Har ki dun - Solo trek - Nov 2017

Prelude

I had no intention of hiking anywhere in November. I had taken leaves for Saptkund not so long ago and although I always want to be in the mountains but my wanderlust hadn't overcome me.
But..
I got an impromptu week off from work, now I was in the peculiar position of needing to go somewhere. Sitting at home for a week was just not a possibility for me.
To be honest, this trip wasn’t my preference, I had been mulling over just chilling in McLeod for a week but even that seemed wrong. I was in the peculiar position of having a random week off. Let's just say I was stuck between a rock and a hard place. I couldn't stay home for a week. I just couldn't.

People in my office would literally kill for a week off and here I am getting it served on a platter. It was not only my chance but my responsibility to go, otherwise, I wouldn't be doing justice to who I am.
Also..
I couldn't resist the urge to explore someplace new. Har ki dun was an automatic selection for a couple of reasons.
A guide is not required and there are homestays on the trail at Osla and even at Har-ki-Dun itself.

Here's an account of what transpired during the trip :

Day 0 - Delhi to Dehradun

I booked the late 10:45 pm bus in hopes of catching the earliest possible transport for my onward journey to Sankri. The research is very limited but from what I read, Sankri seems to be some sort of trekking hub. It's only befitting that I pay it a visit, might I add that the Violet metro line from Mandi House has made it really convenient and cheap for me to travel to ISBT kashmere gate.

I made it to the bus stand without any hassles but still full of some sort of skepticism. I'm not sure why but traveling alone feels different now. I think I'm getting a bit rusty. I thought of George Clooney's speech from "Up in the air", the one about "The bag".
It is then that I realized that my last solo trip was all the way back in June.

I decided to tune out the thoughts with some good music on my brand new ATH m50x headphones.

Day 1 – Dehradun to Taluka

I got down from the bus at around 4 am and it was freezing cold. I was struggling to speak since I was shivering so much. My next job was to look for "Hotel Grand" near the railway station (not the one near ISBT, caution: there are many Hotel Grands). I took an e-Auto which costed me 100 Rs and dropped me at OP Grand hotel. I walked to the bus station only to know that the first bus for Sankri leaves at 8 am and takes 10-11 hours.

I decided to travel with cabs instead. The cabs start from Grand Hotel, which is thankfully not that far from OP Grand Hotel. I found the first cab leaving for Purola and booked my seat in it. Unfortunately, I faced regular bouts of motion sickness throughout the way to Purola.

I reached Purola at 11:30 AM and after much deliberation on whether to take the bus or the cab for the journey ahead, I decided to stick with the cab option due to the speed factor. I took the cab to Mori since there are no direct cabs to Sankri, you just have to go point to point.
I reached Mori at 3 pm and then hitchhiked in a pick-up truck all the way to Taluka. The ride was very bumpy and I felt like a pop corn would in a pressure cooker. It was some experience though. I had my "Highway" moment I guess. In hindsight, sitting on the backside of a pickup truck is a little over rated, yes there's the adventure factor but after a point you're just dodging the 30 Kg LPG cylinder rolling towards you every now and then.

Me @ the back of a pickup truck

The weather got noticeably colder after passing Sankri. I reached Taluka by 5 pm and after having some food, checked into GMVN guest house for a dorm bed. I also had dinner from the nearby dhaba. I stocked on some supplies like batteries and a candle. There's a general store but it has limited options.

Traditional chulha cooked dinner

At the moment of writing this post, it's 6:30, pitch black dark, GMVN looks haunted and there are no people anywhere apart from the ones at the dhaba.

Imagine being alone in a huge guest house in a remote hilly village which has no electricity, constant noise of dripping water, winds blowing through cracks in the windows making subtle noises. The kind of noise which you can't really attribute to any specific source. We've all seen paranormal activity, right?

