Latest updates: Preparing for Everest Base Camp and more
Mahi and Chaitan send us a selfie from the flight
This week, our team of two, Mahi and Chaitan, flew to Lukla in Nepal to set up the celebrated Everest Base Camp via Gokyo Ri Trek. They have made all arrangements for the batch going on October 1st. As per latest updates, the weather is clear although they did experience mild rains at night. Those headed to the Everest Base Camp trek, ensure you take a poncho.
Also, make sure you get your cameras out on the flight from Kathmandu to Lukla. It is something worth shooting! Take a look at the video below that Chaitan sent in today. This is how all flights land at Lukla, which is deemed the world’s most dangerous airport!
What’s happening with the Himalayan treks?
Rupin Pass
The late September batches for Rupin Pass went smoothly. The team experienced a few spells of rainfall. That is as expected in the retreating monsoon season. But one particular batch got really lucky! Usually it is hard to even spot snow at this time of the year. But these lucky trekkers experienced fresh snow at the Pass! Our trek leader Jude celebrated his birthday here and sent the pictures below!
[Best_Wordpress_Gallery id=”163″ gal_title=”Late September Snow at Rupin Pass”]
Buran Ghati
Buran Ghati in the second season has been very good to trekkers! All trekkers from the September 24th batch crossed the Pass yesterday successfully. Today, they are moving from the River Campsite to Munirang, where the trek ends. There was no snow on the trail, except on the faraway peaks. It rained occasionally. Also, the weather is turning cold as winter is getting closer – it ranges from around 0 to 3 degrees after sundown. So anyone going to Buran Ghati in the October 1st batch, carry at least 4 warm layers plus thermals.
Hampta Pass
This week saw the last batch for Hampta Pass. As we mentioned last week, Hampta Pass has been excellent this year, acting as a backup for treks in Kashmir. Here’s what a trekker, Saranya, had to say about her trek.
“Being a first time trekker, I couldn’t have asked for more. I always thought trekking as a “wild” thing, done by people who feature in National Geographic or Discovery. Never did it occur to me that I wanted to do it till I came across Indiahikes on the Net. The friendly batch and amazing trek leaders and a breath-taking, challenging trek, now has made me live in the dreams of Himalayas even while working in office. Now I crave to see the not-easily-accessible beauty of nature by foot. I want to live in the valleys and gaze at the sunset and sunrise with beautiful mules, sheep, goats and fluffy dogs around me. Thanks for the wonderful trek. I hope to do more treks with Indiahikes.” – Saranya Arumugam
Roopkund
The second season to Roopkund began two weeks ago. Just this morning, the September 25th batch of Roopkund reached the Roopkund lake at 7.00 am. They made excellent time (fitness really matters)! Out of 23, 16 of them climbed to Junargali as well. The weather was clear, giving them clear views from Junargali.
Usually, we don’t get news of the team climbing till Junargali until evening, when they can communicate with us. But today, guess how we got this piece of information? From Junargali, our team spoke over walkie talkies to the team at Chandrashila! And in turn, our team at Chandrashila, where there is network, sent us news immediately! The two mountains might be in two different districts, but at that altitude, looks like distance doesn’t really matter!
Deoriatal-Chandrashila
Sunrise from Chandrashila summit
Speaking of Chandrashila, the weather has been clear there as well, and all the trekkers summitted this morning at 6.30 am. We hear they got terrific sunrise views from the summit!
Goechala
Moving further east, Yuksom, the base camp for Goechala trek has been receiving continuous rains. Multiple landslides en-route Bagdogra to Yuksom have created road blocks. These are usually cleared in an hour or two. Trekkers experienced some delay while travelling from Bagdogra to Yuksom. Now, they are all on the trek, safe and sound.
Setting up a new trek at Talley Valley
Houses at Ziro Valley
We are stepping into new waters with the Talley valley trek in Arunachal Pradesh. Our operations manager Manishji cannot stop gushing about Ziro Valley! The most interesting bit we heard about Ziro is that this valley is known as the schooling center of Arunachal Pradesh! With over 40 private schools half of which are boarding schools, the availability of education is better than that at the state capital Itanagar!
Green Trails
Our staff at Deoriatal with segregated garbage
Trekkers collected a lot of waste from different slopes the past week! We got sacks of waste weighing 25 kg from Rupin, 23 kg from Hampta Pass and 47 kg from Deoriatal. The garbage collected from Deoriatal has been segregated as well. 25 kg of recyclable waste, 13 kg non recyclable waste and 9 kg glass which will be taken to Waste Warriors to be reprocessed.
Behind the scenes of Trek with Swathi
Swathi has been getting a lot of requests for a video on the kind of camera equipment to take on treks! So on Saturday, she and her Director of Photography, Raisin, shot a video about it! It will be out by next week! Take a look at her videos here.
Our latest documented trek to the endearing Rohil Basmai Valley
This week, Ajay from our documentation team brought to light the little known Rohil Basmai Valley Trek in Kashmir. Situated right next to the popular Kolahoi glacier trek, this is a trek that cannot be missed!
Congratulations to our NOLS-certified Trek Leaders!
Trek Leaders Ankit and Hrishikesh
Our trek leaders Ankit and Hrishikesh are now certified Wilderness First Responders! They got their NOLS certification this week. Congratulations to both of them!
On a lighter note…
At the Deoriatal campsite we often find our dish soaps and scrubbers missing. We caught the thief red handed!
Mountain dog stealing scotch brite!
These ferocious looking mountain dogs seem to have developed a strange liking for Scotch Brite. If this continues to happen, we will soon be needing a soap squad to keep an eye on our dish soap!
We’ll have more updates next week! Watch this space for more!
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