Trekking in the Himalayas

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I am proud to say that I trekked up to Triund, a high pass (nearly 10,000 ft) in the Himalayan range up above Dharamsala! We carried up our own personal supplies, and our guides brought up all the food and other gear required. We stayed in some stone houses (10 to a room) that are maintained by the forest service, and they were a good protection from the wind that came up later in that night.

Most of the climb, up through rhododenron forests, there are only glimpses of the range through gaps in the ridge, but up at Triund, once you crest the ridge, mountains taller than Rainier march across the horizon. There's not much vegetation up that high, and this year, because it has been so dry, some of the mountain faces that typically are snow covered all year were bare and the tundra grass was browning.

We caught a glimpse of a snow leopard up along the ridge in the early evening, and the dogs who had climbed up from Dharamsala with us kept up a barking chorus all night long, maybe because of the full moon, but maybe also to tell the leopard to stay away.

As the evening darkened and the stars started to come out, some of us climbed up to a little higher ridge to watch the sky lighten again behind the mountains as the full moon started her climb. She finally rose over the top of a crag and bathed the whole mountain valley in a magical light.

This trek was a wonderful capstone to this trip, testing my own physical limits and offering incredible beauty and majesty in return.