4 Trekkers Testing Their Limits Part 3 – The Last Mile
In the previous blog, you must have read that the four trekkers arrived at Chakrateerth’s vast, wonderful fields after overcoming the difficult terrain. Its natural beauty was highlighted by the abundance of water sources, which lifted their spirits. They joyfully welcomed their fortunate arrival and took pleasure in discovering the new campsite.
The narrative will be continued in this blog. Read it all the way through to learn more about what occurs next and how they eventually reach their final destination.
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They reached Chakrateerth after trekking for 14 hours. They felt relieved after witnessing an open ground. Everyone was very tired after completing that journey. They started pitching their tents on the ground and arranged their early dinner. A friend of Manvinder whose name is Sandeep Pandey started showing symptoms of AMS (Acute Mountain Sickness). Therefore, he did not eat much for dinner that night because of his weakening condition.
After dinner, they began making preparations for the trek the following day. They would head straight for the Satopanth region and explore it. Previously, they were informed that the 3 km journey would be challenging and straightforward. So, they made the decision to get up at eight in the morning and carry on their journey.
When they awakened the following morning, Sandeep’s condition had not changed. He obviously didn’t want to go on ahead. Thus, it was decided that Sandeep would stay in the camp. In case his condition worsened, they provided him with all the necessary cold and acute mountain sickness medications.
The three friends started their journey at 8:30 in the morning. The route taken the day before passed above rocky and sandy glaciers. It made walking challenging. The path they traveled in the present day was more difficult and rocky. Weather conditions were fluctuating periodically. On occasion, clouds were moving in, and at another time, they expected the beginning of a snowstorm, both of which occurred during the trek.
Ravi started navigating the challenging path once more, taking on the role of a guide. They eventually arrived at a location where they found a lake almost two and a half hours later. After making a little more progress, they discovered that they had arrived at Satopanth Lake, whose journey starts during the monsoon season of the year.
The interesting thing about Satopanth is that Bhim, the second elder Pandava, sacrificed his life. This lake has a lot of religious significance among the Hindus. The great sage monks who have attained enlightenment carry out the year-long penance.
The two wise monks then invited them to their small space for tea and snacks. You will be shocked to know that one of them was 24 years old and the other one was 28 years old. They had sacrificed this world that we all live in. One of them was from Chandigarh. He told Manvinder that after completing his engineering he decided to come here. The other man, who was 28 years old, appeared to be extremely at peace from his gestures and body language.
They came prepared with everything required to attempt the Swargrohini Trek after Satopanth. The Swargrohini Trek appeared to be a mountain summit from its journey. They discussed this with the two monks, and the older monk clarified that you cannot attempt the Swargrohini Trek until your heart is clean and your mind is focused. This pathway will then lead to Surya Kund. The passage of Chandra Kund and Surya Kund followed Satopanth. Thereafter, you can only see Swarg Rohini but cannot proceed any further.
Two more young men had arrived ten days before and the monk had started to describe what had happened to them. They also discussed visiting Swargrohini. The two of them made an effort to trek. After some time, the monks found out the two men had disappeared. But someone discovered their bags.
Anyone who comes to this area during monsoon season reaches Surya Kund and goes back. When they get to see the three stairs out of seven to the heaven of Swargrohini, they go back after seeing them. You have to attempt serious penance and live a very simple life to reach Swargrohini first.
Initially, they listened to him but would agree only when something like this would happen to them. They honor monks but they couldn’t resist themselves going to the Swargrohoni Trek. Ravi was a little hesitant that they shouldn’t go. Arvind and Manvinder felt very positive and thought nothing could be better than this. Their minds came to peace and experienced pure bliss. They mutually decided that they would give it a try. After all, they had already traveled so far and they had all the resources with them. They could handle anything that happens next.
The three of them began preparing for the journey ahead after about an hour. They reached Chandra Kund, and the atmosphere began to shift once more. A few steps earlier, the weather was perfect with good sunshine, but ten steps later, clouds were approaching, and the wind had picked up. Their raincoats were flying around like crazy in the wind.
They moved back as soon as the wind picked up its strength. After two minutes of waiting, the weather started to clear once more. They all made the decision to proceed the second time. The entire process went on for ten minutes at least four times. The snow began to fall heavily as they proceeded further the fifth time. The three friends were confused as to why it was happening to them. The sixth time, they were unable to gather the strength to make it through.
