It was a season of beautiful
blossoms, with the adversity of winter gone and the monsoon much awaited. The
trails were clear without bushes and the woods were dry. The seasonal spring
waters has not yet swelled and the journey through the varied vegetation of
Junipers, Fir, Rgododendron and of course the subtropical broadleved forests
was a soothing adventure. It was arduous trek worth a trek. That was back in
the month of May when I was leading a team of Foresters to set camera traps to
study the wildlife diversity in Western Region of Jigme Singye Wangchuck
National Park, starting the journey from Phobjikha to Taksha.
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| Captures from Earlier Trek (May). |
So after two months of remote
camera trapping, in mid August, I was to again take the same route; this time,
to monitor and retrieve the cameras. August and September were forecasted to
have the maximum downpour by the local meteorologist but for the Foresters,
there is no waiting.
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| Furthest End of Phobjikha valley in the Morning. |
The Phobjikha valley looks
swampy. The paths were muddy and in the fields, people were busy harvesting the
potatoes. Our journey started from the Juniper vale at the far end of
Gantey-Phobji stretch, but in the juniper valley was fog and rain. It would
take us at least three days to reach the other settlement and the weather was
not favouring.
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| The Highest Pass where Fir Adorns. |
Early in the morning, when we
readied for the journey, the weather was gloomy. We feared it would rain but as
we walked on, clouds gave way to the rays of sunshine. After two hours of
straight walk, we were to make a steep ascend which took us four hours. With
the sun blazing, with no water by the trail, with heavy baggage, we sweated a
lot and by the time we reached the peak, we were exhausted with zero calories.
Out of thirst, we had no option but to drink from stagnant water on the main
trail. I bought a bottle of Black Mountain for my porter, so the mixture of
alcohol and stagnant water gave a better taste to quench our thirst.
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| To Quench the Thirst. |
But the weather played a
confusing role. No sooner did we drink from the stagnant water than there was a
heavy downpour. This indeed provided us with fresh water to drink. The
rhododendron leaves collects ample quantity of water making a clear flow of it
downwards.
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| A better Option. |
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| Our Purpose of Endurance. |
Yet saddened I was. We had to
still walk for three hours, to reach the campsite which we halted earlier.
While we were descending the rain hit harder. The trails has turned into
gorges, and through the gorges flowed huge muddy water. The streams that were
so minute during our earlier trek have now turned into big rivers and we had to
crisscross it several times. We were drenched head to toe. Luckily the
elevation was quite high for the leeches to survive.
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| Our lone porter Jigme Struggling to Cross the Swelled Stream. |
Reaching the spot where we were
to camp, the spot was infested with bushes and the ground was swampy. “We have
to halt here by any means.” I said. “Our camera station follows that river
(earlier it was a mere stream) upward at a crow flight distance of 3 km (which
we will retrieve the next day).” I then initiated the camping, while our young
forester prepared fire. There was no dry wood. Everything was wet. The water was
muddy, but then we had to halt there. The drying of bamboo was at our rescue.
Nothing burnt but the wet dry-bamboos did, to make a campfire, to dry our
cloths, and to prepare a delicious dinner after an tedious, enduring 9 hour
trek without a lunch, and the days went on, wit shoes wet, blisters on the leg,
with leech and insect bites, until we finished our tasks in next seven days.
Cameras lost its positions;
Tigers are on the other side; Pains were endured but the result was not a good
one and I for the first time in the wild, lost my Positive Energy.
