Summiting Mt Whitney, the highest peak in the contiguous United States (and witnessing a rescue!)

The summit of Mt Whitney 

~ 14,500’

~ 22 miles RT 

My first overnight snow backpacking trip. It was a beautiful hike all the way up and down but also a bizarre one where my hiking partner, Hrishi, and I had to split up at Trail Crest. I summited with a bunch of wonderful strangers, while Hrishi stayed behind to offer support to stranded day hikers at 14000’ while they awaited extraction. Below is a short description of the 2 day backpacking trip.

Starting out on the Mount Whitney Trail from the Whitney Portal trailhead around 7am. 

First up, weigh your backpacks! (This does not include the weight of our mountaineering boots ~5lbs) Glad of all the rucking that we did lately! Rucking with a 45lbs pack made carrying this 33lbs pack much easier. 

The first couple miles of the Mt Whitney trail were pretty gentle uphill with few patches of snow, a couple of stream crossings, and breathtaking views all around 🏔 

Once the trail got snow covered, it was crampon time! The slope stayed relatively gentle until Bighorn Lake with some steeper sections that I traversed given my weaker calf muscles (that I’m working on improving!). It was also down to a single layer as the sun was scorching down on us. We crossed a stream where I almost took an involuntary dip but caught myself.

Then came the frozen Bighorn lake and beautiful 360 degree views!

After that is a steep climb to Mirror lake.

Mirror Lake is the last stop with freshwater available unless you want to melt snow at Trail Camp. So make sure you filter some if you need it.  It also means you need to lug all of that water up to Trail Camp. This is where we came across most of the remaining folks who were headed to Trail Camp.

And then it’s up and up to Trail Camp. That last stretch is a slog but at least you know you are making camp at the end of it and a good night’s sleep (hopefully) awaits...

We started out at the trailhead around 7am and got to Trail Camp around 3.30pm. 

Hrishi snagged us THE perfect #camping spot in a sheltered nook, relatively safe from potential winds and then immediately got to work with melting snow for water and making dinner. After that beautiful but tiring slog up ~5000’ I was looking forward to a warm dinner. I fell asleep to the sound of someone calling out/yelling. I dismissed the sound thinking it was either just happy hikers celebrating or I was dreaming because who in their right mind would be out in this cold night ... Little did I know that this wasn’t a dream... 

Catching the sunrise from the chute.

At this time of year, the 99 switchbacks were inaccessible. So we started up the chute ~3.30am. It took about 3 hours to trudge up the chute and to figure out a way to take care of business behind rocky outcrops on an otherwise 40 degree slope. (Ps. Don’t forget your wagbags)

Also, for the first time ever, I struggled with nausea from altitude sickness while coming up the chute but managed to keep it under control by taking some acidity meds.

  

After Trail Crest... View of Mt Muir and the spot where a day hiker injured himself at 14000’ the night before.

The yelling I thought I’d dreamt about was actually his two companions calling out for help. They spent the night at Trail crest and near Mt Muir without food, water, or shelter and not many warm layers. Hrishi stayed back with some other hikers to help the stranded hikers while I ‘hitchhiked’ to the summit with some from the ‘group of 12’. Check out Hrishi‘s full report on the rescue attempt on his blogpost if you haven’t read it already!

The view of Mount Whitney on the trail from Trail Crest.

The section after trail crest was relatively straightforward, though sketchy at times. The snow was pretty hard packed that early in the morning, so we didn’t need crampons on the trail.

  

The summit pic 💪🏻😎🏋️ 

All that strength and endurance training came in handy for a faster hike up! 

  

The view of snow-covered mountains as we began the descent from Mount Whitney.

  

And then we went sliding down the chute a.k.a. glissading 

It was mid-afternoon when we headed down from Trail Crest. The snow was slushy enough to get a smooth glide. 

  

As we quickly packed up camp, we got to witness the chinook that flew all the way from Seattle successfully rescue the injured hiker. That little black dot right under the chopper is the sar personnel rappelling down. It’s not everyday (thankfully) that you get to see a high altitude helicopter rescue; it was a sight to behold. 

