Being an adventurer, there are many a times during my expeditions, situation has gone really worse without any hope for betterment. But miracles did happen at times. There were these golden moments when all of a sudden bright light would stream in to drive the darkness away and fill all our lives with optimism and hope. Sometimes it is Nature and sometimes it is human effort that act as a angel. Having been on the receiving end many a times, I can definitely say those were the magical moments of my life!
There was this time a couple of year's ago when I was all set to trek in the Himalayas, to cross a high altitude pass at 16,000 ft. It was the time of peak monsoon in Himachal. Firstly, no one was available to drive us from Simla all the way to the last village of Himachal from where our trek would begin. The drive was rough. We lost way many a times, tires got stuck in mud and slush. But we braved all these impediments and finally reached the base village in the evening.
Next morning we started our trek in the pouring rain. Just 10 minutes into the trail, we noticed a group of foreigners with high-end trekking and camping equipments returning back to the base village. When we inquired they said the trail is made impossible by the rain and it became impossible for them to cross a overflowing waterfall that is almost midway on the trail. After camping near the waterfall and waiting patiently for a couple of days they gave up due to bad weather. Hearing their story, few members of our team immediately backed off not willing to risk their life for the sake of adventure!
Only five of us dared to move ahead, trusting the capabilities of our team and the leader, who is a trained high-altitude trekker. After trekking in heavy rains for 3 days, we reached the base of the overflowing waterfall. As mentioned by the returning trekkers, the current of the water was very heavy to cross. We explored all nearby places to see possible locations from where we could cross the stream, but nothing looked feasible. Rain was getting worse at the same time. Higher camps looked dangerously pale, covered in snow. But our team was determined. We camped near the waterfalls for the day to see if the situation improves the next day. But sadly the rain did not stop and the situation looked grim. Our confidence was suddenly falling low. Even though no one wanted to abandon the trek at that point, Nature was literally forcing the situation upon us.
Suddenly a miracle happened. A porter employed in our team found a place little downstream where there was a rock in the middle of the stream. He suggested if someone could jump to the rock carefully and then jump over to the other side, then entire team can be transferred to the other side via ropes. Idea looked brilliant but then everyone was reluctant to make that jump, braving the gushing waters. Then that moment came!! The porter who gave the brilliant suggestion suddenly jumped to the middle and immediately made a jump to the other side!! We were all dumbstruck with mouth wide-open! Luckily I had my camera ready to capture that precious moment that changed it all! Suddenly there was a light of hope on everyone's face. Optimistic talks resumed. Everyone stood up to appreciate the efforts of that porter.
In no time, ropes were thrown to the other side and everyone was made to cross the river using ropes. In spite of rains, we trekked with full enthusiasm and reached higher camp by that evening. That evening saw a heavy snowstorm and we had a terrible night spent in the higher camp. But the motivation levels were high. We accelerated our pace next morning and managed to cross the pass by that afternoon. Even though blizzard continued on that day, we cared less and pushed forward. Next day we reached the other side of Himachal without any problems!
It was quite an adventure completing the trek and returning back to civilization. Everything was made possible only due to trust in the leader who promised to get us safe to the other side and the unimaginable effort by the porter who jumped risking his life. That moment is still in front of my eyes and I can very well say that was the magical moment that filled us all with optimism and hope to progress!
In the interesting turn of events, after a week of returning back home we came to know from other trekkers that they suffered a lot after quitting the trek in the middle. They had no transport to return back home and they had to walk over a hundred kilometers braving rain, landslide and overflowing rivers to get to a nearby highway. They managed to return safely to the plains almost a week after we reached home! In a way even they had quite an adventure story to share!
This post is a part of IndiBlogger Happy Hours topic "Look Up Stories" for Housing!
There was this time a couple of year's ago when I was all set to trek in the Himalayas, to cross a high altitude pass at 16,000 ft. It was the time of peak monsoon in Himachal. Firstly, no one was available to drive us from Simla all the way to the last village of Himachal from where our trek would begin. The drive was rough. We lost way many a times, tires got stuck in mud and slush. But we braved all these impediments and finally reached the base village in the evening.
Next morning we started our trek in the pouring rain. Just 10 minutes into the trail, we noticed a group of foreigners with high-end trekking and camping equipments returning back to the base village. When we inquired they said the trail is made impossible by the rain and it became impossible for them to cross a overflowing waterfall that is almost midway on the trail. After camping near the waterfall and waiting patiently for a couple of days they gave up due to bad weather. Hearing their story, few members of our team immediately backed off not willing to risk their life for the sake of adventure!
Only five of us dared to move ahead, trusting the capabilities of our team and the leader, who is a trained high-altitude trekker. After trekking in heavy rains for 3 days, we reached the base of the overflowing waterfall. As mentioned by the returning trekkers, the current of the water was very heavy to cross. We explored all nearby places to see possible locations from where we could cross the stream, but nothing looked feasible. Rain was getting worse at the same time. Higher camps looked dangerously pale, covered in snow. But our team was determined. We camped near the waterfalls for the day to see if the situation improves the next day. But sadly the rain did not stop and the situation looked grim. Our confidence was suddenly falling low. Even though no one wanted to abandon the trek at that point, Nature was literally forcing the situation upon us.
Suddenly a miracle happened. A porter employed in our team found a place little downstream where there was a rock in the middle of the stream. He suggested if someone could jump to the rock carefully and then jump over to the other side, then entire team can be transferred to the other side via ropes. Idea looked brilliant but then everyone was reluctant to make that jump, braving the gushing waters. Then that moment came!! The porter who gave the brilliant suggestion suddenly jumped to the middle and immediately made a jump to the other side!! We were all dumbstruck with mouth wide-open! Luckily I had my camera ready to capture that precious moment that changed it all! Suddenly there was a light of hope on everyone's face. Optimistic talks resumed. Everyone stood up to appreciate the efforts of that porter.
In no time, ropes were thrown to the other side and everyone was made to cross the river using ropes. In spite of rains, we trekked with full enthusiasm and reached higher camp by that evening. That evening saw a heavy snowstorm and we had a terrible night spent in the higher camp. But the motivation levels were high. We accelerated our pace next morning and managed to cross the pass by that afternoon. Even though blizzard continued on that day, we cared less and pushed forward. Next day we reached the other side of Himachal without any problems!
It was quite an adventure completing the trek and returning back to civilization. Everything was made possible only due to trust in the leader who promised to get us safe to the other side and the unimaginable effort by the porter who jumped risking his life. That moment is still in front of my eyes and I can very well say that was the magical moment that filled us all with optimism and hope to progress!
In the interesting turn of events, after a week of returning back home we came to know from other trekkers that they suffered a lot after quitting the trek in the middle. They had no transport to return back home and they had to walk over a hundred kilometers braving rain, landslide and overflowing rivers to get to a nearby highway. They managed to return safely to the plains almost a week after we reached home! In a way even they had quite an adventure story to share!
This post is a part of IndiBlogger Happy Hours topic "Look Up Stories" for Housing!
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