HOW MUCH SHOULD YOU WALK PER DAY FOR GOOD HEALTH.

HOW MUCH SHOULD YOU WALK PER DAY FOR GOOD HEALTH.

In this blog will discuss about how many steps you need per day to walk for optimal health. 

So often we hear that number 10000 steps a day.  As if they were some magical number, the reason we keep hearing that is because research has shown the people who walk more they are healthier, they live longer, less disease, lose weight better, they have lower incidence of Type 2 Diabetes, lower risk of cardio vascular disease, Dementia, and so on. But this research also shows that 2000 steps is a lot better than nothing, and it shows 10,000 steps is better than 5000. That means, for your health walking more is better than walking less. 

In some research indicates that, people who know how to gather a lifestyle to assume how their ancestors had, they probably take this upward to 30000 steps per day, that is how much our bodies are genetically designed for, that is actually how much we need. But the problem with all these research is they do not explain why number of steps or walking will do this ? What's magical about steps ? 

We need to understand how this stuff works. First, you should like and care yourself enough to want to take care of yourself the best way you can. Then you will understand why steps would help or what other types of activities would help us, and then you can start doing it right. 

First of all it is really not about steps, but it is an indicator of your overall activity. For lot of people it is the only exercise they get is walking, therefore if you walk more then you have higher overall activity. But really what this walking activity does is, it provides 3 things - 

(1) Brain Stimulation

(2) Circulatory benefits

(3) Hormonal benefits

Now, why would be brain stimulation be so important ? Because, every cell in your body and every tissue works on the principle - use it or lose it. Resources are precious in the body,so if we do not use something then why keep it around. So, basically muscles need tension, purpose of the muscle is to create tension, if we do that we get muscles, if we stop doing that or create less tension then we get Atrophy. Same thing is with bones, the purpose of bones is to resist gravity. If we have less gravity or less activity then it exposes us to the impact of gravity and get Osteoporosis. 

The purpose of the brain is to receive, process and produce signals. So, if we have enough signals then will have strong brain, if the brain gets less signals to process then brain will have less signals to process as a result brain degeneration starts to occur, that is another word for Atrophy, that is tissue shrinks and goes away. 

If you need to create more signal for the brain then you need to understand where they come from ?  The vast majority of signals comes from body movement. We have primarily three tissues - joints, muscles and tendons. These pickup different aspects of motion and tension and transmit to the brain as signals. We have over 300 joints in the body, over 100 of those are in the spine, but it dose not even end there, it's about receptor density, that is how many receptors we have per square inch, and we need a whole lot of them where it is important. Receptors increase in density as we get closer to the mid-line of the body and increase as we go from bottom to the top of the body. Basically the spine and closer to the head we get biggest bank of the receptors, and even though most of the signals are generated from movements, out of those signals more than 90% are generated from spine and specially from the upper portion of the spine. 

If you start understanding some of that, then it is not just how many steps you take, but it is how you walk. There is a huge difference if you walk actively creating a motion in the whole body, than staring at your phone and walking. It is not the number of steps, but how many signals are generated as you do it. 

What is happening as you walk - every person has different curves in the spine, the first one is on the back of the neck called Lordosis, as you get in to the chest the curve is on the other way called Kyphosis, and as you in to the lumbars then it gets on the other way again and finishes at the Sacrum. So, there are 3 curves, these act as shock absorbers, it's like a spring , as you are walking and bouncing a little bit then the brain and the head and the tissues are protected by this spring action. Therefore, your posture when you are walking is hugely important. If you have a proper posture and you are upright, now the curves are going to flow one into the other, they will cooperate and you will get more motion from each little bounce of the spring, resulting in generating more signals into the brain. If you don't have a good posture, you are walking hunched over and looking at your mobile phone then you are not getting nearly the same number of signals generated.

Another thing that matters with posture is intensity, if you are walking in a full range of motion and swinging your arms then you will have a rotation - a counter rotation between the shoulders and the hips, and now we are getting more motion into the body. 

The next benefit is circulatory. When you walk it increase your heart rate, increase your circulation, and when you pump more blood then you increase the oxygenation - deliver more oxygen and more nutrients in every cell of the body, and while the blood is doing that, it is also picking up more waste, so it is a form of Detox, it is assisting your body in it's detoxification process. 

But just how much blood are you pumping, what is the circulation? Your heart fills up with blood, and then when it's full it squeezes it back out, that is called stroke volume- that is roughly 70 ml , and on an average a person has a heart rate of 70 beats/minute, if we multiply that we get about 5 litres of blood circulating per minute, and that is also roughly how much blood a normal person has, that is the amount of blood being circulated when the body is at rest. But when you exercise, there is increase in circulation so the blood is coming back faster to the heart and filling up the heart faster and more, so if we fill it more then the heart is going to squeeze harder and more effectively, we can then actually double that stroke volume, with this increase in stroke volume and the heart rate, we could pump as much as 140 ml x 120/minute, ie. we could now with increase in stroke volume and increased heart rate we could pump as much as 17 litres of blood by simply walking. So, we see this dramatically increase by doing as simple as walking. 

