Panpatia

The Panpatia  ice-fields trudge has magnificent  views of Chaukhamba, Neelkanth,  Parvati and also Nanda Devi from far. Their is also a high glacial lake, Sujal Sarovar named after the uncle of Anindya Raja Mukherjee and this glacial wonder of a lake is also called Moin-Do-Galla Tal. If there ever was a good porter for Kalindi Khal or Bhyunder Khal was the trusted Balbir Burfal. Burfals  are from Burfu like the Martoliyas from Martoli, Toliyas from Tola gaon misnamed Toling by who else but the British and the Mapangs from Mapa are from the Lilam to Milam valley walk.

L to R : Kuntal, short but amazing trekker Shoshti Jana, Debasis  up ftont , Biswanath Dey right back, Ratan Sarkar and Ranabir front right. Arun Adak not in picture,

 

And the knowledge imparted from his small bungalow in Ganeshpur six kms in 2009 on the Joshimath Niti Jumma Malari highway was music for the group of eight from Kolkata. Any high altitude trekker from the plains knows the efficiency and skills of such men of the mountains where the thin dividing line between life and death becomes slim as the nerves become taut when faced with a slippery ledge of a precipice and often one has to remember not to crouch but let the swing of the body hands and feet nimbly flailing to forge a road ahead !!  By word of mouth names of such men akin to Sherpas like Balbir Burfal are legends  for their knowledge of a lot of Himalayan passes and their crossings.

 

Badrinath ahoy. Mahindra Maxx and Boleros ply these roads

British explorers Tillman and Shipton set about to find a route from Badrinath to Kedarnath. in 1934. They entered through the Satopanth glacier from Badrinath side, crossed the col, but got trapped in dense bamboo forest of Gondharpongi valley, before returning to Joshimath for his Nanda Devi expedition. Before them, Meade had his share of efforts in 1912. From then on, lots of steps has been take by mountaineers of our country to find a route connecting them, mostly mountaineers from Bengal including Harish Kapadia in 1997, who was stopped by the Ice fall. In 2000, an English mountaineer Martin Moran lead an expedition to Neelkanth, a nearby peak in Badrinath area to find a route and then successfully negotiated the Panpatiya ice falls to exit through Kedarnath making it the first successful attempt completing Shipton’s route.. Martin Moran a mountaineer from England led an expedition to summit Neelkanth peak which along with Parvati stand tall in the the Panpatia glacier.

From L to R : Shoshti Jana veteran leader of many expeditions, Ranabir, Debasis Bhowmik, Ratan Sarkar

After the summit of Neelkanth was done , Moran and his team climbed the Panpatia icefall and went on to exit at Kedarnath. They became the first party to lay to rest the mystery of the route between the two temples and prove that such a hazardous journey between the two temples could not be done in a day as legend said.

 

Jai Badri Vishal

Debabrata Mukherjee from West Bengal next managed to cross successfully another ice wall instead of the dangerous Panpatia  icefall along with a fine photographer of the Himalayas Rajib Ghose. This was a route that followed Khirao Ganga, a stream that emerges from the base of the Panpatia glacier and flows through a valley parallel to the one used by Shipton-Tilman and Martin Moran.

Itinerary of trek

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Trek to Shepherd camp or Dumkal Kharak

Trek to Snout camp

Trek to Moraine Camp (4300m)

Trek to the base of Parvati col: Trek to Panpatia Snowfield – Camp I

Across Panpatia Col (5260m), camp at Sujal Sarovar (4750m)

Trek to Kachni

Trek to Nanu chatti

Trek to Ransi and drive next day to Rishikesh or Hardwar

L to R : Kuntol, Late Arun Adak, Ranabir, Shoshti Jana, Guide, Biswanth Dey. Ratan Sarkar

Now all my talk means naught because somewhere down the line just like Arwa Tower ABC, Panpatia has always evaded me due exorbitant costs demanded and this area was always at the back of my mind. I will post about this amazing trek as told over the years by Debasis Bhowmik from Siuri, Bolpur near Shantiniketan.

The team members were Debasis Bhowmick, his partner of many treks Biswanath Dey, Kuntol the quarter master, Ratan Sarkar, Ranabir and late Arun Adak the bespectacled man in the photos who perished in a continuous blizzard and their mortal remains were found later by Anindya Raja again a good mountaineer from Bengal who has scoured this area and climbed Parvati pinnacle with Irish climbers which I saw on the net.

The gulley leads to Dumkal Kharak and finally Holdsworth pass

 

Between the holy shrines in Uttarakhand’s Garhwal region is shrouded in legend. It is said that a priest from Kedarnath walked to Badrinath daily to light the temple’s lamps. His wife urged him to spend more time at home. When her pleas fell on deaf ears, she called upon Shiva for help. Shiva made the peak Neelkanth rise up on that route, and peppered the rest of the way with other obstacles too great for humans to overcome.

 

Will post the few pictures from Badrinath to the first camp up high reaching to the magical heights of Holdsworth pass or Neelkanth Khal named after the Doon school teacher then to cross down to the crevasse ridden Panpatia lower glacier. But first the legend of the Pandavas come in mention of the strongman among the Pandava brothers hoplessly seeking Shiva for salvation. Just like the Pandupul I saw on the Pin Parvati trail where there is a crossing of huge boulders shaped like Asterix’s pal’s Menheers. Here there are the footprints of the strongman Bheema from the Pandava clan and the place is called Charan Paduka.

The route to Dumkal Kharak

Dumkal Kharak the 1st campsite since leaving Badrinath

I will cut it short here as I am burning midnight oil and will continue tomorrow. In a nutshell next is Dumkal Kharak after which is Holdswoth pass or Neelkanth khal. Debasis had me rolling in the aisles about telling a tale of wrong recommendations of people about a strong pugilist looking Kuntol from Howrah.He told me the funniest story of trusting Kuntol as a quarter master of this demanding trek. That is THE man who procures the rations for a trek and then cook too. This Howrah big built grent turned out to be a CHARACTER  who got coloured cartwheels of potato powder reconstituted  into fryums of green yellow white and red lurid colours. Promise you the going ons with this lad will get better and will give the reader the same rib tickling experience I got too.This was his idea of fried food. The rice he had bought and brought from which hole of WB stank, was glutinous and was of course full of small stones.

Now see the peak Neelkanth bang centre from their tent

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I can sympathise with Mr Bhowmick and his pal Biswanath Dey as I abhor food colourings and on ordering Chinese food in Sino-Ludhianvese restaurants not to colour the braised lamb red. I recollect a young lass from Italy in Rishikesh who got talking from the other table to me about the great meal she was having. I asked her what was so good about her peas pilaf or pulao and she said  ” Elora, Looka ata the fresha green colour of my peas !! Yesterday dear man gave me amazing yellow coloured pumpkin curry ” !! I was wondering how she could not see her peas imparting a greenish tinge to the rice. Guess the methyl yellow she had Domani ( yesterday ) in her pumpkin curry must have addled her senses !!

Now from Dumkal Kharak campsite start the ice fields

 

Camp II under Neelkanth Kharak due bad weather

 

The trek to Holdsworth pass

 

 

BALAKUN PEAK

 

 

DUMKHAL KHARAK SEEN BELOW

The climb to Holdsworth pass

 

The last haul up Neelkantha Khal

 

 

 

Neelkanth Khal aka Holdsworth pass last stage of climb

Jumping across a crevasse unharnessed

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PARVATI PEAK THE PERFECT ISOSCELES  TRIANGLE

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PARVATI PEAK

Chowkhamba peak from Panpatia upper ice fields