Wednesday 29 November 2017

The Rupin Pass Himalayas Trek May-June 2017: The Summit Climb, Part II (Day #9)


These photographs by our fellow trekker and prolific photographer Vijay S Somayajula gives a glimpse to the heart-stopping thriller that the Rupin Pass summit climb was.

There is a reckless streak in each one of us, lying dormant for most of our lifetime. It does awaken occasionally, especially when we find ourselves in a tight corner. I sometimes want things to go worse, just for the fun of it. A teeny weeny bit of harmless fun. Was our unending run of good luck going to cease here? Probably, we will now get a snowstorm, an avalanche and a stampede of mountain goats along with this steep climb to nowhere.

But nothing remotely like that happened. The weather, yes, that wonderful, much-repeated, single worded element of these travel diaries, yes you guessed it, the weather continued and continued to be excellent. Mountain goats were not hurling themselves from the other end either. In fact, there was no sign of them.

In retrospect, we couldn't have asked for more.



For a final ascent, the Rupin Pass summit climb just didn't seem to end.

This 40-minute slow hike to the top still stands out in my consciousness in great, unblinking detail.The snow, the almost-vertical path, taking each step carefully, deepening the foot holes for better grip, a growing anticipation, a faint wisp of excitement in the air...



Life itself seemed to have taken a pause, as we took the final steps to the summit. The culminating, overwhelming flood of feelings is best experienced. Words are too feeble to describe it. There, enough said. 

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