Kuari pass, Curzon's trail - the doorway to himalayas

Close your eyes and dream of paradise - shimmering snow, wonderful contrast of the towering Pine & Walnut Trees, the pearly white slopes and those cobalt blue skies - A happy kind of blue, At peace with myself…

Now back to the reality, standing high on pearly white mountains, with heavens above and the earth at my feet, watching brooding sunlight pouring nature’s nirvana on a snowy mountain land. I fail to find the difference between the dream and this reality, can you?

Sometime ago (probably back in 2011) phrases of a song called ‘Mountain Sound’ by the Icelandic band ‘Of Monsters and Men’ registered in my mind, -

"I heard them calling in the distance

So, I packed my things and ran

Far away from all the trouble

I had caused with my two hands...’

I started reminiscing about this song after my friend Sankha, who had been “calling” me (read nagging) for the past year or so, successfully convinced me to join him in a winter expedition to ‘Kuari Pass’ in the heart of Uttarakhand.

I am a Software QA, occasional traveler, someone who likes mountains, but has acrophobia. I know, it sounds funny in my ear too. But it is what it is. I believe to overcome your fears it's best if you face them head on. So, I did too. I followed a rigorous exercise schedule (at least it felt that way to me), considering I am not much of a ‘outdoor sports’ type of a person; morning walk (jogging) for thrice a week, hitting the gym 5 days each week for mostly cardiovascular exercises and a diet mainly consisting of green vegetables, good quantity of animal protein – were my keys to attaining some form of fitness to undertake a successful trekking expedition.

We were a group of 28 people (counting the members of the arranging organization also), I didn’t know most of them. My core group consisted of my friends - from school Sankha, from college Koushik and Samit and from Cognizant days Saptarsi. I made a few more acquittances along the way during our trips who added to our happy memories.

As this was my first real trek (barring the only experience I had in Susunia a few years back) and that too amidst winter’s snow, the early nerves would have led to ‘more’ haphazard packing & preparation if not for my mother’s insistence, help & my friend Samit’s Guidance. Still there were some issues with my packing as I took unnecessary amount of clothing but not enough winter wear. Despite all these I returned happier on multiple aspects.

DAY -1: [HOWRAH - NEW DELHI] – 23rd December 2017(Saturday)

As dawn broke I was excited for a fresh start. All the anxieties of life were put on the back burner for the time being, with a packed rucksack on back, a sleeping bag in hand (on lend from Subhankar Da) & a heart full of renewed hope, I boarded ‘Poorva Express’ from Howrah station along with my friends Koushik & Saptarsi for New Delhi @8:05 AM. There we were also joined by Souvik (a friend of Sankha, a new friend we made during the trip).

Let’s not discuss the train journey as it was not a pleasant one (and so is true for any journey in Indian railway crossing over Bihar or Jharkhand), rather let the jargon hum in your ears as it did in mine, -

‘…Hold your horses now (We sleep until the sun goes down)

Through the woods we ran (Deep into the mountain sound)

Hold your horses now (We sleep until the sun goes down) …’

DAY - 2: [NEW DELHI – HARIDWAR] – 24th December 2017(Sunday)

On the next day, we were supposed the reach NDLS station @6:05 AM completing the 22hrs long journey, however due to another known feature of Indian railway we were late by almost 3.5hrs. There, we were joined by Samit who was travelling from Bangalore (whose flight was also some 2.5hrs late due to foggy sky). Our plan to spend some time around Delhi was thrown into tailspin due to the time crunch created by this train delay. Hence, we took our lunch and waited in station to board ‘New Delhi - Dehradun Jan Shatabdi Express’ @3:20 PM.

We reached Haridwar by 8 PM, from there we were joined by another new friend through Souvik and the six of us walked via Haridwar Railway Station Rd-Haridwar Main Rd-Upper Rd for about 25 mins to reach our pre-booked hotel where the rest of the team (total 28 including us) were already present (they came boarding a prior dated ‘Doon Express’). We were already tired from the long journey. Hence, some of us showered, everyone took their dinner and went to bed.

