Day 4 ( 15th August, 2006) : Kurmotolli Bugyal to Roopkund and back

DAY FOUR: KURMOTOLLI BUGYAL TO ROOPKUND AND BACK

We got up at around 6 am and had some biscuits for breakfast and went ahead with the trek to Roopkund
We are gonna have a very tough day. We had to go to the Roopkund and back an aggregate of 13- 14 kms which included very steep ascent first to Kaluavinayak Pass (1.5 km) and then final ascent to Roopkund (4 km). Phew !!



Wow what scene that greeted us in the early morning. This is towards Pindar valley. We could not see the sun as it was lost somewhere in the clouds and we were happy that whether is clearing .


Fresh snow had come over the mountains behind me which was a feast to the eyes.


Wow what fantastic views were all along the way.
We are moving towards Kaluvinayak.
The whether gods finally relented and there was sunshine and there was oppertuniy to see the mighty Himalayas. Hence, I was rushing towards Kaluvinayak leaving Nitin and Inder Singh behind me.


Nitin is walking towards Kaluvinayak. In the background the Kurmotolli Bugyal can be seen which was our base camp.

By the time, Nitin and Inder singh reached Kalvavinayak, clouds had again enveloped the Himalayas and the views were lost. I managed to take few quick pics before clouds came in !!


The view of Trishul from kaluvinayak . Roopkund is present just below the right most peaks.


The fantastic view of Nandaghunti



The Kalvavinayak temple: The Ganesh temple standing tall at around 4700 m.


This is Brahma Kamal, the state flower of Uttaranchal. It is found at altitudes higher than 12,000 feet only. It is considered very auspicious by hilly people, as it is said to be offered to Lord Badrinath and Kedarnath temples.



These are two huts ay Baguabassa ( 4600 mtr.)the popular base camp for Roopkund. Baguabaasa in local language means the place which is frequented by the leopard !!
We desperately wanted to see animal species, but then it is very rare at such high altitudes.



This place is called Charia Nag from where the very hard and very steep (of almost 60 degree) ascent starts for Roopkund.
Now we realsied that we were walking on a very small path with steel drops below us. The path was direclty below the huge rocky mountains and there was fear of stones/ boulders rolling down.



This is another vareity of Bhahma Kamal found at heights more than 13,000 ft.


This cute looking flower is called as Bish( poison ) by local people as its effects are deadly in nature. Its said to have very strong smell which makes ppl inconsious and it actually resulted in nauscea to me and my guide.

Soon it started raining which made our ascent difficult as there were chilly winds as well, but we were raring to go and determined to scale the summit.


As we were gaining altitude, there were many such glaceirs along the way where the actual path had been washed away.

Nitin was not feeling well since last night. He was puffing and panting at every turn and taking frequent breaks. Hence, he finally decided to call it quits and take rest 1 km before Roopkund.
It is always advisable to plan to make a return from Roopkund before 12 am as the whether can take adverse turns at anytime after noon and there could be fear of getting struck at top.

We set out for the summit.
The final leg to the summit was most strenuous as there was no path and we were walking on the rocky mountain slope( with gradeints as high as 60 -70 degree at times) with looses pebbles/ stones all around which got slippery due to rain.

We were gaining continuous altitude which made breathing very difficuly and my body was being drained of all its energy. We finally reached the summit around 11.30 and I dropped dead on reaching the summit !!But, what I saw from the top was nothing short of a spectacle. The small kund with bright green water and snow around. I prayed to god to give me an oppertunity to reach this place and witness the sight which very few people are able to see.
After breif rest, I got about clicking many pics !!


These are the 1000 year old remains of the human being. The remains also included chappal( sandals), skull and bones of the dead people



This is the small kund with brozen ice on corners and several Brahm Kamal blooming in the periphery.


I was told that there are several full blown dead bodies still intact and preserved by nature which have been pushed by Army inside the snow deposits at the corners of the kund.



More human remains along the kund. There were many more remains/ bones inside the kund


We were walking on the straight faced rocks. It was good that there was rain and fog, or else we would have seen the dangerous drops and got afraid.

The descent from the summit was done quickly, but still dangerous.
We were delighted to meet Nitin at the same place where we had left him !!

We saw a family of 4 dears(kasturi Mrig- endangoured specie)along the way.But they imemdiately scaled the nearby mountain peak before I could out take my camera !!


Steep drops along Kurmotolli bugyal

We reached back to our base camp just before it was begining to get dark.
We could not sleep in our camp as it had beenwashed away and all wet. Hence, out huide quickly arranged our stay in the nearby shephard hut. The small hut was to be our savious for th enight and we could now think sleeping peacefully without bing washed with water.
The shephard man was a friendly person who served us with tea and food.