Day 2 Taluka to Osla

I slept for 12 hours straight and woke up at 7 am. I guess it was due to the exhaustion from all the bus travel. I had a good heavy breakfast and set off for Osla at 8:30 am.
Just 10 minutes into the trek, I realized I dropped my sunglasses, went back and saw a few Porters, asked them if they saw it. Turns out one of them did and was trying to get away with it!
I literally chased him back to Taluka and took it back. A rare instance of dishonesty in the mountains.

All this saga costed me half an hour and I restarted walking from Taluka at 9 am. The trail begins from next to the end of the road at Taluka, there’s a board you can’t miss which says "Har ki dun -> "

Initial Marking

Beautiful River Shupin

The initial trail descends and then is mostly a flat walk with occasional gradual ascents. I managed to walk at quite a brisk pace due to the easy terrain. The trail is marked with milestones to Har ki dun every kilometre. I stopped to eat some dates after having walked 5 km without a break. I did bump into porters with their mules every 15-20 minutes or so, so I wasn't entirely alone on the trail. However, there were no hikers besides me.

The Dates break!

The next stop was a place called Gangad. I was hungry and decided to stop here for lunch. The dhaba took quite long to serve food and consequently, I spent 1:15 hrs at Gangad. I didn't mind that since the day's target was almost met and I could afford to take my time.

Sound advice @ Gangad hotel, Yes Boss!

Gangad is 9 kms from Taluka and has homestay options, also, Osla is just 4 kms from here. It got noticeably colder after I started walking from Gangad. I think it’s because of the proximity to river Shubin.
After walking for a kilometre, I saw a bridge, on crossing this bridge, you get the diversion for Seema or Osla. If you’re headed to Har ki dun (mentioned as HKD henceforth), Osla is where you need to go. The trail for Osla descends while the trail for Seema climbs up. The trail then descends to the river and there’s another bridge you use to cross to the other side. Might I add, that bridge is VERY dicey and was moving a lot, no railings of course.

After crossing the bridge, Osla is about a km away, continuous ascent. I reached Osla by 2:30 pm and called it a day.
Osla is a nice remote village, there are a lot of kids who inevitable will bombard you with requests for chocolates or 100 Rupees. There is a small school run by one Mr. Jaibir singh ji. Also known as, "Guru Ji" in the village. He also runs a homestay, the only one in Osla which has city tourist friendly amenities like a western toilet. It was also where I was headed to since I had heard good things about this homestay from the villagers in Taluka.

Homestay @ Osla

Naughty kiddos!

Day 3 Osla to Hkd and back to Osla

Today was the extra effort day since I had to travel a total distance of 28 kms. There was one more trekker with the same plan so we decided to tag along, more the merrier!

I woke up at 7 am and was greeted by nice cold winds blowing in the valley. I had a compact breakfast and chugged in a scoop of whey protein. We started walking at 8 am from Osla. The trail starts from behind Jaibir Singh’s homestay, where we were staying. The initial trail is a gradual descent with River Shupin on your right. After crossing a couple of bridges, the trail starts to climb until the moderately steep ascent leads to a level land. It’s a good place to take a breather and also has good panaromic view of the nearby peaks.
The trail then climbs further to a place called Kalkattiyadhar, which is around 3200m altitude. We spent a few minutes appreciating the views of black peak, white peak and Bandar poonch from there.

View from initial dhaba point on leaving Osla

Majestic views en route

 

The trail then follows a gradual descent all the way to a waterfall amidst the tree line. It’s worth noting that there are numerous water sources throughout the trail and I didn’t really feel the need to refill my bottle. From the waterfall, there's a long period of continuous ascent, throughout the journey there are milestones to HKD which really help you pace yourself.

Waterfall after leaving Kalkatiyadhar

Waterfall rest point

About 3 km away from HKD, I realized there was a lot of snow, so I wisely put on my cool looking polarized wayfarers. Also, eye burn sucks, ain’t nobody got time for that. I also reapplied my sunscreen, hoping to not scare my colleagues for a change when I'm back.

Sunglasses, check; Sunscreen double check.