There are mainly two popular round-trip routes from Haridwar to Kuari Pass (According popular web results) -

R1: Haridwar – Nandprayag – Ghat – (Sutol Village – Ghunni – Jhinjhi Village – Pana Village) – Dakhwani – Kuari Pass – Tali – Auli – Joshimath – Haridwar

R2: Haridwar – Joshimath – Dhak Village – (Karchi Village) – Tugasi Village (Lower & Upper) – (Palogeta Village) – Gulling – (Chonter Gatta – Bor Tal) – Tali Campsite – Chitrakantha – Khullara Meadows=Kuari View Pt. 1 – Chitrakantha Top – Lord Curzon Trail – Kuari View Pt. 2 – Puli Dhar Col – Auli (via Tali & Gorson Bugyal) – Haridwar

We took the shorter one i.e. R2.

DAY - 3: [HARIDWAR – JOSHIMATH] – 25th December 2017(Monday)

On a semi-sunny Christmas morning our team of 28, headed by Subha and Co. started for Joshimath in a 30-seater Bus after consuming our breakfast but not before I clicked a few snaps of the ‘Holy Ganga’ in the famous Har-Ki-Pauri ghat.

I thought about passing the 12hrs(plus) journey in bus by overhearing conversions, making small talks trying to know the newly met people, but I was and am not good in either one of them, hence to pass time in my mind-palace I started remembering Joan Halifax –

‘Mountains…a geography for pilgrimage, place where people have been humbled & strengthened, symbols of the sacred center. The closer you come to the mountain the more it disappears... its body begins to spread out over the landscape losing itself to itself…Heaven, Earth and human meet in the raining of the past. Heaven, Earth and human meet in the winds of the future…’

When the day dreaming was over, I noticed that the drive from Haridwar to Joshimath is a beautiful one. The route is along tributaries of Ganga. The road goes along hugging the mountain side and I Saw the forests & valleys of Garhwal below. Keeping company with uphill picturesque drive & Devaprayag (Confluence of Bhagirathi – Aloknanda to form Holy Ganga) we arrived at Joshimath @about 9:30 PM, took our dinner and retired for the night. It’s noteworthy here, that by reaching Joshimath we were @ an altitude of approx. 6,696 ft.

DAY - 4: [JOSHIMATH – DHAK – GULLING] – 26th December 2017(Tuesday), 6 KMs Trek

We did try, but failed to start early. Around 8:30 AM we started from Joshimath in our bus and reached Dhak Village (6,956 ft.) after a short 45 mins drive (picturesque ride of around 10 kms).

We had a brief introduction session from our guide Dipak. We learned about some basic disciplines required for a successful trek adventure.

We geared up to start the trek @around 9:30 AM from Dhak, with the beauty of Himalayan villages on our left, along the dusty trail of a consistent and moderate incline. After 1.5-2 kms, we passed the lower Tugashi village where I saw water streams managed by the villagers for irrigation purposes. After hiking up further 500-600 mts, we passed through upper Tugashi village. Typical mountain village lifestyle, cattle houses & wooden Himalayan houses all together gave us glimpses of a hard-working society.

We moved up to leave the dusty & rocky terrain behind for much greener pasture. As the forest area kicks in the civilization reduces its presence gradually from here onward. We hiked through the jungle, along with a small water stream in a steady incline till the campsite at Gulling (9,832 ft.), decorated with Oak & some pine trees around.

DAY - 5: [GULLING – TALI] – 27th December 2017(Wednesday), 4 KMs Trek

We were tired, most of us. As this was the first time we slept out in the open (within tents), That too surrounded by snow in temperatures below 0 degree. But we had unparalleled passion & determination to see this through and a constant chatter in our ears,

‘…Through the woods we ran

Some hid scars and some hid scratches

…. (Hold your horses now...we ran) …’

On this day, the serious hiking started as we were walking through a jungle trail covered in soft ice and mud. I almost slipped more than a few times along the trail.

