October 1997 - The 'Shipton/Tilman' Route - Day 15 - October 25

                   Waiting for the convoy to set off from Joshimath

Saturday 25 October

Dogs barking and early morning activity outside slightly curtails sleep, but the earplugs still in my box from the recent Skye trip work well. Nevertheless, I'm up before the alarm and packed up and ready to leave at 7:15. Most of my weight is left behind and my sleeping bag, gilet and Thermarest easily fit into Julia's bag in exchange for her 'excess' being put in my bag and left in the hotel until we return.

We've also left the medical box - a weighty thing never used, and a few of John and Richard's things.

Breakfast is a bit late but quite efficient - omelettes and toast, with extra toast and jam, and the usual copious quantities of tea.

A map is produced. (Maybe one of Ian Inch's.)

From the hotel there are good views down the Alaknanda River valley, and up the hill to the town (Joshimath) - corrugated iron roofed houses, trees, rock outcrops, and waterfalls. Below the hotel haystacks dry on roofs, and a sweet shop's stove flares as breakfast is cooked. The gaping jagged walls of a collapsing but still used building stand (just about) directly below my window.

Anil and Vicram arrive as planned and the bill is paid. It's a beautiful clear, sunny day. We are soon in a queue for the 'gate' to the Govind Ghat road, which is so bad that traffic is let onto it in convoys in an attempt at a sort of one-way system. We queue for 20 minutes or so for the 9 o'clock gate. Some have more tea and buy books, tapes and cards. Beggars abound, one refusing 5 rupees and demanding 50! He got nothing. I buy a book on the area and culture (20 Rup) and finally find some postcards - two packs of 10 for 5 rupees a pack. Each card costs 0.8 pence! They are a bit flimsy but were the last in the shop.

The convoy leaves promptly at 9am and Vicram guides us forcefully but carefully (I think) along precipitous roads deep down to the river valley then steadily up to Govind Ghat (1828 metres) [Joshimath is 1875 metres]. The 15km drive takes 40 minutes and leads us up the spectacularly narrow gash created by the higher reaches of the Alaknanda.

We get out to find 8 Nepalese porters efficiently loading the cooking gear and provisions, including a huge heavy sack of vegetables. We are going vegetarian for this two night trek as it is to a religious centre where Hindu pilgrims congregate. We respect their vegetarianism. Last year's trek report refers to the 'B’ team, but our porters quickly grab our three bags and set off before us at 10am. They are definitely 'B plus', if not 'A', and should be perfectly adequate.

We follow, and Richard and I quickly revert to shorts on this lovely warm day.

                                  On the trek above Govind Ghat

The porters are overtaken, but we soon congregate for tea at a small village - Puhna.

It is clear why we have been unable to hire ponies - they all seem to be engaged in bringing the potato crop down from the fields to the roadhead.

                                         Views from the path to Gangaria

Continuing along the well engineered wide stone path we have long since left the sound of blaring horns behind. This is the 'close season' and pilgrims no longer wander the path. It is steep but well graded and I am soon walking with Anil, who wants to go ahead to arrange accommodation. 

                         Waterfalls cascade across the path

We pass lots of detritus - plastic, water bottles, Fanta bottles, etc, etc, left as the various stores offering refreshments have been abandoned for the winter. 

Their frames remain, together with the rubbish, which is only rarely removed by determined trekkers, until next season when everything will be rebuilt. 

The mess is not as bad as I expected after reading the report on last year's trek, and the walk up this magnificent steep sided valley is most enjoyable. The autumn colours in the woods are lovely. Tits and redstarts are present, and the ubiquitous langur apes, as well as small wren like birds.

We are in the Bhuinder Gorge heading for Ghangaria (3048 metres) and the Valley of the Flowers. We pass by a second village and stop for lunch, after which Anil bombs on to arrange accommodation. I enjoy the continuing ascent at a steady pace and arrive in Ghangaria at 2pm. Anil worriedly shows me a room with four beds filling one half, a carpet, a (dubious looking) toilet, and a chest which can be used as a table. A bit like a small camping barn. There is a less salubrious room next door which Anil, Pawan and Bagwan (whose real name is spelt Bhawan - pronounced Bagwan) will use for cooking and sleeping. I pronounce the accommodation perfectly satisfactory - it even has mattresses, and we adjourn for chai nearby. We are staying on the first floor of a building under construction. Our room has been quickly cleaned, and beds and mattresses organised. There are piles and sacks of building material on a sort of balcony, and we reach our room by climbing a ladder and making our way across various piles of rubble. Hard core in the kitchen has been hastily covered with an old carpet.

