The Vagabond Hiker

Trekking India’s Kumaon Himalaya

October 26, 2018

The little-known region of Kumaon, comprising the eastern portion of the Indian state of Uttarakhand, is arguably the centerpiece of the Indian Himalaya, dominated by the awe-inspiring Nanda Devi and Nanda Devi East. Often overlooked by trekkers, it offers wild unspoiled landscapes far removed from the pilgrimage hordes and most mechanized traffic. The trekking route we took is located close to the border of western Nepal and Tibet, following an ancient trade route to the latter in a remote corner of Kumaon.

Starting in the village of Munsyari, our Exodus Travels group of 12 clients, two guides, three camp support staff, and four muleteers trekked through small settlements and pristine forests following the Gori Ganga River to the historic settlement of Milam. Milam was a thriving village trading with Tibet before the war with China in 1962. We then trekked up to the Pachu Glacier with its spectacular views of Nanda Devi and Nanda Devi East. At 7,816 meters, the former is the highest mountain completely within India (Kanchenjunga, the third highest mountain in the world, is on the border with Nepal). Enjoy the photos I took on this remote and spectacular 11 day trek.

Day 1. Munsyari hotel view of the Kamaon Himalaya (also referred to as the Eastern Gharwal Himalaya). This town, 1.5 days driving from the Kathgodam railhead, was the starting point of our 11 day trek.

Day 1. At these lower elevations, though it was late in the season, goats were still to be seen.

Day 1. An orchid which I have not attempted to identify.

Day 1. A Kashmir Rock Agama. We saw quite a few of these 6-8 inch long lizards at the lower elevations (under 3000 meters).

Day 1. Some of our donkeys crossing a stream. We had around 15 donkeys to carry much of our personal equipment, our food, tents, etc. Early on the muleteers were drunk and lazy, which led to delays in setting up camp several nights.

Day 1. A rather bold *Neptis hylas* (unknown subspecies) seen at our lunch break.

Day 1. A partial rainbow at Lilam camp where we stayed on the first night. At only 1850 meters, it was still warm in this cramped hillside camp.

Day 2. The Gori Ganga. We would follow this river, sometimes hundreds of feet above its deep gorge, for much of the trek.

Day 3. A white-capped water red-start (*Phoenicurus leucocephalus*). I thought at first it was a wagtail because of its behavior.

Day 3. A side stream into the Gori Ganga. Numerous side streams and waterfalls punctuated our journey.

Day 3. A spectacular waterfall into the Gori Ganga with four Exodus clients.

Day 3. The Gori Ganga valley at a point where it had opened up somewhat. The trail (actually a jeep track here) is clearly visible on the left hand side above the valley.

Day 3. Some of our group crossing a side stream of the Gori Ganga.

Day 3. A scree descent. Numerous landslides during the last monsoon created some challenging footing on the trek.

Day 4. The Gori Ganga valley above Railkot. Absolutely spectacular.

Day 5. The Milam glacier overlook. This day was an aberration from the generally good post-monsoon weather. This was the first of three optional day hikes where we stayed at the same camp for two consecutive nights. A great chance to catch up on laundry!

Day 5. The outskirts of Milam, the furthest north village towards Tibet. The red shrubs are barberry. Trading has historically made the inhabitants relatively wealthy, but that all changed in 1962 after the Chinese attacked an unprepared India. The passes beyond Milam have been closed since ever since.

Day 6. Part of the Milam border post with a view towards Tibet. Photography was forbidden, but I sneaked a couple of pics anyway.

Day 6. Our Milam campsite. The clients had eight tents (the yellow ones were shared, the green ones for single travelers) and, importantly, two lavatory tents. There was also a cook tent and a smallish mess tent that we crammed into for breakfast and dinner.

Day 6. Tirsuli (r) and Hardeol (l), two 7000 meter peaks to the North.

Day 6. Some flowers in deserted Pachu village. The villages we past were mostly abandoned, though a few locals still farm and have summer grazing pastures.

Day 6. Our first view of Nanda Devi East. The trees are birches, already changing color at this elevation (about 3400 meters).

Day 6. One of our donkeys with Nanda Devi behind in clouds.

Day 7. Morning alpenglow on Nanda Devi (r) and Nanda Devi East (l). The ridge connecting them is about 2 kilometers long. I took an untold number of photos of these two mountains during the several days they were in view.

Day 7. The Vagabond Hiker at Pachu Glacier with Nanda Devi (in clouds) and Nanda Devi East behind.

Day 7. Here I was at the high point (est. 4500 m) above Pachu Glacier. Nanda Devi is in clouds this late in the day. Only one other client made this snow ascent during our lunch stop on this optional day hike.

Day 9. The Shalang Valley towards Nanda Kot (6861 meters, far right in the background). Because of a new bridge, we were able to condense two days and gain an optional day hike around Martoli Peak. Even our guide Rajeev, had not been this far before.

Day 9. “Elephant Peak” to our SE (zoom) from the northern flanks of Martoli Peak.

Day 10. The Gori Ganga, here at river level.

Day 11. A beautiful gorge along the Gori Ganga.

Day 11. On our final day trekking back to the road-head. Munsyari is highlighted in the distance on this rainy day. We took a different, spectacular high level route back to our first river crossing.

I have been enjoying an autumn break in the UK this past week. Next week I will fly to Lanzarote in the Canary Islands. During my month there I expect to fully explore the hiking opportunities on this volcanic island off the west coast of Morocco. Until my next post, happy trails.

