Chopta Trekking
¤ Chopta Under Four Feet of
Snow
Distance from Delhi : 510km
Distance from Chamoli: 42km
Altitude: 1100 ft.
¤ The Charming Beauty of Chopta
Chopta trekking has lot in its store for its trekkers. Watch the
rising sun in its many hue, Grey first, it slowly transforms into
orange from pale yellow. It’s time to wake up and so the bird
king of the high Himalayas, Monaal, takes a swift flight from the
rocky outcrop into the valley. While doing so, it greets its friends
below with a continuos shrill call. and friends it has plenty –
Musk deer, muntjac, gorals.
Cautiously, they tread over the virgin snow, leaving behind an
endless trail of footprints. Occasionally, they stop, lift their heads
to catch a sign of the predator- Man or tiger. and once assured they
are safe, they carry on.
On another side of the mountain, a few cottages stand half immersed
in snow. Chopta trekking during winter is experience in itself, one
comes across magnificent sites of snow cottage, getting the warmth of
the snow and soon the golden sun will melt the snow. Drop by drop, the
water will trickle down from the green tin roofs of the cottage
housing the forest department, to form beautiful icicles. Hidden under
three feet of snow are thousands of grasses, shrubs and cold-blooded
organisms. They will return to life once nature runs a soothing hand
over them. But for now, it’s the snow that shrouds the landscape.
¤ Kedarnath Wildlife Sanctuary -- A Travelogue
Situated in the heart of the Kedarnath Wildlife Sanctuary, Chopta has
inspired many a nature-lover over the years. The sanctuary makes an
excellent trekking route, very often it is termed as the ‘Switzerland
of the Himalayas’ and a ‘Photographer’s Paradise’.
Therefore, it shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone that I opted
for Chopta when my boss gave me the option to go anywhere in the
Garhwal Himalayas.
What guided my choice for the place was the presence of rare musk
deer in the area. Trekking through Kedarnath Sanctuary in Chopta, one
gets to see the same, pale yellow cottages with bottle green tin
roofs, standing in the lush green meadows (...and a few tourists
adding life to it, for sure). I wanted to click it differently, and
bring out the lesser-clicked beauty of the virgin snow that other
lenses seemed to have missed.
I teamed up with my wildlife photographer colleague/friend Amit and
decided to leave on 16th March, 2000 on my bike.
Personally, I prefer to travel by my own vehicle, especially in the
mountains, for several reasons, the foremost being the time taken by
the hill buses.
This, and the time you spend waiting at the bus stand, turns out to
be more than twice the time your personal vehicle would take to cover
the same distance. Moreover, a few buses in the hills are in extremely
bad condition. Breakdowns are not uncommon, and once that happens, you
can end up wasting a lot of time. But the biggest reason for using on
my own vehicle is photography.
You might (read will) find a series of fascinating frames every
hundred metres. and I would not like to miss some of those frames for
anything in the world!
We left on the scheduled date from Delhi, and after a drive of six
hours and 225 km, we were in Rishikesh. We decided to spend the night
in the holy city and started off early next morning.
On the second day, driving along the rivers Ganga and Alaknanda, we
passed the towns of Deoprayag (302 km; all distances are from Delhi),
Srinagar (340 km), Rudraprayag (374 km), Gauchar (396 kms),
Karanprayag (408km), Nandaprayag (429 km), Chamoli (439 km), Gopeshwar
(449 km). We decided to halt in Gopeshwar for the night and leave for
Chopta the following day after making sure we had all our provisions.
¤ Chopta Trekkign In Snow
Preparing for treks in the snow entails much more planning and
foresight than for a normal trek. The biggest problem about trekking
in the snow in Chopta is that you don’t find human settlements en
route. Villagers in high-altitude areas relocate to low-lying areas
during the months of snowfall.