By 3pm Pawan and Bagwan have arrived. I decide there is time to visit the Valley of the Flowers rather than hang around in Ghangaria. Ghangaria is a shanty town, now out of season and closed, for Sikh and Hindi pilgrims. There is a mish mash of concrete and corrugated iron to accommodate these pilgrims. One of the Sikh rest houses looks like a several storey prison - bars everywhere. There are no planning rules and the whole place has the air of a disorganised building site.

I head up a concreted (where the piles of gravel have been utilised) stone path. Soon (10 minutes) a river is reached. The bridge has gone so I leap across stones. I'm now on the usual 5ft wide stone path - very well engineered - like that before Ghangaria. I branch off left whilst another path leads off up a zigzag path above a lovely large waterfall to Hem Kund, a religious place situated at 4329 metres.

The path continues steeply up the gorge, across a rickety iron bridge, before levelling out and then rising steeply before reaching a substantial stream. At this point the whole of the Valley of Flowers is in sight. It has taken an hour from Ghangaria and I'm now at 3658 metres. The valley is 5 km long and 2 km wide - the narrow gorge having opened out into this lovely valley. At the far end a glacier is just in sight, but the usual afternoon cloud has come down and it is mostly glacial moraine which is in view. Not a flower in sight, but lots of different browns, and the autumn colours in the gorge are splendid.

                                              Later, I found a flower!

Rosehips, redstarts, wrens, green tits - are all abundant. I linger for a 20-minute biscuit stop before returning to Ghangaria to find that the others have just arrived (4:30). I was down at 5:15 and cheese pakora and tea is being served. Delicious.

                                      Returning to Ghangaria in late afternoon

Everyone agrees the room is fine, and we settle down to another lovely Indian meal and a chat over a glass of vodka.

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Wednesday 16 April 2025 - GM Ringway Trail Stage 3 - Didsbury to Bramhall

Eight of us plus Rufus met at 11am in the rain in Didsbury. Sue, Rick and I were very early due to the unexpected efficiency of Manchester's Metrolink tram system, so we managed a quick coffee in the Levante Café before joining the others at Didsbury Village station, where we had finished Stage 2. 

I reported on Stage 2 here, and today we lost Jenny from that walk and we regained Rick, who had missed Stage 2 due to a hospital appointment but has walked that section in the meantime.

The GM Ringway website describes today's walk in 180 steps. I'll just provide an overview here.

Today's first snap was taken out of the rain in a tunnel lined with corrugated iron, after we had followed the path by the tram line past its terminus at East Didsbury.

After a short spell on the Trans Pennine Trail we headed alongside the River Mersey to Manchester Road, along which we sped over both a railway and the M60 motorway before entering the grounds of Abney Hall, now a conference centre. Paul went on a minor adventure across a river to a bin in which to deposit the contents of Rufus's bowels.

We continued in light drizzle to a bridge that Paul could have used.

The trail is clearly signposted as it passes next to a man-made waterfall.

We passed next to a pond in Abney Hall Park, where a heron was busy fishing and the drizzle diminished into just the odd spot of rain.

We were soon on roads again, in Cheadle village, where the war memorial is currently showered in a confetti of cherry blossom.

 

There are plenty of places to stop for a break in Cheadle, but we just walked on past St Mary's church which has unusual clock faces.

Soon the Ladybrook Valley is entered. We followed that beside Micker Brook, with Rufus leading the way as usual.

Foliage has very noticeably greened up in the last few days.

We continued merrily along the route, still clearly marked with roundels and larger markers on existing signposts. Through Brookfield Park to a point where the route is currently closed due to construction work. So we had to proceed to Cheadle Road and Old Wool Lane to regain our path.

Paths through an industrial estate led eventually to the Ladybrook Cycleway, alongside Micker Brook. We passed under the Seven Arches railway viaduct to reach open country.

 

Bramhall Park was in due course reached, where we strolled beside the ornamental ponds. We'd been here before, both on a walk with Paul and Jeanette (the latter's childhood was spent in this area) and on Bramhall Park's 666th parkrun.

A Canada goose has carelessly laid her eggs right next to the busy path.

We'd also seen a good number of Mandarin ducks as well as the usual herons, coots and moorhens, etc.

From here it should have been a straightforward walk to Bramhall railway station. I thought it a bit odd that the signposted route didn't fit with the description, but we proceeded merrily on, along a path through the pretty Happy Valley.