After a steady ascent through the forests where every now and then, you get out of the forests to a clearing or a meadow and then get back in (interplay of two different kinds of landscapes was really something) we reached the campsite of Tali, it was almost evening and we were surrounded by dense forest & a water source nearby. A few patches of our camp site were snow covered and some 5-8% of our tent area was on snow as well. As per the guide’s instructions no one was allowed to enter their tents right away, rather sit outside, converse with the team, play some games if possible (a few of us played disc catching) and after an hour or so we went for a half an hour acclimatization walk around our campsite. After our return the interesting part of that day was over.

DAY - 6: [TALI – KUARI PASS – TALI] – 28th December 2017(Thursday), 15 KMs Trek

Our guide Dipak informed us that Kuari pass trek is known as “Curzon trail” after George Curzon (Lord Curzon), who took this expedition in 1905. A little search around the web yielded the following information– Kuari Pass means "door way". The Kuari Pass Trek got famous after Lord Curzon, Eric Shipton & Bill Tilman explored the region from Ghat via Ramni, crossing few lesser passes (Vinayak Pass, Tali Top) and five major rivers - the Pindar, Kaliganga, Mandakini, Bheriganga and the Dhauliganga. A famous (who knows fictitious or not) story is that (from a local India Hikes guide named Dinesh Kuniyal) Curzon while crossing the Kuari Pass to go towards Auli asked the locals what do they call this place. At that time due to spiritual/religious believes (as the pass and surroundings was known part of ‘Dev Bhoomi’) people used to avoid passing through there and this place was untouched (virgin). Curzon after knowing that in native dialect such a thing is called Kuari named the place as 'Kuari pass'.

We were advised to carry only our day-packs today, so did I and Saptarsi. Samit couldn’t let go his love for photography, hence he forced two water bottles in his DLSR-bag and marched ahead. We were suggested to carry own water, as there would not be many water sources along the way (in fact, there was only one). After an early start @8 AM, we walked through the jungle consisting of patches of snow for about 1.5 KMs to enter an opening called Chitrakantha (10860 ft.). The view which was constrained by the jungle starts opening from here. Going against my better senses, I had already passed my bottle to Saptarsi who had already emptied it. Till Chitrakantha the trail isn’t that much slippery, with mostly grassy land with mild snow covering, the real challenge starts from there. It was after a steady ascent of about 2.5 KMs, we reached Khullara top (11800 ft.), the trail gradually becomes narrower, less grass means greater chance of slipping. Thankfully I only slipped a few times didn’t fell (yet). After Khullara we followed on a 3.5 KMs of westwards trail curves, in between I was confused for some good 20 minutes; as I was segregated from the team due to walking a bit faster from most of them and also then was a place with a flag posted, I thought I had reached Kuari Pass. It was only after a few of our team members and the guide came the confusion cleared and I knew there was still some distance to be travelled, I later came to know that the place with flag is also know as ‘False Kuari Pass’. I was searching for water but had already crossed the only water source, Koushik – following his overcompensating urge to please women had already donated major portion of our waters to the fairer sexes. Hence, we had to made do with only one sip from a benevolent group member. A noteworthy place in between was the Broken bridge (Strenuous climb, frozen stream, 1.5 KMs before Kuari Pass) – crossing this section was our toughest experience on this trek, hence as expected a few slipped here.

On the end of the westward trail we reached Kuari Pass. All things considered, this was a tough day for us and specially for Koushik, as he was already sick – nauseous and weak. But Samit and other members kept inspiring us all the time.

The summit was full of extensive panoramic views of the peerless Himalayas to the north-east & the vast stretches of verdant valleys to the south-east. Our view was covered with glorious peaks of Nanda Devi, Dronagiri, Chaukhamba (23419 ft.), Neelkantha and Pangarchulia (11975 ft.). Dipak navigated our views towards some them, other groups suggested the rest, Samit and Koushik missed most of the names as they arrived late (and they were really angry at Dipak for not waiting).