Not just that, hostile climatic conditions force even the army and
forest department to temporarily move away from places of lesser
strategic importance. Given the circumstances, once you leave your
base camp, you realise that you are entirely on your own. Everything,
right from matchsticks and candles to a pair of well-fitting shoes,
has to be looked into. You have to carry alternate fuel, food and
medicines. A small mistake or oversight when you plan can be fatal. In
the areas where there is no electricity or means of communication,
problems could intensify.
¤ Caution
Chopta is just this kind of a place during the months of snowfall. There
is no electricity, wireless or vehicle. One has to arrange for
everything, from proper rations, kerosene, firewood (yes firewood
also, because most of the firewood in the jungle is damp during this
season, and gives off a lot of smoke, causing tears), batteries,
clothing, bedding, to our heavy and cumbersome equipment. This apart,
to be on the right side of caution, one has to carry an extra bit of
everything during a trek in the snow. As a thumb rule, about 50-70%
of extra rations and life-saving implements should be carried for snow
treks.
¤ Travelogue On Chopta Trekking
Chopta lies on the road head but it is not possible to drive on the
snow from mid-November till the last week of March (road conditions
may differ depending on the weather). You can take a
four-by-four vehicle only up till the point where there is no snow.
After this, only vehicles with chains on their tyres can conquer the
terrain.
We hired an ordinary Mahindra Jeep, thinking that the driver would
take us as far as possible. The forest department was supposed to help
us during our visit and provided us with a forest guard and wildlife
photographer, Darshan Singh Negi.
The road to Mandal passes through some of most picturesque villages
of the region and a telephoto lens is a valuable asset if one wants to
capture the snow-covered peaks.
It is almost an hour to reach Mandal, which is the last village on
the periphery of the Kedarnath Wildlife Sanctuary. It is also the last
halt for motor-driven vehicles in winter. We could barely go 4kms
after Mandal, and we chanced upon fresh snow, an indication that it
was time to get down and start up your thrilling adventure trekking.
This part of the jungle is full of wildlife. The most commonly-found
species are the musk deer, muntjac, or the barking deer, Himalayan
black bear, the leopard and fox. These animals prefer to stay near the
snow line in winter because it too cold up in the hills, and too risky
down in the village.
We could see a large variety of lichens growing on the rocks, a few
so thick and heavy that they were hanging like curtains from tree
trunks. The snow on the road was uneven – a few centimeters to a
few inches deep. This side of the mountain did not face the sun, which
was probably why everything here was dark and slippery. It was around
3 p.m., and the warmth of the sun was forcing the snow of the previous
night to slide down the pine leaves- the sound of which often sent
shivers down our spines as it were so close to that of an animal
creeping up on us, stealthily.
We were to trek at least three kilometers before we could make our
first night halt, it was just a thrilling adventure trekking, our
muscles were neither well-toned, nor ready for such exertion, and
certainly not with heavy packs on our backs. While Negi, well-adapted
and acclimatised to the heights, walked ahead, Amit and I trailed
slowly after him. The amount of snow under our feet increased with
each step, making the climb difficult. It was around this time there
was a sudden change in the weather.
“It’s going to snow,” declared Negi.
Before we could enter the forest cottage at Kanchula Kharg, about
8kms from Chopta, it started to snow heavily. It was a nice cottage
with two rooms, a fireplace, kitchen and a decent toilet-cum-bathroom
(that is a real luxury in the mountains). As we had anticipated, there
was no electricity, and the cottage had no rations or fuel wood. Negi
had brought a kerosene-stove with him, and we set up our makeshift
kitchen at a height of 8500 ft. We could see the snow-capped mountain
ranges of Rudranathand Sau Khargform the verandah of our cottage.
Another fifty metres up the road, and we could click the majestic
Nandadevi Peakfrom the watchtower.
We trek up the hills to reach Kanchula Kharg, a the place where the
Uttar Pradesh Forest Department breeds musk deer in captivity.
