Nag Tibba trek — Jan 2016
Trek stories are truly infectious. I am not talking about this one, but the ones I heard.
In mid 2015, when a couple of my friends went on for treks, I eagerly listened to their mountain stories and experiences. I did not see myself doing these things, but slowly I started to imagine what it would be like to do treks, take the opportunity to photograph with minimal interference from people.
And another thing that really made me attempt this was an urge (probably for the first time in my life) get out of the comfort zone. Trekking or North India or Hindi or the weather — Everything was way out of my zone.
Until I attempted these things, I never knew they were so simple and my comfort zone is not as small I think of. And treks, let me warn you, are really addictive.
What was really plan to visit Mussoorie in January with my office team, quickly turned out to be a solo trip with a trek.
Day 1
The first day of the trip in Mussoorie was an eventless one. The next morning I joined the rest of the trekkers as our jeep took us through Yamuna river banks to the Pantwari village from where the trekking started.
After reaching the starting point around noon, we were given dos and donts and some basic trekking tips. Everything was in Hindi but I managed to figure out the keywords and form my own meaning based on them.
Within seconds of starting the hike, I was panting for breath. I knew it would happen, but this soon? It showed my fitness levels and my adaptability (or lack thereof) to the Himalayan winters. I was not alone in this, all my fellow trekkers went through the same — all of us being first timers.
In an hour, we took a break. Lunch was arranged and hot rotis were served. We had to keep the plates for the rest of the trek after washing them in cold water.
We were supposed to reach the Nag Mandir campsite in the next 4 hours or so. Our trek lead decided we were a bit slow for that, and we decide to camp in a site that was an hour before.
Camping is THE best part of trekking. Living in wilderness. Experiencing magic by losing some of your comforts. One night in campfire was enough to get acquainted with each other and share our stories.
Upon arriving at this campsite, we were taught on how to pitch our tents and were made to pitch our tents with the TL’s help. Easier than I thought , but the more interesting part came as in how to use the sleeping bag. It was fun seeing a fellow trekker(the only guy with any prior experience) demo it and explaining to use, but the fun vanished when I had to use it. Tents and sleeping bags are no friends with the taller people.
We were told about the challenges of the mountains, some basics of Altitude sickness, what was treeline, snowline and so on. We also learnt some interesting things about avalanches.
For me, there was a sense of disappointment on one aspect — no signs of seeing snow anywhere.
Day 2
It changed the next morning. After we unpitched the tents ourselves (a good thing to learn), we started around 9 to the Nag Mandir campsite — the place we were supposed to have camped for the previous night. Few minutes into the day’s walk the Trek Lead came to me and told me to expect snow within the next few minutes.
I know this really doesn’t count, but enough to scale down the disappointment.
Soon we reached the Nag Mandir campsite, we kept our rucksacks there and started to the Nag Tibba summit with just our camera bags and packed lunch.
We went through the dense forest with the Trek lead more hopes in me saying that a bit of snow is expected at the summit. Having no idea of what summits in general would look like, we started the trek up towards 9915ft Nag Tibba summit.
Around the last few minutes before reaching summit, we found more ‘traces’ of snow. There were footprints of a carnivore in the snow as well. Higher we went we started to see more snow. Just before the summit, my wishes came true (atleast partially).
It was chilly, windy, cold and still sunny — a combination I never expected anywhere. Yet we had ample energy to click pictures and DSLR selfies and some snow games, before we settled for lunch in the summit. That was a wonderful feeling. Having a lunch at close to 10,000 ft surrounded by the mountains of the Garhwal Himalayas.
Here are more pictures taken near the summit.
The way back was pretty eventless. As all the trek stories go, we also had our Himalayan canine friend with us from the second day. That evening, we even spotted the red fox. Our canine friend was pretty old, given how he struggled to spot the fox, still managed to chase the fox for a while.
But the night was painful as my back hurt me like never before. While the rest of the guys were enjoying the night, I quickly slipped in a pain killer on the Trek Lead’s advice and went inside my tent.
Day 3
The next day was fine. The only highlight of the return trail, was that I got to shoot what I think is my best attempt at Landscape photography so far.
I was expecting this trek to be a one-off thing. But mountains have their final say. Needless to say, my first experience even though a really simple trek has made me wanting for more.
I’ve learnt quite a few lessons though.
1. Chennai climate is hot, but that is better than cold Himalayan winters any day. No more complaining about the tropical weather.
2. Hydrate properly during the treks. I really did overlook this aspect and was down for more than a day due to dehydration after the trek.
3. Bring a nice winter jacket, I brought my dad’s jacket. It was fine but was too heavy and uncomfortable lugging it around all the time.
4. While running as preparation for the trek, take it slowly. I was a bit greedy, and try to increase the pace and distance, ending up with knee pain and foot pain for the week before the trek.
5. Don’t take the cardio training for the trek lightly. A better trained body will allow you to enjoy the trek even more. And if you are a photographer, it gives you that extra energy to pick up your camera while still catching your breath.
Big thanks to Wakeel ji from Bikat Adventures. He did a wonderful job and we were lucky to have him as our guide.
Thanks a ton for patiently reading till this point.
PS: I started writing this close to 10 months back(around Feb/March 2016), with most or the writing happening around June.
