Stok - The trek that wasn't
The mountains defy
easy description & deciphering , and probably that is why one is so drawn
to their siren call .It is said that once you have been to the Himalayas , you
are compelled to visit them time and again , an irresistible pull , a primal
tug .And it was something similar with me , having visited Rohtang pass just
after my SSC exams , it was the Himalayan allure which drove me back to a
full-fledged expedition on Mount Rudugaira , high above the Gangotri glacier ,
a basic mountaineering course at Manali & again another trek at the Gangotri
glacier , the latter coinciding to the day with the tragic cloudburst at
Kedarnath.
In short , my last
Himalayan trip was truly an adventure, but in a different, unpredictable way,
without the trek being completed , hence I was restless for another crack at
the mighty mountains .Around December 2014 Urvi was asking around if anyone was
interested in the Chadar trek , which was basically an arduous walk over a
frozen river in Ladakh. While surfing for information on the same , I happened
to chance upon the Stok Kangri expedition.
Stok was 20,000
feet high , a respectable height , didn't require any technical expertise &
was quite affordable .Stok it was for me , situated in the Zanskar range near
Leh , it seemed to be a perfect outing to reconnect with Himalayan
mountaineering .
I floated the idea
on the group with almost immediate confirmation from Savitha , Guptaji &
Rohit, our very own Dongardev.Initially we approached a group called India
Hikes , but they had very strict inclusion criteria ,which included prior high
altitude treks etc. ,hence only 2 of us were selected .We decided to ditch that
particular group & were ecstatic when a group called Trek the Himalayas
confirmed all four of us , it was one of the best new year present we could ask
for ! Once the registrations were confirmed we set about the serious business
of preparing for the expedition , none of us had any illusions of it being easy
.First things first , create a Whatsapp group , and we called ourselves Leh
Climbers & Bikers .That done , flight tickets were booked , almost 7 months
in advance !
Next we had to work
on our fitness , apart from a daily schedule , we also organised the now
famous / infamous endurance trek series , which were medium to hard grade treks
at least once a month in the Sahyadris .We sweated & swore our way through
such draining treks like Mahuli & Sumargad at the height of summer , always
keeping the bigger picture in mind .Special equipment purchase outings were
organised to Decathlon at Thane & everyone was pretty much professionally
geared up now , with good shoes , hiking poles , high intensity headlights
& the works .
We were now about a
month away from D-day which was the 29th of July , the day we were flying to
Leh , and Savitha couldn't contain her excitement & was truly frustrated at
how slowly time was passing .She started a countdown from the one month mark
itself .Rohit had a different problem altogether , he wasn't finding the
specialised clothing in his size ! After a lot of effort , he did manage to
locate some , stitch some & be basically done with it once & for all
.He took expert guidance from quite a few people on how to pack the entire lot
into his brand new sack . With that done he breathed a sigh of relief , in the
meantime Guptaji came up with a new doubt .He said that whoever he spoke to was
ridiculing his decision to directly fly to Leh & instead were suggesting
driving from Srinagar / Manali to avoid mountain sickness.We agreed to his
valid line of reasoning , but it was too late in the day to address them , if
he so wished , he could meet us directly at Leh but time & money
constraints forbade us from making last minute changes to our
itinerary.Speaking of itineraries , we were reaching Leh on the 30th & our
trek was starting on the 3rd , this not only gave us sufficient time for
acclimatisation but also a day or two to squeeze in the local sights .Guptaji
by now had resigned to the fact of flying directly to Leh , as he said that he
was a team man & would go along with what everyone was doing .
It was the 24th of
July , just 5 days more & each day was crawling so slowly ! Around noon
that day we got a message from Rohit, which turned our cosy world upside down.
