Going with the theme of most of my experiences, this one talks about my shot at hard core mountaineering – scaling the Friendship Peak . I call it hard core, as I have never been a person who aspired to climb mountains, Infact I am one of those who is scared of heights. But what made me take that path.
We all have moments in our life when a spark ignites.
What really is a ‘spark’? ‘Spark’ means to ignite/ to activate.
To me ‘spark’ means the passion to do something to which the mind commits instantaneously. This spark can be different for different people, the spark of deciding to lose weight upon looking at your weight on the weighing scale, the spark to quit smoking by a chain smoker on seeing his medical reports, the spark of committing to study everyday and not using the phone by a student immediately after seeing his or her results, the spark of a high flying employee having a wish to turn into an entrepreneur and forgo his corporate life after reading a successful start-up story.
As the famous Hindi movie dialogue goes, “Kahin Jaane ke liye Kahin se nikkalna parrta hai” (to go somewhere you have to get out). But only a few people are able to step out, walk the path and convert this spark into fire.
The process (of converting this spark into fire) could be very tedious (and at times boring) so most of us give up on the way. Giving up is the easiest way out and anyone can come up with reasons for justifying the same. The ones who are stubborn and determined are the ones who experience the satisfaction of achieving what they resolved and often become great story tellers. After all, most stories are inspired from real life experiences.
Like all of us I also get a lot of sparks in my life, and more often than not I have taken the boring path of indulging in them (may it be running marathons, going for the Khardoongla Ultra the 72 km run in Ladakh, finishing the 12 hour run going around a 1 km circle, indulging and finishing the Ironman trialthon, trekking to the Everest Base Camp etc.).
I am a preparer and not a planner in general. By preparer I mean that I believe in working towards a goal rather than spending a lot of time planning for it. Fitness means the same to me – a way of life rather than an aim to achieve something. So, I am always up for sudden adventures or challenges that, at times, test the mettle in me. The experience I am going to share is no different!
The Friendship Peak Adventure
When I was asked if I was up for a challenge in the mountains, the answer was instantaneous and before the end of the day, I had signed up for the unknown! As the saying goes, one’s best friend in the mountains is his self-confidence. Well, I definitely had a lot of that to back me up!
Four of us (Hithaiesh, Mithun, Sanjay and I) ranging from the young to the not-so-young (30 – 48 years) planned a trip to Friendship Peak near Manali from Sep 11-16. The only common factor amongst the four of us was that we had the same spark and love for the outdoors – clearly, our fitness levels, prior experience and adrenaline rush quotients were all different.
I arrived in Manali on Sep 10 after a 15-hour bus journey from Delhi. Some may call it torturous, but I felt certain bit of calm setting in with the journey.
These 15 hours made me realise how we have grown up too soon and our life has forgotten the meaning of patience and calmness. Back in the days when we were young, all our travels to the mountains took 12-15 hours and that too in the roadway buses, but the excitement of travel did not make us realise even a bit of it. Now, the time was crawling slowly but to my surprise I was enjoying it, instead of complaining.
We stopped by at Chandigarh petrol pump, to pick up a few passengers. The bus was almost 4 hours delayed, and the passenger who boarded and sat next to me seemed a bit upset – he complained once but after that, the life, along with the bus, moved on. He didn’t spoil his journey for something which was not under his control… giving my sense of calm, an introspective depth.
On arriving in Manali, the orientation team was waiting for me as the others had reached Manali a day in advance.
The first thing they asked us was whether our inspiration came after seeing Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani. While we all laughed at this joke, he was serious; he narrated a few of his experiences wherein girls came in skirts for the trek saying that if Deepika Padukone can climb the mountain in skirt and sport shoes, they are no less. They didn’t listen to the trek leader, started their climb and had to return on day 2 with severe headaches. Luckily for us, we were all decked up with the right attire.
Day 0 of the trek left us thinking about our goal ahead and we all decided to put our city life behind for the next 7 days.
