Trekking to Har ki doon - 4

It is 7.30 am on a crisp and cloudless morning as we set out from Seema for Har ki dun, a trek of 12 km that includes a height gain of over 600 m. After the experience of the last two days I have dumped my polythene jacket and picked up a local plastic poncho with Kamal's help. 

Bridge over Har ki dun Gad at Seema. Path on
the right leads to Ruinsara Tal

We take the bridge and cross over to the right bank of the Har ki dun Gad for the first time during this trip. Snow clad peaks can be seen in the far distance looking upstream. The path rapidly gains height and branches into two - the left fork leading to the ancient Osla village. A young pahadi woman points me towards the right fork and then asks me for a toffee!


We walk past fields being readied for the next crop - phafra, a local grain whose flour is used to make roti. More women  than men are to be see working in the fields. At half past nine, we stop at a tea stall just at the beginning of a steep climb. The youth running it knows that it is the perfect spot for a mid-morning tea break for trekkers to Har ki dun.

Kala Nag (left) and Banderpoonch range

As the path levels out of the climb, Kala Nag and the 6000 m + peaks of the Banderpoonch range become visible. Looking back, I can see the Har ki dun Gad meandering down seemingly towards the snow capped Kedarkantha peak. Across the river from where we are is a Bugyal - the Devsu Thatch - surrounded by pine trees and lying on the trail from Seema to Ruinsara Tal. Following the river upstream one sees the Ruinsara Gad whose confluence with the Har ki dun Gad is not visible from the path we are on. We can see a wooden bridge over the Ruinsara Gad that allows 

Bridge over Ruinsara Gad
seen from Har ki dun trail

the Ruinsara Tal trail to cross over to the right bank of the stream. The lake is a good 12 kms from the bridge, according to my guide.


It is 12 pm and we stop for our packed lunch near a pretty little waterfall. I fill up my water bottle from the mountain stream. Clouds are starting to gather and we have already had a few drops of rain - it is time to hurry. We enter a valley dominated by two peaks - Hata Peak and Har ki dun peak. 


The valley floor is covered with snow in patches, the consequence of the wet weather that has prevailed over the past week. I spot the forest rest house complex in the 

FRH complex, Har ki dun

shadow of a huge rock. It has a fairy tail look. The GMVN guest house is further ahead at the head of the valley and the snow must be negotiated carefully to avoid loosing step and rolling into the Har ki dun Gad.  We reach the GMVN guest house exhausted at half past two. We must have been plodding through snow for past hour or so. 

The afternoon view from the GMVN guest house,
Har ki dun

It starts snowing and turns bitterly cold. Pavani, the canteen contractor at Har ki dun has reached only a few minutes earlier and is busy trying to get a fire going to heat water. I look out to see a blanket of snow covering everything other than a few large rocks. For the rest of the evening, I am obsessed with trying to keep myself warm. 

By the next morning, there is an amazing turnaround. I look out to see a clear blue sky and the Swargarohini peak (6250 m) standing nearly 3 kms above us. Legend has it that Yudhishtar, the eldest of the Pandavas, climbs the Swargarohini peak on his way to heaven. 

Swargarohini (center) from the GMVN guest house

I hear some raucous crows around and ask Pavani about birds here. He answers that but for the unseasonal snow, it would have been impossible to sleep this late in the morning because of the chatter of birds with as he puts it, their "108 boli". 

Blue Gentian ?

The clear weather has put me in a better frame of mind to appreciate the beauty of Har ki dun. A stream meander down gently and along its sides is a green border of Fir trees. Looking closer at the grassy slopes, I  can see brown 

Marsh Marigold

grass giving way to green and numerous flowers, yellow - Dandelion, Marsh Marigold - and blue Gentian making an appearance in anticipation of spring. But I cannot tarry here any longer, for I must reach Osla the nearest village while the weather holds.

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