This, that, and all between.
And now for some real stuff. On the morning of 11th the Sun shook off its slumber and swallowed the clouds, though briefly. As we descended from higher reaches of Chamoli district and waded through lower valleys of Alaknanda river system, a near crescent of snow covered peaks opened up in the north north-east. This is a small view of the north section.
Smitten by the mountains, the weather behaves like a jealous beloved. Rain, snow, storm, thunder, landslide, avalanche – you name it – the weather uses all at its disposal to thwart any attempt at getting any closer to the mountains. It doesn’t want anyone to come near the white chadar hiding its beloved. While the romantic mountains enchant and hypnotize, the frigid weather dissuades, warns and even threatens to keep one away. Precisely that’s what happened with us this time between Mana (via Ghastoli & Deotaal) and Niti Passes (via Tapovan, Reni, Lata & Malari) on the Indo-Tibetan borders. Five days of incessant rain, lost trails, a near white-out and an absolute No from the ITBP deprived us of some of the finest trails and views in this part of the world. However, we did explore some other valleys in lower Himal and some touristy locations. The saving grace was the bewitching full moon – Sharad Poornima – and the chandni-soaked kheer. (picture: the mountain range extending beyond Mana village towards Satopanth and Swargarohini peaks)
Kanakchauri (कनकचौरी) is a tiny little charming village, in the lower Himalayas, about 40 kms west of Rudraprayag. Surrounded by thick pine and deodar forest, this village sits on the slopes of a ridge facing east. A 3.5km hike and a moderate climb, cutting through dense wet forest, lands one on top of the ridge (9500ft) from where you get the panoramic 360deg views of the Upper Himalayas and the Shivalik range. Short of the Edge on top is the small space to local forest deity ‘Okhali’ (वन देवी ओखली) and further up is the Kartik Swami temple. Walking in the moonlight on a slippery trail is scary but thrilling, the strong freezing breeze is a dampener considering that it had been raining non-stop for five days. The picture looks east awaiting the sunrise at 6.20 am. Rudraprayag – confluence of Alaknanda and Mandakini rivers- is the first of the prayag in Chamoli/Rudraprayag district. It was an awesome adventure driving/walking under near white-out and rainy skies from Mana Pass (via Ghastoli-Deotaal) to Niti Pass (via Malari) at India-China border.
Thrilled to have received a proof copy of the Urdu edition of my book ‘Yaar Mera Haj Kara De’. The book has been transliterated from the original Hindustani by Danish Iqbal and Hashim Raza Jalalpuri. Urdu readers will find copies in bookstores by the end of the month. The book has already been published in Gurumukhi and Shahmukhi. The Hindi edition is awaited.
सितम्बर का महीना ख़त्म होते होते चाँद भी थकने लगता है। आराम-परस्त नीले आसमान अभी अभी का उबासी लेता चाँद किसी तरह बस अटका हुआ है
Ankahi. Unsaid. 
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