Stok Kangri (6154 m) is the highest mountain in the Stok Range of the Himalayas in the Ladakh region of North India. While doing Chadar trek I heard about Mt. Stok Kangri, from our guide Tashi. But same year (2018) went for Mt. Kanamo alpine style, then Mt. Stok Kangri (2019) this year. After a lot of preparations team was formed with many newcomers and first timers. Finally a 16 members team was formed.
Day 01,
07th July
Kharagpur to Howrah by Tempo Traveller and boarded Kalka Mail
Day 02, 08th July
In transit, 3 members - Antara, Gajendra and Ayub joined us in Delhi.
Day 03, 09th July
We reached Chandigarh around 0300hrs. Vehicle was already booked and it was waiting for us in Parking. We clicked some pics and loaded all our sacks on the Tempo Traveller. We left Chandigarh around 0415hours. Enroute we had hour breakfast and reached Manali around 0430hrs. Booked few rooms at Hotel New Neel Kantha for overnight stay. Its just opposite monastery near Mall road. We had our late Lunch at Hotel Sagar. and then few went for sight seeing and few into the market for killing time.
Day 04, 10th July
Another Tempo Traveller was parked last evening near our Hotel. It was booked for Manali - Leh route. We left Manali at 0400 Hrs. Reached Rohtang Checkpost at 0500 Hrs, but it was closed. Few more vehicles were already in queue at checkpost. In half an hour we were out of the mess and got permission for Rohtang Pass. Around 0630 Hrs we were at Rohtang Pass (3978m) completely covered with snow. 10 feet high snow walls on both side of the road. We parked our vehicle and clicked few pics on the pass.
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| Team Let's Hike Kharagpur at Rohtang Pass |
From there in 30-40 minutes we reached Jispa around 0740Hrs. Jispa (3200m) is the a small village on the bank of Bhaga river. After Keylong it is the only village where you will get proper hotels or tent accomodations. If you are already late then its better to stay at Keylong or Sarchu. After Jispa Sarchu is the only point where you will get tent accomodations. Keylong is the district headquarters of Lahaul & Spiti. This is the last point where you will get any vehicle mechanics, after this Leh is the only option for any Vehicle mechanic. We had our breakfasts here and resumed our journey.
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| Jispa |
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| Barlachala Cafe at Zing Zing Bar |
0930 Hours reached last filling station on this route. 11:30 Hours reached Zing Zing Bar, had a quick breakfast at Barlachala cafe and again on the bus.
We reached Barlachala Pass around 1300 Hours but road was jam because of a military caravan, one of their vehicle was broken down.
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| Barlachala Pass |
It took almost an hour to clear the jam and again we were on our route. Around 1600 Hrs we reached Sarchu (4290m). Beautiful campsite in the middle of desert mountains. At Sarchu every summer few camps are established where you can stay overnight. Tents are well maintained with attached toilets and running water. Big dining tent where 50 people can dine together at a time. Aanthrik was the name of the agency they charged around 800INR per head with food n lodging. Everything is best about this place except oxygen level, very dry region, many of our team members had bit altitude issues here. Day long journey from Manali and then less oxygen zone, it was expected. Evening snacks followed by delicious dinner and warm bed ended our first day in Himalayas.
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| Team Let's Hike Kharagpur at Sarchu |
Its always good to cover the journey of Manali to Leh in two days. You will be properly acclimatized for the trek. You don't have to spend a day in Leh for acclimatization.
Day 05, 11th July
Sarchu - Choglamsar
Left Sarchu at 0700Hrs, road from Sarchu is very nice we crossed Lachung La Pass at 0900Hrs (5,059 m) then Tanglang La Pass (5328m) at 1200Hrs. It is one of the highest road passes in the world. The roads are well paved with occasional streams coming across.
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| Team Let's Hike Kharagpur at Manali Leh Highway |
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| Jaydhar Chowdhary and Jayanta Adhikary from Team Let's Hike Kharapur at Taglangla Pass |
We reached Choglamsar at 1400 Hrs. Choglamsar is just 5km from Leh. Our guide and friend Tashi's home is there. Tashi was waiting for us on the main road. Alok was already there as he reached Leh by flight. His daughter was not well when we started from Kolkata so he decided to start day after. Last evening means 10th July when we were in Sarchu he started from home and reached before us. That's technology I guess making human life so easier. All you have to do is empty your wallets. Day ended with preparations and packing our rucksacks. Everyone was instructed to pack unessential items and leave them at Tashi's home.
Day 06, 12th July
Stok -Changma - Mankorma
After an early breakfast we were all ready with our sacks, cabs were already parked and Tashi was busy with the packing and all. We loaded our sacks on the cab and left for Stok. In 40 Minutes we were in Stok village. It's a beautiful village with a small monastery and a big golden Padmanabha statue.
We can see the mighty mountains as we entered the village. Stream of Stok river is the only source of water for this village. The stream is beautifully and very intelligently used by each and every house and farm fields. There is a shop at the starting point we bought some day snacks there. We registered all our names and paid 1000 INR as an entry to the Hemis National park.