He had chills and fever ,blood tests confirmed malaria. We couldn't believe
ourselves , was this really happening ? 5 days to go & a diagnosis of
malaria pretty much ruled out Rohit joining us . I don't know who felt more bad
, Rohit or us ? The poor chap had endured all the endurance treks , invested
heavily in new equipment & was truly raring to go , this being his first
Himalayan experience .We were still hoping against hope that somehow , just
somehow, he could still join us. This slender hope was dashed when his
physician suspected dengue too .
With Rohit pretty
much out of the game , we decided to meet him & present him the specially
designed T2B t shirt & take Dongardev's blessings for our onward journey
.29th July dawned & from Leh Climbers & Bikers we had become the 3
Idiots now .We reached Delhi airport around midnight & bought special
chocolates to be opened only when we reached the summit .We nearly missed our
Delhi Leh flight due to an altered state of consciousness brought about by a
sleepless night at the airport .We made sure that everyone of us had window seats
to soak in the imminent display of majestic beauty , and it proved to be a wise
decision .Each one of us was awe struck by the sheer raw beauty of the
snowcapped towering peaks & once we recovered from the initial wonder, we
were merrily clicking all the sights , to try and capture a slice of the
Mountain that is the Himalaya.
Day 1 at Leh was a
mixture of drowsiness , slight headaches & stunning views of the Stok
range which dominated the skyline .We were booked into the Palace View guest
house , situated right below the Leh Palace & next to the Polo ground
.Guptaji had been instructed by Savitha to carry a pulse oximeter & it
became our obsession for the next 10 days , with someone or the other poking
their finger towards whoever was carrying it .Any activity / walk was followed
by a mandatory SpO2 check .Savitha's was a heady 90 , Guptaji was in the 80s
& I languished in 3rd place in the high 70s .Guptaji had to pick up a few
trek essentials & by evening we were much more acclimatised to the reduced
oxygen content , so we set out into the market .Once in the market we were
ravenously hungry & gobbled down bowls of Thukpa ( a soup noodle
preparation) & plates of momos .Guptaji ,true to his resourcefulness
,located an army materials supplier & managed to get Indian army grade
trekking stuff like gloves , jackets & balaclavas. Tummies & shopping
hampers full , we turned our attention towards the serious task of
hiring bikes for tomorrows ride to Pangong Tso.We were delighted to get spanking
new 350 cc Bullets with helmets thrown in for no extra charge .Tasks
accomplished we headed back to Palace view for a good night's sleep , we had a
long day ahead tomorrow.
Pangong was around
170 kms. away from Leh & the road was through what was described as the '
mighty Chang La ' , the world's third highest pass at 17,688 feet . Considering
the distance we decided to do the trip in 2 days & accordingly packed our
bags , filled the bikes up & also carried around 10 litres of extra fuel
.The road to Pangong was Leh-Karu-Sakti-Chang La-Durbuk-Tangste-Lukung.
One had to consider
navigating over the least slippery of stones , these stones were the kind found
on river beds , round & slippery , but they were not directly visible as
the water flowing over them was muddied .If you didn't slip while doing this ,
the next challenge was to drive fast enough to try & prevent water from
entering your silencer , as the currents were quite deep at some places .Having
achieved these 2 feats , the crowning achievement would be not having your
shoes soaking wet , a very necessary requirement considering the upcoming
attempt at 20,000 feet. And there were so many of these patches that we frankly
lost count .A point to be mentioned about the 350 cc Bullet was that it lacked
torque in a very disturbing way & this was manifested when you tried to
climb over smaller boulders & the bike refused to budge .The only
alternative was to reverse & try a different approach , this was easier
said than done, as firstly that meant putting your feet into the chilling water
and secondly the bike seemed to weigh a ton and reversing was easier said than
done.
These patches
successfully navigated without a spill , we reached Chang La top standing
mighty at 17,688 feet . Apart from an army post & a tea stall there is a
temple dedicated to Changla Baba built by the army , which is said to protect
visitors from mishaps during the crossing .A BRO plaque at Chang La is worth
mentioning, that this road was possible due to some nameless individual who
stayed with his machine in the face of immense hardship without wavering from
his duty , true heroes these. A quick tea break and we were on our way again.