After some steep shortcuts, we managed to get down from Trail Camp  to Whitney Portal trailhead in under 3 hours! And with that ended the hike to Mount Whitney 🏔

9/1-9/4/2017: Backpacking the Four Pass Loop in the Maroon Bells-Snowmass Wilderness Area

Part 1: as we set out…

It all started with a plan, which didn't quite play out the way it was designed but all's well that ends well, right? May be yes or may be not… So let's not complain about the plan and get on with the adventure that was …

I have collected my backpacking gear over the past four years but as of August 31st, 2017 I'd never had the chance to try it out. When the Labor Day weekend was about to dawn on us, I figured it was about time I put to use the gear that hadn't really seen the light of day. Honestly, I didn't have the time given how hectic my work schedule had been but I decided I am going to give this a try because I'll most likely not get another chance at it at least this year as the weather was soon going to go from nice and warm to chilly and harsh. And next year, who knows what the immigration rules of this country hold in store …

Given the crunch of time, we could leave only after I was done teaching mid-afternoon on Friday. And we had to be back by Monday night. So given this, we had the bad luck of getting stuck in the holiday traffic all headed out to who knows where. We set out at 3 pm, took CO 93 out of Boulder and then got on to I 70 merging with the slow moving traffic. Our destination, Aspen was far far away it seemed like. At the Georgetown gas station I bought myself a double chocolate muffin, the closest thing I could get to a birthday cake for the wilderness! With that safely shoved into the bear canister along with all our other food supplies, off we sped toward Aspen. No matter how hard we tried to get there before sunset, that was not in the cards. By the time we got to the overnight parking lot for Maroon Bells, each and every slot was taken. The overflow parking lot was full as well. The unkind lady at the parking lot asked us if we couldn't read the signs just outside town which clearly said that the parking lot was full. According to her, we shouldn't have made the 8 mile trip from town since it was all full. It didn't matter to her when we told her that we'd found many a camping site vacant even when signs posted outside said that sites were full. She just responded with a condescending smile that said "You are full of shit."

Anyway, with no option in sight, we turned back to the town and pondered our options. There was a ski parking lot at the edge of town where we could park our car overnight but we couldn't park ourselves overnight over there and we didn't know how we could cover the 8 miles from that lot to the trailhead. Just as we rolled in to the ski parking lot, we ran into a couple of hikers who were gearing up to head out. When we asked them how they were planning to get to the trailhead, they replied, "We'll try our luck and hitch-hike." Hmmm, I wondered. Growing up in India with stories of 'Never hitch a ride with a stranger' that seemed a bit dangerous to be doing at 8.30 pm at night. But then my hiking partner wonders aloud, "Should we do the same?" I am in two minds - we have two options: hunker down in our car, hope no one notices us sleeping in the parking lot and catch the shuttle at 8 am next morning or hitch hike. If we choose the former, we will lose valuable time as we were supposed to cover about 3 miles this evening. And if we factor in that delay then we will most likely not make it back by Monday night. So only option 2 is actually an option. Okay, so we are hitch hiking (for the very first freaking time in our lives in a country that's increasingly becoming hostile to non-white 'outsiders' …)

But luck does have a way of smiling upon me at the strangest of times. It hadn't even been more than 10 minutes that we'd been walking along the road that a car stopped along when I waved my thumb. There was a young lady in the drivers seat. She rolled down the window on the passengers side and asked us where we were headed. To the Maroon Bells trailhead, we replied in unison. She said she was only headed 2 miles in but she could drop us until her stopping point. We agreed and hopped in. Then we got to talking and she asked us about what we were up to. When she found out that we were planning to backpack, she told us that just yesterday her brother had hitch hiked for the very first time in his life when he was out on a backpacking trip and a kind stranger had given him a ride. So, she decided that she was going to pay it forward and drop us to our destination at the trailhead! Now that is what I call a stroke of luck! And as it turned out we were her very first hitch hikers!!!

