We have all the time believed that trekking Do-It-Your self (DIY) type is the truest type of journey. You navigate by yourself, cook dinner for your self, pitch your personal tents and plan your personal itinerary. There’s a deep sense of independence in DIY trekking. Which is why when Sindhu and Vaishnavi kicked off 2022 with a DIY trek to Kedarkantha, our hearts swelled with pleasure. They picked up DIY trekking kits from our base camp at Gaichwan Gaon and set off on their very own. What’s most heartening is that as their trek unfolded, a parallel journey of self-discovery opened up for each.
Sindhu, 29, is a content material developer with Byjus. She went on the Kashmir Nice Lakes (KGL) trek with Indiahikes in 2021. She began trekking in 2019, selecting to go on brief, weekend treks. She went on her first Himalayan trek after listening to of Indiahikes by means of a good friend. Final 12 months, when she obtained a job that allowed her to work remotely, she determined to discover new locations whereas working from totally different areas.
Vaishnavi, 25, is a software program engineer. Having accomplished 4 treks with Indiahikes, she is well-versed with the Indiahikes expertise. Since her early college days, Vaishanvi’s mom despatched her on brief treks round Bangalore. These experiences paved the best way for her to start out trekking independently, proper after her Engineering. In July 2018, she did the Hampta Go trek, adopted by Sandakphu Phalut in December. In 2019, she went on the Annapurna Base Camp trek and in 2020 she did the Kuari Go trek.
At this time, in case you meet the 2 of them, they know the most effective and worst of one another. But, the duo had been full strangers once they met at base camp. “I met Sindhu at Gaichwan Gaon for the primary time. It virtually felt like Indiahikes had set me up on a blind date to turn out to be mates with Sindhu on this trek,” laughs Vaishnavi.
We spoke to the 2 of them after their trek. Sharing an excerpt from the dialog…
➤ Firstly, what made you go on a DIY trek, forsaking the consolation of organized trekking?
Vaishnavi: Trekking has turn out to be a daily a part of my life. I often e book a trek 2-3 months upfront and begin making ready. This has made my life much more organized and structured. In 2021, nonetheless, I had a really brief window to go trekking. Once I appeared on the Indiahikes calendar, no date matched my schedule. I referred to as up Dushyant, my first trek chief, and sought his recommendation. He introduced up the concept of doing a DIY trek to Kedarkantha. He assured me that Indiahikes can assist with tools and ration. I simply wanted to be mentally and bodily ready. Actually, I wasn’t anticipating this however I felt I may give it a shot.
Sindhu: My first expertise at KGL was memorable for a lot of causes. One was that I couldn’t carry my very own backpack. Submit the trek, I made it some extent to take common health steerage from my trek chief Diptarka and Dushyant, who I met at one of many campsites. Final 12 months, I began working remotely from Gaichwan Gaon — the Indiahikes base camp for Kedarkantha. I used to be in common contact with the crew. Sooner or later after I had gone for a run with Dushyant, he instructed me that his good friend Vaishnavi is planning on doing the Kedarkantha trek DIY type. He requested me if I’d need to be part of her. I assumed this is able to be an excellent alternative to check my health coaching. I made a decision to present it a shot!
➤ How is trekking by yourself totally different from trekking with a corporation?
Vaishnavi: I’ve achieved fairly a couple of treks with Indiahikes. On these treks, the one factor we needed to deal with was shifting from one campsite to a different. As soon as we reached the campsite, every little thing was already in place. If you trek by yourself, your job doesn’t finish with reaching the campsite. It’s important to discover a flat tenting spot, pitch your tent, discover water, convey the water to the camp, cook dinner meals and clear up. Even whereas we had been on the path, it wasn’t simply strolling with out considering the place to go subsequent. Regardless of having two path maps with us, we deviated from the primary path many instances! In all these challenges, Sindhu was the motivating issue to adapt to the spirit of DIY trekking.
Sindhu: We additionally didn’t know the way a lot to cease and relaxation on the best way. There was a continuing evaluation and evaluation occurring in our heads. When you may have a trek chief or a information with you, dropping your method or not realizing when and the way a lot to relaxation isn’t actually a problem. Tackling these essential conditions has made a drastic distinction in how we take a look at trekking.
➤ How protected was it to trek by yourself?
Sindhu: The primary cause for doing my first DIY trek to Kedarkantha was that it’s an already established trek. Security wasn’t such an enormous concern as I knew that if something occurs, somebody from the Indiahikes crew will probably be there to assist us. We even met the slope supervisor Dushyant and obtained a briefing from the crew, to mentally put together for the trek. Dushyant additionally supplied us with a walkie-talkie. We obtained a GPX file that helped us navigate all through. As Kedarkantha is a longtime trek, the paths had been seen continuously however the on-line Gaia maps had been an enormous assist throughout diversion factors the place we needed to decide about which route to decide on subsequent. I keep in mind we took a unique route whereas coming down in direction of Jalota base camp. It turned out to be a shortcut. In a while, with the assistance of our Gaia map, we came upon that we had been again on the primary route. That was fairly enjoyable to expertise! The waypoints marked on the Gaia map turn out to be actually helpful at such instances.
