani Bugyal from our campsite on the slope

• Crossing the Bugyal to Thalotiya

• Crossing the river at Thalotiya to get to Gidara Bugyal on the other side

• Crossing Gidara Bugyal and climbing up to Gidara Top

• Climbing down from Gidara Top back to Dokrani

Took us 25-30 mins to climb up to Dokrani Bugyal and eventually the narrow trail from our climb up opened up to a vast meadow at the top of which we found a small frozen lake! The climb had been steep and tiring so we took a break there. We had left the tree line behind for at least a day now and the grassy meadow that surrounded us was a shade of golden brown that was typical of Autumn. We did not spend too much time there but continued towards Thalotiya.

Thalotiya was like a canyon with a river flowing in between. We crossed the river stepping on wet, loose rocks, slipping and falling every now and then. On the other side of the river was a steep climb leading up to the start point of Gidara Bugyal.

Crossing Dokrani Bugyal

The sheer vastness of the Bugyal was breathtaking, its difficult for me to put to words. I was relieved, admittedly a little surprised too, to find the meadow hosting little or no human-made litter. Plastic bottles, beer cans and scrap were a common sight these days in Himalayan treks. Fighting against this are environmentally conscious trekking companies such as Indiahikes with whom I had the pleasure of being on this trek! At the start of every Indiahikes trek, trekkers are given a yellow coloured eco-bag that they can use to fill with any waste that they may find on the trail. At Indiahikes, they proudly call it the #GreenTrails initiative, it is centered around the idea of 'Leaving the mountains better than we found them'. The impact they are creating is truly amazing! While trekking, people are advised to walk in their own separate paces. Hurrying results in getting tired much sooner that at sea-level due to the lack of oxygen in high-altitude. This practice has a tendency of dividing the team up into two segments - the 'lead' and the 'follow'. Being in the 'lead' has never been my intention. As a photo/videographer and nature-lover trying to capture as much as possible of my surroundings (with my eyes and ears if not my equipment), I have always found my pace better suited for 'follow'. I have only once regretted this in my life and that was on this day. We were making our way across the reddish-brown Bugyal, admiring the towering mountains that were keeping us company, when, all of a sudden, someone from 'lead' called out that they had spotted a pack of wild-ibex ('Bharal') somewhere further up the trail! Before I could catch up to them, the sheep-dog that the local guides had brought along with us came up with the bright idea to chase after them until they vanished - a feat after which it came back, tail wagging, rather proud of what it had accomplished! Alas, I do not have a picture of Ibex to offer like I did of Blue Sheep after Gaumukh-Tapovan.

Gidara-Bugyal

Among all the autumn-brown, we managed to find a large patch of green on the trail. Our trek-leader Vishnu came up with the idea that we should all take our shoes off and try walking barefoot on the grass. It was soft, wet and cold against my feet which hadn't seen sunlight in the past 4 days.

At the end of the meadow, we got to the ridge we had to climb to get to Gidara-Top. It was quite a steep climb up. The look of it was intimidating to our tired selves. Nevertheless we got to it! Now all that was left to do was to follow the ridge until we got to the summit.

Ridge to the summit

We got to the summit tired and drained, the lack of an acclimatization day had taken a physical toll on us all. I had a splitting headache, many others had similar symptoms of altitude sickness. One guy had to be taken back down immediately with the help of a fellow guide. Spirits nonetheless were running high! We all took our turns posing with the summit banner, the trek had been completed successfully!

The journey does not end here though. After the summit, we came down, spent a day at Dokrani and then went down to a lower campsite called 'Munda-ka-Thathar' to spend the buffer day that we had earned by pushing for summit a day early. It was here that I found an amazing location to shoot a star trail. We were camping adjacent to a small lake which made for a beautiful foreground element. This time, however, I conducted the entire process from the inside of my tent. The camera was intervalometer automated and shot for 3hrs and the results that came out were pretty amazing!!

The bright yellow Indiahikes tent made for a great bright foreground element!

With that, my journey comes to an end. Thanks!

If you want to experience the trail visually, please watch the walkumentary videos present at the beginning of this post. If you have any questions, feel free to post them in the Hikophilic Community Forum or reach out to me directly at the details provided in Contact!

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