Presently the nursery has six females and four males. All the females
are pregnant and the department is expecting the fawns by end June or
early July. The nursery has a total staff of five people to look after
the deer. Every morning and evening, the musk deer are fed with
lichen, which happens to be their favourite food. We were thrilled to
find ten healthy musk deer right before our eyes, but we postponed
clicking as the quality of light was not good.
For the next two days, there was heavy snowfall and we were confined
to our cottage. Our rations were rapidly dwindling, and we had to
switch over to firewood from the kerosene-stove to save on fuel. We
had spent more than 48 hrs indoors but there was no sign of any
improvement in the weather. In between, whenever it stopped snowing or
there was a mild respite from heavy snowfall, we would trek half a
kilometre up or down the road. We sighted a leopard cub but could not
click it because of fog and bad light. We had just one more day to
ourselves. ‘Would it be a fine day tomorrow?’ – was the
big question that plagued our minds as we slept.
¤ A Fine Day Ahead
In the morning, while still in the bed, I turned my face towards the
windowpane and opened my eyes.I just couldn’t believe it. There
was small patch of crisp, yellow sunlight falling on my sleeping bag.
I was thrilled. I jumped out of the sleeping bag and opened the door.
and there lay the canvas of nature displaying its finest details. I
ran my eyes over three feet of an evenly-laid out white, fluffy
carpet, lit up by the golden rays of the sun. Free of dust and
moisture, the sky was dark blue. The trees stood still, their leaves
heavily laden with rounded blobs of snow. Far ahead, the mountain
ranges seemed as if wrapped in crisp, silver foil. For a moment, I
could not gather the courage to disturb this exquisite embellishment
of nature. I stood on the doorstep, awestruck, mesmerised by this
magic spell.
But soon the hunger to click got the better of me. There was no
time to waste. We had waited for more than 60 hrs to see this.
Moreover, a clear sky did not guarantee daylong sunshine. After
putting on my snow-boots, I picked up my camera and exhausted more
than a roll.
We left for Chopta immediately after breakfast. In wake of the heavy
snowfall, we dropped our initial idea of staying at Chopta, and
decided to be back ‘home’ by four in the evening. Chopta is
about 8km from Kanchula Kharg, and the snow on the road was anything
from knee to waist-deep. We took turns to ‘cut’ the way. The
leader made the route through the alley of snow, and the others
followed cautiously, placing their feet exactly in the ‘footprint’
of the leader. Every little calorie had to be conserved. We even
avoided talking for two reasons – to avoid disturbing the
wildlife, and to not break the rhythm of our breathing. We passed
through the most fascinating of mountainous landscapes. Every sharp
turn had something different to offer. Unfortunately, we were unable
to spot any wildlife on the way. We came across many footprints, some
quite fresh, but were unable to locate any of the elusive wild
friends. Probably, nature had informed them well in advance about this
intrusion.
After taking three hours trekking to cover six kilometres, we reached
a mountain pass where a board welcomed us to the district of
Rudraprayag. Chopta is just a kilometre away from this place. We were
stunned as we walked to the other side of the pass. This part of
mountain was under four feet of snow. A few metres back, there was
just half a feet or so of snow. I was amazed at such an unequal
distribution. Further ahead, we could see some cottages against the
backdrop of a road swollen with snow. The forest here had lost its
green colour, and turned white. The valley towards my left gradually
ran out of snow as it got deeper. We were standing at a height of
11,500 ft, panting, trying to catch our breath and muster enough
courage to move on.
It took us more than an hour trek to reach Chopta. Around this time
dark black clouds overtook the blue sky. Negi forecasted the weather-“
It’s going to snow and we should leave immediately if we don’t
want to get stuck”. It was time to bid Chopta goodbye.
With two hour trekking to cover the distance we had taken four hours
to cover in the morning (we do deliver better under pressure!!!). I
walked back hurriedly, trying to protect my equipment from the tiny
flake of snow that was determined to land on my camera bag. I was a
happy person by the end of the day. I had made it to Chopta while it
was still under four feet of snow and I also had four exposed rolls in
my camera bag.
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