There was another viewpoint atop the summit with stiff climb and watery track. People were climbing it for better view, I felt the urge, but was scared. I thought long and hard for some 30 minutes, asked around for opinions and got even more confused. At last after much deliberation I almost crawled atop the viewpoint to take photos, I crawled down in an even more ridiculous fashion. Despite being chided By Sam, I was happy that I tried.

After sometime we lunched (carried on mules) & following a lengthy group photo session started descending towards Tali forest camp. We reached by late afternoon, temperature at Tali that night went to almost -9 degrees!!

A google search informed me that the highest altitude on this trek which is 12717 ft. is reached about 700 Meters before the Kuari Pass (11496 ft.).

DAY - 7: [TALI – GULING – DHAK – JOSHIMATH] – 29th December 2017(Friday), 10 KMs Trek

The original plan was to break camps early, travel along Gorson Bugyal (native name for alpine pasture lands/meadows of the Himalayas, also called "nature’s own gardens", also called ‘Mini Switzerland of India’) to reach Auli, but this was not materialized following the advice of our trek Guide Dipak who had knowledge of excessive snowfalls in Auli and didn’t want to take risk as a healthy number among us (including me) was first time trekkers.

The plan altered, we retraced our steps and trekked back to Dhak via Guling. Trekking down was comparatively tougher for me. I was in charge for taking care of Koushik this time as Samit and Saptarsi ran ahead. After some good 15 minutes the equation changed and I was being taken care of as I already had slipped and fell thrice. In total as much as I can remember I fell 9 times, two of which were quite severe. Koushik kept inspiring me and I knew the toughest part is over. On the way back, we made two stops one for rest and the last one at upper Tugashi village for lunch. We reached Dhak @almost 3 PM and loaded our tired bodies into the bus for the ~45 mins journey to Joshimath.

Most members of our team didn’t want to miss out on Auli, hence they quickly freshened up & availed the rope-way journey from a station nearby our hotel in Joshimath. We (myself, Koushik, Samit, Saptarsi and Sankha) though had different plans.

We skipped Auli to take a longer rest, bathed and then started exploring Joshimath’s nooks and corners. Our plan was to roam around and consume whatever food we get. We filled our bellies with Alu Tikka, Spring rolls, Momos and jilepis (all vegetarian strictly) and walked some 2 KMs to reach the lower bazaar area of Joshimath - home to three big temples viz. Narsingh Temple (devoted to the 4th incarnation of Vishnu, about 1200 years old, home of Shri Badrinathji in winters), Basudev Temple & Durga Temple and many other small temples of Astavuja Ganesh, Shiva, Vairav dev, Maa Kali, Garuda and Bajrang Bali Hanuman.

After offering our prayers we returned back to our hotel and following a sumptuous dinner (Chicken after many days that felt like an eternity) retired to our beds.

The next day signaled the conclusion of our trip to Kuari Pass, though it presented us with an exploration opportunity of Rishikesh but that should be a content for another post. Anyway, with bag full of memories and rucksack full of dirty clothes we started our journey back home and returned on 3rd January 2018 (from Joshimath after travelling via Rishikesh & Delhi).

A Pinterest quotes reads, ‘…the journey isn't about becoming anything. Maybe it's about unbecoming everything that isn't you, so you can be who you were meant to be in the first place’, this holds true for my first trek to Kuari Pass. Spending so much time on the trail gave me a chance to detach from modern technologies & city living. Though I didn’t it realize before, the detachment from emails, SMS & phone calls were a pleasant change. There’s quite a lot to focus on once you let these things go. There’s no shortage of picture-perfect moments in life, we just have to look for it.

References:

1. The Fruitful Darkness: A Journey Through Buddhist Practice and Tribal Wisdom― Joan Halifax.

2. Album: My Head Is an Animal, Of Monsters and Men.

3. Pinterest quotes.

4. India Hikes video interview of Dinesh Kuniyal