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| Stok Village |
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| Starting Point at Stok Village |
Trek started around 0900 hrs. Just 200m walk and we were out of the village amidst the mountains on both side. Look at the shapes of the mountains.
3 Hours walk and we reached Changma, we had our packed lunch their and continued our trek. Around 1330Hrs it started raining. We all took out our Ponchos and covered ourselves. Rain continued for 2 Hours it stopped when we reached Manakorma. There is a river around a kilometre ahead of Manakorma campsite, because of rain the water level in the rain was increased. Small jumps and leaps we crossed the river. We were just about to reach the Manakorma campsite, Alok returned with hot water and coffee for 6 of us who were left behind. We were completely drenched, getting a coffee right then was a big relief for all of us.
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| At Mankorma campsite |
Evening 1530 Hrs we were at Mankorma. Our support staff prepared a hot meal as an early evening snack or you can say late lunch. Day ended with a nice dinner and lot of discussions and gossips.
Day 07, 13th July
Manakorma to Basecamp Day of surprises.
In morning we saw few more tents were pitched near our tents. After having conversation with them we came to know about the situation up there. Few said they completed summit, few said they returned from shoulder. They said, "There is lot of snow over there you can't go without snowboots." We immediately consulted our Guide for the snowboots. I asked him for the boots but Tashi said, he doesn't have snowboots and he can't bring them fro Leh now, he said we will get them in Basecamp. But from this year all the homestays and shops are removed from the Basecamp, so there is no chance of getting the shoes there. So I talked to the group who were returning today. They agreed to give us, but the problem was there are only two shoes. I hired them and decided to atleast send three people for the summit on behalf of our team. Alok has his own pair of shoes, 2 more pairs were there one size 10 and another 7. I decided to send Bappa and Gajendra as one has the experience and other is fittest and moreover shoes will be perfect for them. We hired two shoes and left for Basecamp around 0900Hrs. In 3 hours we were at Basecamp, few of our members were lightning fast reached Basecamp in just 2 Hours. Alok instructed all of us to go for altitude gaining post lunch. But everyone said let's go tomorrow morning weather will be great and everyone is tired now. So we cancelled the program. But Gajendra said he is going for altitude gaining with a porter and asked me to come. I said ok m also coming. Looking at us Sourav and Jayanta also tied their shoes and came out of their tents. Gajendra left alone with a porter and we all followed him. We were halfway and it started drizzling, so we decided to come down. Peak is not visible from the Basecamp. Neither from the point we went up to for altitude gaining. Height gaining is very important for better acclimatization. Day ended with nice hot dinner and early bed.
Day 08, 14th July
Day at Basecamp
Continuous drizzling from morning to noon made us little worried, another team of 28 members from UK arrived at basecamp. Talking to their guide Pemba Sherpa we came to know about the weather position. He said today evening is the only clear window and again from tomorrow there are chances of rain for next 3 days. We all decided to attempt tonight. Looking at the position of the weather and the condition of the trail to the summit we decided to drop all the first timers. Few of our senior members also decided to drop the attempt. Finally Me, Alok, Bappa and Gajendra were selected for the summit attempt. After lunch we started preparations, I decided to go with my Quechua shoes only so no need of snow boots for me. Prepared gaiters, crampons and harness for all of us. Tashi started preparing his support staff and packed lunch. Special dinner was prepared by Biplab and Avik. After dinner had a quick nap and then at 2200Hrs left basecamp.
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| Hrishikesh Maurya, Gajendra Muddeli, Jaydhar Chowdhary, Alok Bera (Left to Right) |
In half an hour we were at spur above base camp. Upto glacier point snow was ankle high or maximum knee high but after crossing the glacier the South East Face slope upto South Ridge the snow was waist high and some places upto chest. As we reached the South East Face slope starting point our support team gave up hopes, they said they can't go further they are not sure about the route. Because of snow they can't find the trail.
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I shouted at them is this some kind of joke, from beginning they have this attitude of going halfway and returning back. Most of the team faced this, these agencies are made a mind set of going half way and returning blaming the trail conditions and all. But our guide agreed to go forward, few support staff went back with one of our member Bappa. Another guy Anurag who was doing alpine style was also with us tonight, he started vomitting there, our support staff took him back to basecamp. Now we three and our guide and there was another guy Karthik he was also coming with us. He came along for few more kilometres but after reaching halfway on the south face slope, he started descending. Morning light made the snow brighter, we geared our sunglasses and slowly crawled towards the summit. Yes crawling we were literally crrrrrrrawling using all 6 contacts, hands, knees and toes. It's impossible to stand and walk normally. Somehow we dragged ourselves upto the top, by the time we reached there it was 0830hrs and weather was changing, started snowing blizzard was getting severe, visibility was just about few metres. As we reached looking at the prayer flags guide said this is summit, but On the right side there was another peak just few metres, when we enquired about that point guide said that is actual peak of Mt. Stok kangri we have to reach there. Two of our support staff immediately denied to go further. Our guide himself was confused about the peak. When Alok said that one seems to be the original peak, he said yes that is original peak. Looking at the conditions and confusion of our guide we were not confident with our guide, he not even know how to tie the knots, without support team, with just one guide who doesn't seems to be trained and confident, we decided to stop our endeavour. we captured our coordinates and paid homage to the almighty clicked few pics, 360degree view was just white clouds that's it nothing was visible. Missed the view from the top.
