Stok Kangri : Feeling the Thin Air @20100 Feet

With a month long preparation of jogging, shopping at different stores, researching about Stok Kangri in various websites & blogs, the final day has arrived for me to leave Bangalore to realise my dream of trekking in Ladakh, that too at a height of 20086 feet above MSL (Mean Sea Level). I started from Bangalore on the evening of 15, July, 2011, with loads of excitement and anxiety about the whole trip, boarded the BMTC Vaayu Vajra bus at 5-45 pm with a big rucksack on my back and a day pack baggage. Different thoughts were wandering my mind throughout my journey till Leh; about the trip, about the people i am going to meet, about IndiaHikes, about the organising of the trek, about my health etc etc (In fact the list is endless:-)). Reached BIAL in an hour, checked in my luggage and finished my security check by 7-15 pm. The cafeteria inside BIAL is pretty good which serve both south and north indian food. Had my dinner and boarded the Go-Air flight to Delhi at 8-45 pm. When the plane was taking off from Bangalore, the sound was injecting a sense of achievement in my mind as i was heading to fulfill my dream. Came out of this illusion to realize i reached Delhi, collected my baggage, entered the departure building and took a nap/sleep for about 2 hours with soothing sound effects from mosquito's band. Boarded the flight to Leh which took off from Delhi at 4-45 am; in an hour i was in Leh military airport, waiting to collect my check-in baggage. The view, on the way from Delhi to Leh was incredible. I think, its the ultimate scenic flight journey we can ever experience in India. We can see snow capped mountain ranges, spreading across in hundred's of kilo meters, each mountain ranges playing hide & seek game with the clouds and the first rays of Sun. Soon, i fell in love with Ladakh region with her gorgeous landscapes, endless mountain ranges, change in the texture and color of the mountain ranges for every 2 km, Indus river blending with the mountain soil. Boarded a taxi with Ajay and reached the hotel "Snow Lion" at around 7-00 am. Checked in at a room, had the morning tea and took some rest. Met Kashi in the hotel, who was in the same flight. Met Sandhya and Arjun (trek organisers from IndiaHikes) too. We had our breakfast and took rest, though could not get a proper sleep. Had lunch and took some more rest till evening. One full complete day of rest is very much essential in Leh due to the huge altitude gain (Leh is at 11500 feet above MSL) in a couple of hours of our flight journey. If we suffer from Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS), then there is no escape in Leh until you return back to Delhi. It is better to get acclimatised to Leh weather before we explore anything in Leh. In the evening, went to Leh bazaar for a walk with Ajay, Kashi, Rajesh, who wanted to buy some trekking stuffs. Rested for the day after having dinner at 9-00 pm.

The next day, 17, July, 2011 was spent on Indus valley drive mainly for acclimatization. Left the hotel in the morning at around 8-45 am after having the breakfast. Covered Hemis monastery, Thikse monastery and Shey palace before calling off the day for rest. Arjun and Sandhya had not joined the trip as they were busy in the next day's arrangements for the trek, Shalabh took the charge of leading the group. We were back at "Snow Lion" at around 6-30 pm after a bit of shopping done at Leh bazaar. The first team meeting happened in the evening where in we could know each other of all the trek members and Arjun shared some information on the trek plans, volatile nature of the exploratory trek of IndiaHikes. We could get a glimpse of the overall plan, as even Arjun was not clear of the detailed plan of the trek!

I started packing my stuffs and clearly segregated the things to carry in the two bags. I an hour of packing, the trekking gear was ready to take off! Called off the day after having dinner at 9-30 pm.