Then I realised: Stage 3 leaves Bramhall Park via the Hall/Visitor Centre to reach the station, and Stage 4 returns the same way to continue through the park to Happy Valley. So we retraced our steps and found a café, Valentino Café, that served five of us very quickly, enabling us to get to the station in plenty of time for the 15:31 train to Manchester, for which Viv, Steve and Roger were waiting on a bench, having declined a café visit..

 

We finished up walking 16km as compared with the predicted 12km. That was my fault. Our route is shown below in pink, if you can make it out (click on the image, and magnify), and the correct route is the one in blue, under which most of the pink route is hidden.

Anyway, thankfully the rain had stopped early on and I think we all enjoyed the outing. We plan to re-assemble at Bramhall on Friday 9 May. The most convenient trains may be 9:46 from Piccadilly, arriving in Bramhall at 10:03, then returning from Middlewood on the 15:18, arriving at Piccadilly 15:47.

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October 1997 - The 'Shipton/Tilman' Route - Day 14 - October 24

The camp site below Kauri Pass

 
Friday 24 October 

I had planned a 4:50 alarm, to leave at 5:00 to observe sunrise from Kauri Pass.

Up at 3am to release Ovaltine, and it was snowing. I didn't hear the alarm as the watch was buried in my sleeping bag, which was also being used, successfully, to dry my change of clothing (it almost dried yesterday) and keep boots warm.

Another cold night.

Woken by Pawan (Taku) and Bagwan at 6:30 with tea, to find the distant peaks lit by early morning sun. A beautiful sight through the trees.

                                       Ponies at Kauri Pass camp

Ablutions in the snow were followed by an al fresco breakfast of porridge followed by vegetable curry and paratha. (I'm sure they're not all paratha - these numerous references to it - but this was a pan-fried light sort of nan type of thing, we had a variety of these 'breads'.) This was seated with our table, next to a roaring fire, my stockinged feet steaming happily.

                                                             Breakfast

                    The ponies were keen to leave for warmer climes

Lots of photos, then after coffee we packed our daysacks (main bags already packed) and headed back up the hill, passing very large animal footprints - there are snow leopards around here - as far as the little temple, from which yet another set of panoramic photos was taken.

The snow was over 6" deep here, but we managed to avoid it entering boots and repeating yesterday's wetness.

                                              Back above the tree line

By now (9:30) the cloud had come down on some of the peaks, and there was also a lower band of cloud. Sadly, not perfect weather on any of our three main views of the panorama, but all still magnificent.

                                                A view from our high point

It took an hour to descend back to a dismantled camp, where the ponies left when I arrived, first down.
The others soon arrived and after lingering for a while at this last pleasant campsite of this trek, we continued the long descent to Tapoban, around 2000 metres or lower, so it was about a 4000 foot descent from the temple.

The heights around here are somewhat confusing, with Kauri Pass being given as anything between 3200 metres and 4000+ metres.

We reckon our camp was 3200m, with Kauri Pass 3500m, and our high point yesterday around 4000m.
The descent is fairly steep and muddy, through forests of walnut and other trees.

                                               Looking down towards Tapoban

Langur monkeys are seen, and increasing signs of habitation, before which we lunch in a smelly glade with good views of the peaks opposite.

The bird song increases and forget-me-nots and buttercups abound. Two children, high on the path, ask for sweets.

The path is wonderfully engineered - it's The Curzon Trail, built to the order of Lord Curzon, who sadly died before he could walk it - it's well graded with stone embankments supporting its generous width. Nevertheless, Anil is critical of pony men who simply ignore the zigzag grading and head straight up and down the hill, causing erosion.

The villages above Tapoban eventually come into view towards the end of our 4000 ft ish descent. Virtually everyone I see (I am as usual walking alone in front of Julia, John and Richard - I usually stay with them until lunchtime, as today - but behind Anil, Pawan and Bagwan) asks for something. Children follow me begging. I ignore them other than passing the usual "namaste" greeting. I'm using ski sticks today for the second day running, for the steep descent.

I pass an interesting double wall at the start of terraced cultivated land. Later, I decide this is the high level of an irrigation system which no longer appears to be used. It is extensive though and perhaps at certain times at least some of it operates.

The fields high up have been ploughed and are simple brown terraces. Noone is working in them. They have been prepared for winter. However, women (mainly) work in lower pastures, and conversations between people in neighbouring fields and further afield are noticed.

The magpies with beautiful blue tails are very tame here. As Tapoban is approached the day is hotly sunny and boots are drying out. The rush of water from converging mountain streams is a pleasant sound.