The Vagabond Hiker

Back to the Balkans: Bosnia & Croatia

October 2, 2018

The second half of September found me returning to the Balkans after three weeks in the Dolomites of Italy. This time, while the priority was not so much hiking per se, Maggie and I did get to experience some very diverse landscapes in the mountains of Bosnia and along the Dalmatian coast of Croatia. We interspersed the hikes with cultural touring in Mostar and Sarajevo in Bosnia and in Dubrovnik, Croatia, enjoying seafood and local wines throughout our journeys.

In Bosnia, we stayed for three nights at an authentic old farmhouse, which was our base for hiking in Sutjeska National Park. This park, established in 1962, is Bosnia’s oldest. It includes the country’s highest peak, Maglić (2,386 meters) on the border with Montenegro. The Strict Nature Reserve “Perućica”, one of the last two remaining primeval forests in Europe*, is also part of the park. The photos below are from the two very different hikes we took, a short wander in the Perućica reserve and a grueling round trip climb to the summit of Maglić.

*- The much larger Białowieża Forest in Poland and Belarus is the other.

A stream, Perućica Nature Reserve, Sutjeska National Park. Entry to the reserve is with a guide only. The host at our farmhouse accommodation just happened to be the park ranger in the reserve and invited us to hike there as his guests.

A colorful mushroom, perhaps dyer’s polypore, one of many we saw in Perućica.

A VERY large example of *Sparassis crispa,* or cauliflower mushroom, in Perućica Reserve.

Trail heading to Lake Trnovacko from Prijevor, Sutjeska NP. The route we took to the summit of Mount Maglić was about 14 miles and had more than 3,500 ft of elevation gain.

Montenegrin border post at Lake Trnovačko. Fortunately, my driver’s license was sufficient for the guard/park ranger. Most of the hike was actually in Montenegro.

Mount Maglić (l) from Lake Trnovačko (Trnovačko Jezero).

After a stiff climb from the lake, a flattish plateau area brought us to Maglić’s summit block, which required a short scramble.

With Maggie on Mount Maglić’s summit (2386 meters)

The heart-shaped Lake Trnovačko from Maglić’s summit. Our climbing route was from the left side of the lake here.

Another view of Lake Trnovačko with clouds, on our descent

After Bosnia, we returned to the Dubrovnik area of Croatia’s Dalmatian coast. While the lovely walled city is teeming with tourists, we found two hikes to the north that were not so overrun: the walled town of Ston and the island of Lopud. Both made for interesting day trips from our apartment a few kilometers north of Dubrovnik.

Village of Ston with salt pans, seen from one of the walls. The walls of Ston are longer than Dubrovnik, and claimed to be the longest walled fortification in Europe.

The walls extend to the nearby town of Mali Ston (Mali means “little”)

Our hike was a loop that involved some bush-whacking on the return to Ston. Here is a portion of the Ston walls that we saw on our return. Only part of the fortifications are currently open to the public.

A short ferry from Dubrovnik to The island of Lopud is only a short ferry ride from Dubrovnik. Vehicle-free (except golf carts), there are many hiking trails that enabled us to more or less circumambulate the island. Here are some Bougainvillea above the town of Lopud.

Vista from Sutvrač Fort towards Sipan. Although not quite two square miles in area, Lopud is the second largest island of the Elaphiti islands (after Sipan). It is located less than 10 kilometers NW of Dubrovnik.

Vista point on the Northwest corner of Lopud. The peacefulness of the island was a dramatic change from the crowds of tourists a few miles away in Dubrovnik.

Tomorrow I leave for New Delhi to begin a three week trekking trip to the Garwhal Himalaya. Our group will be trekking in the region of Kumaon, Uttarakhand, just West of Nepal and bordering Tibet to the North. On my return to the UK later this month I will post my next blog from my first trip to India.

Until then, enjoy the outdoors,

The Vagabond Hiker

Walks and Ferratas among the High Peaks of the Dolomites

September 15, 2018

Early morning a few hours before my flight to Dubrovnik Croatia, and I hastily dash off another blog post. During the past three weeks I have done some easier hiking in the meadows and woods of the Dolomites as well as some adrenaline-pumping climbs on expert level via ferratas (VF), again with OnTop Mountaineering out of Canmore, Alberta. First the easier hikes and walks…

Cencenighe Agordino. A late August morning view from my apartment after snowfall the night before.

View of Lago Alleghe. The giro di Alleghe was a pleasant one hour stroll around the lake.

View of part of the Civetta Massif from the Pian de Pelsa, following a 900m ascent on a gondola from the town of Alleghe.

Rigugio Coldai on Civetta. This hike was along the northwest flank of this mighty mountain.

Detail of Common Monkshood seen above Rifugio Coldai

Lago Coldai on Civetta’s Northwest flank

Willow-leaved Gentian seen on the descent through the woods from Civetta’s northwest flank

Lago Alleghe from the descent to Masare from Civetta’s northwest flank. The town of Alleghe is partially seen on the right side of the lake.

Meadow Saffron (aka Autumn Crocus) above Cencenighe. There were fields of these flowers in bloom.

Civetta in clouds from its eastern side during my circuit of Monte Pelmo hike. This day was the only one I was caught out in the rain.

Cencenighe Agordino, behind my apartment. This road becomes the path that traverses high above the Cordevole Valley up to Lago Alleghe

Interesting mushroom on the path above the Cordevole valley

A typical view along the high level path above the Cordevole valley. It was wonderful finding such a lovely walk right out my back door.

And now the ferratas. All the photos with me in them were taken by another client, Ron, who was our unofficial photographer. My thanks to him for sharing these with me so quickly.