If we thought that reaching the top would be the end of our wading woes , we
were sadly mistaken , as obviously the other part of the mountain was going to
be similar to the part climbed up, with the same raging currents & all .By
this time we were desensitised to it all & drove at a speed bordering on
reckless ,aided by the experience of climbing up & sheer luck .We just
wanted to get done with the rocks and the water as fast as possible ,hence the hurry.
Once we had descended we reached Durbuk , a small post of 3 - 4 huts & kept
going on .On our way we passed what seemed to be a small wayside hotel
colourfully decorated with various flags ,unknown to us this was going to play
a major role in upcoming events .
As the ground more
or less levelled off , we saw huge storm clouds around 10 minutes away. Not
only could we see it pouring into the valley below ,but could also see
lightning in a different way, we are accustomed to see lightning in the skies
above , here it was we who were above & the lightning below .The fast
approaching clouds snapped us out of our reverie & Guptaji insisted that we
go back to the small wayside hotel for shelter .It was a race against the
clouds but we managed, just in the nick of time .The hotel was basically a tent
which was closed for business currently .We moved the make shift door & got
inside to see torrential rain lashing the spot where we were, just a minute ago
, talk about close calls .
The first thing we
did was remove our drenched shoes & that made us feel a little better, next
we realised that it was almost 4 pm & we had not eaten anything since
morning ! Naagrik snacks to the rescue ! We settled into a semi comfortable
state only to discover that the roof had started leaking ,unable to withstand
the continuous onslaught of the sheets of rain .Had we not been cold , wet
& miserable , we may even had enjoyed the scene , with tall mountains ,
pouring rain & intermittent lightning. The rain was showing no signs of
letting up & dry areas within were getting scarce & rare , when
suddenly we heard voices , human ones , we weren't hallucinating as yet , and
they spoke - Gujarati ! Talk about ubiquitous , welcome to the party guys
.Gujju guys & Guptaji decided to build a bonfire with the cardboard cartons
lying around , small problem - the cardboard was damp .This was solved by
liberally dousing the cartons with petrol from our surplus stock & voila ,
there you have it, a raging fire .I was in no mood to give up my dry perch for the
fire , which anyways soon started spluttering & giving off more smoke than
heat & light .The gujjus had a back up vehicle into which they piled &
drove off shortly .The intensity of the rain had reduced, though it was far
from finished .Given the impending darkness & the distance to be covered to
Tangste , we decided to brave the rain & ride on.Before that we professed
our eternal gratitude to the unknown owner of the hotel & left some money
for him. Savitha & I were frantically trying to find our waterproof stuff
,while Guptaji was getting annoyed at our delay .He started off while we were
still trying to locate our gloves .These were desolate roads in hostile
conditions and the last thing we wanted was for the 2 bikes to be separated ,
hence we set off after him in hot pursuit , which in hindsight proved to be not
such a good decision .
The landscape was
divine , you had tall mountains of varied hues all around , the road was
descending into a valley which you could spot through breaks in the clouds and
the rain had created streams & rivulets which were running by the road .One
scene which stands out was of small stones on the road , which were breaking up
the water flow in such a manner so as to create very tiny waterfalls over them
, the collective effect was of tiny diamonds strewn all over the road .I was
brought back to a harsher reality, when I noticed that I couldn't feel my hands
at all. Hypothermia which is as alien to a Mumbaikar as a Martian suddenly
started making sense. My jeans was soaking wet , yes I was wearing jeans to
protect against the cold , my hands were beyond numb & feet were in
individual pools of their own .This was supposed to be a rain shadow region , a
cold desert , so how come the torrential rain ?? I had not factored this in at
all .I had felt very clever when deciding that we would go via one of the high
altitude passes to the lakes , this would take us high & we would sleep low
, a perfect recipe for acclimatisation .Forget acclimatisation , here was death
by hypothermia staring right at me !
