Off-Season Visit to Ratti Gali Lake(2-6 October 2013)

Road Trips / Vacations / Hiking / Trekking

imarshad (imarshad) 2013-10-12 15:54:52 +0500 #81

asifcae;4085351:

i think this is best forum for me to give my 2 cents rather than starting a new thread on Ratti Gali Lake.

the jeep track from Dowarian to Tarkhana Village (trek start point) is aprox 12 kms long. half way of which (6 km) is the Ratti Gali Hotel where u can get Tea and food even if need be... theis is where the jeep drivers stay if they have to take u back also.......

from the start of trek till lake its apox 6 kms also ....

this trek is very easy and takes abt 3.5 to 4 hrs... only issue is that due to sudden increase in altitude via jeep one feels the symptoms of alt sickness (mild)... there is an excelentr camping spot on lake also but if u dont wana camp there (as it gets very cold at night) there is a settelment just below it called "Sarrian"... this is where v stayed.....

weather was sunny and warm all over no rain and cold ...... but as it was late in season the buti was deminished and flowers were gone.....

return journey took us abt 5.5 hrs all the way back to Dowarian......

Sure Asif... Go ahead and post as many pics/information as you wish on this thread....

imarshad (imarshad) 2013-10-12 16:03:16 +0500 #82

Well after clearing the land slide we could hardly travel for 5 more minutes on the comfort of jeep as the following scene was what we saw...
The first reaction was that a large boulder has fallen on the crane while it was trying to clear the path....

imarshad (imarshad) 2013-10-12 16:08:24 +0500 #83

But when we reached near we saw that it was not the case and the crane was just sitting there idle... But it was the end for our jeep ride... the track continued for another 3KM on which a jeep can easily go but this machine had blocked our way.... The next day Asif @asifcae and his team were luckier than us and the machine was not there and they easily reached the last point which was further 3KM in 5 min. on jeep while we had to travel (1.5-2 hours) on foot and under burning sun with absolutely no shade. All because of this machine...

imarshad (imarshad) 2013-10-12 16:11:24 +0500 #84

So all ready and packed up for the trek to Ratti Gali.... Time check was 1:30 PM....

imarshad (imarshad) 2013-10-12 16:14:15 +0500 #85

Looking back towards Dowarian Side... Look at the greenery and jungle and shade etc.....

imarshad (imarshad) 2013-10-12 16:15:54 +0500 #86

Looking towards Ratti Gali side and there was absolutely no shade from the sun on the trek....

imarshad (imarshad) 2013-10-12 16:18:08 +0500 #87

5 minutes into the trek and there was no one with me... So I stopped for a few minutes and ultimately formed an alliance with 2 other members and a porter....

imarshad (imarshad) 2013-10-12 16:29:09 +0500 #88

Water is abundantly available on this trek... There are numerous waterfalls throughout on this trek... One of the bigger ones...

imarshad (imarshad) 2013-10-12 16:30:47 +0500 #89

Main bhee in front of a waterfall.... Patah nahin tasweer itni buri kyun ayee hai?

imarshad (imarshad) 2013-10-12 16:32:45 +0500 #90

Another waterfall.... There were many....

imarshad (imarshad) 2013-10-12 16:36:44 +0500 #91

Some pictures of trees on top of the mountain...

asifcae (asifcae) 2013-10-12 17:12:38 +0500 #92

thankx bro
just wanted to augment ur excelent thread......

asifcae (asifcae) 2013-10-12 17:16:39 +0500 #93

yes actually when v reached this point the crane was working and clearing the road.... we had to wait there for abt half an hour but got the benifit of abt 2 kms jeep ride....

ahead also there was another machine working where v stopped again 4 a couple of minutes.....

asifcae (asifcae) 2013-10-12 17:17:59 +0500 #94

Work in progress by Asif Saeed [ 850,000 + VIEWZ..... ], on Flickr

asifcae (asifcae) 2013-10-12 17:19:01 +0500 #95

Road Clearing by Asif Saeed [ 850,000 + VIEWZ..... ], on Flickr

imarshad (imarshad) 2013-10-13 16:41:00 +0500 #96

Colorful trees....

imarshad (imarshad) 2013-10-13 16:44:56 +0500 #97

The last jeepable point... The work was in full flow.... It took me almost 90 minutes to reach this point from where our jeep driver dropped us....

imarshad (imarshad) 2013-10-13 16:56:47 +0500 #98

The Infamous Landsliding Area:
The infamous land sliding area... The pictures have not done justice to this area. It was almost a 60-75 degrees incline and the stones and mud was very very unstable. We took one step and then gathered some strength and then another. It was merely a 200-300 meter stretch but it took us 30 minutes to cross and the team behind us which included the ladies took more than 2 hours to cross it....
As we came to know later there was an alternative to this landsliding area... We could have gone on top of that landsliding area. We had to ascend for about 15 minutes at a very steep angle and then cross the area and then descend back. Although even at that height we still had to cross a very difficult area but it was only 10-15 meters. On our way back we followed that route.

imarshad (imarshad) 2013-10-13 16:59:36 +0500 #99

My companions and porter crossing the area... At one point my friend slipped and was literally hanging with his hands and barely managed to get his feet on the ground. His trousers were torn but luckily this was the only casualty......

imarshad (imarshad) 2013-10-13 17:01:31 +0500 #100

After successfully crossing that dangerous area....and I have to tell you it was the most difficult half an hour of my life....