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A feel at Mahagunas Top 

As I told you in the previous post that, surrounding Mahgunas top there are more than 4 – 5 peaks that adds beauty to this place including the altitude where we stand at 14500 feet. Ultimately It also has one of the best views in the yatra. The temperature in Mahagunas top drops to 6 – 7 degree which my family had never felt . Our body hair stood on end , our ears were blocked and our teeth were chattering .The weather here at Mahagunas Top can change anytime ( suddenly rain or snow fall or heat)  due to its height and snow capped peaks surrounded by it. One thing I wanted to tell you about these peaks is that every peak was at least more than 5500 m and at the top of it, you can see the flag waving. My camera couldn’t capture the flags on the peaks as the distance was too large, but that flags could be easily visible by naked eye. The view of the flags here again creates feeling of patriotism here and reminds us of wars in Kargil and Kashmir.

The best part at Mahagunas Top when I was travelling was there was the snow. I found much snow at only two places when I was travelling at that time and that was in Mahagunas Top and near Amarnath Cave. Rest everywhere the snow was just in patches. Here my horses had to walk lot of stretches on the snow . Walking on snow again is a very tough task as it is very slippery and friction is less. Although falling from horse here may be not that much dangerous, it would certainly hurt to a very great extent.

Peaks surrounding Mahagunas top

Peak at Mahagunas top :- Can you see the flag on it ?

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One word to describe the feeling at Sheshnag, MESMERIZING.

Nagakoti to Sheshnag 

After Nagakoti comes Sheshnag lake and Mountains where the beautiful river East Lidder originates. From Nagkoti, Sheshnag yatra camp is at 2 kms and in between these 2 kms you can enjoy the breathtaking views of this charming lake.The first glimpse of the lake itself demonstrates how magical the view is going to be when we see the whole lake along with chain of  mountains. I just want to say that the color of the lake itself is so spectacular ,flashy and dazzling which one cannot describe. From the moment I saw the I was magnetized  and allured by its beauty. The first scene of the lake just a small bight light blue colored water appearing between two small hills and a small stream flowing through the gap between those two hills. Yes the river is East Lidder which we were following from Anantnag. At last I am able to find its source. This scene itself is one of the most beautiful scenes in whole valley surrounded with mountains all around , light blue colored waters of Sheshnag lake, origination of Lidder and well supported by beautiful clouds. A person, after seeing this view, will just ask for one house here so that he can continuously watch the miracle and relieve all  his stress conglomerated in his day to day life.

East Lidder river originating from Sheshnag

As we moved further we got the spectacular vision of whole lake. The picture of whole lake while travelling is very difficult to get as the lake is too wide. Only in the start when we reach Sheshnag territory we can get the whole picture  of the wide lake as it is narrow from that vision . As soon as  you come in between Nagakoti and Sheshnag base camp around a kilometer the lake’s view becomes wide and elongated which is very difficult to capture in a camera from that height and way. Only by panoramic view option in the camera you can take the complete picture of  the elongated lake.

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Dear Friends, First of all I thank you from bottom of my heart for showering your love on me in form of comments and views. Many  of them have commented that my description in this series is such that its never been before. And also today I will show some mind boggling and staggering scenes of this universe’s finest and unparalleled creation called Himalayas. But I would like to say that none of the classy and  remarkable write up or narration plus clear graceful pictures can’t illustrate even one percent of the  beauty of titanic Himalayas what we feel when we actually visualize them. One has to personally pay visit to them for the actual feel.

Some information on Pissutop which I heard and knew from research

Pissutop  is situated at a elevation of 1500 – 2000 feet from Chandanwadi and from here there is  steep, dangerous about 3 km, 80 degree ( almost perpendicular) zig zag climb on rocky,rough and pebbly surface. On seeing this itself one goes flat. It feels as if that if we climb this than we reach the destination but this is the start and that too terrific start. I had heard and read about Pissutop in many blogs and through fellow friends , but experiencing that should be totally a different feeling. As far as height is concerned it is highest climb from one destination to another in this yatra  ( 200o feet). The next highest climb is between Sheshnag and Babaltop ( 1700 feet) . But the ultimate thing here was the angle in which the climb was. Almost perpendicular. It was the biggest challenge to remove your fear. Now lets see.