July 18, 2011 - Drive to Shang Village and Trek to Shang-Phu (14200 ft) :

The day started with full excitement as i was about to start the Stok expedition scaling up to 20086 feet. The morning was very refreshing and soothing after a hot water bath and i knew it was the last bath i am taking for the next 7 to 8 days and my guess was correct, at the end, as usual! Got ready with our trekking gear fully loaded with the required stuffs and a day pack too, which had the stuffs required while trekking. We boarded one of the vehicles we had hired to drive to Shang village, after a light breakfast at the hotel "Snow Lion", and finally bid bye to the hotel staff. Started the journey to Shang village at around 8-30 am with Rajesh, Arjun, Shalabh, Benny and Sandhya in the vehicle. The drive was in the remotes of Ladakh, with mesmerizing scenic on both sides of the road. There is a stream following the road continuously, at some places both are united demanding extremely skilled driving on those terrain. The mountains were changing their colour and texture for every 10 minutes. Finally, we could not resist on compromising in our schedule and took couple of pit stops for photographs as the scenic was mouth watering though the beauty could not be justified with my point shoot camera. Still, tried a couple of clicks for my satisfaction and continued our journey. Reached Shang village at around 9-30 am.

View en route to Shang

In front of a huge mountain, near Shang

The village was very beautiful with a stream passing nearby, with a wide meadow encircling it. It is bordered by a couple of huge mountains with a single valley through which Sun was giving life to the village and the meadows. Beyond the meadows, there are neatly grown paddy fields with yellow flowers blooming. There were around 10 to 15 ponies feeding on the meadows near the stream happily as if there is no tomorrow, totally unaware of the tasks to be done. Our bags were getting transferred from the vehicle to the pony's in no time. With a short briefing by Arjun about the day's plan, our group was divided into 3 groups and i was part of Group1 along with Ajay, Sayantan, Chaitanya, Piyush, Sidharth and Rajesh. Started our trek at 9-45 am with Ajay leading the way and others followed in the path. Soon, the Sun started taking toll for the way; had to take a couple of breaks to refill the body with water. The initial route was a simple walk on muddy road, immediately followed with a slight ascent on a barren path with out any shade. After 2 hours of hard trek in the sun, we took a short brake near the stream, after crossing it. Waited for some time here for others to join us as there was deviation in the path leading us. Shalabh from Group2 enquired about the route with the guide and started moving ahead. In 30 minutes, we too started and the trail was mainly rocky and boulders which reduced our pace. The trail was continuously moving up the stream, couple of times crossing over stream and finally reached the temple, surprised not to see Shalabh anywhere. Waited for others to join, soon search teams were formed by Arjun and sent in search of Shalbh. Rest of the guys started moving ahead in the direction shown by the guide. Reached the camp site at around 3-00 pm and found the missing guy here happily reading a novel. Every body reached the camp site in another half an hour including the rescue team and the ponies. We gobbled our packed lunch and rested for some time before going back to work again! Slowly, chill was taking over; we started pitching in the tents and i was allotted a tent with Sameer. Soon, evening tea followed with the dinner at 7-00 pm. The dusk was very beautiful with snow capped mountain on the back and big valley with a stream in the front with numerous capped mountains in your visibility. The pristine nature refreshed our tired body with cold breeze and every body had forgotten the day's strenuous trek of 5 and 1/2 hours under the sun, that too with late lunch at 3-00 pm. After a strenuous trek of nearly 6 hours, we had to call off the day with insufficient food for both lunch and dinner at an altitude of 14200 feet!

Shang village

Crop fields on the way

Just before the break!

Path on the river bed

July 19, 2011 - Trek to Matho-Doksa (14300 ft) :

The previous night, i could not get proper sleep due to change in the altitude and half filled stomach. Still, enjoyed the chill night inside the sleeping bag listening to Sameer's sawing wood. Came out of tent in the morning after the desperate attempt to get sleep in the entire night. The beautiful dawn erased all the uneasiness, body and soul refreshed in just a few seconds. The campsite is blessed with a huge mountain on its back, with a ice cap on its peak though it is visible only if cloud is happier enough. In the front, we can see the river bed over a distance of 1 km. There is a series of sky scrapper mountains on each side of the river. The beautiful scenery was glowing at its full glory as the first rays of sun sparkled.

