My G. O. A. T. Trek to Deoriatal and Chandrashila summit with IndiaHikes - Day Zero- From Rishikesh to Sari

Ever since I could read and write, Achan wanted me to develop an interest in reading and I remember the first book he really wanted me to read was Totto-Chan. I remember finishing the Malayalam version of it in haste as I had no time to waste, as little Clint wanted to play and did not want to be in a room reading😬. I didnt remember a lot about it but recently Totto Chan came back in frame when Amma wanted Kabir(My Nephew, and Heir to the Throne of Harithakam) to read it. They are on the third chapter now.

I had planned this trek to Deoriatal and Chandrashila summit with IndiaHikes couple of months back and had it planned in such a way that I can have the best of my two worlds. I meet Anu and Gahan at Chandigarh right after my trek and we then go chill in Shimla for a few days. So Uttarakand AND Himachal in one go for me. Yeah!

I was at the Cochin International Airport waiting for my flight when Totto-Chan makes another entry to my life. So after an exodus of many years, i hear the name Totto Chan twice in a week and im thinking it cannot be a coincidence. I go pick myself an English version thinking it will be a good look back to my younger years and a bit of nostalgia.

I wasnt disappointed. My eyes started swelling up for no reason at all when I was going through the pages of that book. I didn't know why I was so overwhelmed by it. I kept thinking how much Achan wanted me to read and now I know why and all that. And now reading it from the point of view of a parent, I see I have a lot to learn from the adults in that book.

I met Rounak, Aheli, Shruti, Mrudula and Suhas on my first day in Rishikesh for tea and we along with the rest of our group were supposed to leave next day early morning to Sari Basecamp from where we start our ascend. Next morning I found Nirmal sir and Akrsoh waiting by the tempo traveller. Nirmal sir, who has been trekking for a while, is one of the inspirational elders i met on the trek and he was very good with the group and is always beaming with positive energy. The name Akrosh, I wondered, means anger and wondered and wondered until he clarified it to be not anger but aggression. One and the same thing i thot. 😂😂. I remember thinking the name suits his personality as I kept findings things out about him through out the trek and i realised that he has been meeting his goals in life very aggressively and is perhaps the first overachiever I've met till now. This being so, he does not boast of any of it and I only found out many things because of our long conversations. Ofcourse I did not know when I met him how strong a bond I would feel with him by the end of our trek.

We started our journey to Sari by 8 am. We had three inspirational elders in our midst. Nirmal sir, Yashwant sir and his wife Smita Ji. They were all above sixty and were doing this trek with us. Truly amazing. Our drive to Sari was scenic and calming. We were put up in a tempo traveller and nirmal sir and Alisha shared a bolero that was also there. Suhas and his group of freinds from college were moving on their own seperately and we met all of them later. Our next round of introductions happened on the tempo traveller and the drive to Sari was very good. We passed through Devprayag and Rudraprayag on our way to Sari.

Dritiman and Anjaneya were two Doctors now working at Pondicheri who were in our group and were probably the youngest of us, along with Shruthi. Dritiman was fierce in his love for Pahaads and I could tell this wasnt his first Rodeo. I later found out that he has been in the wilderness since the age of 12 and is always fascinated by mountains and wilderness. Anjaneya, who is a close friend and compatriot of Dritiman, was a first time trekker who joined us probably out of his curiosity to find out why Dritiman was so excited about mountains all the time and why he was so into all this. Anjaneya probably wanted to find out for himself what all the fuss is about and that, I realised, he did find out  when he stepped foot on the Chandrashila summit at 5.40 A.M. as the first member of our group, with me right on his back and i saw what it meant to him. He called it beginner's luck but im sure its more than just that. More on our summit climb later.....

We reached Sari Village by afternoon and after lunch we made our way down to the camp site accompanied by Shachi, our trek leader and Kavinaya, our assistant trek leader. Campsite was a small climb down from the main road and I remember thinking man its a bit far down. Little did i know then that this descent was not even worth a mention considering the terrain we were to face the next day, and the next day and the next day. Oh man were we in for a surprise of ascends and descends in the coming days..

Down at the camp we were welcomed by Kavinaya, who is being trained to lead a team on her own, and she familiarized us with the Sari camp site and explained about sustainability and green trails and all the things Indiahikes was trying to do to leave the trail better than we found it. Laudable goal and I was truly happy to be a part of all that was coming my way. We were also informed then that our first briefing was by 6 pm. Before that, me and Akrosh ran off to Sari village to do a bit of exploration ourselves , got ourselves a good cup of coffee. We had a good view of the Chandrashila summit from Sari village and me and Akrosh were wondering and discussing how the hell are we supposed climb so high up, it was practically the sky!The task looked so daunting back from the camp and we took our time in finishing the coffee, enjoying the view. 

By the time we were walking down to the camp, we were getting calls to rush back as everyone was waiting for us to start the briefing. The briefing, that was led by Shachi with Kavinaya and our trek guides Anup and Adi also chipping in, was our first step in contemplating the task that lies ahead for us in the coming days. We all introduced ourselves although some of us already knew each other. Shachi explained what to expect in the coming days and what the plan of action should be to reach our goal. I had initially planned to offload my backpack cos I thought it would increase my enjoyment quotient of the trek. But during the briefing Shachi explained how great it will feel if we carry our own backpack through the trek and the satisfaction we get from it is immense. During the trek I found out that she was absolutely right. I made the decision not to offload my backpack and shachi told us exactly what items to bring in the bag and to keep the rest of the things at Sari Basecamp itself. When i went back to the dorm and rearranged my backpack and I managed to lighten the load considerabily and in the process i left my headlamps also in the items that i left at the basecamp. I was without light althroughout the trek and got ridiculed for it, but I managed without it and the best part of not having a headlamp came on summit day when we trekked in the moonlight at 1 AM. I absolutely enjoyed it. We were taught to read contour maps and our trekking route was explained to us by using one, our vitals were also taken and medical certificates were also submitted then.  After that we had dinner and we were to take off early morning. I remember Shachi saying 6-7-8 is the plan. 6 am wake up 7 am breakfast and 8 am start! Up Up ans away then! 

Day 1 to Deoriatal (Click here)