Hello Hive Family. I hope you all are healthy and happy.
There was not much snowfall even in 2023. We Narkanda residents are also longing to see snow. I was coming towards home from Narkanda Market in the morning. Then my eyes fell on Churdhar Peak in front which is also visible from Narkanda. Churdhar is the highest peak of the Shivalik Mountains in Sirmaur at an altitude of 11965 feet. Chuddhar commonly known as Chudichandani (ice bangle).
Although I see this mountain every day, but today it felt as if that mountain was looking at me, as if that mountain was calling me. The shine of the snow lying on that mountain was attracting me towards itself. In my mind I think of leaving all my work and going there. I take out my phone from my pocket and search for the phone numbers of the wanderers in my contact list. I ask everyone one by one but everyone refuses. I also start walking towards home. Throughout the day I was thinking with whom to go. I sat alone and decided to go alone. I thought that maybe if I meet a group on the way, I will go with them. Then in this hope, I started packing my bag. The next day, I leave for Chaupal by bus at four in the morning.
The trek to Churdhar starts from Sarahan itself. There was a lot of crowd in the bus, I felt like everyone was going to see the snow like me, but it was all my imagination. Gradually the entire bus became empty and now there are only three of us in the bus, the driver, conductor and me. The driver asks me where I am going and also lights a cigarette. Going to Churdhar. He smiles at me and gives me 10 rupees and asks me to offer it in the temple on his behalf. After five hours of continuous journey, I reach Sarah village. It is 10 o'clock in the morning, I have breakfast in the hotel and start walking with the necessary things. As soon as I reach the middle of the village, a boy asks me if I am going to Churdhar, I smile and tell him yes, then he says, sit and drink tea, I also want to go to Churdhar, Pandit ji has ordered some things, I am happy to hear this. I go and taste the tea. While having tea we got to know each other well, his name is Vinay. Vinay and I start walking towards Churdhar. We start climbing through the deodar forests. This forest is very dense. As we walk, we reach Kalighati. Here the tree line ends and the Churdhar temple is visible in front and there is snow all around. Within some time we reach the temple. Vinay is a local here due to which I do not face any problem in accommodation and food. Vinay says that today we will stay in the temple only and will leave from here tomorrow morning. I also laughed and said as you say.
It is very cold outside and I am sitting under the blanket and looking at the Himalayan Mountains from the window. The Himalayan mountains are covered with snow. This snow is its beauty. As soon as it gets dark, we eat food and sleep. Get up in the morning and start walking. In the morning the road is slippery due to solid snow and hands are stuck due to cold. We reach the top at nine o'clock, the view here is amazing, the cold winds do not let us stay there for long. My hands are so cold that I can't even take many photos there. We start walking back down, the snow has now become soft due to the sunlight, making it easier to walk and we
Reach back to the temple and have breakfast. After spending some time in the temple we return back to the village.
I hope you enjoy this hike with me through my blog.
Probably i have shared these photos in facebook and Instagram account.
All these pictures having taken from Sony A58 camera and editing in Snapseed app.
Disclaimer: This post is originally written in Hindi by me and I have taken the help of Google Translate to translate it into English.