Basic Mountaineering Course @ ABVIMAS Manali

Course started with reaching Manali early in the morning on 30^th April. I took a cup of tea at bus stand and came to know that Atal Bihari Vajeypayee Institute of Mountaineering & Allied Sports (ABVIMAS) is situated on left bank of river Beas in Aleo which is 2km from bus stand. I preferred to walk.

Zeroth day was spent visiting Hadimba Devi Temple and roaming in the market. First day of the course went in selecting course senior and dividing students in ropes (groups). Instructors tried their best to make sure no two person of same state stay in same rope. Next seven days we woke up early to visit nearby sites with our rucksack on the back. We visited Vashisht,Suru Devi and Hadimba Devi temple. Every day we were going to field where we practiced rock climbing, jumaring, rappelling and river crossing. Post lunch time was utilized in learning some theory which include introduction to Himalaya, Hazards in mountains, Mountain illnesses and Mountain manners. In this time we also learned knots to be used in mountaineering. 7^th of May was given to us as free day.

There was artificial wall climbing on 9^th May. Next day was a departure to Solang Nala where we reached in the afternoon with our rucksacks (full of equipments and personnel clothing) on our back. It was trek of 13km. We went for acclimatization walk in the evening and there was small lecture on flora and fauna. On 12^th May we left for Patalsu peak with water bottle and refreshment. Next day we left for Bakar-thach, our training area. It was 11 km trek out of which first 7 km was by road while last 4km was little steep. There was raining on the way and we reached half wet. Tea was served in the kitchen at camp.

Camp site was surrounded by Hanuman Tibba, Seven sisters, shitidhar, Friendship, Ladhakhi and Manali peaks. There was snow all around us. We played volleyball in the evening. We (rope 4) won our match against rope 3 by 15-5. Next day was acclimatization walk, we took round of mountains around us. We went to Beas glacier and Beas Kund . It was sum total of 16 km walk and we came back to camp at 2:30PM.

Next two days were training on snow and lectures in the evening. On 17^th May it was raining and our instructors decided to wait for some time. Rain continued for whole day and we kept resting inside our tents. Next day it was still raining and our instructors decided to go in the field. Due to heavy rain today, day ended only in demonstrations. Next day weather was clear, first we practiced anchoring and belaying on snow then there was lecture on crampon and cramponing. We used crampons today and it was long day we came back 3:30PM. 20^th may , Instructors decided to train for whole day to cover up days lost due to rain. We went to Beas glacier and practiced ice wall, tractioning, rappelling and jumaring on ice. We came back to base camp by 6:30Pm. Next day was height gain and we were given nuts, refreshments as next day lunch will not be there.

We woke up 4:30AM and started preparing for height gain. We left by 6:00AM. I started strong and reached Beas kund with first group. From here on I and Purvesh we both went together and reached 15,800 feet by 12:15.It was great joy to achieve it. We came back to camp by 6:00PM. Next day was test on rock climbing, knots, rappelling, snow craft and equipment knowledge. In evening we came to know that there will be survival night today. We were asked to bring empty rucksack, water bottle, carry mate and were asked to come back in morning. Gurvinder(Rinku) found a good place and we were 10 people in the place and spent good night.

Next day it was raining, we left for Solang. I called friends,home and spent evening in tourist area. Next day was trek to Manali. 25^th May was written test. There was graduation ceremony on 26^th May and majority of students left that day only. I left Manali on 27^th May and came back home same day.

Fingers crossed, let us what grade I and my friends will get.

For Mountaineering enthusiasts, i have posted pdf explaining daily activities and experiences.

Basic Mountaineering Course

Beas Kund Trek

This trek has been done as a part of training in Basic Mountaineering Course at ABVIMAS Manali.

Day 1: (Trek to Solang)

Trek started from Manali. We left at 8:30AM, first we went to old Manali. We went through barua, bahang villages. It was a total of 13Km trek. Shops were there on the way where one can buy namkeen and other edible stuff.

We reached there by 2:00 PM. We stayed there in ABVIMAS building while one can also stay in hotels nearby. This place is also famous for winter sports, in winter there is good snow fall at this place, national/international competitions are organized here while in summer paragliding/jorbing etc events are there for tourists.

Day2: (Trek to Bakar-Thach)

We were ready with our rucksacks in the morning. Today we will be travelling 11km of distance which includes 7Km of road and 4km of trek. We reached ‘Dhundhi’ around 10 o’clock.