Fortunately for us
Tangste was around 20 kms from where we were & digging deep into unknown
reserves my only goal was to reach it rather than collapsing in the middle of
nowhere . With this resolve , I eked out the most that the poor Bullet could
muster & set out at an almost maniacal pace , the only thing which mattered
was Tangste ! Our speed soon made us catch up with Guptaji & judging by the
smashed petrol can , he seemed to have had some incident of his own .Later he
narrated that his bike had got stuck twice in the sand & only through
supreme effort , willpower & screaming his lungs out, did he manage to get
his act together again.
We had descended
into the valley now & the road to Tangste was much more level now , the
rain too had mercifully stopped .We checked into the first hotel which we saw ,
the Pangong residency & it promised us a good room with hot food & even
hot water to nurse our extremities back to life .I was shivering uncontrollably
now & could feel the cold seep in to my very core .Reviewing our day's
proceedings ,we discussed how this was one of the most difficult rides one
could complete & the sense of achievement on completing this was much more
than climbing the relatively easy Stok . I was so exhausted that for the life
of me I couldn't get myself to go to the dining room. Dinner was simple but hot
stuff & we headed back to our room & hit the bed .
Morning dawned with
me being in a state of extreme exhaustion , with even the simplest task seeming
Herculean .Guptaji was a little better , but there was no way in which we could
drive the bikes back all the way to Leh.We managed to find a jeep which could
take both us & the bikes back to Leh & since we were so close to
Pangong , cover that too.
Before setting off
for Pangong , we decided to find some Glucon D to ramp up my energy a bit , the
medical store person told Savitha that Glucon etc. doesn't help but there was a
PHC in Tangste and it would be wiser to have a consult there.Feeling that
things weren't so bad as to warrant a PHC visit , we bought some juice &
drove off towards Pangong .The road to Pangong is through the mountains again ,
a sort of road which if you are prone to motion sickness , then you would
definitely throw up .And that's what I did , coupled with the acidity of having
a negligible breakfast & the twisty turny road . Feeling a little better ,
we drove on & horror of horrors my gut couldn't even hold the pure water
which I had just had & out that came .So this wasn't acidity / motion
sickness but I was too gone to trouble my brain to come up with a diagnosis
which tied all the symptoms together .I do remember trying to figure out if any
viral infection has respiratory plus GI symptoms but finding it too taxing,
just gave up . After the last bout of throwing up, Savitha instructed the
driver to turn back & drop the idea of Pangong, but since we were so
agonisingly close to it , I didn't want to deny them the pleasure of seeing it
,and we went on .
Pangong is huge ; 5
kms at its widest & around 130 kms long.Its beauty lies in the varied hues
of blue & aquamarine which the water reflects on clear days , we had no
such luck as the sky was overcast from yesterday's rains .After the photos we
drove back to Tangste , where we had the unenviable task of lifting 2 super
heavy Bullets onto the Jeep, this was accomplished with the help of the hotel
staff & we set off for Leh via Chang La .This journey was pretty much
uneventful except for a few heart stopping moments where the bikes seemed to
roll out of the jeep on the steep inclines .The lack of oxygen also led to
frayed tempers between Savitha & Guptaji , but nothing which descending
from Chang La couldn't sort out .I, for most part of the journey, had my head
down & was drifitng in & out of sleep.
Thus we reached
Palace View ,Leh around 6 pm & I immediately snuggled into bed .Going by how
difficult it was for me to do routine tasks , Savitha felt it prudent to buy a
portable oxygen cylinder , just in case .The oxygen supplier was just across
the road , but unfortunately was shut for the day & unwillingly she had to
ask the hotel manager about alternatives .I say unwillingly because once you
have been hooked up to oxygen , the trek is pretty much over for you .There was
still one entire day & I was confident that proper rest & food should
see me through , hence we didn't want to jeopardise our trek plans . Anyways
the hotel manager came to check & conferred with Guptaji that such a
condition was consistent with GI upset & if oxygen was really required they
had a vehicle which could be used to procure it .In the meantime Guptaji had
managed to get us some food & the minute I got up from the dining hall all
my gastric contents were duly deposited into the loo .There was something
seriously wrong , damn that virus !
