A LEGENDARY PAST
The Nilmata Purana describes Kashmir as Satisar, a huge mountain lake where Parvati used to sail in her pleasure boat until it was drained. Anand’s huge plough share divided the mighty chain of the Himalaya flanking towards the west into two parts allowing the waters of Satisar out, making the valley habitable for the Nagas. This 5,440 sq kmlong valley over time came to be known as “paradise on earth”. Geologists have their own tectonic theory of the draining of the valley. The fact remains that this erstwhile Satisar—the mega lake—disappeared only to leave behind a huge progeny scattered across the mountains. National Wetland Atlas figures indicate that Jammu & Kashmir has about 2,104 high-altitude lakes, which aggregates to about 1,10,131 hectares of water surface. We are followed by Arunachal Pradesh, which has 1,672 high-altitude waterbodies.
None of the high-altitude lakes of Kashmir are accessible by road. Like rare gemstones, they lie hidden deep in the inhospitable recesses of the mountains, snowbound for seven-eight months in the year. For the rest of the time, the weather remains hostile and, ironically, unfriendly for photography. So every year it requires careful planning to trek to each lake. Still, unexpected glitches crop up spoiling the applecart—malfunction of GPS, camera, batteries, hostile weather, misleading trails, communication gaps, stubborn local guides, lack of terrain knowledge and official exigencies among them.
Despite all odds, I was to keep my rendezvous with the elusive figure. At the end of 2014 I was at the 93 mark, and was able to trek up to 7 lakes in 2015 to complete a century. Hence, 2015 become a watershed year for me. However, like every batsman, I was nervous. Nineties Syndrome!
Purani Ganga (4,000m) is a lake located east of Gangabal, the largest high-altitude lake of Kashmir with an area of 167 hectares. It is an important waypoint of the Great Lakes Trek. The trek to Purani Ganga starts 4km short of Naranag from a village called Martahoi. A zig-zag trail leads over to the
The Nilmata Purana describes Kashmir as Satisar, a huge mountain lake where Parvati used to sail in her pleasure boat until it was drained. This 5,440 sq km-long valley over time came to be known as “paradise on earth”
lake. But there was a twist in the tale.
The altitude of Martahoi is 2,100m. Therefore, a climb of 1,900m is required to reach the lake. While we had been doing 1,300-1,500m of up-and-down regularly, doing this one required utmost fitness. Hence, I started to concentrate on my fitness and began to feel confident.
It was September 11 when I started on the trail with a few of my trekking buddies.as a thumb-rule in Kashmir, the trail starts from a village, goes through forest up to the alpine zone (most trails start in the 2,000m zone) and then extends into forest from 2,000m to 3,500m. Thereafter, the alpine zone gradually merges into the permanent snowline.