Next was trek which involves passing across small stream. We had crossed half the distance and it started raining. It took us 3 hours to cover 4 KM and we reached our camp site at ‘Bakar-Thach’. From here Beas Kund is 4KM.

Evening was spent here playing volleyball and clicking photographs.(view of a clear night in Bakar-Thach in picture above)

Day 3: (Trek to Beas Kund and return to Solang)

We trekked to Beas Kund (view of Beas Kund from top in picture above). It involves crossing Moraine of Beas Glacier, one can find its way through the Moraine using Cairn (stone structures). We reached there at Beas Kund 7:30 AM after spending 2 hour here, one can leave directly for Solang (we stayed in Bakar-Thach for next 10 days).

Day4: (Trek back to Manali)

This day can be utilized for trek to Manali and evening can be spent in roaming around Manali, visiting ‘Vashisht temple’ where natural hot water geyser is there.

Kumaon Explored

Date: 13-Feb-2010 to 17-Feb-2010

Member: Saksham Nagar and me

Expenditure: 1700 per person

Starting and End point: Ghaziabad

Day 0: Took Ranikhet Express only train connecting Delhi to Kumaon Region of Uttrakhand. Slept well.

Day 1: After contacting some local people we get to know that transportation from Haldwani is better than Kathgodam so we left that train and came out of the station.Some quick sips of tea and we were ready to start our journey to Ranikhet. Bus-stand is near station and one can take a bus private or roadways (recommended). It was a 4 hour journey where mountains started in first kilometer of the journey.

Ranikhet Bazaar: First impression of Ranikhet bazaar was that people are very foody. Bazaar was full of sweets, tea and namkeen shops. We were hungry and took our breakfast in the only complete veg restaurent that we found, 'Bhagat Bhojnalya'.

Hedakhan Mandir: Temple is devoted to Baba Hedakhan and there is one ayurvedic hospital also. Temple also provide some good seceneric views of Kumaon hills. We walked till this place which is some 3-4 Km from Ranikhet in 'Chilianaula'. Another way is to get here is to take share cab.

Golf Ground: This is the second best golf ground of Indian Army after one in Kashmir. Time we reached there some officers were playing. Walking to this place was good experience as we got chance to take come good photographs of snow covered peaks of Himalayas. This is situated 5 Km from Ranikhet and we took a cab back on our way to Ranikhet.

Now it was time to find a hotel. We came to Tourist Rest House of K.M.V.N (it is in mall road, 3 Km from Ranikhet Bazaar) and booked a room. During dinner downhill at 'Prem Hotel' , Local people told us that various movies named 'Honeymoon', 'Hakumat' etc shooting has taken place in and around this hotel.

Day 2:

Woke up late in the morning ( continuing hostel habits) . After having tea, we came to mall road.

Jhula Devi Temple: We came to know that there is temple nearby. We decided to walk till this place. Temple was peaceful. From this place next destination was 'Apple Garden'.

Apple Garden: Raniket is known for its apples also. We were in mood to walk to this place from Jhula Devi Temple, Army person told us that "Bagh (Tiger) is roaming in this part of jungle, it will be better to go in Cab". We followed his instructions. There was no apple in the garden as it was a fall season but we managed to get some good clicks.

Sitlakhet: This place is 20 Km from Rankhet. To reach this place first we took a bus on a way to 'Almora' and left the bus after first 10 km at 'Kathpudia'. From here we took share cab till 'Sitlakhet'. Place was worth coming Snow Covered peaks of 'Himalaya' was clearly visible.Here in 'Sitlakhet' one person recommended us to go to 'Syahi devi' temple. It was 5 km trek, after 3 km trek we realized that we have not seen human since last 1.5 km and we heard dogs barking. At this point we decided not to continue further and came back to market.After one hour of struggle we managed to get a share cab and reached 'Kathpudia'. Here we took bus to 'Kosi' next stopping point. Here we went down to river 'Kosi' and took some photos and came back.

Almora: Next stay was 'Almora'. It was 10 km from here. We reached there and booked a hotel 'Ranjana'.

Almora Bazaar: Point of caution, do not come with all your money, because market so well designed for retailing that you may end up spending all of it. Up hill market is 1Km long market and we really enjoyed walking and eating around here.Took our dinner at 'Bhumika Restaurant' , again the only veg restaurant that we found.