The weatherman did not have anything great to say about trek days ahead… heavy rains and overcast skies had been predicted till Sep 14 (Summit day had been planned for Sep 15!). So, right from the word go, the trek started to get more and more challenging, compounded by incessant rains in the first three days of our ascent and the discouraging news from returning trekkers about their inability to get to the top of the mighty mountain.
But, then again, the mountains have a different feel altogether… the chill in the air was unreal, the unseasonal rain didn’t stop though was not a disruption from moving ahead as well, being surrounded by snow and ice clad mountains was overwhelming. The sight and sound of wild crows was totally different from the ones we witness in our parts of the world, sheep and mules have a mystic calmness along with an expression. The expression conveyed by sheeps and mules reminded us of kind mystic monks that were patiently tolerating the invasion by us strange creatures, into their territory. The view of the sky and the terrain was something we kept on gazing at for hours, without getting bored and the starry night sky was beyond our imagination – everything was meditative and in complete contrast to what we see in our daily life.
5 days of hardship, fun, camaraderie, team work, radio silence with the outside (real?) world, new experiences and a new-found respect for mother nature, eventually led us safely up and down Friendship Peak. After the feat was achieved on day 5, before the descent back to the city of Manali, we realized how wound up we really were when each one of us couldn’t hold back our tears as we relayed our success to our families from the peak (a unique feature of this peak is that one can get 4G mobile connection at the shoulder leading up to the peak). We took approximately 4 days to ascend 11,000 feet over about 12 kilometres and then descended all that in just half a day!
As novice mountaineers, we stayed focused on the task at hand and let the experts guide us for everything else. ‘Trek the Himalayas’, our outfitting company, did a superb job with all the arrangements, including dining and stay, providing knowledgeable and experienced trek leaders and ensuring that all our fears and anxieties were laid to rest.
The whole mountaineering experience was hard, painful, risky and had no material rewards at all. Still what was my/ our motivation to do it?
I kept questioning this throughtout the trek. The answer came when we conquered the peak. I realised, the pleasures and gains of this experience were lying within me and nowhere else. The complete act itself was the destination of my journey. My biggest fear was neither the risk nor the pain; it was that if I stop and give up this, then some day, I might stop and give up anything (or even everything else) in life. That is what kept me going, my ZIdd.
I kept thinking, let everyone call me crazy, but I need to keep going. In fact, I didn’t even need to think about stopping till I reached there!!!
Let’s now get down to how it all unfolded right from not even knowing what I had signed up for…down to or should I say ‘up’ to conquering the Friendship Peak. Here are the main characters of this saga:
Trek Leader (TL) – Naveen
Deputy Trek Leader (2IC – 2nd In Command) – Sanjiv
Cook – Vinod
Four complete mavericks
Day 1 – Trek to Bakkarthatch
Weather Forecast – Rain
Actual Weather – Rain and more rain!
After a sumptuous breakfast and a “before” group photo, we left Manali at 9.15 am in a Tata Sumo. An hour or so later, just after we crossed Solang, we were dropped off at the mule loading point (also, the trek start point). So, with the kitchen supplies and tents loaded up on the miles, the 6 of us (TL Naveen from Kasaul & 2IC Sanjeev from Uttarkashi along with the four of us started our journey.
A high gradient, a muddy path and incessant rains made the climb particularly tough. Surprisingly, we met a group about an hour in… they were drenched to the skin (no different from us) but were descending. Eager to hear that the weather in the upper reaches of the mountain was clear and sunny, we struck up a quick conversation. Unfortunately, the news was anything but rosy… this group had failed to summit due to heavy rains, landslides and sleet (snow and ice) further up. Discouraging for sure… we empathised with their condition, but, determinedly moved on.
