The Solo Trek of a Lifetime...!

Wow! Thanks for sharing - very insightful and well written. Gets me thinking ...

Amazing photos too by the way

Congatulations!! Highly inspiring stuff.

I'm glad you lived to tell the tale. And the photos you did manage to take (pre-near-death) are great!

Iam glad, ur back to reveal ur valuble experience, many times i've ventured alone. some times I did underestimated whether....with ur experience never shall i do it again, especialy himalayan whether.

He was back about 2 years ago, but then if he is back, he is back

Well said, smakkar...!

I sure have been back for a while now...!
In fact, have been on a few more crazy trips since then...
But definitely not a fraction as crazy and daunting as this one to Triund was...!

And thanks Penelope Gan, RamP!, Trina1911 & Krishnamohan1010 for the nice comments...!

Cheers...!

hi everybody, what ever all of you have said regarding solo_trekker's experience is true.. hat's off to him.

OMG i loved it !! BTW i felt like i read an episode of man v/s wild ....

great to hear.Thanks God that u survived and faced such a wonderful experience of life.I am feeling so attached to it because i was there in Mcloedganj on that date..

Really man it was a close shave..and i would say u were really lucky. Once when I along with my friends visited Triund there was a solo hiker who arrived in the evening and intended to go to the pass. Next morning he came down all in shock ... after we asked he told us that he took shelter in a cave somewhere along the way and guess what..in the night the owner of the cave arrived ..a Bear..!!

Very Very inspiring!
It takes a lot to not lose your calm and think rationally during such situations. So hats off for that. Eventually it's these (life changing?) experiences that traveller's live for.

I know how sacred this experience must be to you. While rafting in Rishikesh 2 years back, our raft capsized in the 'Golf Course' rapid, if you've heard about it. It's a very dangerous one. And unlike everyone who got to the surface in no time, I was stuck under the raft itself for easily 30 seconds. And they felt like forever, having a whole bloody raft over your head made me panic. I will only know if have recovered from it, when I raft that stretch again.

I think you should trek the same stretch again. I'm pretty sure you'll find plenty reasons to do so.

I also love how it's written like T.V show script. The build makes gets you in the mood. Which reminds me, did you take the Korean girls for a hindi movie?

It was an amazing recount of the experience you had. You are courageous and lucky to boot. I have had this trek in mind for along time. Will be doing it next month. In my case, Im not going solo and would love to make it to Lahesh cave. Any tips you'd like to impart?

The Sunday Morning couldn't have started on a worse note...

The news about the death of Ravi Nibhanapudi, an NDTV employee missing for over three months, sent a shiver down my spine...
I was left stunned and speechless thinking about how close I myself had actually come to death, while doing the same thing, in the same place, a few winters earlier...

Nostalgia, though our national past-time, doesn't always bring back pleasant memories...

I was in McLeod Ganj for the first time since that life-threatening episode four years earlier...
It was a sheer coincidence that I happened to be in McLeod Ganj the very same day Ravi was last seen there - he went missing soon after that...

Ravi died while solo-trekking somewhere close to Triund...
His body was discovered in a gorge more than three months after he went missing...
And only after the winters got over...

These are the perils of solo-trekking that one has to be aware off...

It is not to say that one should not venture into solo treks in the higher altitudes...
But one has to constantly educate oneself, keep one's limitations in mind, be perpetually prepared for even the least potential accidents, and, always realize the immense power that mother nature possesses and can unleash at her own sweet will...

I do not know the circumstances that led to Ravi's death...
Nobody ever will...

And this is one case that has gotten highlighted as he happened to be in the media...
Most cases nobody even hears about...
And cases like these, do happen, more frequently than one would like them to...
All over The Himalayas...
Every year...

Fear is a good emotion...
Not because it scares you...
But because it makes you ponder over each step you take...
So that you take the right step, each time...
Fear makes you cautious...
And being cautious could help you...
In letting you live another day...

So, be cautious...
It is not just the best solution...
It is the only solution...

My heart-felt condolences to Ravi's and the NDTV family...

I salute Ravi's spirit of solo-trekking...
It will always live on...

Cheers...!

solo_trekker

glad your back and i must say that you added a great experience to your life.

Well I am also planning to travel triund.
Can you suggest me the routes and places their explore.
Actually we are a group of 5-6 people and we want to travel alone (without tour guides). We are planning to go their in last week of june to 1st week of july, 2013.

It would be great help from your side.

I really appreciate your gutts and presence of mind at the time you were struck in the rain.

Thank you in advance and Regards
Harsh