Day 3:

Chatai Temple: This temple is of lord 'Golu Devta' who is worshiped by lot of people around here in Kumaon Region. There is ritual of binding a bell and application on tree near the temple. This place is 10 km from 'Almora' .

Kalimutt and Mohan's Cafe: This is 10 km from 'Almora' and this place is known for Seceneric beauty. Recommended way to reach this place first reach Kalimutt by cab and then take 1 km walk till cafe, where on the way you will get to see nice view of 'Himalaya'.

This was the last point of out trip. We took cab to 'Almora' ,then a bus to 'Haldwani' and then a bus to 'Ramnagar'.After reaching 'Ramnagar' we came to know that Corbett reservation center is close and some other tourist told us it is not worth spending to go Corbett. Beside that we was not having time to stay inside 'Dhikala' so decided to come back.

Back Journey was interesting first 30 km in Sleeper, next 40 km in General and next 200 km in sleeper. Finally we reached Ghaziabad.

Ambarsar Trip

Sidharth Garg,Sarwanjeet Singh,Nimesh Jain, Aujaswi Agarwal, Amit Sukamaran, Saurav Anand, Amkit Singh, Rakesh Satpute and Roshan Rane.

Trip: Amritsar

Duration:10 Aug 2008-12 Aug 2008

Ambarsar is the one place which is expected to be visited by every Punjabi at least more than once but before this I have not been there. Plan of this trip is little interesting J

Day 0 (10 Aug 2008)

Our mid-term exam ended. I asked few of my friends to go for some trip to nearby place and I got cold response. Rakesh told me that he and Roshan along with HR guys are going to Amritsar but I was little reluctant at time.

I reached at dinner 5 mins before usual timings and saw all of them in mess. Now it was impossible for me stay in college while so many others going out. So I just told them that I am coming and I was there ready to go without any railway-ticket and arrangement (thanks to their friendliness as I had not met majority of them except Amit he is difficult to ignore due to his height).

We reached Ghaziabad Station at 9:30 and I bought general ticket which we later converted to SL.

Day 1 (11 Aug 2008)

We woke-up around 7AM and we was supposed to be Amritsar by this time But mind you ‘Chattisgarh-Express’ is really a fast train and we was behind schedule by 5 hours. On the way I passed on rail-lines in front of my Engg. college ( In college we use to think about travelling on this track).On the way Sarwan was eager to go his village just before station but we didn’t let him go.

We reached Amritsar at 1PM late by 6 hours. After getting fresh at station we went to ‘Harmandir Sahib’. Yes the place is really beautiful. Nearby is ‘Jallianwala Bagh’ where sign of mascare is still there. It was 3PM and we took taxi to ‘Wagah-Border’. Sarwan left to meet his family now

The place is of utter importance between India and Pakistan. The enthusiasm from both the sides was awesome and Slogan of ‘ Hindustan Jindabad’ and ‘Pakistan Jindabad’ was filling the environment with patriotism .By 5:30 PM ceremony was over and we came back to Amritsar by 6:30PM.

We decide to have dinner at ‘Bharawan da Dhaba’. Spending half an hour more at Golden temple we was back to station where Sarwan was waiting for us and he bought ticket for me as well. After some nitty-gitties I was able to get a seat. Good Night.

Day 2 (12 Aug 2008)

Reached Delhi around 7 AM and I left them as I was having a schedule to see ‘Singh is King’ with friends at Noida. Good bye that is how a good trip ended.

Trip to Hemkund Sahib,Valley of Flower,Badrinath

Pranam (Namastak) to The Ganges (Alaknanda + Bhagirathi + many other tributaries) which we followed throughout our trip

‘Ganga tera pani amrit

Jhar-jhar behta jaye

Sadiyo se is desh ki dharti

Tujse jivan paye’

(Ganga, your divine water is flowing continuously and we are thankful to you for giving life to this country land from centuries)

I along with Naveen and Saurbh (Both classmates, group mates and good friends) went on this trip. Here I will document six days of our wonderful trip.

Day 0 (11-Aug-2009):

Ghaziabad to Haridwar

Journey started with me and Saurbh leaving from Ghaziabad in ‘Dehradun Jan-Shatabadi’ at 4:00 PM while Naveen leaving from ‘Ambala’ at 3:00 PM.

We all met at ‘Har-ki-Paudi’ around 9:00 PM and went for dinner at ‘Choti-Wala’. After dinner we took bus to ‘Rishikesh’ which further took 45 minutes to reach there. We were supposed to take bus from ‘Garhwal-Bus-Stand’ so after reaching bus stand we took auto to ‘Garhwal’ bus stand. First bus to ‘Gobindghat’ was 4:00 AM. We stayed at ‘Arvind-Lodge’ near Bus stand only, for that night.