After about 3 hours of walking, we caught sight of our day 1 campground just ahead. It was separated by a stream of water, which, during regular times, could be crossed by hopping over stones. However, with the rain and the melting snow, the stream looked more like a torrent! Shoes were removed, tied together and carefully balanced around our necks as we waded across to our resting spot for Day 1
The support staff had 2 tents up already – the kitchen and the dining tents. While we took refuge in the dining tents, our 2-person sleep tents were put up. Steaming hot lunch is usually a luxury in such horrid weather even in the city, but, to our astonishment, Vinod (head cook) and his crew had prepared piping hot steamed rice, dal and cauliflower sabzi which all of us graciously devoured. We then went into our individual tents, donned dry clothes and relaxed while playing cards. 4 PM saw bread pakora appear in our tents – talk about luxurious room service! 6 PM was vegetable soup with an overdose of black pepper. Dinner at 7 PM was a repeat of similar food with the addition of chapatis (albeit a different dal variant and a different vegetable) along with dessert in the form of a Shahi Tukra.
Lights out at 8 PM and we were all cuddled up in our warm sleeping bags in the comfort of a dry tent. I think I drifted into REM sleep around midnight!
Mountain adage for the day* – In mountains a man’s best friend is his self confidence….if they both are together they can achieve anything
* Our 2IC, Sanjiv, was extra proactive in spewing out frequent mountain advice. One of the many “old mountain sayings” has been captured here!
Day 2 – Trek to Lady Leg
Weather Forecast – Rain
Actual Weather – Overcast skies with lots of rain!
6-7-8! That was the last instruction from Naveen the night before. Wake up tea at 6 AM, breakfast at 7 AM and on the road (mountain path) at 8 AM.
So, accordingly, after spending a fairly uneventful night in the tent, we awoke to the first rays of the morning sun (through a layer of dark clouds) at 6 AM. After our abridged morning ablution rituals, we congratulated each other on a successful day 1 behind us! A makeshift dumping tent had been set up to protect us from the weather while we went about doing our business, but, given the seemingly dry overcast sky, we all chose different rocks as modesty shields instead. A hearty breakfast of omelette and jam+cheese sandwiches followed at 7 after which we packed and were ready to move on shortly after. Getting the tents (personal, dining and kitchen tents) folded and loaded up on the mules took a little longer, so our departure was delayed a little to 8:45 AM.
Light rains on our 2-hour ascent ensured that we got to the site of our next campground relatively dry. We were accompanied by a friendly dog (aptly named Sheru!) who decided to keep us company and also took on the additional responsibility of leading the way. For once, our pace seemed to obliterate the competition from the mules and our kitchen/ support staff. While we waited for the support team to show up, the rain clouds decided to open up – the four of us huddled up under an umbrella. Naveen informed us that we were at the tree line altitude now and that we would now see meadows instead of trees at this altitude.
To give us company on day 2, we had countless sheep. In those high alpine meadows sheep was not something I was expecting to see, neither did they look excited to see us invading in their territory. We exchanged a few stares but they are masters at staring back and not blinking. It seemed as if they were a little angry that us humans had invaded their privacy , it was like them saying ‘ shoo leave us alone ‘.
On our campsite, another team of 3 people (2 experienced trekkers and a trek leader) were set up. They had returned a few hours earlier from an attempt to reach the FP summit. An unsuccessful attempt… heavy snow at the summit forced them to return 450 meters short of the peak.. Discouraging news #2 on day #2! We kept our spirits up while sipping hot coffee (graciously offered by this group of people) and kept praying and hoping that the weather would clear when we attempted the summit.
About an hour or so later, just as our hands were starting to tire holding the umbrella up, the mules arrived and our tents were put up. In record time, the four of us settled into the warm and dry comfort of the tents. The rest of the day and evening were spent playing cards (many variations of gambling games where each one won/ lost ridiculous sums of fictitious money!). Rains continued to pound the campsite throughout the day and continued into the night.
However, the sheep continued to stay where they were till the morning, maybe guarding their territory till they ensured that we left.
