It was decided that we ought to get away from the crowds and search for untouched, unblemished, clean snow away from the cable car landing. We hiked over jagged rocks, through nooks and crannies between boulders with edges just tantalizing enough to give you a rush as you squeeze through. Soon we loose sight of the crowds as we clamber on, sometimes on all fours, keeping our bodies close to the rocks so that we don't accidentally slip.I realised soon(late?) enough that a tiny mistake at this altitude and without anybody around except the four of us , had the potential to mess up the trip real bad(though I suspect we'd get a kick out of it...literally too, if you know Shiroor uncle!). Of course, we never really showed it. I mean, with Karan and Aanj around, you really can't feel worry...add Arjun to the mix and you have a hilarious cocktail that can give you the feeling that nothing really can go wrong...the confidence, to make you feel that you can do just about anything they can do...even if you are on a mountain ridge that's 13400 feet high and packed with another few feet of snow that you really have no idea of knowing is stable or not!
We came across an army post, which by the looks of it, was designed to be manned all year. Pale white and hemispherical, it was deserted when we reached it. Karan spied pairs of skies and at once started wondering if the army would let us "borrow" them. The little detail that skiing on the ridge where we were, surely meant a long flight to the bottom(inexperienced as we were) didn't seem to dissuade him.
The thing about the mountains, especially a range such as the Himalayas, is that the more you walk in a particular direction you begin to see peaks that you didn't notice a mere hundred-two hundred meters back. Snow tipped ridges begin to pop up in between the seemingly crowded peaks on the horizon. This furthers, your sense of the mountains being giant monoliths hiding behind wisps of clouds and your frustratingly inadequate vision!A lone figure, vaguely familiar, was coming towards us at an angle. As it caught up with us, we realised that it was Bharath uncle(who was not breathless by the way) which really put us in awe of him cuz we(atleast I) didn't think that the uncles would follow us over a terrain that would really challenge your knee-caps and rusted joints! It seems he on a completely different path, in the opposite direction that too, trying to discern the path to a village deep between the peaks when he spied us making a beeline for the ridge. I believe he said something like, "What are these bloody fools upto?!? इन नमूनों को कभी अकेले नहीं छोड़ना चाहिहे!!!".
And he did chase us down!
At the ridge, the combined exhilarating effect of being with pals, seemingly alone high up in the mountains(read-rarefied atmosphere) with snow into which your feet just sinks into, kinda makes you wanna do things you wouldn't normally do. Some people would be content with having a snowball fight, or make snow-angels. We wanted to go topless!Yup. I don't quiet remember whose idea that was, but I thank my stars that atleast we didn't agree on something like going to the edge and maybe take a peek(jump off??? Which was a real possibility since the snow didn't really look reassuring).
The rest is, as you can see, in the pictures!
Aanj says that I ought to be reported for abuse to Google for these pictures. ;)
Muscle Men! No points for guessing why I am not in this picture! Oh, and to the fairer sex, Aanj doesn't need to flex. ;)
...aaand you might ask if it was cold. Honestly, I don't quiet remember!
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