View from the campsite

Enjoying the dawn

Beauty show

We had to start packing off our tents to start our day. We finished our break fast (again the food was insufficient!) and got ready for the second day trek at 8-45 am. Its the busiest time of the day at almost all the camp sites as every body will be in a hurry including the guides, kitchen staffs, mules, mule guides in packing of the respective tents, stuffs and loading them onto mules. We had decided to explore a new route instead of the conventional route but the guides were bit skeptical about the route. Trekkers decided to trek in the new route, but others decided to reach the next camp via conventional route. We were thrilled to try the new route as the path ahead of us was inviting us for a steep climb with the finest of the meadows you can find in the desert Ladakh. I started with Group1 and in an hour of trek, i was in group 3, i found it very difficult due to the steepness and improper rest, the previous day. For very 30 steps, i needed a rest and the climb was to 16200 feet. With this trek, i almost lost the confidence of making up to the summit of Stok the following days. Finally after 3 hours of strenuous trek, i was at the top. I was the third guy from the last who conquered this peak. Took around 30 minutes of rest here, guides had already went ahead before i reached the top to find the descend path. We started to descend at 12-30 from here, initial few steps were bit easy, but 30 minutes of descending ended us into a steep decent into a huge valley. I was very tired and i had stopped giving a damn to my legs, and i started descending very quickly as i am always a fast descender :) I joined back the Group 1 and started moving ahead after descending this huge, monstrous mountain after crossing a stream. Group2 and Group 3, started waiting for the rest of the guys to join who were finding it difficult to descend. It almost took another 45 minutes more to descend for them. I continued my trek and reached the resting campsite at 3-00 pm. Every body of us were damn hungry but none of our stuffs had arrived to the campsite who had started in the conventional way. Finally at 3-30 pm our mules reached and in a hurry they started pitching the kitchen tent for the lunch preparation. At 4-15 pm, "maggi" was served for lunch. Since all of us were damn hungry we gobbled it up, and started building our tents. I and Chaithanya got together for the day's home. Amazing view from the campsite was refreshing our tired body, had some photo shoot session with Sayanthan and Chaithanya, listened to some stories from Benny and called off the day after having dinner at 7-30 pm. Went to sleep like a log till the next day morning.

Scenic on the second day route

Trekkers at work!

Near Matho-Doksa

Landscape!

0.5 hr away from the campsite

July 20, 2011 - Trek to Gangpochey (14200 ft) :

The campsite Matho-Doksa is in a slight slope region, not disturbing the camp tents if it does not rain (doksa means meadows in ladakhi language). The region was following on to a steep valley with a small river on the valley bed. On the left, there is a mountain ranges which has to be trekked on the following days; on the right, there is Matho village. The interesting fact here is, there are so many passes around these areas, all are called Matho-la (la means pass), one common fact being the Matho village can be seen from all these passes. The scenic is mouth watering as usual, with lush green cover which is special only in these areas.

View from the campsite

Holy water!

Woke up in the morning 6-30 am after a sound sleep and found a very busy camp site; people moving here and there, some people removing the tents, some people searching for private places for the morning rituals, some on photo shoot of the morning sun, some looking causally on everything yet on nothing like me! Spent an hour in the dozy state enjoying the dawn, and started packing off the things, had breakfast and finally got ready at the Group 1 line at 9-15 am. After an hour of mild trek, we had to cross a stream followed by a steep climb for around 250 meters and then the gradual ascend over Matho-la. Thanks to Matho landscapes for the mind blowing view which made my trek slow due to frequent breaks for the photo shoot. I was alone on the entire trek and reached the guys who were ahead of me at the peak of the Matho la, waited for the entire group to rejoin. Had delicious water melon carried by Tashi, our guide. Took a break for about half an hour before we started descending down the Matho la, on a very loose soil, prone to skids and accidents. Final descend was very steep and skid into a stream downward. We crossed the stream, with a steep ascent ahead. In an hour i reached the camp site, Gangpochey at around 12-30 pm after crossing one more stream which was comparatively bigger. In another 30 minutes, we found mules coming on the descend path of the mountains at a very far distance. Due to steep & slippery path, they had come in a round about route which took around 1 hour to reach us. By then, all the streams were muddy due to bright sky; melted too much of snow up the hills resulted in the muddy water down stream. We had our food and started pitching in the tents. I realised my body temperature has raised and rested for the day. Since there was no drinking water any where even after the sun went down, there was a bit of panic among people. At 7-00 pm, Chaithanya and co, found a water source around 0.5 km away & filled my water bottle too, as i was inside the sleeping bag suffering from fever. Thanks to Chaithanya for his help and i could drink ample amount of water in the night to recover my health. Had my dinner & went to sound sleep till morning 6-30 am.

