Cold Ground Was My Bed Last Night

About 3 /4ths of the way up the Triund trekking route Warren, Mira and I became precariously aware that we only had one sleeping bag between the three of us. Connor and Dylan, the two travelling cohorts who had just passed us on the trail let us know that there was some event going on at the camp ground tonight and we shouldn't expect to be able to rent gear once we reached the top. "It's a puja, they are going to kill some animals and eat them" said Connor. That didn't quite sound right to me. But being the chivalrous gents they were, they offered to make room for Mira in their tent. "How come they offered the 18 year old blonde a place to sleep but not me or Warren?" I thought. Regardless, she didn't seem too enthused by the idea.

We debated turning around, there was still enough daylight left that we could make it back down to Bhagsu without having to navigate the rough trail and loose rocks in the dark of night. There was only one headlight and one flashlight between the 3 of us so the sun's position made all the difference. "We're not really prepared for this" said Warren, stating the obvious. We had decided to head out on this trek without too much foreward planning, had a few warm clothes but not much else. After exchanging a few Hindi words with a local heading the opposite way I convinced our little group to keep on heading up, I was sure we would figure something out.

We continued climbing switchbacks for another hour or so. The altitude was right around 3000 meters, enough to get us all breathing heavily. But as we turned the last corner, it became obvious what the fuss was all about. Before us stood the first snow capped peak of the Himalayas I had ever seen in my life. Not the most majestic scene I had ever seen, but right up there for sure. The campground, normally a quite serene place was overrun with school kids in uniforms. Apparently it was a holiday and a prep school in Dharamsala decided to take one of their classes camping for the night.

By some degree of providence we managed to snag the last two sleeping bags available for rent at the chai shack which provided all the goods and services the campers could expect. Warren and I set out looking for shelter while Mira rested and enjoyed a hot cup of lemon ginger tea. The caves of Triund may or may not exist, but we never found out for certain. We didn't have enough daylight left to search properly. We moved onto Plan C or D at this point. Warren pointed out a saddle that was covered on 3 sides, open to the mountain face, had relatively flat ground and two large rocks on either side. It was the best we were going to do.

"Were you a boy scout?" I asked Warren. "Eagle scout" he answered. That was good enough for me, I was convined we would survive the night. We put on every bit of clothing we had and decided the best use of the remaining sunlight was to gather enough firewood to try and keep warm. If the hike up wasn't enough to get our hearts pumping, searching for and hauling up what few branches and shards of wood we could find certainly did the job. I made a heartfelt wish upon the first star of the night, and suprisingly enough it wasn't for my own survival.

Warren expertly tended our fire. He made sure to feed it slowly and steadily, so as to not burn out our source of heat for the night too soon. Mari enchanted us by singing a few songs, for which she was handsomely rewarded with a handful of squares of a Cadbury milk chocolate bar. Dylan and Connor joined in and shared the goods they had as well. We stayed up for a while, trading travel stories, talking about our homelands, our lots in life. I noticed the smile on my face while I told them all of my plan to head back to San Diego and continue working at the non-profit I left before this trip.

Before too long it was time for bed. Dylan and Connor headed back to their tent and Warren, Mira and I layed our sleeping bags shoulder length apart, huddled to keep warm. We pulled a few of the rocks that surrounded our fire ring and stuck them in the bottom of our sleeping bags, enough to radiate a bit of warmth throughout the night. As I pulled the drawstrings of my sleeping bag shut I gazed up at the Himalayan sky above. I laid there for a while, my eyes softly focued on the multitude of stars out on this new moon night. The Big Dipper was directly in my line of sight ... pointing the way to the North star.