June 12 trip to the mountains

This is just a short note about my recent trip into the mountains ostensibly to inspect two small hydro plants and visit a couple extra. The trip took me up into the mountains generally following one or other of the tributaries of the Ganges. We started from Roorkee on Tuesday, June 12 at 8:00 am in the midst of a heavy down-pour. The rain had pretty well petered out by the time we reached the outskirts of Rishee Kesh (an hour's drive from Roorkee). We climbed steadily most of the day until reaching Chamoli in the afternoon where we stayed over night in the Irrigation Dept. Bungalow. An adjacent farm is being developed as a herbal garden to supply medicinal herbs to aurevedic doctors. All the good Jamaican stuff, milk weed, lantana, periwinkle and ganja is not valued but grows wild of its own accord. The next day we started out for Hemkund (Ghagria Village). We were late starting and were further delayed at Joshimath where the traffic was being organized into convoys as the road ahead is narrow. We finally started on the trail to Hemkund at 2:00 pm. As it happened we had just enough time to cover the 13 km ascent before darkness. It took some time finding suitable accommodation but in the end two rooms were located. Hemkund (Saheb) is a pilgrimage site for the Sikh's associated with Guru Govind Singh. We scrambled around the following morning inspecting the small hydro plant and measuring flow and the main plant parameters. We completed this and had our lunch by 2:00 pm when we started our return. I was the last out at sunset (I climb and descend at about the same speed!!). After a long drive and late night supper we settled for the night at Gopishwar - the ideal elevation at about 900 m neither too hot nor too cold. The next day we took it easier within the intention of touring a couple of hydro stations. One we could not find and the other, Rajawati was quite interesting. We then returned to Gopishwar for lunch and to drop off our first client. After fixing some camera problems and formalities at the Electricity Company's office we finally got on the road again heading for Gaurikund the starting point for our next adventure. As usual we started late (4:00 pm) and arrived at Gaurikund at 10:00 pm. The highlight of the drive was our drive through a forest reserve and cloud forest at a maximum elevation of about 2750 m (9000 feet). We saw a deer, fox and a pair of pheasants in this zone. Fortunately, hotel rooms had been reserved for the small village was overflowing with pilgrims of every age and condition. The recommendation was to be ready for a 6:00 am start. So we started at 7:00 am.!! The trail from Gaurikund to Kedernath is 14 km long but with a vertical rise of 2000 m. We decided to be smart this time and rented horses. We stopped a couple of km short of our destination to inspect a small hydro plant at a Shiva Ashram and got fed for free when the work was done. The last two km were on an easy grade and we impressed everyone with our stamina!! We bedded down in a government guesthouse. Once the sun went down it became so cold that our sole activity was to huddle under the quilts to keep warm. The next day we inspected the small hydro station at Kederanath and evaluated possibilities for its expansion. It rained which slowed down our work. We got every thing done and spent our second cold night at Kederanath. The religious went for puja at 4:30 am but the profane (yours truly) preferred to stay in bed to dream of the warmth of my bed in Roorkee. Chanting in Sanskrit starts at 4:00 am with the benefit of a load speaker. Kederanath is one of the most important pilgrimage sights for Hindus and most be visited by over 500,000 annually during the yatri season. It is snow bound in winter. All classes and ages are represented. For the old and infirm travel is via sedan chair with four porters all marching in step. For the young via basket on a porter's back for the rest of us two legs or four (horse). Some are well dressed some, some less so, notably the sadhus rely on warming thoughts and a thin layer of ashes in extreme cases. Its a great place for a foot doctor. Hope you enjoy this account.
Phil Helwig