Back from Kalindi Khal trek

Hi,

We are back from the kalindi pass trek. We crossed the pass on 2nd Sep. Weather was good on all days except on the days of pass crossing. It continuosly snowed till be reached Rajparav.

Some thoughts on this trek:

This trek requires us to stay long days away from Civilization and gives ample time for introspection. There were few camps on the trek which were risky and life threatening. One of our member developed AMS and had to be sent back from Vasuki Tal. The trek itself is not very difficult but these risky camps and the continous staying above 5000m for several days makes it a tough trek.

As I look back, I wouldnt like to do this trek again or advice anyone to do it. Life is more precious than any Kalindi pass.
Some risky parts/camps of this trek have been mentioned below:

1. Camp at Khara Pathar: We were camping on a small ridge below a rocky mountain with Glacier on the other side. Fairly exposed to any rock fall. As per the guide a group of trekers were caught up in the avalanche from this mountain last year and all killed. A nepali porter tried to escape but was also caught on the falling rocks.

2. Camp at Seta Glacier: We camped near a pool of water on the glacier. There was 3 - 4 feet layer of ice over the pool where the kitchen tent was pitched. We were slight away from the kitchen tent. During the night, we could hear the sound of glacier cracking nearby.

3. Camp at Kalindi base: Thsi precarious camp is on a thin ridge with Glaciers on both sides and surrounded by snowy peaks. The most notoriuos being the Avalanche peak. This is a really weird peak which keeps on sending out avalanches regularly. We would have seen and heard some 25 avalanches during our stay there. One of the big avalanche around 4 AM in the morning just stopped short of our tent.

4. The route to Pass had many crevasses. on the way, we passed near the body of mountaineers from Pune who were killed by Avalanche peak some years back. The descend was horrible. the entire snowfileds till Rajparav were very heavily crevassed. We were all roped up and somehow luckily crosed it without any Mishap. On they way we found a pair of Coflans and gloves. Its only in Gastholi that we came to know that a porters was killed by being pulled into a crevass in this section 10 days back.

5. Crossing of Arwa River: During the route opening for a group of foreigners in June, our guide was swept while crossing Arwa River and somehow managed to survive. So, thsi time he decided to take us thorugh a snow bridge to cross the river. The snow bridge is beyond the snout of Arwa Glacier. The glacial snout had developed big cracks and crossing was not safe. So, we decided to head further up and cross it from there. We crossed over a group of big rocks and could hear the sound of water flowing under it. It was later we realised that those rocks were just somehow stuck on between two cracked half of the glacier. We were lucky that they stayed intact even when we crossed it.

Now some pics of the trek:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/9015586...7601968650488/

Congratulations for the successful completion of the Kalindi Khal trek despite all odds.

Yes, I entirely agree with you that life is more precious than undertaking risky treks such as this one. In the words of Bill Aitken "it is perhaps older hands who believe that no mountain is worth dying for".
Thanks for the nice pictures of your trek.

Sadanand

Hi Jyoti
Congrats!
But, am sure - thanks to IM Most difficult trek in Himalayas ??- you were psychologically/logistically prepared for this monster, which made it possible for you and team to accomplish it.
Well done!

Cheers,
Joe

Congrats Jyoti !!!

That you all have come back alive and whole is reason enough to celebrate. What i try to warn people thru my posts has been put in very graphic language by you.

Its late at night... i'll see your pictures tomorrow

Congrats and keep it up !!

Please post the number and or contact address of your guide. He sounds like an extremely capable fellow. Maybe i'll hire his services some day...

Hi Jyotipg,

Congratulation for completing the massive trek and u r back again on IM. Nice pics though. If possible please post the contact number and name of your guide and let us know your plans for this trek. This will help the interested trekkers also.

Congrats on this achievement.It was great viewing your photos.A few captions/descriptions would have been better though.The risks of this trek have been fittingly put forward by you.But this trek is now a much hyped one so I don't think risks will deter the real enthusiasts.Only wish that everyone gets as lucky as you were.

Congrats Jyotipg for your achievement. I also eye at achieving this feat sooner or later.

Congratulation JP...

Thanks for the info. Aren't you glad you made it back alive!!
Dunno how many will take your advice and how many will be tempted still ..

cheers

Congrats jyoti great pics

Congrats Jyoti on your successful completion of KK trek.You must have had the experience of the life time. I agree that life is not worth risking for crossing a mountain pass. There are more worthy causes than that, I suppose.
Anyway now that trek is over and you are back safe and sound, it's time to celebrate life ( and plan for the next trek!).
Just I have seen the pictures. Very nice. Pl. give them captions.
Thanks for the suggestions for the future trekkers to KK.

check ... http://picasaweb.google.com/harsh.sh...alindiKhalTrek

WOW ! Great pictures! Enjoyed a lot. Thanks Crimsonharsh.

Congrats jyoti for completion of kk trek.

Great pictures with good captions. I had a virtual trek of Kalindi Khal in about 45 minutes .

Thanks crimsonharsh.
Sadanand