Gadtarsar and other lakes, Greater Lakes Trek Day 2

Also known as the Fish Lake, Gadtarsar (Sar meaning lake in the local language) was supposed to be our stop on the second day. I woke up early after a refreshing night´s sleep and found that my altitude sickness was gone. The sky was a pale silver with some fleeting clouds but it did not look ominous. The morning air was crisp and carpets of wildflowers stretched as far as eyes could see. I washed at the nearby stream, drank, and walked around until it was time for breakfast. Gadtarsar was not too far and it looked like a good day for a brisk walk. After breakfast, we packed and trekked along a ridge. Bakarwals (Kashmiri nomadic shepherds) passed us, their herds skipping, bleating, and making a tremendous noise that startled the morning silence. It was only broken by the sharp barks of the sheepdogs that accompanied each Bakarwal shepherd and these watchful canines kept sharp eyes on us outsiders. It was watching each Bakarwal having his own sound with each it called out to its herds. Sometimes these were whistles and more than often rattling sounds made by a plastic bottle filled with pebbles.

Moving towards Gadtarsar

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Rain by Gadtarsar

It got foggy by the time we passed a small glacier and visibility dropped considerably. The rain came unexpectedly. It was a persistent needle-sharp shower that soaked us to our socks. However, it cleared soon enough and we trudged along now muddy, slippery mountain trails. It was a wide trail though, marked out carefully, with the help of the massive tawny boulders that lie scattered in abundance. We walked, ascended, descended, and crossed small valleys until we came to the banks of a small stream. The downpour had swelled up the stream and the surrounding area was criss-crossed by similar water bodies that got accentuated by the rain. Swamps started forming in small patches and neon yellow and hot pink flowers bloomed there in abundance. There were so many wildflowers that the valley looked almost multi-coloured. We pitched our tents slightly away from the gushing stream and after a nice, hot lunch explored the stunning Gadtarsar, Sonduksar, and Damamsar.

The fish lake

Gadtarsar was large and it was supposedly filled with trouts. Sanduksar was the prettiest and its name apparently meant a ´treasure lake´. Damamsar was beautiful too and I found it incredible to be sitting at the bank of alpine lakes at 3900m in the heart of the Pir Panjal mountain range. Just two days before I was rushing through the crowds at Frankfurt and there I was enjoying silence and solitude beside high-altitude alpine lakes. It was a feeling indeed to be savoured and grateful for. A lovely sunset accompanied us back to our campsite and after an early dinner, we retired to our tents, to dry our clothes and curl up inside our sleeping bags. The next day we were to climb higher and explore deeper and I was looking forward to more frozen lakes, vast meadows, and wildflowers…..to be contd.