Dodital Trek

Our 5 day trek began with a 5 hour car ride.  We were delayed by several traffic incidents- a motorcycle dispute, a truck without enough power to get up a hill, a broken down truck.

After our drive, we had a 6km hike to Agora, a village along the path to Dodital.  We were supposed to hike 8km, but the prospect of a late arrival, and setting up our tents in the rain kept us back.  We spent the night in a guesthouse.  There was not much to it- a few rooms with beds and lights that didn't really work.  There were toilets, but more like outhouses.  It truly was like camping.

Our second day we made it 12km to Manjhi, a seasonal home for the shepherds and herdsmen of Agora.  From Manjhi, we could see Darwa, the peak we would have liked to try to summit, but there was too much snow.  

The kids started off slow, and I'm sure there were times that they thought they couldn't walk another step, but by the time we stopped, they were off to play in the snow and gather sticks for a fire.  Felix did an awesome job helping to set up the tents.  Zibby could have done it herself, and Oscar was content to allow the work to get done.  The path we walked was at times well groomed, and at others, I had to smother my parental instincts and allow my kids to walk the terrifying path.

After our first bridge crossing, Zibby wanted to take a swim in the clear water.

Felix thought the mini pine cones were cool, and carried them for most of the day.

Tea time by the fire.  We all enjoyed the Indian food on the trek, but the kids liked the Maggie (Indian version of Ramon noodles) best of all.

Our third day was our attempt to make it to Dodital.  We turned around half way due to lots of snow and a fallen tree across the path.

 Lots of mica rocks.

 The rhododendron trees were in bloom despite the snow.  The red and pink blossoms were beautiful. We also saw a few Lungour monkeys.