Trek To Churdhar...

After the “Oh! So many” meetings regarding the do’s and don’ts, what to carry and what not, after the “humungous” effort to put everything in place and the last minute rush for water and food, we finally bid farewell to all our friends and set forth to the weekend trek to Churdhar. 

The Enchanting

TTTT  TThe The    eeeeeChurdhar mountain in Sirmaur is one of the Shivalik ranges at a height of 11965 feet (it is the highest peak in southern Himachal Pradesh), Churdhar, commonly known as Churichandni (Bangle of Snow), is blessed with some of the most spectacular and beautiful landscapes in this region.

29^th October,2010; that Friday night, 20 of us split into groups n seated ourselves in the two mini buses arranged, which were quite comfortable! Most of the journey time was spent knowing each other. We tried our best to keep ourselves awake but after the heavy “Friday” dinner (biryani;-)),how long could sleep evade us?J

We took a couple of small “chai” breaks to keep our drivers awake through the night. In the morning we stopped near solan at a guest house to use the washrooms. Since all of us made quite a long queue, some of the girls(including me!) had to use the “men” toilets :P It was an unexpected “first” in my life that I actually never expected!

We moved on from there and reached Nauradhar from where we had to start our trek! We had breakfast-the gwayor hall paranthas with achaar and after filling our stomachs to full,it was time to shed those extra kilos!

Everyone started with a lot of enthusiasm and excitement but only a few could retain it till the end. It was not long since we had started and we saw Arjun n Harman carrying two rucksacks each!

The trek started getting tiring but the scenic view kept our excitement intact. We aimed to camp at Tisri by the end of the day so that we could go upto Churdhar the next morning and return back that same day! But to our surprise the statistics we had were extremely misleading. It was already four hours since we had started and Tisri was nowhere near! We couldn’t resist taking a half an hour break at the mesmerizing sight of the mountains and trees.It was then that I realized that Friday night was not a farewell to my friends but a break from the fast, busy and monotonous “Delhi” life,which, after 2 years I’m still trying to get used to!

After the much-wanted rest we filled all our water bottles with the stream water.The water tastes way different.It was cold and extremely refreshing!we washed our faces,drank glucose water,stuffed ourselves with whatever little was left and proceeded further. The trail wasn’t that tough but the heavy bags made it quite a deal! For once,I so wished I had not packed all that was there in my bag!! We trekked for one more hour and decided to stop and wait for the entire group since our porter(a local person) told us that camping at Tisri is not possible as it’s too windy.Hence we decided to wait for Prof. Nanda for the next plan of action. Sir and the remaining others joined us after an hour or so where we all decided to camp at the same place since it was about to get dark;which in that “wild-life sanctuary” area was not that safe! There was a small wooden hut which they called a “hotel” from where we got tea and our dinner-dal-rice.the hot tea n food was welcomed by one n all in that cold chilly weather. We pitched in out tents,laid out our sleeping bags and rushed inside to escape the cold! We all gathered in the larger tent and chit chatted till around 12:30 am despite of the fatigue! At night when we stepped out of our tent there was this most spectacular sight I had ever witnessed in my life! I was below the open clear sky that seemed not more than a metre away! Stars twinkling,bright as never,all closely packed!Soon we got engrossed in spotting constellations and shooting stars! I wish I could stay there all night!but Alas!the freezing cold!

Despite the three pair of gloves n socks my hands and feet were numb due to cold.For once I thought,what if I had not brought all that in my bag! :P

We slept pretty late,only when Arjun threatened to pull out our tents if we don’t get ready to start the trek by 6am! To be very frank,that was quite a lot to ask for with the amount of tiredness we felt! The moment I entered my sleeping bag I slept, only to be woken up in the morning with the much required “hot tea”.As soon as we finished our tea,we were told to march to Tisri,without even allowing us to attend to nature’s call! With the “orbit” packs managing our breath we started out trek! The incline was steeper than what we had experienced till now but since we were now trekking without our bags,(Nanda sir agreed to stay back to make it easier for us!) it was still better. We were pretty fast and managed to reach Tisri in 2 hours! Tisri was what made me go crazy!!! There were snow clad Himalayas right infront of me.WOOOW!!!! is all I could say! I was spell bound by the magnificent mountains standing so tall n firm! We waited for an hour for everyone to join and had soom food from the “hotel” up there in Tisri. It was then when everyone decided to trek upto Churdhar,come what may but Arjun blatantly refused us to go further since it would have taken us long(because of the snow) and the much steeper incline. Also, we had time restrain since sir was down at the camp site, waiting for all of us for lunch! Indeed this “wretched” time!!

But since we were so determined to see snow we all decided to go a little further,find snow,and then come back! ;)

Just after 15minutes we encountered snow! That was the first time I actually saw snow! We had fun playing with it for quie some time and then returned back to our camp site! We had cup Maggie for lunch, packed our bags, packed the tents,posed for pictures and celebrated Halloween (thanks to the exchange students:Sonal and Nonan) and started the downward journey!

After the strenuous uphill journey, downhill seemed fairly easy! We enjoyed our way down and could not help admiring the beauty of nature!

It took us less than half the time we had taken to trek up!!!

By 5 pm all of reached Nauradhar!

After refreshing ourselves we left for Delhi in our mini buses at around 6 PM!

The journey back was fun too! We stopped in between for dinner and took quite a lot of “small” breaks now and then to keep the drivers awake. We stopped at a dhaba around 3:30 am for almost 1.5 hours,to let our drivers rest for some time(They really needed it! Driving was getting way too risky!) We had loads of fun interacting with Nanda Sir, who told us about his college life, the changing times and attitude, the change in students and teachers and how St. Stephen’s has evolved over the years! It was quite an enriching discussion!

We then started our journey back to Delhi at 5am and reached college at around 6:30am!

Most of us were dead tired to attend classes on Monday, but a few did, only to sleep in between the lectures!

Nonetheless, it was an amazing experience and I shall not miss any other trek in the coming year! Also I’d urge you all to go for it once in your life!