Towards Pissutop

Now my horseman’s name was Yakoob and he was most experienced and very humble among the three other horsemen we hired. He became our horseman plus guide. Also this was their last round to Amarnath cave and back so after this he will be relieved from continuous  journey he is having for last few weeks. I was  again and again asking him  where was Pissutop as I could see 3 -4 hills when I  moved from Chandanwadi. He was saying ” abhi aayega” and I was restless and just thinking among these 4-5 mountains in my vision which one is Pissutop. Then he told me that if we cross the base of the mountain he showed then we will have the whole view of Pissutop climb.

As soon as we crossed the base of the mountain I could see the path of the travel towards Pissutop and to my surprise that was as very much upright. I had never imagined that scary when I saw it for the first time. Really looking at pictures and visualizing it is totally different. You might think the same way after looking at the picture below, that I am just bluffing. No but you really have to go there and watch. Secondly till I stretched my eyes towards the mountain top I could  not find the end of the road where we were going. Through naked eye I could see people walking downwards like ants till half way. Above that even I could not see the path and people. Once I tried with my camera with full zoom but ALAS! I could not see the path because of continuous movement of horses. It was really too frightening to climb. I had also read in many articles that even professional trekkers would take rest and breadth after reaching the top.

Pissutop from the base.The picture shown is not doing justice to show its actual dreadfulness.

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रात मे हल्की- हल्की  बारिश हो रही थी ,  सुवह  होते होते काफ़ी पानी  भर गया था, पता लग अभी यात्रा आगे जाने के लिए रोक दी है .सभी लोग अपने-अपने टेंट मे आराम करने लगे  लगभग सुबह  8-9 बजे लोगो का शोर सुना कि यात्रा का रास्ता खोल दिया गया. सब लोग आगे जाने के लिए कॅंप के बाहर निकालने लगे. काफ़ी भीड  हो गये थी. इस कारण से घोड़े   वालो के नखरे ज़्यादा हो  गये थे यहाँ हमे शेष नाग से पंचतर्णी के लिए 1600 -1700 के हिसाब से घोड़ा मिला

शेषनाग कॅंप

पिछले वर्ष यूँ  तो हमारा प्रोग्राम यमनोत्री एवं गंगोत्री जाने का था पर वहाँ जाना तो हो नही सका परन्तु अचानक अमरनाथ धाम  जाने का प्रोग्राम बन गया और हम पहुँच  गये बाबा अमरनाथ  के दरबार मे. कहते है ना सब कुछ हमारी मर्ज़ी से नही होता है. जो जिस तरह से होना है वैसे  ही होगा. कभी सोचा भी नही था कि   हम अमरनाथ धाम की कठिन यात्रा कर सकेंगे. यह पढ़ा  और सुना था  यह एक कठिन यात्रा है. पहाड़ो  पर लगभग 34 किलोमीटर  . की चढ़ाई इतनी  आसान नही होती है. समतल रोड  मे एक दो किलोमीटर  चलना कठिन हो जाता है और यहा तो उचे –नीचे , उबड़- खाबड़ , पत्थरो के बीच  पहाड़ो   पर  चलना  था. पर शायद श्रधा और आपका का विश्वास  ही आपको हिमालय की उँचाई  तक पहुँचा देता है. कुछ ऐसी ही श्रधा और लगन से हम चल दिए बाबा अमरनाथ  के दर्शन के लिए.

पिस्सूघाटी

“If you will not visit these caves, you are not a true Indian”. Some other time, I would not have liked this absurd comment from a stranger lady, to my eight year old kid. It is difficult for me to digest how someone may consider visiting a cave complex as a test of person’s love and loyalty for his country. However, on that day, I was not really unhappy about the comment.
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