They had informed Sandeep, who wasn’t feeling well, that they would return in the afternoon while he was at base camp. They did not want him to have to wait and become anxious. They have already been forewarned by the monks not to try the trek until their minds are fully focused. The next time attempt the walk, be prepared, and understand the significance of the location. So they made the decision to return to the base camp.
While they were going back to the base camp, it was snowing heavily on their way. They were near the base camp when they saw Sandeep was outside and was sleeping. The blanket that he had taken was all frozen. The three friends asked about the conditions of Sandeep. He wasn’t feeling well and only had one portion of the Dal. After that, he slept in his tent. He was not aware of anything that happened afterward.
After resting for a while, they continued the trek and decided that they would come back the same day. This time, as soon as they began to move, they noticed Sahastradhara. There are 100 waterfalls in Sahastradhara, all following one another. Sandeep, who felt low, became excited upon seeing this. They had to cross a glacier to get to the area ahead of Sahastradhara, which is located along a straight path. Trekkers refer to it as a “Crazy Glacier” since it descends in a sharp slope from a height. As a result, it is challenging to keep your balance while moving down the slope.
Sandeep gave up his journey after a while because he got tired of trekking so much time on the glacier. The glacier resembled a sheet of ice. As a result, he was unable to move or carry the backpack. Then they made the decision to carry his bags one by one, as they had done before.
They ran into other trekkers and their local guide in the middle of the journey and the mules were also being used by them. Given that Manvinder knew a little “Pahadi Language”, so one of them started talking with him. Then, he said that he would need 500 Rs to leave Sandeep and his bags at the surface. As a result of his poor state, everyone resolved to act accordingly. Then he placed Sandeep and his backpack on the mules and started to descend.
Sandeep was riding a mule while Ravi was strolling alongside them. Manvinder and Arvind were left behind and unable to find their way. So, both of them decided to navigate themselves to find their way out. But, they ended up coming on the long route of the trek. After some time, they took a break at Laxmivan where they could see Vasudhara which was their first campsite. Next, they could see Mana Village and a temple on the opposite side. However, they were unable to figure out how to proceed further.
After a short period of rest, they began to walk once more. They approached a shepherd’s cave while trekking. Ravi and Sandeep were waiting for them when they entered the cave. In the cave, all of the four trekkers gathered. For some time, they had rested inside the cave. During the afternoon, they had lunch that the shepherds had prepared.
It is considered good practice to donate any leftover food to the shepherds along the trek. So, they also did the same. They resumed their trek after lunch, and the next route was extremely simple. At first, they observed the army’s base camp, then Mana Village.
Due to the fact that they traveled during the off-season and there was still one month until the journey began, they found a large number of devotees when they crossed the camp and reached the Mana Village. They were questioned by numerous villagers who wanted to know where they were coming from. The trekkers responded that they had made it to Satopanth and were thinking about traveling to Swargrohini. The villagers were all shocked and delighted when they heard them speak Satopanth. They all informed them that the fact that they were coming from Satopanth was significant.
The trekkers were photographed by several residents of the village, and some of them became so overwhelmed by their emotions that they began to touch their feet in a respectful manner. It was the first time for the four of them to see something unique like this, so they felt strangely overjoyed as well. Swargrohini is recognized as someone who is in the human form and could go to Swarg (Heaven) which has been considered a pilgrimage.
They knew when they returned from the journey in which their limits had been exceeded, but they also learned the significance of the location. They learned from others that it was a very unique trek and they had a memorable experience.
So, this was their amazing and one-of-a-kind Swargrohini trek, which they could not complete. Since they had some experience of how the Swargrohini trek would be, they all agreed to attempt the trek once more after everyone had recovered their health and realized the significance of the location.
Conclusion
The last part of their trek tells you about their journey from Chakrateerth to visiting the Mana Village. Although their trek has not been easy, they have remained optimistic till the end and have carried on regardless of challenging circumstances. It’s crucial to keep your cool and maintain composure if you ever get lost while trekking and can’t figure out how to get out. Your decision-making may be affected by nervousness, which will only make things worse. Even in the difficult times, they helped each other a lot which encouraged them to find their way to the surface.