Vinod, our cook, continued to amaze us with his culinary abilities. Lunch consisted of chowmein and gobi manchurian; snack at 4 PM was pakoras with tea; soup at 6 PM was a repeat of the vegetable soup from yesterday; and, dinner at 7 consisted of egg curry, vegetable kofta, dal, rice and chapatis. Dessert was a fruit custard (it felt like canned mangoes, but no one was quite sure or, for that matter, cared!). Post dinner, conversation shifted back to our tents where the topic of discussion focused on giving the sole bachelor in our group tips on getting hitched. It seemed to be an appropriate conversation given that the group had a cumulative marital experience of almost half a century!
Mountain learning for the day – There’s never any discrimination or economic disparity in the mountains. Everyone eats and drinks the same; if you need to relieve yourself in the night, always venture out with a buddy.
Day 3 – Trek to Advance Base Camp (ABC)
Weather Forecast – Overcast skies with a high percentage of rain
Actual Weather – Overcast skies and NO Rain in the morning; Clear skies with visibility to a huge orange ball of warmth!
Restful sleep came the night before only to be occasionally disturbed by the bleating of sheep and the neighing of our mules. We woke up to the fairly chilly morning air with our campsite surrounded by hundreds of sheep. It had rained the whole night thereby increasing our anxiety/ stress levels on what lay ahead.
7-8-9! That was the last instruction from Naveen the night before. Wake up tea at 7 AM, breakfast at 8 AM and on the road (mountain path) at 9 AM.
Interestingly, when we awoke at 7 AM, it wasn’t raining… it almost felt that the night’s rain had drained the clouds of any additional condensation ability! After a breakfast of poha, mac’n’cheese & pancakes and the customary packing/ saddling up ceremonies, we were on our way at 9:15 AM. A short (actually incredibly short) trek later we were at the ABC at 10:45 AM. The incline from Lady Leg to the ABC was not much and we made short work of it. Keeping in mind that we were now getting into the zone where AMS(acute mountain sickness) can hit, we cautiously kept hydrating ourselves while walking and frequently took breaks to answer nature’s calls! The terrain had now changed from the meadows at Lady Leg to one of a rocky base (broken stones). Much to our excitement, the weather also started to clear and the clouds lifted up to give us our first views of the surrounding peaks of Hanuman Tibba and Friendship Peak. Exhilarating and scary at the same time.
For the 2nd day in a row, we beat the mules to the ABC. With weather clearing up, we helped pitch the tents and got settled in. As the sun rose, we got out some of our wet belongings and laid them out on the rocky terrain to dry. The rest of the afternoon was spent looking at some of the technical gear (also spread out near our tents) – the crampons ( a traction device that is attached to footwear to improve mobility on snow and ice during ice climbing), co-flask shoes (plastic snow boots), seat harnesses, rope, ice-axes, helmets, carabiners and leg gaiters. Our trek leaders gave us a quick run through on the equipment which we tried on and monkeyed around with for a few hours.
Lunch consisted of kari chawal, after which we decided to go for a walk close to the spot where we were supposed to do snow/ ice training the next day. An easy 30 minute uphill walk got us to a vantage spot from where we could see our ABC camp in the distance sandwiched between Hanuman Tibba and Friendship Peak. A few photographs later, we descended back to the camp for our customary evening snack. As the day progressed and the sun started to go down, we were quickly advised to layer up as night time temperatures were bound to plummet owing to clearer skies.
Dinner was a quiet affair with each one of us feeling the chill – hot mushroom peas, dal, rice, chapatis and dessert in the form of gajar halwa made for a quick bite as we longed to get into our tents. As we hunkered down for the night, we also got into a bedliner in addition to the super warm sleeping bags.
A clear sky meant we could see many stars… Naveen also told us that the milky way would be visible over Hanuman Tibba around 2 AM. Exciting, eh? Well, other than Hithaiesh, our group’s avid photographer, all of us stayed in our tents at 2 AM
Mountain learning for the day – if you are the last person in a group on a mountain, you don’t need to look back!
