We
all NIM trainees first went to perform puja for the success of our
course in a temple. From NIM we started our journey early morning to
Bookhi village which is approx. half the distance between Gangotri and
Uttarkashi. From there we need to take two intermediate camps, Tel
(8500ft) and Gujarhat (11200ft). These could be tiring treks. One needs
to be well prepared for this. Also one should not forget to take snaps
of picturesque area. In the winter one can will find snow at Gujarhat
also. So the best season is May-Oct. |
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Base Camp
: 12500 ft.
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At Base camp, I
found a wonderful place for camping. There was a lake called Khiratal
towards left of the route between Gujarhat and Base Camp. Above Khiratal,
is a mountain ridge called Macha Dhar, and towards right of the route, a ridge
called Choro ki dhar. At Base camp one could see Dingadh river on the left.
Also there is a helipad constructed by NIM for their Search and Rescue
course.
After Base camp we
went to Advance Base Camp(ABC) where we did our ICE craft practice for a
few days. ABC lies at 13500ft where one can see the top of Draupadi-Ka-Danda-II.
Here we were exactly in the valley of the mountain. Ahead was a glacier and also
a research centre. Then we marched towards the Camp-I at 15800ft, for
snow craft and height gain. The route from ABC to camp-I was initially
from a moraine then through many crevasses in between. For mass no. of participants
one may need to fix a rope on the away to avoid any accident. |
At Camp-I we practised
for a week. On 12th May 1999, around 4pm. our duty instructor of that day came
out with smile on his face. Whistled everybody to gather all the adv.
trainees. Then he cheered us by telling us to prepare for next morning
Summit. We had dinner that day at 5:30pm. 13th May 1999 our day
started at 2:00am. i I was the one who was very much interested went first
for the bed tea in the dark. We had our packed breakfast cum lunch at
3:00am. We were told since this is a Holy peak
not to carry or have non-veg. At 4:00am we started our final ascent to the
summit. It was dark, most of the trainees were carrying their head torch.
After four hours, I reached the top. We needed to fix a rope at the last patch
of 400ft since it was a 900
climb. I did not have food except for the morning tea and a sip of
water inbetween to avoid waste of time, so that I could reach early at
the top. At the top as I reached, first of all others, never thought
that I climbed a peak called Draupadi-Ka-Danda. There was another peak
watching me and I thought of still climbing it but latter my instructor
solved my confusion of achievement mentioning that the peak in front
after climbing the current one is Draupadi-Ka-Danda-I , and where we
were was Draupadi-Ka-Danda-II with a difference of 100ft in height and
our aim was to climb II only. Later we did not realize how how time
elapsed while catching up with all the beauty of the nature in our
camera and viewing the same. This was my first ever summit after
unsuccessful attempt to Mt. Gangotri-I(21980ft) expedition. So thanks
to NIM. Click
here for summit photo. |
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