My First Himalayan Trek

Presenting below: my daughter's first blog...

I, Smriti, 13, would like to share some of the experiences about my first Himalayan Trek to Vijaya Top (in Uttarakhand). This was a very much awaited trip for me which was cancelled in 2020 due to COVID-19.
Trekking for me seemed easier than my school subjects as I have done most of the peaks in the Southern states of India. So the only challenge I guess must be the Altitude & Temperature in the Himalayas.

 

The trek was arranged by a group called KARNATAKA HIKES and we came to know about them through my mother’s friend. Finally the day came when my tickets were booked and I received my COVID-Negative certificate.
My parents dropped me at the airport to join the other 8 members of the team along with a trek leader. Two advantages as I see from here: one is that I have one familiar face in the group; Stuti (my mother’s friend’s daughter) and second, I have the experience of staying away from my parents.

 

The flight journey went peaceful and nice with all the COVID protocols in place. Once we landed in Dehradun, we met the other two trek leaders.
The journey towards Sankri was a cool and breezy one. I loved the scenery of the first base camp, Himri, as it was situated next to a river. That evening, I learnt a new thing known as TENT PITCHING. It was pretty fun and also would be helpful in the future.

 

Meanwhile, I saw a person little far by, tying a rope to a tree branch. I wondered what he must be doing and didn’t pay much attention to him. But then, I heard that we were going to do an activity called JUMARING, for which that person was tying a rope. This activity was basically to lift our own body weight through the rope tied up on the tree. I successfully completed the activity. It was fun.

 

The second day, after a tasty breakfast, we headed towards the second base camp, Sarutal. This path was kind of steep and not much greenery was seen as we trekked closer. “In nature, nothing is perfect and everything is perfect”. Trees were bent in weird ways, and they still look beautiful. Even though I am a nature lover, I can’t expect greenery to be everywhere. So I waited calmly, and as we reached the Sarutal Base camp, I was so excited to see lovely scenery in front of me. 

 

 

At first, I did not believe that this would be our base camp. I was so happy when we were told that we have completed the first day of the trek. We saw some local kids and clicked a few pictures with them. In the evening, we went for an activity called RAPLING. This was very easy and fun at the same time for me. Later, we had some Maggi and soup for dinner.

 

The third day started with some meditation and green tea. The day’s target was to reach our third base camp, Badang. This time during the trek, we played some music. As we were walking, there was a big area which had all rocks and mud fallen down. This was actually the place where the landslide had occurred in Uttarakhand in 2013. We had to cross the area from one side to the other. My mind was totally blank while crossing. Somehow, we crossed the area. As we were about to reach the top, we found some snow scattered in places. All of us played for a while and continued trekking. Finally we reached the third base camp, also known as the base camp for Vijaya Top.

 

 
The view from the top was amazing. I personally loved the day’s trek because it had a lot of water spots, beautiful views and wasn’t much tiring, may be because of the music. We had a great time and in the evening we were ready for an activity called ZIPLINE. I had done this activity in a lot of places before, but this was my favorite among all. After all the activities, we had dinner with a campfire set in front of us.

 

The next and final day of the trek, all of us woke up early, had breakfast and started the trek. At first, I felt it very difficult to climb as I was not able to tolerate the cold, and also I had a runny nose. For a while I thought I wouldn’t make it to the summit but I got a lot of motivation from the trek leaders. As the sun came out, I felt little better. I was a bit late to reach the summit. To be honest, I did not realize that this was such a big achievement until we clicked pictures with the banner saying VIJAYA TOP ACCOMPLISHED, 12467 ft. I felt so happy and proud of myself at that time and so were the others. We played with snow and headed back to the base camp. 

 

As the saying goes “There is no WIFI in the mountains, but you will find a better connection”, I made new friends as well as lovely memories and each moment spent with the team is a memorable one. Even though I am an introvert, the people in the team made me comfortable and I cannot forget all the laughter and time spent over there. Usually I am very careless about things and don’t maintain my stuff properly. But in this journey of 10 days, I found a new me. I kept my things organised and learned the value of time sense. I am grateful to my parents who allowed me to experience this wonderful journey.

 

The main highlights of this trek were the beautiful sceneries, snow peaked mountains which were seen from far, and the nights spent with my friends in the tent. I would like to thank all the trek leaders, local guides and not to forget the cooking staff for some delicious food they cooked for us. Last but not the least; thanks to the whole team of KARNATAKA HIKES for organising and flawless execution of the trek. This journey is and will be one of the best memories in my life. Hope to add many more like these.
 

“IT IS NOT THE MOUNTAIN WE CONQUER BUT OURSELVES.” – Edmund Hillary

Photo Credits: KARNATAKA HIKES

 

To read our other travel experiences, visit My Wanderlust Experiences...

 

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