Day 1 hiking begins… So it was at around 9.30 pm that we found ourselves starting our 27 mile long, four day backpacking trip circumnavigating the Maroon bells. After a quick use of the restroom at the trailhead, we got out our sandwiches to munch on as we began our hike under moonlight and our headlamps. Late dinner under the moonlight, that's how adventures begin I think…. Because no sooner had I finished half the sandwich, I heard a rumble in my stomach and then came the cramps. The next moment I am on the ground clutching my stomach and trying not to scream. Apparently, the mushroom sandwich had some sketchy mushrooms. The cramps passed and I picked myself up and walked on… wondering to myself if the day could get worse. After 3-4 rounds of stomach clutching, the tide finally turned as I relieved my upset stomach behind a bush.

Lesson learnt: No more mushroom sandwiches on a backpacking trip.

After about a mile and half we reached Crater Lake. There are about 9 campsites in that area and obviously each and everyone of them was taken. But I figured we could try our luck, so we checked out each one. They were all off the beaten path, so we added about a mile of hiking to our trip I think. With no campsite in sight, we hiked on as we could only camp in designated sites near Crater lake. As I made my way in the darkness, I found a pair of eyes at my eye level looking at me among the trees. I, as expected, freaked out! But the cool cucumber that I have for a hiking partner assured me it's likely a moose and that we should just carry on with business as usual. The eyes followed us until we were out of sight. After we were out of sight of the lake, we began the hunt for a dispersed campsite and found one soon enough. It was now past midnight and we had a long long long day of hiking ahead of us. So we quickly set up our tent and called it a night, an eventful night I'd say…

Part 2: Day 2 adventure - Crater Lake - West Maroon Pass - Frigid Air Pass - Campsite#2

Day 2 started as any other day out camping with the sound of birds around the crack of dawn and then the sounds of footsteps of hikers who managed to get an early start! Still short on sleep but high on energy we packed up our tent, prepared our breakfast: peanut butter jelly sandwiches and garam garam (hot hot) chai from Girnar. We ate the sandwiches as we hiked to save time. We were probably the slowest hikers that day, as slowly and steadily almost everyone passed us by except one group which had an almost identical pace as ours! That day involved about 13 miles of hiking and two 12,500 ft passes… So, keeping steady pace that we could maintain throughout was more important. But we also had to get to our camping site soon if we wanted to grab a good spot… that was not going to be on the cards given our pace so we made peace with it and enjoyed the scenery instead :P And the scenery was lovely!

The forest before the climb for West maroon pass began

After crossing a forested patch, the ascent to west maroon pass begins. In the forested patch, we came across a hiker who was doing the loop anti-clockwise and he was almost at the end. He gave us some really good advice about where to find a site, where to get water, etc. I love how people are just willing to share tips with random strangers! We crossed one stream but then up and up we went. For me that climb was grueling… Not having done any heavy duty workouts all summer and having been at sea level all summer, I was beginning to feel the burn early on. But I persevered on. And the summit finally appeared on the horizon! It was a steady slog especially with the 33 pound backpack but it was not too bad I'd say.. Fairly manageable for someone in decent shape. 

The view from the summit of west maroon pass

After a quick break on the top where we ran into a lot of our fellow hikers who'd zoomed past us, we began our descent on the other side. We often ran across hikers who were only doing the Maroon bells - Crested Butte trails. And then there were those who were running the 27 mile loop in a day (or a few hours actually). Half way down we stopped to have lunch: theplas and saag-paneer from Tasty Bites! After that grueling climb, the lunch tasted good! We also had some Emergen-C for recovery and to rehydrate.

The downhill from west maroon pass

Up and up, it literally was... 

