Raju's Wanderings

The Zanskar River in Ladakh freezes in winter with temperatures ranging as low as -35 degrees Celsius. The Chadar (blanket) is so called because when the ice forms on top of the Zanskar River, it feels like the river has worn a white blanket. This time, the minimum temperatures were quite high (my estimate around -20 degress), since regions of Leh (Ladakh) hadn't experienced much snowfall. There is currently no way to get to Padum, Lingshed and Nerak from Chilling in winter other than walk on the frozen river, while a road is being made in the next couple of years to meet the demands of the locals. As a result of the road building and increased crowds, the Ibex and snow leopard that are occasionally spotted during the Chadar Trek have more or less, disappeared and stick to the high mountain. I had planned on the Chadar Trek in 2017 since there was a rumor that it would end in a couple of years since the river would no longer freeze over. The trek begins with acclimatizatio...

In one of my earlier lives, around 2011, I had meticulously planned out the entire trek to Kuari Pass, via Joshimath, Khulara, and Kuari Top. I couldn't make it that year because one more trek took my time, but this year, I made it between December 22-30,  2017. You get to see some of the famous mountains including a spectacular view of India's tallest mountain, Nanda Devi (7,817 m). At a height of 4,264 meters, Kuari Top is considered a High Altitude trek. It is a beautiful winter trek, passing through the Gorson bugyal (high altitude alpine meadow) set in Uttarakhand. You can begin from the Joshimath side (more beautiful) and end at Auli, in four days.  Lord Curzon's trail (named famously after him) from Ghat, via Ramni is the other route, that I didn't take.  The busy town of Joshimath. You wouldn't believe that in the 9th century, it was established by Adi Shankacharya, a reformer, as one of the four "pithas", to protect of the Atharvaveda. As o...