Walk over Matho-La

Gradual ascent

Matho-La range

July 21, 2011 - Trek to Stok Base Camp (16500 ft) :

Woke up in the morning all fresh with good health and could enjoy the beautiful dawn at the campsite. Luckily the fever was subsided fully to normal. The camping site was a kind of island with streams flowing on its right, left and down to the valley. In the front was a huge peak we had to cross today. On the left at the far end was a snow capped mountain with golden cap with first rays of the sun. At the very far end was sheep & horse stable looking like a small fort at the base of the snow capped mountain.

Me posing near Gangpochey camp

You can see the stable very small

Trek was supposed to be bit hectic as we had decided to reach Stok Base Camp skipping Mankarmo. Till now, we had camped at 14000+ feet altitudes even though we had climbed up to 16200 feet, but today's destination is at 16400 feet. We started our trek at 8-45 am, it was a slow ascent initially with rocky terrain for about an hour. Soon we were at the base of the mammoth Matho-la (Biggest in the Matho-La range) which was mocking us for the past couple of days from far distance with her beauty. Guys started the ascent enjoying the trail as there were fine grass cover through out. It took 2 hour to reach the top with out any breaks. Mules overtook us at the top, making us difficult due to the dust blow by their brisk walk. In 45 minutes, i could descend and reach the Mankarmo trail. I met the other people who were ahead of me earlier waiting for us at this deviation point, with one path leading to Mankarmo & the other to Stok base camp. Since they had the packed lunch carried by the first guide, they planned to move on. We guys waited for about 45 minutes for rest of the guys to join for the lunch.

We resumed our trek to base camp at 1-00 pm after having our packed lunch. The trail leading was desert but beautiful with different color and texture of the soil. In an hour trek, we started getting closer to the trail to base camp from the Stok village which is used by many of the other trekkers. Just before the stream where our trail merges to the trail from Stok village, we encountered the toughest trail of our trek till now. Steep valley on one side with a very narrow path leading us to destiny. Huge price to be paid for a single simple mistake! Rajesh found it very difficult to cross till he found a new escape route, but we showed our resilience by trying in the normal path. Ashwin slipped and escaped dramatically, Harsha lost his camera too in the same stretch. We crossed the stream, rejoined the sweeper group lead by Arjun after 30 minutes of rest near the stream. All of us started our hike slowly as the path was on the rocky terrain of the stream bed. This final stretch is bit difficult as it is a continuous ascent with lot of boulders on the trail. We reached the base camp at an altitude of 16500 feet in the evening and joined the other guys who were ahead of us. Enjoyed the sunset with a cup of coffee on the banks of the muddy stream flowing near by. The body had called for strike after 8 hours of strenuous trek in the sun, soon the demand was met after having dinner at 9-00 pm.

Group1 started the trek from Gangpochey

Stream bisecting the mountains!

Stok seen finally!

Nature's color

July 22, 2011 - Rest day at Stok Base Camp :

Woke up in the morning fully refreshed after a strenuous trek previous day. Since it was rest day, every body were at their own pace of life. Me too spent an hour in the dozy state gazing outside! After the coffee and break fast, tried fitting crampons to our shoes with the help of Shireen (our guide for the summit climb). Did this activity of wearing & removing crampons by ourselves for a couple of times so that it becomes easy the next day at the higher altitude. This is very important at the higher altitude, brain's capacity to think will reduce, so its better to practice any new learning. Had lunch and took a nap for some time. Prepared the trekking gear for the summit hike, called of the day a very early dinner at 6-00 pm.