It was 2 am at
night & Savitha was woken up by sounds of constant cough and distressed
breathing , but it wasn't just shortness of breath , there was a distinct
gurgling sound accompanying it too , no prizes for guessing , it was me
.Savitha felt that we should go to the hospital , 2 am at night for a
respiratory infection seemed a bit far-fetched for me.She said that in case of
Pulmonary Oedema , the accumulated fluid caused such a sound , I countered with
the argument that clogged mucous would also create the same effect .To end the
logjam , I went to the washroom & expectorated the lung contents & was
jolted to see frothy , blood tinged sputum - this was no respiratory infection
! Help ! Ok , so no infection , but whatever it was could wait till morning ,
why spoil everyone's sleep over it ?
Savitha had had
enough of my arguments & announced firmly that we were going to the
hospital & that too now .She had the presence of mind of taking down the
hotel owner's phone number earlier in the day & called him up immediately
.It was decided not to spoil Guptaji's sleep as he himself was very tired .SpO2
was hovering around 56 , the owner came in & said that the hospital would
only admit people who couldn't even stand on their feet , & here I was
merrily walking around .Savitha was firm & said that she was interested in
a qualified diagnosis & would abide by whatever the doctor would say . A
quick ride to the hospital & we were in the casualty , the attending Dr.
was an MD physician .He hooked me to the medical grade pulse oximeter & . .
. .
SpO2 was 33 %
! He was justifiably wild & ranted at us for coming in so late , 10
more points decrease & you wouldn't have to come at all .He also mentioned
in passing that we were lucky to have him attending to me , as just a few days
earlier,the junior doctors had treated a similar case of vomitting with IV
fluids , which in fact was pulmonary oedema & the patient had died due to
fluid overdose .So it was confirmed , I had full blown HAPE or high altitude
pulmonary edema & needed to be admitted stat .HAPE was life threatening
with a high mortality rate & the patient could succumb within hours if
appropriate treatment wasn't given .Why someone will / will not have HAPE has
not yet been solved. It can occur to anyone ,irrespective of how many mountains
you have climbed / courses you have done, a true leveller . With the oxygen
cannula down my nose & the wonder drugs of modern medicine coursing through
my veins HAPE had been denied its latest victim & I could literally breathe
a sigh of relief.
The emergency had
passed , the morning dawned with some difficult decisions to take .
I was lucky to have
survived the night , so climbing a 20,000er was out of the question , but
Guptaji & Savitha were doing good , there was still one complete day in
hand & Stok seemed tantalisingly within reach for them. The last thing I
would want was for them to miss out on this opportunity , considering the
efforts we had put in to reach this stage.The medical aspect was taken care of
by the excellent staff of the Government Hospital & the hotel owner &
manager had promised to take care of the food & other stuff. I wasn't
critical anymore and it was just a matter of biding time till I
recovered.
Guptaji mentioned
that he had made up his mind at Tangste itself considering the rainy conditions
, give him proper sunshine & he was willing to exert to the top of any
mountain , but pouring rains was a no-no for him & there was no way that he
could abandon me & go for the trek .He also mentioned that there were a lot
of responsibilities on his shoulder & he didn't want to take undue risks .
That sealed the matter , now that Guptaji was staying back ,Savitha was free to
go & she really had this on her mind since the past 7 months , she was fit
, had a keen desire bordering on an obsession , this was going to be her first
Himalayan peak & there was no imminent danger of me sliding into the
netherworld. All factors which were screaming Go Savitha Go ! You could
actually see the various conflicts playing out in her mind & finally her
sense of perceived duty came to the fore and she decided to stay back .We tried
very hard to convince her ,but it was like 'Ek baar jo maine commitment kar di
. . . '
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