The steep climb to Frigid Air pass

Then it was non-stop to Frigid air pass. That was another long climb and when I thought we'd neared the summit, I heaved a sigh of relief only to realize that the summit was not the one we were heading to… Our summit was steep and full of scree. With a full backpack, it was a bit treacherous but not too bad. The group that had a similar pace hiked alongside as we both scrambled to the summit of frigid air pass. That summit was sweet because I was pulling at the last vestiges of my strength. So, my effusive display of happiness was understandable :P

Happy me on the summit of the Frigid Air Pass

Then it was all downhill… We ran across a couple of hunters on horseback carrying a deer mounted on the horse. But other than that it was just us since everyone else had left us far far behind. At about 5 pm, we reached a stream and decided that camping here made the best sense. We were still a couple of miles short of our goal but the spot seemed good and we needed to set up our tent in daylight and finish cooking dinner and filtering water from the stream. After dinner, we even managed to dip our tired feet in the stream! We had a couple of other groups camping nearby and one group that came much later surprisingly, so we weren't the slowest of all :P After dinner comprising instant rice and lentil soup, we wrapped up, placed our bear canister far far away and called it a night. Things were almost going as planned…

Dinner!

Tired feet ...

Part 3: Day 3 - Geneva Lake - Trailrider Pass - Snowmass Lake

Day 3 began with the same breakfast earlier that we had while we hiked. The first part was mostly downhill and there was a beautiful waterfall on the way.

Waterfall

We again ran across a couple of hikers who gave us good advice about what lay ahead. They were going the opposite way. As they said, very soon we came across a stream and this time there was no way but to walk through the water. Just before me, the person who crossed had removed their shoes and held them in their hand. As luck would have it, the shoes tumbled into the water! So I dwcided- let's throw our shoes across the stream and then wade through the water. As expected, nothing bad happened! Our shoes safely landed on the other side and then we waded through freezing cold water which felt good to my tired feet. We also refilled our water at the stream.

Then began the steady slog uphill. This one was long but not too steep. We could already see the leaves turning! We passed through Geneva lake from where you can actually access a dirt road in case you want to quit the loop and just go home! Nope, not doing that… So, on and on we went…

The uphill!   

Before the summit of trail rider pass, comes another small beautiful lake. But given that we were running behind time and we had to get to our next campsite at Snowmass lake early in order to find a good campsite, we didn't hang out at the lake. As we started uphill, we came across an injured hiker. He'd hurt his knee and was trying to see if someone could call a ranger. Everyone passing that spot at that point in time was likely going to take another day to get to a trailhead. We offered him medical supplies and hoped that someone else would come along. Their best bet were runners who did the trail in one day… Hiking can be a dangerous sport :(

But we did hang out at the summit. And this is what we did - celebrated my birthday! It was the most beautiful sight, as we reached the summit and glanced down to get a view of Snowmass lake. I couldn't believe I was getting to spend my birthday at such a beautiful spot with the people I love! After enjoying the cake, we began the descent. The descent seemed long but easy. The lake views from top were gorgeous.

Snowmass Lake topview

A closer look at Snowmass lake

And then came the campsites! It was packed! But we managed to snag a good campsite. The Walkie Talkie we were carrying came in handy, as we could split up to locate a spot. We quickly set up our tent around 4 pm and then headed out to the lake to have a late lunch. We'd been munching on trail mix, cliff bars and didn't stop for lunch as getting to the campsite early was important. So, now we leisurely enjoyed our lunch: theplas and chole from Tasty Bites! Yup, all our lunches and dinners consisted of Indian food!!! After lounging around for a long long while and taking in the view, we filled up our water and headed back to the tent.

Lunch by Snowmass lake

The clear lake up close

Lake view

There we prepped for dinner: rice and lentil soup and packed up for the day. One thing to mention is that since the campsite was so crowded, it was way difficult to find a spot to answer nature's call. You had to be careful not to step into anyone's you-know-what. But most people had followed the rules and buried their shit.

It had been a long day and I'd expected to just fall asleep. But that was not meant to be. Given that the campsites were crowded, of course there was noise! And I didn't manage to get a good night's sleep. We woke up at 3 am to see if we could catch the Milky Way but the moonlight was so bright that it was impossible. The view of the lake under the moon and the starts was breathtaking nonetheless… Snowmass Lake, I hear by name you 'Lake of Shining Waters.'

Part 4: Day 4 - Snowmass lake - Buckskin Pass - Maroon Bells trailhead

We woke up very early to catch the sunrise which took its own sweet time to rise. After about 30 minutes of waiting, the first rays finally hit the mountains and that was a sight to see…

Catching the sunrise at Snowmass lake...

