Day 2

I awoke the next morning extremely sore which should be no surprise.  Luckily one of my fellow interns named Zach (pronounced Jack-ji by the porters and by myself as a joke) brought me breakfast which was a bread and butter sandwich with sugar on it.  However, the morning lacked a spark until Chaman finally got me to arise from my slumber.  We were out of water again, but since it was daylight and we were only going down the hill it was no big concern.

I should note that previous treks similar to this one set out for water at a higher point on the mountain whereas Chaman decided it would be best to go downhill and fill up the water as opposed to carry the extra weight on the way down.  The word did not reach all parties though.  I was following Harmit and Lopzang and realized that they were going at a rate I wasn't going to keep up so I figured I would wait for the rest of the group and rejoin.  I sat there quite awhile and realized that the group must have taken a different course because I could hear their voices but they were not coming closer.  This was the point that they diverged and began going down to the base of the mountain.  I eventually caught up to them but by that time Harmit and Lopzang were long gone.

Our trek continued without much thought our concern for the missing members, they had been on the mountain multiple times and were competent trekkers.  However, after some time Chaman sent one of the porters Suresh (Sir-resh) and myself to find them.  We hiked for a bit and came upon a beautiful and what looked to be dry waterfall (see pic).  At closer look there was a good bit of water moving down towards a muddy grassland at the bottom.  Suresh told me to wait there as he would climb the fall and locate Harmit and Lopzang, I wasn't going to argue.  I had 20+ minutes to sit there and do nothing but admire how beautiful and undisturbed this corner of the mountain was.  The only signs of human existence were the bags Suresh and I carried (he didn't take it up the falls w/ him) and the footprints I left in the wetland to get to the flowing water.  I can now say that this is my favorite spot in India, I suspected as much when I was there which made it all the more special, as opposed to realizing post-trek.

When I saw Suresh at the very top of the mountain with Harmit and Lopzang I knew that my time there was limited.  I filled my water tin and took as many pics and videos (on my youtube channel, click link at top of blog) as I could warrant.  The path we took when we set out was not the same one we came in on.  We were going to trek around the side of the mountain and try to find our way down to rejoin the group.  This turned into a debacle.  There are no pictures.  This became the most difficult stretch of our journey.  Suresh had to use a hatchet to hack away vegetation while we slowly made our way across steeply slanted rocks or loose soil, clinging to anything we could.  This became a game of its own, knowing which things you could grab onto and not go tumbling down the slope.  Green roots are a good source, unless they're the kind with pointed needles which should only be grabbed when you're on a cliff and getting poked in the hands or arm is a good problem to have when a hefty fall to your death is the alternative.  Our movement on this "trail" was restricted to what nature offered.  At times going 30 feet might last 10 minutes or more, hurrying would only increase our chances of falling.  We continued to make our way slowly around the mountain, but with each corner we turned it seemed like we were back to square one: no trail and still another edge of the mountain to go before we could descend.  At times Suresh would move ahead of us (the danger I described does not apply to him, he carried a heavier bag and was 3x as fast as us without tiring himself) and then return to tell us to go back to where we came because there was not a way down the mountain, only a dangerous cliff.

This excursion must have lasted 2.5 hours and when we finally made our way to the rest of the group my arms were covered in dirt as was my shirt and pants.  I had scratches on my arms from the less friendly plants I brushed against and had vegetation stuck in the top of my pack.  I was told that the path we were on was only used by leopards and bears, which doesn't surprise me.  Any human choosing that route is competing for a Darwin award.  Despite the grueling nature of the trail, my stamina held up remarkably well.  I could chalk that up to adrenaline or the shade from a roof of trees and plants, but I think that the slow but demanding pace is more suited for my build.  I could climb over things easily, use my Inspector Gadget arms to grab hold of things.  Also, I could shimmy butt first across a dangerously narrow part of the trail so I could keep my feet flat on the ground and transfer my weight without much danger of slipping.  All in all, I enjoyed it much more than the 3 km walks up consistently slanted ground in the sun and dust.  At times descending down the trail felt like I was sliding into home plate, one foot extended to brace for impact while the other leg was bent with my boot on the ground prevent any rocks from catching my underside.

When we arrived at the base of the waterfall everyone kind of gave us a blank stare wondering what had happened while we tried the futile task of explaining something that could only be experienced.