Dibrugheta

I have just returned from a trek to Dibrugheta, in the Nanda Devi Outer Sanctuary, from the 18th to the 26th of September, 2012. A few photos are available temporarily at my Picasa Web page. I was ably guided by the excellent Sohan Singh Bisht. We were accompanied by Raghuvir Singh of Lata village, and three Nepali porters, namely, Sarp Singh, Jitender Singh, and Bhim SIngh. The following was my itinerary for the trek:

• 18th: Joshimath to Lata road-head by jeep. Walk from Lata road-head to Lata village.
  
• 19th: Lata village to Lata Kharak.
  
• 20th: Lata Kharak to Jhandidhar.
  
• 21st: Jhandidhar to Dharansi.
  
• 22nd: Dharansi to Dibrugheta.
  
• 23rd: Dibrugheta to Dharansi.
  
• 24th: Dharansi to Lata Kharak.
  
• 25th: Lata Kharak.
  
• 26th: Walk from Lata Kharak to Lata roadhead, and thence by jeep to Joshimath.

In case anyone is interested in going there, here are a few points which may be useful. In the last few years, the Dibrugheta Nala has carved itself a gorge about 35 feet deep. One needs a rope of that length to reach the nala in order to cross it --- one descends along the rope to the nala, crosses the nala, and then climbs along the rope on the other side to reach the Dibrugheta alp. In additon to the rope, one needs an axe to fell a tree or two to make a bridge across the nala. We didn't have any of these implements, but managed with about 25 feet of rope, and climbed down the rock the rest of the way; for the bridge, we used a couple of thin trees which had fallen nearby.

There are many bears in the Lata Kharak area, and one has to be very careful about walking around alone, especially after dark, or early in the morning. One morning at Lata Kharak, I saw a full-grown male bear just 100m away. Fortunately, it was eating something in the grass on the ridge, and perhaps the direction of the wind favoured me; I ran as fast as I could down to the the forest hut, and told the others about it. By the time, we went back, the bear had gone away. On the way down to Lata from Lata Kharak, we saw a female bear with two cubs resting on a distant tree. In summary, beware of bears during this trek.

We saw a lot of bharal near Dharansi, the natural prey of the snow leopard. There was a young scientist from the Wildlife Institute of India, who was setting up hidden cameras near Dharansi to photograph the snow leopard. We all peered reverently at samples of the great animal's scat that he had collected near Lata Kharak and Jhandidhar. He said that there must be three or four snow leopards in the Lata Kharak - Dharansi area.

Lastly, the only angrezi sharab ka dukan which I found in Joshimath was down a steep staircase from the road, next to Dr. Bhandari's clinic, opposite the Food Plaza restaurant in the market. I got a bottle of the only vodka they had there, White Mischief, to sustain me on my way down to the plains after the trek.

Raghu.

Welcome back ! Thanks for the observations and suggestions.

Good stuff.

I'd have thought you would have needed the White Mischief during the trek (against the cold), not in the plains.

Yes, the White Mischief was reasonable stuff I was comfortable enough without any alcoholic warmth during the trek, even in a snow-storm. That is not to say that I didn't enjoy the pleasure of chang in Lata and Lata Kharak a few times during the trek. However, it was during the trip down to the plains from Joshimath that I truly needed spiritual solace to offset the pangs of parting from the mountains once more. I carefully rationed the vodka so that the bottle lasted the two nights in Joshimath, the one night in Rudraprayag, and the two nights in Rishikesh that I spent on my return journey.

Incidentally, now I too feel that Rishikesh is a boring place to be in for long. I have spent a couple of days there after each of my recent treks. Now, I must find another and better place to relax in after a trek. Perhaps Landour!

Raghu.

@Raghu, Enjoyed the Log and the pics on Picasa. Thanks for sharing.

Myself and SK went with the same team of Sonu + Raghuvir. But we returned from a little beyond Jhendidhar as we found the boulder hopping towards Dharansi to be tough. Never imagined there are bears in the Lata Kharak area. But instead of bears we experienced a thrilling and 'scary' walk down through a rhodendron jungle in slush after heavy rains, below Jhendidhar.

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Hi KS,

Thanks for the comments. I attempted this trek last year also, in the last week of October 2011, hoping to reach Dharansi, if not Dibrugheta. However, due to snow on the trail, I was able to go only a km or so beyond Jhandidhar, to the beginning of the ascent to Bukfena. That was when I decided to go there a bit earlier in 2012, sometime in the middle of September, and complete the journey to Dibrugheta.

Last year, I too returned to Joshimath via Tolma --- on 27 Oct. 2011, we went from Lata Kharak to Kadi Chown, where we camped, and then walked down to Tolma on the 28th Oct.; we left Tolma on the 29th Oct., and reached Joshimath by way of Suraithota. Yes, even in October, the walk from Lata Kharak to Kadi Chown involved plenty of painful hopping about under and around rhododendron trees.

This time around, after the long slog down to Dibrugheta and back, we were all too tired for yet another walk through the jungle, and decided to return to Joshimath through Lata itself.