Day 4 – Acclimatization & Equipment Training at Advance Base Camp (ABC)
Weather Forecast – Clear skies
Actual Weather – Clear skies with visibility to a huge orange ball of warmth!
Restful sleep, second night in a row! The liners did their job and we all slept warm and dry. Thank heavens for the tents which kept out any wind.
Repeat 7-8-9 sans the packing! A leisurely cup of tea in our tents at 7, an even more leisurely breakfast comprising aloo parathas under the sun at 8 and then off to a nearby snow/ ice patch for some training at 9 AM.
Donning our full battle (mountain!) gear, we headed up to spot just beyond the vantage point we had visited the previous evening. Walking with the heavy snow boots was no mean task and we very quickly realized that. Adding the crampons and then walking like ducks with a separation of ~12 horizontal inches between your feet isn’t natural. A feeling of clumsiness was drowned in humour as we saw each other struggle on basic ice walking techniques. Next up, we learnt to tie a “figure-8” knot attaching ourselves to the rope using our carabiners attached to our harnesses. Attempts at a group arrest (in case of a fall) were also practiced. Finally, Naveen and Sanjiv let the group just walk around in their equipment for about 30 minutes, taking selfies, groupies and just having fun. Keep in mind that these techniques are practiced for many days/ weeks by mountaineers at elite mountaineering institutes. We were monkeying around with the assumption that Naveen and Sanjiv would address any eventualities on the mountain!
Walking with the mountain gear was no mean task and we now felt that – by the time we descended back to our camp for some lunch, a few of us were dehydrated, fatigued and felt mild symptoms of rarefied air. Naveen, interestingly, decided to go a little further (while we descended) for a recce trip up the mountain to see if all was well for our summit push and see if fixed rope was required.
Lunch came in the form of Italian cuisine – 2 varieties of pasta – marinara and creamy white flavoured pastas along with honey chili potatoes all made from scratch. Food was consumed without much fanfare… a little anxiety was starting to set in as our summit attempt was now less than 12 hours away and the enormity of the exercise was slowly starting to reveal itself. Each one of us was now starting to time our ascent in our minds, along with our descent to Manali and the after party! If, a big if, everything went well and according to plan.
Almost anticipating our anxiety, Vinod, our cook, served high tea with Gol Gappas! Tasty, freshly made GG’s 4 kilometers above sea level has got to be some kind of a record. While we were enjoying the GG’s, Naveen recommended that we leave camp at 1:30 AM to beat the traffic (there were 2 other groups numbering a dozen more people also attempting the summit in the same window) and make the best of the calm, clear weather. An early dinner comprising dal, rice, aloo sabzi and chapatis along with a dessert of suji halwa was served up at 6:30 PM. After a quick 30 minute meandering walk, we retired for 5 hours of shut-eye. With our bags packed (for a quick post descent walk to Manali), alarms set for 12:15 AM and a prayer on our lips, we hit the sack.
Mountain learning for the day –
- No one knows how much time it takes to climb any mountain, primarily because everything depends on how nature behaves on that day
Two reasons to climb in the night – one, reducing chances of avalanches & open crevasse (why yeh din mein zyada hota hai? Due to melting of snow because of the sun?) & two, for novice climbers, it is better they don’t get disheartened by the elevation that lays ahead!
Day 5 – Summit Day
Weather Forecast – Clear skies
Actual Weather – Clear skies (unbelievable weather!)
12:15-12:45-1:30! So, finally the day we all had been waiting for and planning for had arrived. I got up at midnight, meditated for 15 minutes and then headed out in pitch darkness (guided by my head mounted torch light) headed to freshen up. The area around the tents were in a state of a white-out, most likely from the fog around us.