The ascent started to tire me out but then I thought about Pin Parvati. I am not allowed to feel tired, I told myself and kept walking. Maybe it was the cold but my legs started cramping. I slowed down and readjusted my pace by putting less pressure on the cramped leg.

We reached HKD at 12 noon, after having taken numerous breaks. The trail was straightforward but there’s always a risk of joining the Ruinsara trail. A few years ago, some guy from Chennai had veered into the trail headed to Ruinsara Tal and could only reach HKD after 3-4 days of being lost. There are also reports of bear attacks, rare but still a possibility.

Swargarohini peak from Har ki dun

Nandi bull watching the valley

About 3 kms from HKD, the trail to Ruinsara descends from the trail going straight. One must keep going straight and not entertain any stray trails. Apart from that, finding the trail is child’s play. Take my GPX files if you want, knock yourself out you freeloader.

The view from HKD was gorgeous. If I had any more time in my hands, I would’ve camped here. One can see Swargarohini, Bandarpoonch and White/black peaks from here. There is a forest rest house and the whole place is just a campsite next to the river. The trail throughout was straight out of a painting. A blue river, snow covered trail all leading to HKD peak, which I was told is not climbable. There is also a shiv temple here. I used my super awesome one plus 5’s camera to take a lot of pictures.
Afterwards, we had a sumptuous lunch consisting of roti with pickle, almonds, dates, swiss cream roll and jaggery candies. I also had a lot of water to fight the cramps.

Shiv temple @ Har ki dun

We set off from HKD at 1 pm and bid adieu to the grand mountains. A boring regular walk led us back to Osla within 3 hours. We did take around an hour’s break in total, so, people can presumably do it quicker than that if less breaks are taken.

I’m back to Jaibir Singh’s homestay in Osla, just relaxing after this long day of hiking and also reminiscing about how I almost made a plan to spend a week in Mcleodganj. I guess I’m just not that kind of person who can just “chill”. I need something to stimulate me and a new trail is what serves the purpose.

Day 4 Osla to Naugaun

Temple at Osla

At the moment of writing this days account, I'm sitting in a very shady hotel in a remote village/town called Naugaun.
This has been a super active day. The day started early at 7 am, the usual charade, I started moving for Taluka at 8 am with one eye on the watch all the time. The aim was to reach Taluka so early that I also get to reach Dehradun on the same day. Alas, that wasn't to be.

I sprinted to Taluka but couldn't reach Taluka earlier than 11:15 am. My next best bet was to catch a bus from a place near Sankri to Naugaun and get onward vehicle to Dehradun from there. That bus leaves at 1:30 pm.
I did make it in time for that bus but when I reached Naugaun, there was no further vehicle to Dehradun. I tried asking a lot of drivers but they all had the same response. Eventually, I resigned to my fate and took a hotel right next to where the morning bus to Dehradun leaves from.

Naugaun is your typical remote hilly town. There are a lot of facilities here if you compare it with Taluka or Sankri which are totally disconnected. By facilities I mean, a chemist, vegetable seller, departmental stores etc. Oh and lets not forget electricity shall we? Being in the city, we seldom acknowledge that most remote villages in India are deprived of a basic 19th century invention (or Discovery?)
I was starving from all the journey and the morning hike. So, I ate like there's no tomorrow. A heavy dinner costed me 60 Rs and I scratched my head thinking about that ridiculous 500 Rs burger that I once ate in Gurgaon.
And now, here I lie in this dirty looking room in Naugaun, a bit too cautious to not miss the 6 am bus tomorrow. 

A night in a shady hotel room

For reasons I can't put my finger on, I'm a bit home sick. Ever since I started descending from HKD, I've had this abnormal hunger of reaching back to Delhi. This is exactly what drove me to travel for 8 hours after hiking 14 kms in 3 hours.
Most people stay back in Sankri, take the early bus next day and reach Dehradun by evening. I'll reach Dehradun by 10 am tomorrow, Delhi by 4 pm. Home by 5 pm.

Everything said and done, the trek is over.