Kanchenjunga Expedition-Trek to nearby Mountain Peak (Day 20)
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Gary with the Army Jawans on a hillock in Ramche. We spend out days in Ramche climbing these small hills and enjoying the beautiful scenery.
9-14-September- Trek to a nearby Mountain Peak
I am writing this diary after a hiatus of five days. And they are such eventful days that I will write about them in detail separetly lest I miss out a particular event or adventure. Yes adventure and lots of it is what I get all these days. Today 9th ,Gary and I decide to push the envelop of the adventure and climb the steep hill-overlooking the Ramche Camp.
It would occasionally snow when we were at Ramche. Here was one lone Yak in snow near the glacial lake.
We push off at 9: 30 am(Gary is a bit reluctant and this surprises me quite a bit as he has ambitions of submitting peaks) I have my Nikon F-100 some almonds and kaju and a water bottle with warm water. It is a good sunny day and I hope to get good pictures. My day had begun quite early (5:30 am) and I had clicked over one roll of the newly acquired slides on the mountains that shone so brilliantly in the early morning. They reflected in the lake and I mainly focused on getting the mountains along with the reflections. For this I had to climb half-way up the ridge alongside the lake. Our expedition team members came for a crap, ignoring me completely and hoping I was ignoring them too.
The glacial lake would reflect the surrounding mountains beautifully on a clear day. This was one such clear day. However i must mention this was also the place where all of us would come to crap in the mornings.
I was tired after climbing about 100 meters but Gary and I kept on. Our destination was a peak-a real craggy peak atop a mountain-side full of big boulders. The stone boulders are black in colour and look precarious in their perch. I am scared but move on nonetheless. Gary is a nimble climber and how skilled he is i will know in a few days of climbing. The yellow North-Face tents behind and far below us look as small specks from where I am.
By the time I join Gary on the top of the mountain-peak, it begins to mist over. I am very tired but feel fulfilled at having climbed up so far. This is my effort to acclimatize myself and get some walking exercise before we set for Base Camp tomorrow.
Gary assumes we are at the level of Kanchenjunga Base Camp itself but I think that is just a way of saying we have climbed really very far and above Ramche. Soon we get our view of Kanchenjunga behind us. It looms up amidst the drifting mist and I shoot a few pictures before the mist clouds it over.
This woman lived in the hut in the background with her husband and kids. These nomadic dwellers looked after the yaks for a rich man living down the hills.
On our way back, I go crazy shooting the flowers and any fauna on the mountain-side. I hope to write about the fauna. I almost shoot one roll of sensia-100 and am happy by my effort.
The soft drizzle plays spoil sport yet again and I have to cover my camera and lens negotiating my way down the mountain. We reach Ramche around 2am and the drizzle does not stop until nightfall. Jaidev, Saunta, Gray and I have fun sitting in our tent. Jaidev looks quite something when he takes the ear-phones from Gary and pretends to enjoy the hard-metal music Gary listens to. Saunta, closes his eyes and begins to dance. Jagdev says the music is best for morning PT. I couldn’t agree with him more.
Sir,
I just want to know how long did it take to actually climb the mountain. From Base camp to climbing and back. Did you or anyone in your camp Summit sir?
Thank You!
Hi Prashant, thanks for your mail. I have written a detailed account of the climb in this article. http://localhost/fast3cycle_backup/sanjayausta/website/photo-essay-2/kanchenjunga-expedition-3/