Day 1 (12-Aug-2009):

Rishikesh to Gobindghat

Bus started on time but we waited for some passengers on the way. In ‘Rishikesh’ there is gate to go for Hills and it opens at 5:00 AM. So we again waited and came out of ‘Rishikesh’ effectively by 5:30 AM.

Now the next stop was ‘Dev-Prayag’ where we took our breakfast. Journey again started and we were following ‘The Ganges’ throughout. At Dev-Prayag, there is ‘Sangam’ of ‘Alaknanda’ and ‘Bhagirathi’ which are two major tributaries of ‘The Ganges’ which we see in Haridwar. After this we were back-tracking ‘Alaknanda’ on our whole way . Bus was quite slow on the way due to landslide prone areas. After crossing one more barrage at Joshi Math, we reached ‘Gobindghat’ by 5:00 PM.

At Gobindghat

This is the last place on the route upto which any vehicle can go. Huge number of bikes, cars and buses were parked along the riverside. Number of lodges and hotels are available here for stay. If you are interested you can stay in ‘Gurdwara’ as well that is free of cost. Eatable things are costly here. For example: Rs.20 ‘Limca’ bottle was Rs.30 here.

‘Food’ is provided free of cost at ‘Gurdwara’ as well. We took a lodge and took a bath. After having dinner at ‘Langar’ we were ready to roam around and went for a walk. Also from here starts our regular after dinner sessions of 3/2/5(playing cards) in which I used to be favourite ‘bakra’. We slept around 9:30 PM to wake up early in the morning.

Note: Rain Coat and Stick can be bought here which are really helpful for trekking.

Day 2 (13-Aug-2009):

Gobindghat to Ghangaria

This was the first trek for our trip. It was 13 Km trek and we started around 8:20 AM with all our stuff on our backs. We started with all jackets on which came off as we started trekking. Initially we were resting a lot in between.

Sometimes we left Naveen behind and then wait for him. At one place our trek came near ‘Alaknanda’ and we clicked some beautiful shots.

After this point me and Saurbh started following some short-cuts and reached ‘Ghangaria’ by 2:30 PM. Major portion of trekking was now completed and time was to have a night stay here.

At Ghangaria

To stay numbers of options are available over here as well which are not very costly. To eat you can get everything (Dosa,Paranthas etc). We went out to find some room and found a nice camping tent to stay. Now we came back at entry of ‘Ghangaria’ to wait for Naveen.

Naveen was not ready to move a bit further after coming to camp. He stayed in his comfortable sleeping bag while Saurbh and I went out for sight-seeing and took food at ‘Gurdwara’. At camp we met Mr. Lal KK and his friend Mr. Abhilash who were from ‘Kerala’ and on a kind of ‘North-India’ trip.

Price of eatables was rising along with height. Now that ‘Limca’ bottle was costing Rs.40. But our favourite Gulab-Jamun was still at Rs 5/piece.

Day 3 (14-Aug-2009):

Happy Janamashtami

Ghangaria to Valley of Flowers

We started at 8:00 AM and permission for entrance was obtained at start of trek for valley. From there it is 3 Km trek and it took us 3 hours to reach valley entry point (Time include photo clicking time as well).

Inside the Valley

I and Saurbh planned to go inside the valley and Naveen opted to stay behind near valley entrance. There was good variety of Flowers available and certain small tributaries of ‘Alaknanda’ was there on the way. After walking around 4 Km, we reached a place at which river bed and flowers was making beautiful scenery. The valley was looking nothing less than ‘Heaven on earth’. Saurbh was interested in walking more and we trekked 3 Km further in hope to reach ‘Tapda Glacier’. But even then glacier seems too distant and we started back trek.

When we were around 2.5 Km away from entry point, it started raining. Our rain coats were with Naveen, so by the time we reached him, we were completely drenched. There was small bonfire set up by some local people so we sat there and left the place around 2:45 PM. It took 2 hours to reach back.

Now we were left with no energy but to sleep at 4:30PM to wake up only at 9:30 PM. We took our dinner and took one ‘Crocin’ each and went to bed again.

