..and the struggle to save the Western Himalayas
In 1972, with my late wife, Anne-Marie, I trekked through Himachal Pradesh in the Western Himalayas from the Sutlej to the Beas valleys via the Bashleo Pass. Then, we lived downtown in Delhi and in April temperatures hovered around 40 degC. We needed to escape somehow.
Now, a road carries a rickety bus to within a few hours walk of the sadle, but in those days it took three days along mule tracks from the Sutlej to the pass. At only 3200 m altitude, Bashleo is relatively low for a Himalayan Pass. Nevertheless, it takes you briefly to the treeline at the crest of the ridge and on the North side the trail winds through dense forests of spruce and fir, where blue irises bloom in the glades. We saw the diggings of wild pheasants and found tracks of deer and goats. A delightful mixture of many-coloured birds moved through the bushes or swooped in the canopy. The air was cool and clear, miraculously so after the heat and dust of the April plains and the streams ran transparent and icy cold. We felt a sense of well-being and content that we had lost months back as the temperature in Delhi ratcheted steadily upwards. Our trek began a love affair with the mountains that has never ended.
