A travelouge on Kuari Pass

Rishikesh to Auli : by road ; distance 265 km

Five from Kolkata and three from Hyderabad assembled on  7^th evening at Rishikesh. Our staying arrangement was made in  Tourist Guest House  at Muni-ki-reti,  a place once frequented by  mountain lovers and pilgrims in large numbers. The small bus stand was situated in a vast land with the picturesque Sibalik Mountain range in the background. It was the story of seventies. Bus stand is still there but it is now almost the concrete jungle with shops and  hotels. Our hotel was on the route Rishikeh to Badrinath. On the evening itself one very young fellow named Tinku joined us. He was sent by Gagandeep to assist us. Totally inexperienced and had no acquaintance with the route.  First day’s journey was upto Auli.  A fairly long journey of  about  265 km.We started early in the morning so that we could reach Auli by afternoon. On the way we passed through Debprayag, Srinagar, Rudraprayag, Chamoli, Karnaprayag to name a few.

 Once all these places were small but beautiful.  But now these places have grown to such an extent that even in the month of October,  while travelling, we had faced fairly warm weather as we normally encounter in Metros. Post monsoon  colour of water of the river Alakananda  was a delightful sight. But lost the youthfulness and turbulence, as often found  in a mountain river, due to construction of Dam  in places in the upstream.

 At 4 pm,  we reached Joshimath. There our Tour Guide, Sanjay Sati joined us. Another an hour journey took us to Auli . Staying arrangement was made in Auli Ski resort, one of best accommodation in Auli.  But our booking was in Dormitory of the resort. Not only  was it quite high above but the condition of the rooms also made us disappointed. We expressed our displeasure, the way we could. The role of guide under the circumstances was  not at all encouraging.So first encounter with Sanjay was not good enough. It was almost late afternoon. Started feeling bite of cold slowly. Came out into the fore ground of dormitory and saw colourful display of setting sun rays over the peaks. So started our first photo session  . From Auli a good view of many peaks, Nandadevi in particular  are available.                                                                       

2^nd day –  Auli to Gorson Bugiyal

Distance : 5 km. Altitude : 10500 ft   Night stay at Tented accommodation at Gorson Bugiyal

Morning  started with sadness as the news was, Jay (read Joy) would not be amongst us in the 1^st phase of trekking. Due to  his long journey, first from LA to Hyderabad and then Hyderabad to Dehradun via Delhi a back pain developed  and hence declared himself unfit. Most unfortunate.

 Our 2nd day's journey was the 1st day's trekking from Auli to Gorson Bugiyal (means meadows or pasture land). Auli is the famous ski resort centre and now has become internationally famous. Auli is spread over  different altitude. We took the 1st flight in an open roap way . It was something around 800 meter journey. New experience and  ride was enjoyable,  a nice panoramic view of auli and surroundings was available.

 Within few minutes we reached upper Auli and our trekking started . A short stretch  of 5 kms for the 1st day. From upper Auli initial journey was through a terrain of a hill. Clear view of the peaks and the meadows down below

made the journey very enjoyable. Bright, shiny view of the artificial lake of Auli was with us till we entered into jungle of golden oak forest.  Beautiful jungle trail.  Nice to watch the light and shade designs decorating   the entire jungle trail. An hour after, a clearance announced the beginning of Gorson Bugiyal.

Took photographs as many as we could  and got down again at the campsite surrounded by jungle of golden Oak trees. Within few minutes lunch was served.

 Lazily we spent the rest of the day in the campsite. Darkness and severity of cold forced  us to move into the confines of the tent.  Inside the tent also our gossip session continued . At 7 p.m dinner was served  inside the tent itself. Though we were not pleased with the cold behaviour of our guide but his support staffs were excellent, so was the culinary skills of the cook. After dinner, a brief outing was needed.  A glance at the sky made all of us awed.  So far, but looked so near,  countless stars densely located, seen nowhere unless one is in such a place. But again, could not enjoy the sight for a long time because of biting cold. 

  Distance : 8 km; Altitude: 11000 ft       Night halt in tent at Tali

From Gorson Bugiyal  our next destination was Tali.  Distance was a bit longer, 8-10 km. The 1st phase was the same as we went the day before for Gorson top.

For the major portion of our journey the view was with us. First  came Tali lake. Though water source was there , campsite was ahead of the place as water of the lake is said to be polluted.

During these couple of days we felt a marked difference from the previous experience in our younger days. It was regarding human waste management.  In all the camping site, make-shift loos were made and the entire arrangement was eco-friendly.  

4th day : Tali to Kuari pass and then back to khullara camping site.

Distance : 12 km Altitude : 11000 ft              Night halt in tent at Khullara

Our 3rd day's was the longest trek in this program. It was from Tali to Kuari  pass and then to get down at Khullara covering a distance of around 12 km. Most part of the trek up to a junction called Gailgarh where the way down to khullara camp site separates, was steep. The ascent was almost 2000 ft from the Tali campsite and the trail was as usual through jungle and  then undulating grass land with unhindered view of surroundings.

Trekking at that altitude (over 10000 ft)  was tiring and exhausting and we are no more in our heyday of trekking. We reached Gailgarh  at mid-day. 

 But as always happened in the past, our positive mind frame helped us to reach  Kuari pass at about 1-20 P.m.Spent 15-20 mins at the pass, had our packed lunch and returned at the Khullara camp just after 3 P.M. Our goal was accomplished but by the time we reached the pass, there was not much to see because of thick cloud cover.

5th day : Khullara to Dhak

Distance : 10 km.  Night stay at Joshimath

Last day's trekking for Kuari pass was about 10KM. It was from Khullara to Dhak, a place connected by road with Joshimath.  Before I go to the day's journey, one thing I would like to share that Khullara  is the  best camping site.  It is a sprawling  grassy land which can accommodate 2-3 football grounds. The site is wide open to have a clear view of snow peaks in the distant horizon almost covering an angle more than 180 degree. So on the 4th day morning we witnessed the  mesmerising view of gradual change of colour over snow peaks in the horizon as dawn set in and sun rays started falling in.

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 Hardly had  time to have a glance at the surroundings. Had to be attentive in every footstep as always getting down in mountain is more risky. Still, was able to capture some moments of our last day's journey.

Last few 2-3 Kms was through the village road but for any unexplained reason we were forced to take short-cuts by our guide( may be they were in a hurry to get back their home). But in the process we had to face the hazards of slipping  all through the trail. It was our good luck that nobody suffered any injury.