Day 4 (15-Aug-2009):

HAPPY INDEPENDNCE DAY

Ghangaria to Hemkund Sahib

This was exciting day as all our clothes were all wet and this was supposed to be the coldest part of the trip. And the rain which started the first day was not ready to stop now. Any how I and Saurbh left the place around 7:30 AM while Naveen left on ‘Khachar’ (Ghoda) at 6:45 AM.

This was really a very steep trek with not even a single downward slope. We were following short-cuts and covered first 4 km in 2:30 hours and we ate something on the way. After 4 Km there is short-cut of around 1000 steps through which we reached the top within 40 minutes.

Hemkund Sahib

Now we were at Hemkund and the place was very cold. But good thing was ‘Langar’ availability from ‘Gurdwara’ . We took tea and ‘Khichdi’. We sat in front of kitchen fire for 45 mins so that the wet clothes we were wearing get dried up and then went to ‘Gurdwara’.

We were in 2^nd ‘Ardaas’. There are total 3 ‘Ardaas’ done daily at 10:00 AM, 12:00 Noon and 1:30 PM. After ‘Ardaas’ we went for ‘Laxman’ temple that is near ‘Gurdwara’. There is a beautiful lake in the back of ‘Gurdwara’. Now last thing at the top was to drink cup of tea and we started back trek.

Now back trek was quite steep and main problem was wearing raincoats due to non-stop rain. We were like falling during whole trek but covered all distance in 2 hours and then came to our room (Tent we had booked for 2 days only). On the way we bought some radish for ‘Mooli Paranthe’. Eating that was last thing on that day and we slept to wake up early morning.

Day 5 (16-Aug-2009):

Ghangaria to Gobindghat

This day again started with raining. As usual I and Saurbh wake up after Naveen and he was about to left for back trekking to ‘Gobindghat’ .

We left half an hour later than Naveen after having our favorite breakfast of Corn-Flakes and Plain Parantha. Raining stopped and we were more than happy. On the way we were searching for him (Naveen) but we were not able to follow him. We met Mr. Lal who was also going down on the way and clicked some good photos which he will be mailing us soon.

After first 8 km that we covered in 2 hours we drank ‘shikanji’. Then I decided to run and in last 5 km I ran for almost 3 km and was able to find Naveen in last 2 Kms. It was 12 noon by the time we all met at ‘Gobindghat’. Local men told us gate is open now for ‘Badrinath’ next time it will open at 3:00 PM. So we left immediately.

We easily found a bus for ‘Badrinath’ and we left the place. During first 15 km way of ‘Badrinath’ it seems every rock wants to come down on the road and there was good probability of land-slide. Fortunately we didn’t found any blockage on the way but some repair works were going on due to recent damages. Anyhow, we reached ‘Badrinath’ by 2:00 PM.

Badrinath

Major relief here was the low prices of food items(at MRP) and mobile network coverage(only for post paid connections). This was practically off-season for Badrinath tourism. There are number of lodges and hotels available where one can stay. Naveen was having some booking at ‘Jagadhari-Dharamshala’ so we stayed there. Panditji at Inn was a nice guy. He took us to temple where we saw ‘Nar-shila’,’Narayan-Shila’,’Barah-shila’ and took bath in ‘Hot-water-kund’. He was acting as our Guide during the whole ‘Mandir Darshan’. Then we completed pooja and went out to eat something and booked our tickets back to ‘Rishikesh’. Now it was time for me to sleep (no 3/2/5 game this time). While Saurbh and Naveen took their dinner with Pandit ji.

Day 6 (17-Aug-2009):

Back Journey

It was raining whole night and we were suspecting some land-slide on the way. By 5:30 AM we were at Bus-stand and had a quick breakfast of tea-biscuits . First bus for ‘Rishikesh’ leaves at 6:00 AM for which you can either book a tickets a day before (like we did) or on the spot. But to get a seat of your choice it is advised to book a day earlier.

Bus left on time. Whole day went in travelling and fortunately there was no major landslide on the way. Our driver was quite expert in handing small ones. Reached ‘Haridwar’ at 6:45 PM as Naveen correctly guessed on the way. There we three departed from each other. I started for ‘Ghaziabad’. If you have read my first my first blog, you must be knowing, it is not possible for me to travel without encountering a bus puncture. Finally my bus got punctured which delayed me. I was back in Hostel by 1:30.

I came online and found Saurbh also online from his home. Then I went to sleep. That’s how a good trip ended. :)

Thanks for reading this blog. For any queries regarding trip mail me at sidharth.nitj@gmail.com