Looking here & there for interesting ...

Acclimatization in progress :)

July 23, 2011 - Summit climb (20086 ft) :

All of us woke up at 11-00 pm (July, 22nd), soon we were ready with our bags outside the tent. I was suffering from diarrhea the previous day, which continued for today also, but i was in no mood to skip the summit attempt. Took the tablets and was ready with my gear at the Group1 (But it is not advisable). After a short briefing by Arjun about the plan for the day, we started our move at sharp 12-00 am. It was pretty cold, wind chill was piercing the body where ever it could. Group 1 started, and soon even group2, 3 also joined us unlike other days, where in they were bit late and far behind. In 45 minutes, we conquered the mountain just beside the base camp from where we could see Stok very close. Stok was standing like a giant covered with snow, posing very clearly in the night at 12-45 am. This was the first time we are seeing Stok in the past two days as it was hiding behind the mountain which we conquered just now. Wind was also in action to increase the beauty of difficulty. In another 5 minutes, our entire group was united & started moving on. Though we were tired, we could not take break for more than 2 minutes due to sub zero temperature. We came across the first patch of snow we ever experienced in this trek, after 20 minutes from our last break. It was a gradual ascent on a rocky path for about 1.5 hour to appear in front of the huge glacier. Waited for 10-15 minutes to sync up, which i feel is not a good idea. Body temperature will reduce drastically and the rhythm will be lost when you take breaks very frequently at that temperature. You require more energy to regain the rhythm and warmth of the body. The base of Stok was inviting for a simple walk on the glaciers as all the crevasses had been frozen. From here on, it is a continuous climb with steep inclination and the trek is mostly on snow & ice. It was very early in the morning, also the trail was directly facing the mountain vertically up, we started trekking with out crampons. After an hour trek on snow, we entered the rocky patch present in between the snow. It took another 1.5 hours to complete the loose rocky terrain before entering the snow. It was 5-00 am in the morning and Sun was waking up with red sky blessings through out. Just at the end of the rocky path, we all started wearing our crampons. Crampons fused to my shoes perfectly though i found it difficult to fix it even after couple of practices at the base camp. The path from here till the ridge is across the mountain, on the ice which was slippery with gradual increase in the altitude. In 45 minutes i reached the most difficult part of the trek, i.e., crossing the ridge. There was huge valley on either side of the ridge, one simple mistake will end our life! Since the ridge is of loose boulders, one should be very cautious & attentive while trekking. Rocks will be falling on to you sliding very fast due to slid of the previous trekker.

Started moving on the ridge slowly, feeling the reduction in the oxygen level. It demands rest for every 10 steps, with out which i could not move my feet. In an hour, i crossed the ridge dragging my feet, sliding the rocks to downhill with couple of escapes of me sliding down. It was already 7 hours of trekking by now which has not reduced the instinct of summit. As the time passed, the body was demanding a few deep breaths for every 3 to 5 steps, along with a break. Finally at tortoise speed, i reached the summit at 7-50 am. It took huge 50 minutes for me to reach the summit from the end of the ridge. The trail is simpler comparatively, but the altitude took the maximum toll not the trail nor any other factors. Met Kashi, Siddarth & Gaurav on the summit. Gaurav, Sourav joined soon. Really felt like standing on top of the world since Stok is the highest mountain in that region. Enjoyed the incredible view from 20086 feet MSL. Its very difficult to put the feelings of that instant right here. It has to be experienced. Touched the prayer flags on the top, prayed God for allowing me to experience the heavenly feeling. Could feel the vastness of earth and me being a tiny creature living with her aid. Vastness, Snow capped mountain ranges, wind chill, yellow sky, black stones, different textured mountains, glaciers etc etc took me to state of demanding nothing more. Completely satisfied inner self! Thanked God for the entire experience of the trek, for missing a couple of accidents while climbing and prayed her for safe return.