The air was filled with excitement and exhilaration. The chill in the night air necessitated that we wear 4 layers of clothing above the waist and half that around our legs. We were ready for our early-morning snack of maggi noodles and kala chana, which was promptly served at 12:45 AM. At 1.35 AM, with our head mounted lights glowing in the dark, we started toward our final push. The heavy ko-flasks made small work of the rocky patch just before the first patch of ice on our way to the summit. 20 minutes into the walk, we bolted on our crampons and walked through the ice-patch. For our fairly inexperienced night trekkers, walking in the dark with just an illumination of 10 feet in the direction of our lights was an eerie experience… We just kept following the person in front of us hoping that we were headed in the right direction.
After about an hour of walking on the snow/ ice, we had an option of walking on a rocky patch or attempting a crevasse crossing (A crevasse is a deep crack, crevice or fissure found in an ice sheet or glacier, or earth). Given the team’s relative inexperience, Naveen made the decision to walk through the rocky patch. And, since it was a short path, we decided to keep our crampons on – bad decision! Repeatedly, my crampons got stuck in the rocks and it took irritating additional effort to keep climbing up. Sanjay wasn’t as fortunate and had a near fatal fall… luckily for him, he landed on non-jagged rocks and got away with minor bruises.
30 minutes on, the rock face finished with no other untoward incidents. In the darkness, there was no way of knowing how much further we had to head up, what the incline was or whether we were about to walk off a cliff! Our only reminder of how much we had climbed could be gauged by a pair of headlights from another group that appeared to be far below us! The climb started to get increasingly steeper as we reached the first ridge at around 4:20 AM. At the ridge, Sanjeev instructed us to follow his foot impressions to minimize stepping into a crevasse. The degree of difficulty was evident from our laboured breathing, but, when Sanjeev indicated the possibility of crevasses, the element of danger started to dawn upon as well.
Another 90 minutes of climbing got us to a small rock patch, where it was decided that the team should rope up (attach to one anotherfor safety). Naveen felt it would slow the team down, but we insisted and persevered! Meanwhile the team that had seemed miles behind us, had caught up and passed us as we were getting roped in. We followed a minute or two behind on a steep slope with an incline of ~75°. We reached the 2nd ridge at 7:30 AM where we passed one of the team members from the group that had passed us on ridge #1. When asked what he was waiting for, we learnt that he had decided to stop as the shoulder to the peak was beyond his reach and he was waiting for his other team members to return from the peak. A little discouraging to hear this from a team that overtook us, but, then again this is the reality of a mountain where there are no accolades for coming first.
The next half a kilometer or so was a walk along the shoulder with extremely deep snow. One side of the shoulder was a steep slope leading up to our ABC “as the crow flies”) and the other a cornice (with God alone knows what lay beneath!). Our speed reduced drastically, as we waited for all team members to catch up with each other (to maintain the right amount of tension on the rope).
Naveen the 27 year old leader of the group, the raw talent (who generally sleeps peacefully in the rocks and goes to do a recce till the point most of the trekkers return), stopped and gave us few warnings before our last ascent.
- The last team which visited the peak didn’t move further ahead of that place thus the next 500 metres are going to be completely unmarked and he would have to create a path, which can be risky and can lead to a fall
- We should just keep moving on the path that he creates and not deviate from the same
- We should not stop on the shoulder since any snow movement could be extremely risky (standing and not moving generates downward heat which causes snow to melt – bad things can happen when that happens on top of a shoulder!).
The other 2 members of the other group were also on the shoulder slowly moving toward the summit. About 200 meters short of the peak, Naveen suggested that we wait while he recce’d the path forward. So, now deliberating on this contradiction from Naveen, we awaited direction with bated breath… wait, most likely we were just waiting for our breath to get back to normal! After what seemed like an extremely long 5 minutes, Naveen came back and suggested that we turn back. The fresh snow on the peak added a lot of unknown dangers on the final summit push. We turned around fully aware that we were about 200 meters short of the peak, but we had achieved what we came here for!
