KedarKanth Trek : Part 4: The Descent & The End

Home is where your heart is.

Climbing up the mountains is a physical struggle whilst getting down is a mental battle and a test to your skills. The descent just after the summit felt steep, slippery and right on the edge. I was so scared that I would slip and fall that I almost couldn't bring myself to step forward. Prahlad Bhaiyya came over, took my hand and dragged me by the edge. I had no idea what happened in that split second but I was on the other side of the steep edge, safe and sound! 

At the KK Basecamp.
Pic courtesy : Shameek

After we descended the trickiest bit, Prahlad and Guddu Bhaiyya made snow slides for us. Instead of walking down on foot, we came sliding down many slopes. We did a total of 5 or 6 slides including 2 big ones. One of our trek friends ended up badly. He had scratches on his back and almost did a somersault at the end of the first slide. The youngest in our group did the best slide of the day and rest of us managed somehow. I preferred sliding than walking. It was so much easier than trudging your feet up and down the powdery snow. Whilst walking down, we looked like some drunk people with no control of our legs as our feet would suddenly dig deep into the snow randomly.

Looking out from my tent.

The descent was much quicker than the ascent. We did one last slide to our base camp and was sort of glad that the walk was over. Our back and hips were completely wet from sitting and sliding on the snow. Our t shirts were sweaty and clammy. We took off the layers and stood in the sun trying vaguely to dry ourselves up. Within few minutes, the lunch arrived and o god were we hungry! We gobbled down Rajma, Rice and sweets.

Beautiful silhouette of Spruce trees at Argaon campsite
Pic courtesy : Aditya

We had another few miles to trek before calling it a day. We climbed down some more snowy bits to a lower basecamp at about 9000ft in Argaon. My knees were hurting by this time. The sudden impacts in the snow gave a shock to my knees. I went inside the tent as soon as I got there and changed into some dry clothes. The next moment I knew, it had started drizzling snow. People got super excited. The snow however turned to some sleety rain and it became colder and then it was freaking freezing. Most of my clothes were wet from the snow slides that morning. I wrapped myself the best I could and went to the dinner tent along with few others. We were chatting leisurely with Vijeet and Prahlad there. Our other trek friends started joining in and it rolled into what turned out to be a conversational evening with hot samosas from the kitchen. We talked about politics, relationships, wild life, spirits and ghosts, movies and what not. While having dinner, Prahlad Bhaiyya came out with his classic horror stories and tried spooking us out by shaking the tent from outside. The evening rolled into a musical night later. I started feeling very tired and shivery by then and retired early to my tent.

When Mr. Sun called it a day!
Pic courtesy : Aditya

The next morning, I woke up feeling feverish with a very bad cold. I felt lifeless until I had the magic potion of ‘Kadha’ that Guddu Bhaiyya poured from the hot kettle. I realized I had got ice burns as well and kept myself warm to my best. We had our breakfast with the best Puri and Chhole I have had in years. The atmosphere was a lot chilled out this morning. Having done the major part of the trek, people were very relaxed. This was going to be our last descent, climbing all the way down to Sankri. Everyone was looking forward to a warm shower.

Before the last descent
Pic courtesy : Amruta

The descent this time was much easier. We were no more walking on foot deep snow and didn't have our gaiters or spikes on. It was soft mud and shady forest land with a beautiful view of the Har ki Dun valley on the right. It felt like a cake walk! We took our time pottering around, eating rhododendrons (that’s right! Prahlad Bhaiyya showed us how you could eat the rear crunchy bits of these flowers), admiring the wild drumstick primroses, marveling at the long spruce and beech trees, learning about apple farming in the local lands, learning new local words like ‘gach’ (meaning superb), watching different birds in the pine forest (I have now forgotten all the weird and wonderful bird names that I learnt that time), talking about random stuff, singing songs and pulling stupid pranks among ourselves. 

Drumstick Primroses
Pic courtesy : Prahlad Bhaiyya

We could almost see the Sankri village in the distance and didn’t want to go any further. I didn’t want this trek to end. Like they say, the journey is always better than the destination. We kept getting slower on purpose. We were probably getting on Prahlad Bhaiyya’s nerves a bit with our childish tantrums! On our way back to the lodge, we met some local kids and indulged ourselves to their silly banters. There couldn’t be a better end than such a relaxing walk after the amazing summit.

And we made it back! Re-entering Sankri village.
Pic courtesy : Amruta

Once back to our lodge, everyone freshened up, sat on the rooftop, relaxing and chitchatting, finally ending the night with some drinks and lots of trash talk.

Promise.
Pic courtesy : Aditya

The Kedarkantha trek thus came to an end with a promise for many treks in the future. Oh my first Himalayan trek, an amazing experience to be cherished forever!