The other party arrived after dark around 8 pm. They were more tired than us. They had to travel a much longer distance and that too on boulders. The climb to the lake had also been quite tiring. While we asked them to have a hot cup of salt tea with the shepherds, we started setting up the camp near the Gangabal Lake. It was a difficult job to pitch tents in total darkness with torch lights.

We heard thunder a number of times but without any clouds or lightening in the sky. After a hurriedly prepared dinner we went to sleep. Being quite tired we had good sleep even though on high altitude one usually loses sleep. I got up very early next morning. On high-altitude the light comes up early even though the Sun may rise quite late because of the shadow of the mountains. I went out for a stroll round the lake. The first thing I noticed was a black ring round the lake near the banks. I was quite surprised and went near to see it. It was a big surprise that the dark ring was caused by shoals of trout fish moving all along the banks. There were trout in hundreds and of good size. I came back and woke up Khurshid and asked him to make a try to catch some. But the trout are very clear. They do not bite when they see a person. Like Kishensar we had no luck. After breakfast, some of us went for washing and cleaning. Kurshid and I scouted the area and found large pools of water in the stream descending from the higher Gangabal to Nandkol. We again tried our luck in these pools and immediately landed some good sized trout. We had three rods and within a few hours we caught 26 trout, enough for a good dinner. The day was very enjoyable in brilliant sunshine. In the afternoon we again heard some thunder and then realised that it was coming from the fall of huge chunks of ice from the hanging glacier on Harmukh. At the foot of the north face of Harmukh on the far side of Nandkol lake there was large amount of ice debris. This thunder without clouds and lightening was coming from the fall of these huge chunks on the rocks and then to the bottom near the banks of the lake. It was an interesting experience to watch this cloudless thunder!

As this was our last night high up in the mountains, we had decided to light a camp fire in the night. All of us went round to collect some Juniper bushes and fallen wood and stacked it at some distance from the camp. The evening meal was the best in the entire trip with the fried trout which were very tasty. After dinner we lit the camp fire and went on dancing and singing round it almost till midnight. It was really the most enjoyable evening. Next morning we got up late as we had planned to descend up to Naranag at the foot of the famous Butsher climb. After winding the camp and loading the ponies we took a leisurely walk as we had to go all the way down. We spent some minutes at Nandkol lake to watch the beauty of the majestic Harmukh with its hanging glacier. It is a very serene and awe inspiring spot. Somehow it looks a bit depressive. The Gangabal Lake appears quite jovial with vast shimmering waters. In fact, the lake changes colours with the changing position of the Sun. In the morning it is almost transparent and towards evening it looks dark blue. The fish which I had seen in the morning as a ring around the lake collected in the middle towards afternoon. It is probably because in the afternoon the water in the middle is cooler. The Harmukh peak and the Gangabal lake have great significance in Saivite religion of Kashmiri Hindus. Rajtarangani, the earliest book of Kashmir history written by Pandit Kalhana in 12th century has many legends associated with Harmukh and Gangabal. It is supposed to be the source of River Sindhu considered in ancient times as the Ganges of Kashmir. Mount Harmukh has a great resemblance to Mount Kailash above the lake Mansarovar in Tibet which is the source of River Indus, the River which gave India its name! In ancient times every King used to trek up to Gangabal to wash all his sins before sitting on the throne. Harmukta Ganga was a very pious and a sacred place for the ancient Hindus of Kashmir.

We traversed the ridge leading to Trunkhul where there used to be an Alpine hut. It was a very beautiful hut constructed on the pattern of the black forest huts of Germany. J & K Forest Department has some of the most beautiful and ideally located rest houses and high-altitude huts. From Trunkhul the descent was quite steep. The horses had to be taken down very carefully. After descending the steep portion the track goes level along the stream to Naranag. We reached the forest rest house in Naranag in the late afternoon. This place is quite warm. Naranag also has a massive temple complex and is mentioned in Rajtarangni very often. There are many interesting episodes associated with this place. We stayed in the bungalow for the night. Even though there was a fair weather road up to Naranag, those days the bus used to come only up to Wangat some more distance away. In the night Khurshid discovered a scorpion in the hut. It was very strange to have scorpions in this place but Khurshid explained that the Naranag area was very dry and hot. It resembled some place in tropics or even in a desert. Next day we walked along the rough road which has now been fully black topped. We reached Wangat just before the arrival of the last bus. There was lot of rush of locals. As soon as the bus arrived we rushed in and took our seats. Some of us started loading our bags on top. This quick move by us infuriated some local nomads who threw stones. One stone hit Munir Butt under the eye. Luckily his eye was saved and he only had a black spot. However, subsequently he had to undergo treatment for quite sometime as one of his facial nerves had been hit. We reached Srinagar late and thus our trip came to an end. Except for the two incidents of scuffle and stone pelting while going up and coming down in the buses, the rest of the trip was most enjoyable. In fact, I still remember every detail and it gives me a good feeling of nostalgia. There is no doubt that this is the most beautiful and dramatic mountain trek in Kashmir!

(Concluded)