Raghu.

Raghu, surely you must have taken lots more pics than 16 ... if you add more in your picasa do let me know
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As you said, I have taken more photos. When I put up more of them, I will make a post here, and will let you know.

Regarding the bears, I too never imagined that they come up to the height of Lata Kharak. I fondly imagined that the place was too high for bears, and too low for snow leopards. I was, of course, wrong on both counts. In my ignorance, I used to come out of the hut in the night alone. Once I saw the bear --- a porter also had seen it a few days before, on our way up --- all of us stopped going out alone. Whenever someone had to go out for anything, he was accompanied by at least one more person. We were all rather scared of the bears. Last month, a friend of Sonu's son was attacked early one morning in Parsari village; his scalp was ripped off, but he escaped without any brain injuries, and is recovering in the hospital of the Srinagar Medical College. I also met an old man from Lata village, who told me how his wife was attacked last October, a few days before my visit to Lata, near the waterfall across the Dhauli Ganga from the Lata school. She suffered severe injuries, but has recovered to some extent, and is able to move around on her own now. Even during my stay in Lata last October, in the evening, a bear came near the village, and everybody came out on to the mountain-side to see the bear, and to shout it away.

Bears are apparently very timid creatures, and attack when they are surprised by humans. So, all of us used to cough loudly, whistle, etc., when walking about anywhere between Lata Kharak and Lata village. There was considerable banter about the sounds each person used!

Raghu.

The three nights that we stayed in the log cabins at Lata Kharak (in June 2010) I had walked out alone several times at night ... to pee some 200-300M away and/or just stare at Bethartoli hulk ... the thought of bears or snow leopards never ever entered my head! Nor do I remember being told or warned of their possible presence in the area.
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It is possible that the bear we saw in Lata Kharak represents a recent change in the habits of those animals. I spent three nights in the forest hut there last year also, but there was no alarm about bears then. I too used to come out in the night with no sense of danger. Even then, we had to be careful in Belta last year because of the bear near Lata village, and had kept a big fire burning near the tents through the night.

This year also I spent totally three nights in the Lata Kharak hut, but the bear had changed things for us now! As I said earlier, there was a young scientist from the Wildlife Institute; there was also a forest ranger who was assisting him in his work. Neither of them was surprised about the presence of a bear in Lata Kharak. Apparently, even bears can go to a fairly high altitude depending on the availability of food.

Raghu.

By good stuff I meant your report and the pics.

Quote:

That is not to say that I didn't enjoy the pleasure of chang in Lata and Lata Kharak a few times during the trek.

Not for the first time either.

Quote:

However, it was during the trip down to the plains from Joshimath that I truly needed spiritual solace....

I thought the word 'spiritual' had a different connotation.

That's what I said.

That's another place you have been known to go for late night walks alone. Btw, leopards have been on late night prowls there quite recently. Not far from Char Dukan. More details some other time.

This is a great thread! I am enjoying it thoroughly. "If you go down to the woods today, you're sure of a big surprise...."

I was only pulling a teetotaller's leg!

It's all the same. As the breakfast regulars at the Swiss Garden Restaurant in Rishikesh might say, "It's all maya, dude." BTW, I went to the German bakery above Lakshman Jhula too; terrible food. I think the a.m. SGR is one of the better places in Rishikesh.

And, I had the temerity to argue about it.

And those late night walks were in peak winter too. Even then, there was a leopard prowling the area. However, now I am eager to hear your latest of the Landour leopards!

Raghu.

More pertinently,

If you go down in the woods today, you better not go alone.
It's lovely down in the woods today, but safer to stay at home.

(The only time I heard the song was in the BBC TV series "The Singing Detective.")

Raghu.

Believe it or not ... a true story:

Just a few months back, during my daily climb-walk up the Yewoor Hills (the eastern edge of SGNP, in Thane) an elderly couple reported seeing a Lioness run away across the fields, just some 200M from where they were perched on a rock doing yoga.

This is the spot where she saw the lioness: http://goo.gl/maps/HaAaY

The couple were Uttarakhand folks, from Pittoragarh area, visiting their son here in Thane for a few months. The lady said to me she saw a "Lion" using the English word. I wouldn't believe her and said she must have seen a Leopard (several are known to roam in these SGNP Forests). I was thinking she is using the word 'Lion' in a generic way and asked her if she saw a "Tendua" which I believe is the Hindi word for "Leopard". But she was insisting she saw a "female lion" and nothing less ... or anything else! I left with an unbelieving look on my face.

When I came back home and opened my morning papers (DNA) there on an inside page was newsreport with a picture of lioness and her three cubs. The report said the SGNP Forest authorities had released a lioness and her 3 cubs to roam about in the park! Was I surprised!!

Next day I took the paper and showed it to the lady. And she confirmed it was the same lioness that she had seen. But she said she had not seen any of the cubs running with her; maybe they were nearby somewhere. The lady then gave me a look that said "I told you so ... you didn't believe me yesterday!"

If I find the DNA report and picture of the lioness with the 3 cubs will post it here.

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