Navidhang and Om Parvat

  Gunji, India
Saturday, August 26, 2006

'Navi' means navel and 'dhang' mountain. Navidhang is thus called because the mountain in the foreground has the shape of a navel mound. 
 
Our trek of today is only nine kilometres. We leave the camp after a heavy breakfast at 09,30.
The sky is clouded but thunder, moaning of the trees, whistling and groaning of the wind which was there last night is completely absent now. We plod on along steady ascent in silence. It's cold. Overcast sky slowly clears up. The clouds in such profusion are only monsoon visitors, during other seasons they come and go and do not cling to the sky for long. See how the sun peeps out. Amazing! 
 
After an hours trek we are amidst the rocky face of the mountains. Tree line which ends at an altitude of 3700 meters is left behind. Above this altitude and short of the snow line is a region where herbs, shrubs, ferns and grasses exclusively rule the otherwise barren landscape. An Extraordinary profusion of delicate wild flowers of many hues is sporadically splashed all over. At places the healthy fresh-green carpet of grass well mowed by browsers like goat and sheep look like oasis in near desert like conditions.
 
Now we are in the upper reaches of the Himalayas which are subject to extremely cold winds. We are therefore, well fortified with heavy woollens, especially protecting our heads against biting cold winds.
 
Om Parvat
The OM Parvat is now visible in the easterly direction far in the horizon as we approach Navidhang campsite. In this hill snows form a pattern of 'OM'. It is no less than a miracle to see milky white snow 'OM' carved out on the rocky mountain and is probably as old as these mountains are. It is a unique natural phenomenon. Most of the time however, it is covered with clouds and therefore, is a rare sight. Today till late in the evening it remained veiled with clouds. However, on our return journey we have a magnificent view of 'OM' written in snow on the top of the mountain far away in the horizon. 
 
Our camp is on the rolling grounds. The valley is quite open. Deep down a river arising in Lepulekh flows. We see bare mountains all around us. We are at 3987 m or over 13000 ft above sea level. It is extremely cold here, so much so that I can see my breath. We are relaxed and roam about lazily. And gradually the eighth day of our journey comes to a close.