After spending quite a bit of time enjoying the view and taking lots of photos, we headed back to the tent to make breakfast, pack up and head out. Surprisingly, not a lot of people had even woken up by the time we started out around 7 am. But then we knew they'd probably pass us by given the breakneck speed at which they hike. So, we plodded on and hoped that we'd catch the shuttle before 5 pm to get to the parking lot. Otherwise we'd be hitchhiking again :P

Initially it was mostly flat terrain and we had a few stream crossings and some beautiful lakes with fish!

But then began the never ending ascent thorough the forest. Up and up we went once again to our final pass in the loop - Buckskin pass

Surprisingly, the pass came quickly and I was on the top before I even realized it! Just before we reached the summit, we could see Snowmass lake way far back… We'd come a long long way that day. The summit was windy and cold so we didn't hang out much at the top.

And then began the grueling downhill. 4 long miles of it. In a valley of flowers, we stopped to grab a quick lunch: theplas and potatoes from Tasty Bites. And then we ran downhill to make it on time for the shuttle. The downhill was not kind on my knees, so I slowed down my pace while my hiking partner ran ahead to catch the shuttle and get the car in case I didn't make it on time. So, I spent most of the downhill on my own contemplating how I'd managed to get near the end of my longest backpacking trip ever... The view was not bad either :P

But as I approached Crater lake, my patience was beginning to wear out and so were my knees. I wasn't sure how long my knees would hold up but hold up they did and magnificently! And I reached the crossing where one would turn to Crater Lake. I, of course, soldiered on towards the Maroon Bells trailhead. It was now uphill and a lot of hikers who'd just been up to crater lake passed me by. I trudged along slow and steady expecting to miss the shuttle anyway. My hiking partner was close to the trailhead since I'd just heard him on the Walkie Talkie. So, it was all good.

Surprisingly, as I hiked uphill, my knees began to recover. So, when the downhill on the final stretch began my knees were A-Okay. So, there I was running again and passing by all the Crater Lake hikers :)

When I neared a signboard which signaled that I was almost there, I think I almost burst into tears of happiness. I never manage to take selfies but here I am, smiling away :)

Pretty soon Maroon lake came in sight and I knew I was going to catch the shuttle after all! Maroon lake was crowded with tourists … I just took a quick photo to remind myself that I did actually make it back! And then hurried away to the shuttle…

I circumnavigated that mountain far far away!

And that was how I completed the Four Pass Loop in the Maroon Bells Snowmass wilderness! Phew… 

Grays Peak hike, Colorado, USA - August 2015

Ever since I moved to Colorado last year, I’d planned to climb as many fourteeners [a mountain that has an elevation of 14,000 feet or more] as possible. After all, this state does have 58 of them! After a year of slogging through the first year of my PhD program at CU-Boulder and spending the summer in Kathmandu, Nepal - I returned to Boulder with a renewed resolve to at least climb one fourteener before I went back to the grind of my PhD. Thankfully, the mountain gods were smiling down at me … even if it was one year after having lived in Colorado. Well, events happen - when they are supposed to happen I guess, irrespective of how much you try to make them happen OR events happen - when your fellow hikers/friends are all available and willing to climb up a fourteener on the exact same day that you have chosen! SO on the auspicious day of August 22nd, 2015 - I finally set out to climb my very first fourteener with a group of four other friends. We chose to climb -  Grays peak: the ninth highest peak in Colorado at 14,270 ft/ 4350 m. Now, the reason we chose this particular peak was because it is highly regarded as one of the easiest fourteeners in CO. However, I should also point out that I have often been told the following as well - “There is no such thing as an easy fourteener!”