So, with zero regret, we walked back on the shoulder toward the ridge. With the sun up , it also started to dawn on the group, the sheer magnitude of what we had all achieved in the cover of darkness. I, personally, was paralysed with fear as I trekked down the shoulder. Regardless, at the end of the shoulder, Naveen suggested we do a group photo and make calls! Yes, mobile calls! Unbelievably, the shoulder overlooks the city of Manali and has unfettered 4G mobile access. So, group photos, videos and facetime calls to families happened over the next 15-20 minutes. We all forgot the cold, fear, fatigue, excitement, etc. as we posed for the photographs.
As the phone calls got through and each one of us spoke to our families, tears rolled down our cheeks and it took gargantuan efforts to get words out – the elation of listening to near and dear ones after 5 days and the vagaries of mountain life had clearly taken an emotional toll! 🙂
At 8:35 AM we began our ascent back to the ABC. The descent was not as scary once we got off the shoulder, but our inexperience was in full display as each one of us kept slipping/ losing balance full every 5 minutes or so! We also realised that we’d been up on our feet for 8 hours without much in terms of food or drink. Naveen suggested that we take our break at 10 AM when we’d be down with the 2 ridges we had climbed a few hours earlier in the cover of darkness. Slowly, the feeling of accomplishment and pride was starting to sink in… as we got off the ridge around 10 AM, we called up our families again and actually spoke for 5-10 minutes. We also used the break to decide that we’d like to walk back all the way to Dhundi, our trek start point. That way, we could spend the night in the comfort of a bed at the Prini Inn in Manali!
We reached our camps at the ABC at 12.30 PM. A quick change into dry clothes and some packaged lunch later, we left for the Lady Leg campsite at 1 pm. We arrived at the Lady Leg campsite at 2PM, Bakkarthatch campsite at 3:30 PM and, finally, at Dhundi by 5 PM. Our jeep was waiting for us, thanks to Naveen radioing in our ETA to the driver… another example of well managed logistics by the trekking support team.
After a long hot shower at the hotel, followed by a celebratory beer and dinner, as the 4 of us bid our goodbyes, a few thoughts started to trickle through – we had achieved what we’d planned for; this was our first mountain expedition; this was the highest Hithaiesh had ever trekked to, we had supported each other and had had loads of fun in these past 5 days and, most importantly, we had stayed safe and were now, all set to head back to our families in Delhi/ Bangalore.
Finally, as a passing note, I wanted to share my observations around the extremity of the views shared by the mountaineer vs. the “commoner”. I am referring to us four as the mountaineer and all the naysayers (my friends and other general public) as the commoners!
The Commoner’s rationale for the mountaineer’s (aka Sanjay, Kapil, Mithun and Hiteiash)- This person has gone mad, it is a classical case of a midlife crisis, rich kid spoils, too much time on his hands, has gone complacent early in life etc.
The Mountaineer’s thought process – New found respect for friends and family, gratitude for what life has apportioned to me and just a feeling that no problem is too big. When you compare your city life to the simplicity of life in the mountains, all our issues pale in comparison.
Mountain learnings for the day – There’s a huge list of learning today, but few key ones and these ones came from our own hearts after the amazing journey–
- Gratitude for what life has apportioned for me, for having an amazing family, a beautiful home, a place to work and time to follow my passion.
- Being happy is not about being rich or famous, but being content, patient and forgiving
Absolutely amazing! Thank you for sharing this wonderful experience. Love the way you write. You can feel the hope, fear, and excitement! Kudos to the chef! The nuggets of learning are priceless!
Amazing achievement my friend. Well done, so proud of you.
What a great post. Loved reading through it and experiencing your journey. What’s next? May you keep turning little sparks into magnificent fires!
Beautifully narrated, lovely pictures👍🏼 It feels like I too completed my expedition to the peak… 😀
Kudos to you for this achievement 🤘
riveting and well written
Life fulfilling experience !! Being one with self and your environment, feeling like a monk on a continuous journey into the mountains and beyond into the stars, way to go Kapil !!
Inspiring, as always 😊