Prelude

Trekking has been my most closely sustained hobby for nearly a decade now. Just before I attended junior college, I was lucky to get a chance to go on my first long distance trek. I remember clearly, it was the spring (pre-monsoon) of 1995, when my friend's father, an avid trekker gave me a tempting offer to join the National Himalayan Trekking Expedition on Babeli – Malana – Chanderkhani Pass route in the Kullu – Manali valley of Himachal Pradesh (India). The trek was organised by a well-known organisation by the name ‘Youth Hostels Association of India’. The highest altitude we had attained on the trek was about 4250 metres (over 14000 feet). From Chanderkhani Pass, one gets an extensive panorama of the Bara Bangal, Pir Panjal and Parbati ranges in the Himalayas.

Exactly couple of years from then, the spring of 1997 gifted me with a totally unexpected opportunity. Three friends of mine had planned for a trek to the Himalayas. Just a couple of weeks before their departure, one of them broke his ankle in a rough football session. That opened up a chance for me, and I was more than glad to go back to the ever-beckoning snow capped peak region. This time, I was part of the Himalayan Exploratory Trekking Expedition in the Nargu / Shuhar valley of Chhota Bengal on the Dhauladhar range of Himalaya in Himachal Pradesh (India). The trek was organised by ‘Abhiyan Adventures’ – a voluntary task force of adventure lovers. It was yet another trek in which I reached the altitude of over 4250 metres (14000 feet) above mean sea level.

From there onwards, I had to focus on getting my degree in Computer Science and I did not get a serious chance to do long distance treks. But living in a state called Maharashtra was one lucky thing for me. This state is gifted with the Sahyadri range of mountains/forts, which are pretty rugged, but have their own importance and charm. They certainly gave me a good chance to keep my favourite hobby alive. Though I gained no experience in high altitude trekking here, I did get a chance to do some technical climbing - doing steep graded terrains, varieties of tough rocks to climb, apart from long, rigourous walking.

TO WRITE: (2/3 paras on general treks to sahyadris)

TO WRITE: (thirst to visit the Himalayas)

TO WRITE: (ways of keeping alive memories – photographs, etc. writing a book or blog book – life time thing)

TO WRITE: (detailed para on what is my view of the term ‘inching closer to reality’)