Be these assumptions - true or false - what I can say is that our motley group of 5 consisted of #1) who had done multiple fourteeners but was recovering from an injury, #2) who had done only one fourteener and that being the highest fourteener in the contiguous United States, #3) who had done no fourteeners but who otherwise worked out regularly and was physically well-equipped to deal with this beast, #4) had done no fourteener and not many hikes and managed (in my opinion) to tackle this fourteener due to her sheer grit and determination, #5) [ME!!!] who had always dreamt of doing ALL the fourteeners [at least in CO) and was reasonably (not so much in retrospect] fit but was also recovering from an injury. With a few hiccups notwithstanding, ALL FIVE of us did manage to successfully go up and reach a lofty height of 14,270 ft. and come down back to a measly 11,230 ft -the starting point of our hike at the  Stephen Gulch Trailhead. So, what follows is a [hopefully] brief account of my first ever fourteener …    

Now the BIGGEST problem for me about climbing a Colorado fourteener is that you have to be at the trailhead at the crack of dawn or may be even hours earlier so that you can be up at the peak and down again before the thunderstorms set in during the afternoon. Now, I don’t want to go into the science behind why these thunderstorms need to occur in the afternoon in Colorado, [this is not true for the California fourteeners as far as I know] but what I do know is that there have been cases of people getting struck by lighting up at these peaks. So, as thoroughly annoying as it may be to drag ourselves out of bed in the middle of the night, I’d rather lose a few hours of sleep than several hours of my life. So, given our love for our mortal coil, we dutifully gathered around 4.30 am in the dark at our apartment parking lot in Boulder - dressed in warm clothing which turned out to be not warm enough in retrospect. Now, this was August - relatively warm here in Boulder. I figured it will be a bit cold up there at over 14000 ft so I packed some extra layers but what I didn’t figure was that my tropical climate-loving body would not be able to withstand the windy weather which brought the temperature much further down. So, note to self: for your next fourteener - pack layers as if you are heading to subzero temperatures irrespective of whether you are going there in summer!

Our drive to the Stephen Gulch trailhead took an hour or so [can’t recall exactly since I am writing this post 4 months later :P] But I do remember there are two parking lots… low clearance vehicles park 2-3 miles out and hike up to the main trailhead whose access is limited to high clearance vehicles. Even though we got there fairly early [around 5.30 am], the parking lot was full and we had to park along the road. With that began the hike to my first fourteener. The initial climb was pretty decent - not too steep - and given that the parking lot was overflowing and vehicles were parked along the road - you can guess there was heavy traffic on the trail. Believe it or not - I was reminded of the yatras back in India - the holy pilgrimages that scores of Indians undertake to the holy peaks in the Himalayas. The difference being that most of the hikers on this trail were equipped in gear worth more $$$ than most of those holy pilgrims in India encounter in their entire lives. Money matters apart - the hike was relatively pleasant. Although the trail was overcrowded, fellow hikers were polite and did not complain when they were slowed down by others. The slower ones often graciously let the others pass. Trail/hiking/outdoor etiquettes are a new kind of behavior that I have encountered in this country [..took my ill-mannered self quite a while to get the hang of it…] and one that I hope people emulate all over. Indian mountains would be much happier if fellow travelers packed in their trash and followed the “Leave no trace” code of behavior followed here.

 

Whatever be our ethical obligations, I just wish there was an easier way to pee in that crowded area. Since we were above the tree line -no vegetation such as bushes or trees, there was not much cover to answer nature’s call in much privacy. The only way to get privacy was to bush whack far away from the trail and crouch behind an elusive rock and bare your behind to the vicious winds. Well, as one woman whom I encountered [to my bad luck] - peeing on the streets in downtown Reno - once told me “When you have to go, you have to go!” So that is what we did... 

About halfway up, the climb got pretty steep and I was gulping in air that was frigid cold and probably lacking in much needed oxygen. I also realized how out-of-shape I was. Nonetheless, we trudged on. Couple of our group members picked up speed and got ahead of us while another one decided to take it much slower. I hiked at my own speed to make sure I didn’t over exert just to keep up with the group. Ultimately, as I have come to realize - following a pace that you are comfortable with helps you keep up for a much longer duration. And this realization has served me well on many an occasion. 

