Mountaineering and trekking were considered an eccentric activity in the Alps during the time of Edward Wympher and George Mallory, the real pioneers of the sport. In fact, when Mallory before leaving for Everest was asked why he wants to climb it, he gave the classic answer, “Because it is there!” However, with the passage of time, all these activities became so popular and routine that the Alps were teeming with thousands of mountaineers and trekkers.

In our, part the activities were still considered eccentric in early seventies, when I first went for mountaineering training to the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute in Darjeeling. Late H C Sarin, the then President of the Indian Mountaineering Foundation had very kindly sanctioned two scholarships in favour of me and my friend Dr.Rauf Mir. However, we went for training after the bug had bitten us on our first joint trek to Gangabal Lake. I had become the member of the Jammu & Kashmir Mountaineering and Hiking Club in 1969 when it was revived with Sir John Ray, the Principal Tyndale Biscoe School as its first Chairman. It was the revival of the Cashmere Climbing Club established in 1934 in the School by late Canon Tyndale Biscoe. A number of other people too joined the Club. These included Khurshid Malik, Dr. Rauf Mir, Dr. Yousuf Fazili, Dr. Nissar Bakshi, Peerzada Mumtaz, Mehraj-ud-Din Handoo, Mohammad Ali Malik, Anwar Ashai, Sharif-u-Rehman Khan, Munir Ahmad Butt, Naseem Mir, and many others. To begin the activities, it was decided to organise a trek to the high altitude lakes in Sonamarg area. It was claimed to be a very beautiful trek and one could visit about 20 lakes. Some of the lakes were supposed to be stocked with trout fish. Gangabal at the foot of Harmukh was supposed to be the largest lake.

We asked for volunteers and were able to assemble an 8 member team. This included besides me, Khurshid Malik, Dr. Rauf Mir, Dr. Yousuf Fazili, Sharif-ur-Rehman Khan, Mohammad Ali Malik, Munir Ahmad Butt, and Mehraj-ud-Din. It took us a couple of days to arrange trekking equipment, supplies etc, and we left early morning by KMDA (Kashmir Motor Drivers Association) bus from the main bus stand. Khurshid was carrying a couple of fishing rods and he had taken these inside the bus. Near Nowhatta Chowk there was some problem about our baggage and a scuffle broke out between the driver and Khurshid. We got stuck for half an hour. However, finally the issue of baggage was settled and we moved towards Sonamarg. It is a beautiful drive through Sindh valley. In the afternoon we reached Sonamarg but did not go to the main resort but got off near Shitkari Bridge. The trek to the lakes starts from here on the left side. After traversing half a kilometre there is a beautiful camping spot. We pitched our tents here and the cook started preparing tea and our evening meal. Two of the members went to engage pack horses for next day’s march towards the lakes. The night was somewhat cold but the weather was good.

Next morning we got up early and packed our own rucksacks. We also prepared loads for the pack-horses. The cook had got up early and prepared our pack lunch. After breakfast we started our climb towards the Nichnai pass which leads to Kishensar and Vishensar lakes. The climb to Lachimarg village was quite steep. We had a panoramic view of Sonamarg valley. The peaks and glaciers of Thajwas were visible right till the top of the spur. There are a number of challenging rock faces and small Alpine standard peaks in Sonamarg area. The granite rocks here are some of the best rock climbs. This area has been used as a training area even in the British days. The Royal Air Force had a training school here. These days the High Altitude Warfare School of the Army conducts summer training for the advance courses. In the recent times, the area has been used by many school children for camping during summer holidays.

We did not stop in Lachimarg but after going some distance ahead we halted for lunch. It was lovely to have lunch at this spot overlooking the entire valley. The track now became gradual and after crossing the spur we descended into the Nichai valley. It is a very narrow valley culminating in Nicnai pass. The initial climb is quite gradual along the left side of the valley. After traversing for sometime, we decided to camp at the base of the Nichnai pass. We were quite tired by now. The first day on a trek is always difficult. After pitching the tents, every one wanted to get into the sleeping bags. It was quite cold in the valley. Dr. Rauf went to each tent and distributed two types of tablets. One was Equanil supposed to be a muscle relaxant and the other Paracetamol, an analgesic. He asked us to take these with a cup of hot tea. According to him, these will relax our muscles and remove the fatigue and we would get up fresh next morning. We went to sleep early and did have a good sleep.

Next morning as predicted by the doctor we did get up very fresh! After breakfast of eggs and parathas, we started our march towards Nichnai pass. In the beginning the going was good. It was also a gradual climb. However, after an hour we reached the steep portion. The climb was a bit tough and we were going slowly. The top of the pass was quite flat and there was snow on top. We trudged along the slush for sometime and then descended towards the Kishensar Lake. After a bend in the track, we could see the lake along with the mount Vishnu in the background. It was a dramatic sight. Awe inspiring and out of this world. The colours were beautiful. It looked like a painting. We trekked right up to the bank of the lake and set up our camp near the stream coming out of the lake. This stream goes down to Tulail through Menghandob. The camping spot was really impressive. After pitching our tents and a cup of tea, Khurshid and I went for a round. We tried to catch fish in the lake but these were not biting. We decided to try early morning again. The night was again somewhat cold here. In the morning we were upset to know that Mehraj-ud-Din and Dr.Fazili had fever. They were covered with feathers from their sleeping bags. These bags had been bought by the Mountaineering Club from a manufacturer in Delhi. These smelt and contained probably very badly treated duck feather. Dr. Rauf gave them some medicine and hot tea. We had to delay our departure for sometime. We had intended to trek up to Satsar but in view of the condition of two members, we decided to camp at Gadsar. The trek up the right spur of mount Vishnu was quite slow. We had to keep a slow pace in view of the ailing members. While going up we had excellent views of the twin lakes.

(To be continued…)