Vaishnavi: One level the place I felt slightly involved was after we had been continuously utilizing the map and my telephone’s battery was dipping sooner than traditional. So we determined to make use of the map solely on Sindhu’s telephone. It will have been robust had I been the one one trekking or if we had been on a barely greater altitude. In relation to feeling protected on the trek as two girls, we hardly got here throughout anybody on the path. Which is how we obtained to benefit from the solitude on the trek much more deeply! The few folks we met on the trek all knew of Indiahikes or the best way to Indiahikes campsites – which was very reassuring. It helped massively that I’ve been residing and dealing from Gaichwan Gaon for nearly a month. I couldn’t have achieved it with out the sense of safety and luxury which the folks right here supplied. Actually, it feels so much safer right here within the mountains than within the cities.
➤ What had been your greatest challenges of doing a Do-It-Your self trek?
Sindhu: On the Kashmir Nice Lakes trek, I confronted quite a lot of difficulties whereas carrying my backpack. Once we set out on this trek, my backpack weighed 18 kg and Vaishanavi’s 12 kg. However for some cause, I wasn’t fearful as a result of I knew I had no different choice however to hold it by myself. It did turn out to be barely difficult to hold the backpack on steep terrains. However since we had been doing it on our personal, planning a versatile itinerary helped.
Vaishnavi: We confronted one other problem whereas tenting. We had determined to pitch our tents at Pukhrola. Once we had been achieved with dinner and able to sleep, we realized that we had pitched the tent on a slope as an alternative of flat floor. It made us really feel a bit colder than traditional and we couldn’t sleep correctly by means of the evening. Additionally, I used to be trekking on my second day of durations and had by no means been in such a scenario. I made a decision to endure the discomfort as a result of that is what trekking has taught me. I’ve come out stronger doing issues which might be out of my consolation zone. If we didn’t have these challenges, our trek wouldn’t have been as nice.
Hearken to some suggestions and details about trekking during times right here.
➤ What function did Indiahikes play in your DIY trek journey?
Vaishnavi: The kits supplied by Indiahikes had been completely top-notch. The briefing we acquired a day earlier than we set out helped us so much. Dushyant and crew even gave us a demo of how you can cook dinner with the range, gasoline canister and utensils.
Sindhu: The cherry on the cake was the pre-mixed meals supplied by Indiahikes. They’d even deliberate a menu – full with desserts! Each time we cooked, the meals can be prepared in 6 to 10 minutes! It helped us save time and vitality for the trek, whereas additionally having fun with scrumptious meals. With the fundamentals being set in place by Indiahikes, most of our worries had been taken care of. We may deal with making a memorable DIY trekking expertise.
Discover out extra about cooking on a DIY trek right here.
➤ When are you aware that you just’re prepared for a DIY type trek?
Sindhu: There are two main components – one is health. You must be common with exercises since you are required to push your self much more on a DIY trek. It’s vital to be in keeping with constructing good cardiovascular endurance and general physique energy. Secondly, it’s good to be sure that the group of individuals you’re going with have some high-altitude trekking expertise. That helps to grasp how one’s physique is behaving all through the trek. In relation to high-altitude trekking, we can not ignore the danger of Altitude Mountain Illness (AMS).
Discover out extra on how you can get match for a trek.
Vaishnavi: On our summit day, I forgot to hold my solar cap. I had a extreme migraine assault whereas coming right down to the campsite. I used to be in a position to deal with myself as a result of I used to be conscious of what my physique was going by means of. I made a decision to relaxation and take a painkiller whereas Sindhu ready the soup. I felt so much higher inside an hour. Incidents like these turn out to be very essential while you’re at a excessive altitude.
➤ Why ought to one go for a Do-It-Your self trek?
Sindhu: The way in which the tables flip in a DIY trek modifications the best way you take a look at trekking. Additionally, the joys and journey it comes with is completely totally different. For us, the Kedarkantha summit expertise was fully distinctive! Once we reached the summit level, there was nobody there. This gave us a very good alternative to cook dinner some yummy khichdi to eat on the summit itself!
Vaishnavi: My greatest cause for trekking is to construction my ideas and be extra organized. On this trek, something and every little thing that we did was on our personal! This made me declutter my thoughts and deal with considering step-by-step. The truth that there was quite a lot of planning and evaluation concerned, and choices to make at numerous levels, made me love the expertise a lot extra!
Listening to Vaishnavi and Sindhu’s DIY trekking expertise, we learnt that trekking with the best spirit is essential. Doing a trek by yourself means it’s good to be accountable. You can’t litter the paths, play loud music or make a bonfire.
“A lot earlier than organizations began to take folks on treks, trekking was achieved in a Do-It-Your self method. Only some folks would collect the braveness to plan a trek like this and expertise a excessive sense of journey. With DIY treks at Indiahikes, we needed to convey again the great outdated days of trekking by yourself and alter the best way folks take a look at trekking.” shares Arjun Majumdar, the founder and CEO of Indiahikes.
We had been delighted to see the proper trekking spirit in Vaishnavi and Sindhu. Their DIY expertise was crammed with learnings on the dos and don’ts whereas on a DIY trek. We hope this conjures up you to trek DIY type someday!
Discover out extra about DIY treks with Indiahikes right here.
Creator: Sneha Yadav
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