Shot at the start of the ridge

Just to get the feel of the ridge

Summit proof

Final peak, 20086 feet

Prayer flags @ summit

Beginning of the glacier

Crevasses at the glacier

On the way back from Stok

I could not stay for long at the peak due to severe cough i was suffering for the last 4 days, which got aggravated due to cold breeze. Had to descend down in 15 minutes of my stay at the peak even though my wish was to stay for at least 30 minutes. Wished the guys who were on their way to summit while i was sliding down. At the start of the ridge, had my packed food (1 Frutie) and took rest for around 20 minutes before i resumed my descent which helped me a lot. Descent is much more challenging than ascent due to multiple reasons like weather, body tiredness and the sense of achievement lingering in the ears. With extra care, i started my way down, crossed the ridge in 45 minutes. As the Sun was out with full blow, the snow had started melting which had worsened the condition of trek. Me, Sameer, Shalabh with the help of guide, explored a new route with the intention of avoiding the snow but realized the path is less slope with much snow than ice. Fused the crampons back, crossed the snow stretch in 30 minutes and started descending on huge rocks in our own way. Since there were no clear paths & the rocks were big, we had to descend in round about manner with extra tiredness. My body breaking system had gone bad and i was not able to control my speed of descent. I stopped the idea of climbing down on rocky terrain and started moving near the snow path. Prayed to God and started sliding down on the snow with ice axe on my hand to control the speed. In half an hour i was almost near the glacier overtaking Kashi and Hrasha. Soon Sourav, Siddarth, Gaurav followed my way, and we planned to cross the glacier too. It was 12-00 pm by then, and already 3 streams were flowing with quite a lot new ones in the making. Carefully we started crossing the glacier, and in 0.5 hr, we could cross. Me & Hrasha started removing our crampons and took some rest before heading down for another hour trek to base camp. We were almost dead by the time we reached base camp with no synchronisation between the body and the brain. Brain was giving act signals, but the body parts were almost dead. Had 3 glasses of soup and went inside the sleeping bag. Slept like a log till 6-00 pm to realise Chaithanya was entering the tent just after the trekking. I was surprised but he did not had any energy to explain too. It was 6-30 am in the morning when i woke up again.

July 24, 2011 - Trek to Stok Village & Drive back to Leh :

Had a very sound sleep after a strenuous 14 hours of climbing. Woke up in the morning to realize it was 6-30 am. Though the tiredness had gone, since i had not taken food for 36 hours, there was no energy in the body. Had 2 glasses of coffee which refreshed a bit. Started packing off the things for the final day of the trek and after the breakfast started descending down in Group1. Group1 moved so fast and i joined Group2; started moving down. Saw hell lot of foreigners who were on their way to base camp. It was not a steep climb down but the route was on the banks of the river with a lot of boulders. The view was amazing on both sides of the river with huge mammoth mountains changing their colors and textures for every 15 minutes. It was a long trek of 11 km till the Stok village under the Sun. Reached at around 1-00 pm and there were couple of vehicles waiting for us to dump us back in Leh. Since our luggage had not reached, we planned to move ahead in a vehicle with out carrier. Luckily there was one, and we 7 boarded and started heading to Leh bidding bye to the Stok at the far end. Soon the Stok was diminishing its size and finally it became very small when we reached Leh at snow lion.

View on the way back to Stok village

Cluster of spike mountains

In front of a spike mountain

At the very far end, can see Stok village (As green patches)

Take Away :

• Trek was organized by IndiaHikes and it was an exploratory trek as they too have visited Stok for the first time with us.
• Money they charged was 16000 INR including food and everything (from July 16th to July 25th).
• Major problem we faced was shortage of food for the initial 5 days. Even though it is an exploratory trek, there is nothing to explore in the quantity of food to be carried.
• We stayed at Leh in a hotel called "Snow Lion" which is very bad. They charge heavily and the quality of food is very bad.