The enchanting Churdhar in Sirmour district of Western Himachal Pradesh is the highest sub Himalayan mountain at a height of 11965 feet. Churdhar, commonly known as Churichandni (Bangle of Snow), is blessed with some of the most spectacular and beautiful landscapes in this region.
And so, after the never ending meetings regarding the do’s and d
on’ts, what to carry and what not, after the “humungous” effort to put everything in place and the last minute rush for water and food, we finally bid farewell to all our friends and set forth on the weekend trek to Churdhar on 29th October, 2010. That Friday night, 20 of us split into groups and seated ourselves in the two mini buses that had been arranged for the journey, which were quite comfortable! Most of the journey time was spent getting to know each other. We tried our best to keep ourselves awake but after the heavy “Friday” dinner of biryani at the college mess, how long could sleep evade us? We, however, did take a couple of small “chai” breaks to keep our drivers awake through the night.
Everyone started with a lot of enthusiasm and excitement, but only a few could sustain it till the end. It was not long after we had started that we saw Arjun Deswal, who was lea
ding the trek, and Harman Singh carrying two rucksacks each. The trek soon started getting tiring, but the scenic view kept us engaged. Our aim was to camp at Tisri by the end of the day, so that we could climb up to Churdhar the next morning and return the same day. But to our surprise the information that we had was extremely misleading. When, even four hours after we had started, Tisri was nowhere near, we couldn’t resist taking a half an hour break to rest and soak in the mesmerizing sight of the mountains and the trees. It was then that I realized that Friday night was not a farewell to my friends but a break from the fast, busy and monotonous “Delhi” life which, after two years, I’m still trying to get used to.
After the much needed rest, we all filled our water bottles with water from a nearby stream. To my surprise, the water tasted very different. It was cold and extremely refreshing. We washed our faces, drank glucose water, stuffed ourselves with whatever l
After the much needed rest, we all filled our water bottles with water from a nearby stream. To my surprise, the water tasted very different. It was cold and extremely refreshing. We washed our faces, drank glucose water, stuffed ourselves with whatever l
ittle food was left and proceeded. The trail wasn’t that tough but the heavy rucksacks made it quite an ordeal. For once, I wished that I had not packed so many things in my bag. We trekked for another hour, then decided to stop and wait for the entire group since our porter (a local resident) had told us that camping at Tisri was not possible as it was too windy there. We decided to wait for Prof. Nanda, the teacher accompanying
us, to come and decide the next plan of action. Prof. Nanda and the others joined us after about an hour or so, and we all decided to set up camp where we were as it was about to get dark which, in that “wild-life sanctuary”, was not all that safe.
There was a small wooden hut close by, which the locals called a “hotel”, from where we got tea and our dinner of dal and rice. The hot tea and food was welcomed by one and all in the chilly weather.
After dinner, we pitched out tents, laid out our sleeping bags and rushed inside to escape the cold. We all gathered in the larger tent and chit chatted till around 12:30am inspite of the fatigue that we all felt. Later at night, when we stepped out of the tent, I saw the mos
There was a small wooden hut close by, which the locals called a “hotel”, from where we got tea and our dinner of dal and rice. The hot tea and food was welcomed by one and all in the chilly weather.
After dinner, we pitched out tents, laid out our sleeping bags and rushed inside to escape the cold. We all gathered in the larger tent and chit chatted till around 12:30am inspite of the fatigue that we all felt. Later at night, when we stepped out of the tent, I saw the mos
t spectacular sight that I had ever witnessed in my life.
I was below the clear open sky that seemed not more than a metre away. Stars twinkling, brighter than ever I had seen, all closely packed. Soon we got engrossed in spotting constellations and shooting stars. I wished I could have stayed there all night, but the freezing cold got the better of me. Inside our tent, inspite of the three pair of gloves and socks, my hands and feet were numb due to the cold. It was then that I wondered what would have happened if I had not packed so many things in my bag.
We went to sleep very late, that too only when Arjun Deswal threatened to pull down our tents if we didn’t get ready to start trekking by 6am the next morning. To be very frank, that was quite a lot to ask, given how tired we were. The moment I entered my sleeping bag, I slept, only to be woken up in the morning with the much needed “hot tea”. As soon as we finished our tea, we were told to march to Tisri, without even allowing us to attend to nature’s call! Prof. Nanda agreed to stay back with our rucksacks to make it easier for us. And so, with the “Orbit” chewing gum packs fighting our bad breath, we headed out.
The ascent was steeper than what we had experienced till then, but since we were now trekking without our bags, it was a little easier to manage. We trekked at a good pace, and managed to reach Tisri in 2 hours. It was the view from Tisri that left me at a loss for words. There were the snow clad Himalayas right in front of me. “Wow!!” was all that I could say. I was spell bound by the magnificent mountains standing so tall and firm. We waited for an hour for everyone to join us, and had some food from another “hotel” up there in Tisri. It was then that everyone decided to trek up to Churdhar, but Arjun blatantly refused to let us go further since the trek up to Churdhar would take us much longer because of the snow and the much steeper incline. We also had time constraints, since Prof. Nanda was down at the camp site, waiting for all of us for lunch. But since we were all so determined to atleast see snow, if not climb up to Churdhar, we all decided to go a little further, find snow, and then come back.
