Trek Himachal

My trekking journey in September 2009 invariably started with going to Triund. Many many times, without getting tired of it, I kept going back. Sometimes as an excuse to start yet another trek (while there were other easier and shorter options to start available), sometimes just for the sake of going to Triund, once just to see Triund under snow and quite a few times also with Jodie Underhill of The Mountain Cleaners (TMC). On all these trips, most of all those with TMC, we stayed in an old Forest Guest House. Built in 1905 by the British, the original building was later converted into the caretaker quarters and new stone blocks constructed for the guest house.

A large part of the charm of going to Triund lay in seeing the wooden plank, sloped roof structure of the caretaker quarters. Situated in its own little corner of the ridge, it looked down protectively upon the rest of Triund. Its deep brown walls made of that awesome wood from Deodar, the akwardly and steeply sloping roof reminding of old days when it snowed enough to have roofs sloping at greater than 45 degrees was all so romantic. On my first trip to Triund after starting to trek, I spent about 30 minutes one morning clicking a few photographs. One of them captured the essence of the place.

A few days ago, lightning struck Triund and of all places, it decided to crash right on this thing. I do not have words to describe what I feel about this. I have not been to Triund since and I do not want to. For once, I want to live in denial. I dont think I can imagine Triund without this. It would be like waking up one morning and finding my face missing. This thing was Triund's identity. So they say, all good things must come to an end. Sometimes, however true this is, it sucks! And so it does now!

And if that was not enough, the fire also took with it a lot of stuff that Jodie and Mountain Cleaners had stored there. In 18 months that I spent in the mountains, everything seemed to be changing and never for the better. There were rivers damned to be dammed, roads causing landslides, the stupid tourist screwing around. The one bright spot was Jodie and her gang unselfishly cleaning up the mountains. Suddenly, 2 years of donations and Jodie's personal investment into slowly building an inventory for keeping Triund clean is gone. Vanished into thin air! Whoever said life is fair!

Once and for only once, I am making an appeal to everyone who reads this to contribute whatever you feel like and can to The Mountain Cleaners. It does not matter what the amount is, every little helps. You can also help by donating equipment like sleeping bags, blankets, pots and pans etc. It was small contributions which had helped build the inventory and its small ones again which will fill it up again. If what I say is not enough and you are a visual kind of a person, look at the photos below to see what is left of the guest house. Read my post on Triund here to find out what we have lost and where.

For more information on how to contribute, contact Jodie at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it