Day 3 of Bali Pass Trek: Journey to Waterfall Camp from Seema

August 16, 2024

hiran

10th June 2024 – Monday

Bali Pass : Day 0, reaching Dehradun
Bali Pass : Day 1, arriving in Sankri from Dehradun
Bali Pass : Day 2, journey to Seema from Sankri

Today was one of the craziest experiences I’ve ever had.

Yesterday night I woke up at 2 am to a raging stomach ache. It was scary, it was pitch dark inside the tiny tent and I was unable to fall back asleep. Within 10 mins I had a waste bag in front of me and threw up. This went on one more time until all of my stomachs contents had drained away and my exhaustion carried me back to sleep.

The next morning I woke up and felt the sickly sensation from last night. The thought of food repulsed me and any attempts at eating breakfast were quickly dismissed.

Consequently, my energy on the trek was exponentially reduced and I found myself struggling to keep up with the rest of the team. Every step felt like a challenge and the uphill ascent was proving to be more and more exhausting by the minute.

I took frequent breaks and drank water as the sight of a food item revoked the urge to puke.

This took a huge toll on my pace and my legs were starting to get sore with each step.

As the day went on I felt myself slipping away into complete exhaustion, my head started to ache and my thighs developed a muscle cramp.

I realised I cannot make it at this pace and the trek team broke up. My father, Dinesh Uncle, Suresh who was the trek lead and I made one group, while the rest went on with their pace.

It was a tough climb, it felt like there was no end to it and my legs felt like they were on the verge of giving up.

When we reached Devsu Bugyal, I asked Suresh how much longer. He told me we were only half way there.

I couldn’t do it. I reached a total breaking point mentally and my face showed it.

‘What the hell had I gotten myself into’ I thought.

At this point my body was giving up and Suresh told me there was one huge descent through the forests left where I had to walk fast.

I just couldn’t do it. But there was no other option here.

climate changing during the bali pass trek

He then took my hand and just sprinted in full speed through the steep wooden terrain.

I wasn’t even aware of my surroundings, I just went with it. I could see flashes of huge trees and the ground below me every time I opened my eyes.

There were times where my foot would skid but the running speed and twists and turns of the terrain left no time to stop. It was like a roller coaster. Both physically and mentally. But somehow we reached the base and I let out a huge sigh of relief and my heart started beating at a normal pace again.

‘Okay one last stretch to go, you managed to cross the difficult part’ I said to comfort myself.

Little did I know….

Just then a thundering sound erupted in the skies. The weather was worsening. If we didn’t catch the camp by noon we would be stranded in the rain.

The others helped me with some exercises and massaging and I had to get back to walking again.

The rain began, the weather got colder.

I put the raincoat on and we begin walking faster .

I felt myself losing it , just praying for this to end.

Just then a click sound hit my ear.

click.

click. click.

click. click. click. click

I looked down,

Pieces of ice were falling.

A hailstorm was approaching

We were stuck in the middle of nowhere, just mountains coated in green all around us.

We had no other choice but to keep walking.

The intensity of the hailstones increased and it felt like bullets hitting your skin. Especially the parts where my hand was exposed in order to hold the trekking pole.

As we neared we saw a small shack with some smoke coming out. We ran and there were people inside.

An older person saw me and came back with some hot tea and a plate of maggi.

I immediately ate the food for the first time in the day and sat on a nearby stone in exhaustion.

We had to keep moving though. It was utterly dangerous to stay on after 2 pm in the open as the weather could turn fatal at any time.

Just a week before we left for the trek, a similar trekking group had unfortunately met a painful fate after being stranded in the middle of a blizzard that had unleashed in the late afternoon and continued for several hours. Here it didn’t matter how experienced or fit you were, the mountains spare none. If you were stranded in the bad weather, you may have just signed your death warrant.

So we had no choice but to keep walking.

The rest of the journey was a blur of exhaustion, every step I made was met with further ascents and descents, over and over with no end to it.

After several hours of ceaseless walking, we finally reached camp and joined with the rest of the group. We had walked about 17 kilometres in total and the moment I stepped into the tent, I fell asleep immediately.

It was only 2 hours later when I woke up and lay inside the sleeping bag and stared at the apex of the tent that I wondered to myself.

‘Holy shit. That was a crazy day.’

Bali Pass : Day 4, journey to Ruinsara Lake
Bali Pass : Day 5, journey to the Basecamp
Bali Pass : Day 6, a chilling ascent, summit triumph, and a snowy descent
Last Day of Bali Pass Trek: An Epic Himalayan Adventure in 2024

Day 3 of Bali Pass Trek: Journey to Waterfall Camp from Seema

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