Chandrataal
The Chandratal trek is rated moderate by most people. It truly is. Along with it when you can feast your eyes with the unparalleled beauty of this landscape, unique in many respect compared to the other Himalayan treks, the walk becomes a pleasure. The clear blue sky and the rugged brown rolling mountains, almost treeless, form a picture perfect image. This landscape goes on for miles interspersed with lush green meadows, and the sparkling Chandra river down below. Along the trail there are several tiny streams, mostly from the melting snow. Some of them are little bigger than the others, and we had to sometimes wade through the ankle deep icy cold water. There were two such little crossings, and it somewhat added to the adventure quotient. Otherwise there was not much in terms of the trek. On the way there is one stretch called the Samudra Tapu, which is a expansive stretch of dry grassland. After crossing this, Chandratal is not far. But we did not know how far it was, and our guide kept the suspense alive. Finally, we reached a little summit-like point; as we reached it the gorgeous emerald colored lake emerged nestled between the hills. All of us were first speechless in wonder at the sight of this beautiful lake, which we had seen so many times in picture before. I would never have believed that it could really be as beautiful and out-of-the-world.
Premlal as always was hundred steps ahead of us. Pitching tent, putting the cooking arrangements in place happened without us even noticing; we were too engrossed in soaking in the beauty of the place. Not all of us. Some of us had started getting a bad headache. First we feared that it could be AMS, although later it turned out to be a result of bad parathas we had for lunch. One lesson gathered from this was try avoiding stale parathas for meals. Dinner was much better with gupta-ji showing us his culinary skills, and making warm dal-chawal for us.
The lake is about 2-3 km in circumference. In the evening light it had caught on beautiful shades of blue and green. I went alone on a walk around the lake. Halfway down the track, the snow-capped peaks at a distance start to show up. In the fading lights it sparkles like crowns. The Prussian blue shade of the lake with a backdrop of these peaks is a photograher’s delight. Do not miss the walk around the lake. A fellow camper told me that if there is snow on the hills adjacent to the lake, then it adds another dimension to this scenery. I have to come back later to enjoy that. As you reach the other side of the lake (from where people pitch their tents), there is a marshy stretch. Here number of small streams flow into the Chandratal Lake. Take caution while you cross this stretch. I was stuck at one point while crossing one of the streams, and had to take look for a suitable crossing. But nothing should prevail on you from enjoying this lake from all around. The only regret I have is I did not get the typical picture of the lake with the reflections on its crystal clear water, since next morning turned out cloudy.
The camping by the lake was yet another lifetime experience. It was a full-moon night and the reflections on the ripples is beyond words to describe. In the entire valley there were only the 10 of us - 7 from our group and 3 from another group. It was quite chilly, specially because of an icy wind that had started blowing since sundown. We sat huddled for quite a while inside the kitchen tent follow the same route, but it is too scary listening to stories from Gupta-ji - his adventures of Pin-Parvati, and other treks.
Next day began with all sorts of change in our plan. We had heard from a local who came from the Kunzum-La route that there is ice on the track, and we will have to brave some ice crossing. Gupta-ji was upbeat that no ice crossing is tough enough. Well, for a person who had done the Pin-parvati trek Kunzum-La is a walk in the neighborhood park, but we failed to muster the courage to brave it. So back we went towards Batal. But Gupta-ji is a person as he confessed is a person who hate to take the same route back. So we were on a different trail, less comfortable than the one we had taken earlier, but equally beautiful. The trail was strewn with pebbles and rocks. Nilanjan twisted his ankle badly on this stretch, but he managed to hobble back to Batal after some first-aid.
More surprises were waiting for us. Our car, if you remember was waiting for us at Kunzum-La. Our good Samaritan Premlal had started ahead of us, and went up to Kunzum-la to get the car back. But it was really long and there was no sign of car or Premlal. Anxiety levels were at the brim when finally the car came. It had fallen into a ditch along the roadside, and without Premlal the driver would not have rescued the situation.
Little adventures were over. Although late, we headed straight for Manali. Late in the night, around 10 pm we came back to Manali and settled into a hotel. The usual ritual after any trek followed -- reminiscing the moments, taking care of the sore legs, gorging on food, and finally losing oneself into a satisfied slumber. I wish Manali was a bit closer to Delhi. We would be coming down every weekend for a trek into this magnificient wilderness.
Reflections on the Lake
Unfortunately the day was cloudy preventing me from getting the famed reflection picture
A little snow crossing
Although we avoided Kunzam route, we still could not avoid this snow crossing. It was not that difficult to cross though.
Waiting for our car
We reached Batal and waited for our car which had gone to Kunzum pass to pick us up.
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