It’s roughly a 4 mile trip (probably a bit less ...like 3.8) up to the summit from the trailhead depending upon how many detours you need to take to pee in peace. Given how dry this beautiful state is, you NEED too gulp water by the gallons and what goes in needs come out sooner or later…and in cold weather it is usually sooner than later :P … So the four hour hike uphill took me about four hours (that was how out of shape I was … and still am…) It was four of us who made it there at roughly the same time (give or take 15 minutes…) The feeling that I had when I stood on top of that peak can be described in one word - CHILLY! - Oh, how I wish I had more layers to give me some much needed warmth. After a few  pics and gazing lovingly at the Rockies around us, we began our descent. The two in our group who had reached earlier again picked up their pace and left us far behind. I as usual hiked at my own pace. At the same time, I happily provided words of encouragement (as humbly as possible) to those who were still headed uphill.

On the hike down, we encountered the last of our group members still determinedly headed uphill… She was having a tough time but she was ready to battle it out. The only thing I was worried about was that it was approaching noon - which meant the thunderstorms may not be far away. But it seemed like she could make it in time so we told her we’d wait for her further down the path where the wind was not freezing us up. On a nice flat area about a couple of miles down the trail, we decided to take a short nap while we waited for our friend to come back. That was a wonderful nap… filled with the satisfaction of having climbed my first fourteener. After about an hour of napping, the first hailstones hit us. Phattu that I am - I was already imagining thundering showers and lighting. By this time, the crowd had considerably thinned and there didn’t seem to be a lot of people on the trail. We hoped our friend had made it back in time since both of us had dozed off… and she probably didn’t notice us snoozing away… 

We hiked back but the hailstones seemed to be a false alarm. Nothing much happened... at least not at our elevation. Also, I realized my leg has not yet healed up completely. So I took it slow. We made it back to the trailhead by 2 pm including the couple of hours of napping, munching breakfast, peeing, etc... on the trail. It took the fifth member of our group another hour or so to get back. Thankfully, she didn’t encounter any thunderstorms!… just a bit of rain but no lightning… Apparently she got to celebrate her summit with fellow Indians who had a packed lunch of Indian delicacies with them that they were enjoying on the summit!

There wasn’t much wildlife up there.... may be pikas(?) and quite a bit of wildflowers looking splendid as always. 

And so with that concludes the account of my very first fourteener in a country far far away from home (yeah.. I just watched Star Wars…). Hopefully when I return to the Himalaya, I’d aspire to reach heights much higher than these :P

   

ICIMOD Knowledge Park @ Godavari, Kathmandu, Nepal - July 2015

This Sunday I got a chance to finally visit ICIMOD’s Knowledge Park @ Godavari. Being exhausted and a little sore from the long hike to Sundarijal the day before, I was looking forward to a leisurely stroll in the knowledge park in Godavari. And the friend who accompanied us was well-versed with a lot of the flora in the area and in general about the biodiversity of the region - so that was an added bonus. 

We first caught a taxi to Satdobato (and for the first time in two months, the driver actually charged by the meter!… getting a hang of this place, I’d say!) Then we caught a micro to Godavari which was the last stop. After a good breakfast, where I was taught the art of flawlessly peeling boiled eggs, we set out towards the knowledge park.

The gate seemed locked but in reality wasn’t!!! After working out the lock meant to fool the novice, we headed in to the beautifully maintained park.

The main entry way

The main office

 The map of the area

                       The cicada camouflaged on the bark                                

Giant earthworms

                              Cicada exoskeleton                

 Some sort of solar heating equipment

 Loads of mushrooms around there

 Bricks and cook stoves

 There were a whole lot of slippery mossy stairs... 

 Beautiful flowers out there!

 Beautiful flowers with nectar for butterflies...

We also ran into a naturalist, Karen Conniff, who has published some handy guides on:

Godavari Butterflies

Godavari Dragonflies

We took a long break from an overlook where we could view the snow clad mountains far away in the distance. It was an almost clear day so we got some very good views with a layer of smog just below. 

We ventured a little bit into the thick canopied forest always on the lookout for leeches, which we did encounter!

The cicadas were everywhere but there were also some birds… beautiful and serene even in the midst of the cacophony… the thick canopy was beautiful.

Thanks to a dear dear friend, I got to check this off my list of places to visit before the end of my first trip to Nepal!