And after just fifteen minutes of trekking, we encountered snow!! That was the first time I actually saw snow! We had fun playing with it for quite some time, and then returned to our camp site. We had Maggi cup noodles for lunch, packed our rucksacks, packed the tents, posed for pictures, celebrated Halloween (thanks to the two exchange students, Sonal and Nonan) and started the downward journey.
After the strenuous uphill journey, the return seemed fairly easy. We enjoyed our way down and could not help admiring the beauty of nature. The return journey took us less than half the time we had taken to trek up, and by 5pm, all of us had reached Nauradhar. After refreshing ourselves, we left for Delhi in our mini buses at around 6pm.
The journey back was fun too. We stopped in between for dinner and took quite a few “small” breaks now and then to keep the drivers awake. We stopped at a dhaba at around 3:30am for almost one and a half hours, to give our drivers some much needed rest, as the driving was getting too risky. We had a lot of fun interacting with Prof. Nanda, who told us about his college life, the changing times and attitude, the change in students and teachers and how St. Stephen’s College has evolved over the years. It was quite an enriching discussion! We started our journey back to Delhi at 5am and reached college at around 6:30am on Monday, 1st November, 2010.
Most of us were too tired to attend classes on Monday, but a few did, only to sleep in between the lectures. Nonetheless, it was an amazing experience and I shall not miss any other trek in the coming year. I also urge all of you to go for a trek atleast once in your college life!
-Era Kaila
I was below the clear open sky that seemed not more than a metre away. Stars twinkling, brighter than ever I had seen, all closely packed. Soon we got engrossed in spotting constellations and shooting stars. I wished I could have stayed there all night, but the freezing cold got the better of me. Inside our tent, inspite of the three pair of gloves and socks, my hands and feet were numb due to the cold. It was then that I wondered what would have happened if I had not packed so many things in my bag.
We went to sleep very late, that too only when Arjun Deswal threatened to pull down our tents if we didn’t get ready to start trekking by 6am the next morning. To be very frank, that was quite a lot to ask, given how tired we were. The moment I entered my sleeping bag, I slept, only to be woken up in the morning with the much needed “hot tea”. As soon as we finished our tea, we were told to march to Tisri, without even allowing us to attend to nature’s call! Prof. Nanda agreed to stay back with our rucksacks to make it easier for us. And so, with the “Orbit” chewing gum packs fighting our bad breath, we headed out.The ascent was steeper than what we had experienced till then, but since we were now trekking without our bags, it was a little easier to manage. We trekked at a good pace, and managed to reach Tisri in 2 hours. It was the view from Tisri that left me at a loss for words. There were the snow clad Himalayas right in front of me. “Wow!!” was all that I could say. I was spell bound by the magnificent mountains standing so tall and firm. We waited for an hour for everyone to join us, and had some food from another “hotel” up there in Tisri. It was then that everyone decided to trek up to Churdhar, but Arjun blatantly refused to let us go further since the trek up to Churdhar would take us much longer because of the snow and the much steeper incline. We also had time constraints, since Prof. Nanda was down at the camp site, waiting for all of us for lunch. But since we were all so determined to atleast see snow, if not climb up to Churdhar, we all decided to go a little further, find snow, and then come back.
And after just fifteen minutes of trekking, we encountered snow!! That was the first time I actually saw snow! We had fun playing with it for quite some time, and then returned to our camp site. We had Maggi cup noodles for lunch, packed our rucksacks, packed the tents, posed for pictures, celebrated Halloween (thanks to the two exchange students, Sonal and Nonan) and started the downward journey.
After the strenuous uphill journey, the return seemed fairly easy. We enjoyed our way down and could not help admiring the beauty of nature. The return journey took us less than half the time we had taken to trek up, and by 5pm, all of us had reached Nauradhar. After refreshing ourselves, we left for Delhi in our mini buses at around 6pm.
The journey back was fun too. We stopped in between for dinner and took quite a few “small” breaks now and then to keep the drivers awake. We stopped at a dhaba at around 3:30am for almost one and a half hours, to give our drivers some much needed rest, as the driving was getting too risky. We had a lot of fun interacting with Prof. Nanda, who told us about his college life, the changing times and attitude, the change in students and teachers and how St. Stephen’s College has evolved over the years. It was quite an enriching discussion! We started our journey back to Delhi at 5am and reached college at around 6:30am on Monday, 1st November, 2010.
Most of us were too tired to attend classes on Monday, but a few did, only to sleep in between the lectures. Nonetheless, it was an amazing experience and I shall not miss any other trek in the coming year. I also urge all of you to go for a trek atleast once in your college life!
-Era Kaila
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