Trekking in Himachal Mountains

          Some years ago, I had gone to a trekking trip. I was somewhere in the Himalayan mountains. I’m serious. I had no idea where I was. I was somewhere, on my own....

           In India, trekking is very popular in the state of Himachal Pradesh, usually during the months of October, November, December and January. It is one of the major factors enhancing tourism. It is an adventurous outdoor activity involving climbing of mountains and hills. Trekking camps are generally situated at the base of mountains, from where people begin their hike. Overall, trekking is a nice exercise and is fun when you are with your family.

One fine day I read a pamphlet of a trekking camp. I asked my parents if I could go to Dharamsala, situated in Himachal Pradesh to join the trekking camp. I convinced them that I was able to do things on my own. Finally, I got their permission, after a lot of persuasion. I left home with my camera and a backpack, filled with essential things. I travelled to New Delhi by air, and reached Dharamsala by bus. It was the first time I was travelling without my family.

          The bus dropped me off at the trekking camp. Tents were put up everywhere. I, after ten minutes, found my tent. It was yellow in colour, and was quite small. Inside the tent was a sleeping bag, a lamp, and some weird old books. That was all. So, I was here, finally. I went out of the tent, just for the pleasure of roaming around. I saw people around me, mostly families. All of them were chattering around, creating noise pollution. This part of the hills seemed to be the only civilisation around. The camp was situated in a valley, surrounded by hills. At a distance, I was able to see snow covered mountains.

I walked a bit towards the higher mountains, away from the crowd. The place was, well, peacefully amazing. Lush, green hills and dense, green jungles on them. The air here was fresh and clean. I hadn’t seen snow for a while now. So I was instinctively attracted to the mountains. I continued to walk, passing many trees and bushes on the way. Birds were singing melodious songs, and the cool wind was blowing gently. Amongst the trees, I saw a small stream. I’m sure its water was crystal pure, but I didn’t dare to drink it, as anything ruining my health would be disastrous. I strolled around the bank for a while. Here I was completely alone. I realized suddenly that I was completely lost. I didn’t realize I had been wandering for so long. I tried to go back the way I came from, but soon I was walking in circles.

          I saw myself in the next day's newspaper-‘Boy missing. Last seen in trekking camp.’ I frantically ran here and there, trying to find my way out, but instead I made my way deeper and deeper into the jungle, and probably farther and farther away from the trekking camp. The jungle was covered with huge pine trees. This was wilderness. This includes wild animals. I heard a squeak. Out jumped a mouse, from the undergrowth. I didn’t expect to see mice in the jungle. Then I sensed something wriggling in a bush. Whatever it was, it slithered slowly and steadily. Alright, I’ve given you too many hints. It was a snake. Though small, it was thin and black, and certainly didn’t look nice. It was following the mouse, but didn’t see me. I believe it was interested in eating the poor rodent. It was about to consume it when the little rat scampered off with astounding speed.

          I became a little wary of animals and carried on trudging up the hill. The forest became less dense and soon I found myself on the top of a big hill. It had an incredible view of the snowy mountains and the valley below. I remembered my camera and took some pics. It felt great, but at the same time that horrible thought came once again into my mind. I was helpless. There was no going back.

I looked at the huge, white mountains. I had to experience them. They were the reason I had come here. They formed a range in front of me, some big, and some small. I aimed for one of the smaller ones, just to get some snow on my hands, and also due to my lazy attitude. I hurried down the hill and started my trek.

There was no going back. The mountain was brown, with snow on the top. Climbing up the mountain was real hard. I had come to Dharamsala to learn trekking and mountain climbing. But I wasn’t able to do it. But I believed that I could achieve my goal of reaching the summit on my own, without any training. The mountain was at a 45 degree angle from the ground. Something told me that once humans were here. There was a sort of path dug up.  Small stones were arranged like stairs. If they weren’t there, the trek would’ve been impossible. I started climbing. Soon, I reached the snow line. I tried to make a snowball out of the snow, but the snow had turned into ice. Now the mountain became less steep. In fact, it had become flat. I was on the top of the mountain. It felt as if I was on Mt. Everest. From the top, nothing else but the top of trees were visible on both sides of the mountain range. I took a great deal of photos as a memory, and started my descent. I decided to go towards the side opposite to the way I had come from, for the sake of exploration.

          Down the mountain arose greenery. I saw some monkeys, chattering away like the people at the trekking camp. Along with the chattering came a loud noise, just like the sound of the ocean. Wait, an ocean? Yeah, how an ocean could arise in the mountains, you must be saying. I went in the direction of the sound. The sound got heavier, sort of, as if it was applying a force on me. I came into a clearing and to my surprise, there was a waterfall. It was gigantic. Enormous. Huge. What not. The water was coming down from the top of the biggest mountain of the range and crashed, or splashed into a river beneath. And I have to say, it was loud. I mean it. It probably was louder than the noise made by a crowd in Times Square shouting at the top of their voices. I’m sure the waterfall must be the biggest in the world, breaking the record of the Angel Falls.

I took a thousand photos of it to prove my point, if I was ever to return back. While clicking a photo, I noticed a big orange animal on the opposite side of the river. It was a tiger. Huh? You serious? To be precise, yes. It was drinking water from the river. Roar! No, it didn’t roar. I stared into its eyes and it stared into mine. I was sure that it would spring onto my side and eat me alive. But it just made an innocent cat face and resumed his work of drinking. I quietly made myself scarce and ran away as fast as my legs could carry me.

I was back again into a forest. Now I was seriously tired of dark forests. Too dark and spooky for me. I kept on running. And running. And running. And abruptly ran into a creature standing on its legs. Fortunately, it wasn’t a gorilla. It was a human. He asked me, “Hello sir, what are you running from in this part of the jungle?” “A tiger” I said and asked him to take me to the nearest civilization. He took me to a village. Finally, I wasn’t lost. I was back with the humans. Oh yeah. The people there were quite polite, and curious to know who I was. I told them about my adventurous trek, though half of them didn’t believe me.

I had some money in hand, and so took the first bus to Delhi. I narrated the whole incident to my parents on mobile phone. Man, weren’t they worried? They booked a flight ticket for me when I reached Delhi. Within a few hours, I was back home. I decided that till I really grow up, I might as well be with my family. It might seem adventurous to go on a trip all by yourself, but it is always better and enjoyable to go out with your family.

-         Manas Trivedi

Trekking alone in the Himalayas

 

 

Trekking camp