So Near Yet So Far- Patalsu Peak

The dense forest lead us to an open large meadow which is Shagadugh. We reached here at around 11am. By this time snow started to get soft and with every step, the feet were going deep down. We started feeling the depth of snow. We had a brunch of packed eatables here and spent a good 20-25min. The meadow had a 180 degree view of the surrounding mountains which were now more closer and the views were magnificent. There was almost 3 feet deep powdered snow all around the meadow. Till Shagadugh we were following the trail which was made by trekkers who might have hiked early in December. But the trail stopped here. Beyond this point, everywhere was a white desert of snow with no trace of footmarks and no trail. It seemed like no one hiked above Shagadugh in this winter season. There was a feeling of anxiety, excitement and adventure that we will be the first this season to trek beyond Shagadugh. So, slowly and steadily we resumed our trek. Akash started doing recce to make the trail for me. I was literally following his footsteps because the depth of snow was gradually increasing. Whenever my feet was deviating from his footprints, they were going down in more than waist deep snow. It was both slippery as well as risky, but we were confident to reach the summit. As per the 3pm turnaround time, now we had only 3 hours in hand. In every 10-15 min I had to take a sip of water as my throat was getting dry quite frequently now. But the views around were so astonishing that my body was pushing itself automatically to climb higher and higher and my mind was completely immersed in what my eyes were capturing. The route after Shagadugh was quite naked, so one could see everything around that nature has to offer.

This was the hardest part of the day. Under the hot sun with peak in plain view for the entire climb. As the air thinned, our pace slowed to a crawl. The sight reassured that packing my gaiters was a good idea. I couldn’t stop turning around after every few minutes to peek once more at the view behind us with more jagged snowcapped beauties visible each time. As we reached almost 12,500ft just near the ridge which was going all the was up to the shoulder of the mountain, we had to stop. We realized that all the three conditions that we considered before starting the trek already happened. It was about 2.30PM, melted snow made its way inside my so called waterproof boots. We crosschecked our resources and we realized that we just had about 300ml water remaining (for both of us combined). We stood at this point in this vast field of snow to discuss and recollect our thoughts given the resources and the time we had. With a heavy heart, we decided to go till the bottom of the ridge and make that our summit point. We almost reached our 3.30pm turnaround time, our resources were about to be depleted and melted snow already made its way to my feet making them wet. Although we didn’t reach the summit but there was a pride to be the first trekker this season to climb till 12,500ft on this trek. As we looked down, the only trail we could see was the one that we made. While I was soaking myself in the spellbinding views, Akash told me the names of all the peaks which were visible – Friendship peak, Hanuman Tibba, Seven Sisters, Deo Tibba, Dauladhar Range, Shitidhar peak, Indrasan peak and there were a couple mote whose name I forgot. Some of these snowcapped peaks were so close that you feel the urge to just jump and touch them. The valley was so vast and splendid with the river of clouds above it. After spending some time here, we started descending back. In the snow this much deep, it was equally challenging to descend as it was quite slippery but at some stretches, it was quite fun too as we got a chance to slide down in the snow. It’s quite amazing to have these moments when the thoughts of taking pictures doesn’t even cross your mind and you just want to immerse yourselves in the moment. As we reached our basecamp at around 6.30, there was a cute guy waiting to welcome. There was this husky looking tailwagger who might have climbed up here from Solang village. All my tiredness was gone in a jiffy. He started jumping and playing around me in the snow and man he was really enjoying it. I just threw my bag in my camp and played with him all around the campsite. When it was almost dark, my tailwagging friend accompanied me to my camp. That night I had a small celebration of the summit with Lalit bhai, Ajju bhai, Akash and Climber Suresh who were now like brothers. Naresh also came from Solang village and joined us post dinner. We all talked till midnight sharing all our stories, experiences and what not before retiring to sleep.

Day 4: Next morning, after bidding my final goodbye to the mother nature and to my brothers of Broza Adventures, I descended to Solang Nallah and then Manali with a truckload of memories.

The whole experience was made more memorable by Naresh and whole team who treated me like family instead of an outsider. I was so glad to have chosen Patalsu peak trek to bid goodbye to 2019. And I was glad that I travelled alone which gave me the opportunity to meet, interact and befriend new people. This whole experience made me deeply realize that “ travel doesn’t become an adventure, until you leave yourself behind”.