15th October – Drive to Sagar village & trek to Lyuti Bugyal

 

At 5:45 AM, M.S. Subbulakshmi's divine voice echoed around the room; it was time for us to get up and gear up for the trek of the day. The first phase of the trek towards Rudranath temple comprised reaching Sagar village by road, starting the trek from this village, and reaching Lyuti Bugyal for a night's stay. Anup had warned us that the trek to Rudranath was probably the most difficult of the Panch Kedar circuit.

So, with a prayer on our lips, we completed our morning chores and set out towards the restaurant for our breakfast. To our surprise, a wholesome breakfast of idli vada with sambar awaited us at the Indralok restaurant. The items were hot, as they should be. The idli was good, which again was surprising. I felt that compared to the medu vada which we are used to in Udipi restaurants in Mumbai, the medu vada served to us in Indralok restaurant in Pipalkoti was not up to the mark. A piping hot tea gave a good finish to the wholesome breakfast.

Uday Singh was ready on the wheels. We boarded the bus and reached Sagar village, the starting point of the Rudranath temple trek, by 9:30 AM. He dropped us at this point and promised to meet us after two days when we would return after completing this trek. He would probably drive the bus back to Hotel Indralok and rest for two days.

Anup had a chat with a couple of locals, fixed a local guide, Anuj, and a couple of mules for carrying our offload luggage.

We started the trek with a loud shout of 'Har Har Mahadev.' The climb from the village into the hills started gradually, and within half an hour, we had left the hustle and bustle of the village behind and started gradually climbing into the hills. The climate started warm, and within an hour, we were glad for layering our clothes. The external layers started coming off one by one, and soon we were trekking with just a quick-dry T-shirt, sunglasses, and sun hats.

After about an hour of trekking, we reached a clearing with a couple of government officials who required us to register the names and addresses of all the trekkers. Vaidy gave the names and addresses of all the trekkers and his contact number. The officials gave a few instructions—not to litter the place, carry all plastic with yourself, and not to throw them in the routes, etc.

Along the way, we crossed a couple of stalls where we got to taste rhododendron juice again.

By around 12:30 PM, we reached Pung Bugyal where Anup had arranged lunch for our group. This simple fare consisted of chapati, dal chaval, and potato sabji. The climate was quite hot, and most of us felt like having a short rest after our lunch, which seemed to be a highly unlikely proposition!

By this time, each member had set his own pace and started walking at a pace that suits him/her. However, I personally ensured that at any point in time, I had at least one member of the group walking with me, a buddy system, as was taught to us during our scout boy days in school time.

The post-lunch walk was an eye-opener as to how the rest of the trek was likely to shape up. Hot climate, food in the stomach, the body wanting to rest, the trek lead urging you to increase your pace, a heavy bag on your back, the mind wanting to reach the destination/night stay camp before sunset—a weird combination of factors, most of which were in contrast to each other.

We ensured that we kept up the routine of sipping water or having some sort of regular fluid intake by way of lemon juice or water from our water bags. A couple of juice breaks/tea breaks and some photos and selfies en route, we just managed to reach the campsite as the sun was setting behind the mountains on the western side of the horizon.

The normal trekking rules such as 'trek high and sleep low,' 'no dozing off immediately after reaching the camp,' 'check oximeter level,' etc., seem to have gone for a toss as members identified a corner each in the tent allotted to the five men and plonked down for an immediate rest.

Anup informed that dinner was ready. Each of us had a little bit of what was offered as dinner and got back to the tent, looking forward to a good rest/sleep. But as is always the case, especially in the mountains, sleeping or trying to sleep in a tent with a makeshift bed of thick insulation material and a bed sheet which no one is sure whether to spread out or to take on your body, getting sleep is not easy. Needless to say, everyone had multiple layers. Sleep was interrupted—broken. The only consolation with five adult men in a single tent meant it would be less colder than Swamy and his wife sharing a smaller couple tent next to our slightly bigger tent.

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