The first two days of the trek look like this - Day 1 and Day 2.
I slept soundly that night. But woke up to the harsh shrill of the alarm at 1 a.m. I was up and ready by 2.
Have breakfast - check.
Carry lunch - check.
Trek pole, sunglasses, day-pack - check, check, check.
But, omens, I tell you.
"Sabne micro-spikes le liye?" Has everyone carried their micro-spikes?
Damn. Missed it. Ran back to the tent. Yanked my glove off in the open tent and dug through my bag. Yes, found the micro-spikes. Check.
Go back through the last para. Yup, did that. Omens or not, I was going to summit without any gloves on. Oh, there's a story about it alright, but that will be another long post.
We trudged through the darkness with only the light from our headlamps for direction. The first light threw up many more surprises than we could have hoped for.
There's an interesting story about that mountain. Well, read it here.
And on the other side, the famed Chaukhamba and Mt. Neelkanth.
Now, although we had seen the Pangarchulla summit all through our trail, seeing it from close quarters was really something.
As nice, and gradual climb it looks from afar, the closer you come, you realise that it was all a farce. This peak will not relinquish itself without your dedicated efforts.
The climb from here on is intense. It takes a good 2 hours to summit the mountain. There are points where you'll feel like giving up. But, you just have to stop, take a long calming breath and start moving again.
Then there's that false summit to disappoint you. As you think you've reached the summit, you'll find that there's still a long way to go. Oh, and that happens thrice.
It was great to be at the top though. At 15,069 ft. one can see a major part of the Garhwal Himalayas from the top. Not us, we couldn't. It was a whiteout when we ascended to the top. And it remained so till we returned back to the camp.
Again, we called it in early. After a 16 hour long day, we took our well deserved sleep early. Way, early by 7. It was a night's sleep so good, I've not had one as great since.
The next day, albeit one of some intense R&R, was full of surprises too.
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