We started descending immediately. We tried to sit and slide but powdered snow was getting stacked and not allowing us to slide smoothly. We untied ourselves and started rolling to cover the distance. Alok was tensed because of the weather, as he knows the cons of bad weather, but me and Gajendra were enjoying the moment like kids. We were sliding, rolling, laughing and shouting on each other hastily descending to cross the blizzard zone.
The trail over the glacier was completely white washed. Thanks to the dog which came all along us to the top, while returning it was walking in front guided us actual trail on the glacier. As we crsosed the glacier we saw Tashi and a support staff is standing their, we thought we reached, but it's Lote few more kilometres left to the basecamp.
Reached to the altitude gaining point of basecamp, two more support guys were sitting there with food and tea. Had some tea and snacks, looking at the basecamp. Everyone was waiting outside their tents. As we reached the basecamp everyone was relieved, can't forget their teary eyes and smiling lips. Love you guys. Had our lunch followed by yummy snacks and dinner in due time. I was confused with our status not sure whether we made it or not. Slept with little happiness and tons of questions in my mind.
Day 09, 15th July
Day at Basecamp
Late night heard Aloks voice shouting....
ei sob Tent theke bero.... everyone please come out of your tents...he was shaking all the tents one by one to clean the snow deposited over them. There was heavy snowfall outside it need to be clean every now and then, it can be very dangerous if not cleaned regularly, heavy deposit can result in collapsing the tent and there will be rare chances of escape for us. We thought of assigning half n hour duty to each one for cleaning the tent. But we were lazy enough to shake our tents from inside only. The moment I unzipped the tent view was just amazing. Complete base camp was covered with snow, it was a great experience for the first timers. They witnessed snowfall in base camp only. They were very happy, even we joined them and had a blast. We all had photo session followed by yummy breakfast.
After breakfast we started descending towards Stok village. Around 0900hrs we left the base camp, in an hour we were at Mankorma, another one hour to reach Changma and then another one hour to Stok village.
By the time we had some refreshments vehicles were ready to drop us at Choglamsar. Around 1400hrs we were in Choglamsar.
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| Our Support Team |
Everyone lined up for the washroom, me ayub and gajendra went to the local market looking for some eateries. Modi and Abhishek joined us later. Avik prepared a nice lunch for all of us. After quick nap we went Leh to enquire about the transportation from Leh to Manali.
To our disappointment taxi stand for Manali and other distant places is in BombDag 3kms from Leh enroute Choglamsar. There were no buses available, somehow we got a cab and returned by it. We decided to visit next day and book tickets for Manali.
Day 10, 16th July
Day at Leh
Few members went for Leh sight seeing. We booked a cab for Manali, he agreed to reach our homestay around 2200hrs. We all went Biryani Queen and celebrated our trek with some delicious Biryani and Afghani chicken. Bill was on Avik as he was promoted as JE. Little shopping followed by grand dinner and then left for Manali.
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| Team Let's Hike Kharagpur Grand Dinner at Choglamsar, Leh |
Day 11, 17th July
Leh-Manali-Delhi
By afternoon we were at Manali. Immediately we booked our bus seats for Delhi and had lunch. Manali to Delhi is an overnight ride.
Day 12, 18th July
Delhi - Kharagpur
Morning 0700hrs we reached Delhi. We booked a room at Paharganj near New Delhi Railway station. After a not-so-tasty or we can say disgusting biryani at Al-Jawahar, Old Delhi we visited Jama Masjid.
During the ride from Leh to Manali we already booked tickets and preponed our journey date from Delhi to Kharagpur. As per itinerary we were two days advance in Delhi.
Day 13, 19th July
We reached Kharagpur.
Another big achievement by "Team Let's Hike", successfully completed another expedition. One thing we learnt is that bad weather can convert a traditional marching peak into a technical peak. As per our experience I think best time is August end to September start. Look for the best full moon window in that bracket and go for it!
Team: Alok Bera (c), Jaydhar Chowdhary, Sourav Bhunia, Jayanta Adhikary, Gajendra Muddeli, Susanta Mudi, Avik Pal, Biplab Maity, Abhishek Mallareddy, Ayub Khan, Jyoti Babu, Mantu Patra, Hrishikesh Mourya, Snjib Naskar, Antara Chowdhury, P Sivani
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| Team Let's Hike Kharagpur's Winning Formation |
Members Summited: Alok Bera, Jaydhar Chowdhary, Gajendra Muddeli