Eventually the village - for it can hardly be called a town - is reached. Anil and co are waiting in the centre, and Vicram has arrived with the Tata. The end of an excellent ten day walk.

                                                              Tapoban

[It could easily be backpacked in a week - but Pawan's cooking would be missed!]

The horse men are also waiting to say goodbye - and receive their tip. We eventually all meet up and Anil organises tea for each one of us as we arrive. He has been joined by a friend - Mariss - who it seems will join us for the next trek to the Valley of the Flowers. Mariss is a local lad who is a good skier and presumably has good local contacts.

The going rate for ponymen tips is 200-300Rup each. They have been no trouble and have not been troubled by us (eg accidents etc). John is not a 'tip' person and is reluctant to pay anything. The rest of us increase his suggestion of 200Rup each to 300Rup each (about £6) to each of the five horsemen. They are very happy and the cost to us is minimal.

Now for another 'first time' for me, although John is a world expert. We head for a nearby 'hot spring'. I don't know what to expect and am somewhat surprised when we pull up at a deserted stream steaming down a hillside. 

We get out of the Tata and go up to look at very hot water spurting out of a hole in the hill above the road. It is lower than the tide mark indicates is usual, and impossible to bathe here. John explores and finds a spot lower down, where the water has been split into two channels and emerges, hot but not scalding, about 30 metres down the hill. He and I strip off to underpants and enjoy a full wash under this lovely hot bath temperature water, with a grandstand view of the high Himalaya. The water is not very sulphurous, although it has produced interesting formations of deposited chemicals down the hillside.

We linger under the hot water and Richard joins us. I spend the rest of the afternoon minus underwear, whilst Richard leaves his on and looks as if he's wet himself. My 'chammy' towel gets its first usage and does work much better than the usual j-cloth.

Eventually we dragged ourselves away. Pawan and Bagwag decided not to wash, though Pawan did wash his boots! 

                                                      Leaving Tapoban

On to Joshimath down a very twisty 15 km, from the Tapoban border post. The steep sided gorge to our right is most impressive.

                                                      The road to Joshimath

Joshimath is a bustling place full of army people and locals, including some of our horsemen, who have bussed it - the others are walking with the ponies and are seen later. Boulders are strewn amongst the corrugated iron roofs of the barracks, and tidy barrack roads have white edges. (The main road is virtually a dirt track.) The place has the air of a bustling shanty town border post.

We head to the bottom of the town to the Uday Palace Hotel - a new place. We are not allowed in as despite being booked in with full details we don't have the requisite voucher. For everything on this trip a voucher is needed, but this is covered by a voucher for 14 days for the trek, with reference to this hotel, and the Abercrombie and Kent voucher is deemed insufficient - apparently Mercury should have supplied vouchers for the hotel. We drive back into town, where Anil leaves us at a tea shop whilst he tries to contact his boss, colonel Kumar (69). He eventually returns, having failed to contact the colonel, but having arranged for some cash to be driven up by jeep from Joshimath so that the hotel bills can be settled. We have a free choice of hotel, and Mercury will pay cash. John wishes to avoid Uday Palace as they were so unhelpful, but I think it is probably the best hotel in Joshimath, and it seems to me likely that Mercury are at fault through not having dealt with red tape such as the requested voucher.

We go back to Uday Palace. Each of us has a single room, and we are soon 'showered' (using a large bucket of hot water and pouring jugfuls over you [or in my case standing in the bucket and washing with a flannel]) and assembled for food by 7pm. Our order has already been taken, and we eat from a card table at the end of the first-floor corridor which houses our rooms. Food appears to be served from the roof - the kitchen must be upstairs - but some items, eg cold drinks, come from downstairs but are still served on trays, from upstairs! The rooms have dangerous balconies with stupendous views.

                                                                 Joshimath

The food is good but not up to Pawan's standard. Anil and Mariss join us, and we agree to meet at 8:15 tomorrow to attempt to get to the Valley of the Flowers. There are no ponies available, so we are to travel light, with a few porters.

The others take a short trip to town to get cigarettes for Anil (John keeps taking Anil's fags), then we play cards till 10:45. Finally, I manage to win.

This was an excellent day to end the 10-day trek, and it’s actually nice to be in a comfortable hotel bed (despite the need for a sleeping bag!).

The nights in camp greatly benefited from my only significant purchase for this trip - the Thermarest. This proved excellent, especially for insulation in the snow, and my sleeping bag remained perfectly dry.

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