There are more benefit than just heart pumping, there are other pumping mechanisms from exercise. When you walk there is a squeezing of the calves, there are veins in the calves that muscles squeeze and return the blood to the heart, this is very important mechanism, that is also why walking helps reduce varicose veins, because it helps vein pressure in the lower region. 

One more pumping mechanism is in all of the joints, every joint has something called synovial fluid and it is very important for the body to keep blood circulation separate from inside of the joints where the synovial fluid is, because the red blood cells could destroy the joints. Therefore the blood only gets outside the joints and the inside of the joint is very poorly oxygenated. So, the nutrients and the oxygen are diffused by a pumping mechanism, as we move the joint we are squashing that fluid around and that is how we get new fluids in and the old fluid and waste out. 

Cartilage has no blood vessels, but still we need to get some nutrients there. Cartilage heals very very slowly if at all, but still we need to get some nutrients there, this pumping action from motion is what drives that, it's like a 'Sponge-bob'. So, this is another good example from exercise or walking.

Exercise has also Hormonal benefits. It increases growth hormones, and also increases something called BDNF (brain derived neurotropic factor), these two put together are essential for making new pathways in the brain, thus improving neuroplasticity. So, exercise or walking is good for brain health. 

Another benefit is walking reduce the dependence on insulin, walking will use up some carbohydrates that will reduce the need for insulin, but more so the cells, the muscles when they are active they don't need hardly any insulin to get the glucose into the muscles. An active muscle is much more insulin sensitive. Walking may not be the total solution, but one part of the solution.

Once we know about the above benefits from walking, then we should keep in mind that the most powerful way to address the above issues mentioned is HIIT (high-intensity interval training) or high intensity exercise, and fasting, that's what will bring the biggest change. But as I mentioned, every part counts, and walking absolutely helps. 

What is so special about walking ? Is there anything special ?

There is one special thing about walking, and that is called "Cross Crawl", we have a pattern - when we are walking we are moving one leg forward and the opposite arm forward at the same time. Why is that so important ? Because, it is something that is patterned into our nervous system, and it is one of the most fundamental and the strongest and most powerful patterns, it has a huge influence on how the brain is organised, and what scientists have found is actually that there is a strong connection between babies who don't get to crawl has increased risk for attention deficit, increased risk of Dyslexia, and for kids who don't get to crawl properly have poor body coordination, as a result are more prone to injuries. So, we can see it's mostly about creating signals at this point. 

If we want to create more signals, then there are certain factors that influence how many signals we create : 

Speed - the velocity of movement is highly influential. The Amplitude - if we make a small motion or a big motion it makes a big difference, and the number of repetition - if we do it once it is not very much, but if we are walking and doing 1000 repetitions then it starts adding up. Then it's complexity - if we do something very repetitive then it's not very challenging for the brain, walking is great for the reasons I mentioned above, but for creating more signal overall we need to do things that are complex. If we introduce variety then it's challenging for the brain, symmetrical, uniform and full arm swings during walking is one factor. One of the first signs of Parkinson's and Dementia is loss of arm swing, because their brains don't work well enough to create arm swing, it is a sign of brain degeneration. But we can also use as a therapy by swinging your arms more thus creating more signals and reinforcing those beneficial patterns.

If you want to increase the complexity in other ways, then you can walk on uneven terrain, because now when the ground is uneven then there is more adapting, more compensating and more adjusting for the brain to do. So, something like trail hiking or trekking will improve the complexity and if you get out in the wilderness where everything is completely unpredictable, where you have to step over things or dodge boulders, cross streams, or bend under things, now there is even more complexity. In addition to daily walking, 5 to 7 days of trekking at least once or twice a year is very much beneficial. Various other live activities like dancing, playing tennis or badminton where you have to move quickly in different directions and where you have to use lot of balance and agility are great examples to increase the complexity and thus increase signals. 

If you understand the above, then it is not just about strapping on around some step counter and getting to a daily walk of 10000 steps, but you can get lot of benefits with just fewer number of steps if you understand how this works. My recommendation is that you do something, because something is a lot better than doing nothing when it comes to exercise. The next rule is that more is better until it is not. So, it is very possible to over train and people really hooked on activity and they sort of get addicted to it, this is not what we are looking for. If you are over training then you might start feeling worn down and that's how you can notice if you pay attention to the body, if you are losing some of the spring in your step, start getting aches and pains, if you don't feel fresh going into workout, or if it feels you are not recovering properly, then it's probably time to back off . 

Every one has a different starting point depending on their level of fitness they are in, or body condition, but I thing minimum 30+ minutes per day of gentle to moderate activity would be something to try for. I have mentioned 30+ minutes because if you keep it at a low intensity like walking or hiking then you really can do it for hours every day and you are not going to wear yourself down. It all depends on your level of fitness and how much time you have on your hands, and your overall joint health and so forth, just use your common sense. But, at least 30 minutes per day, probably 5 to 6 times a week, do not strive for 7 times a week, unless it's a very gentle activity, because you do need to give your body some time for recovery. 

Then, I suggest add some body stretching, as stretching also sends massive amount of signals to the brain, but it also acts as a reset, as your body and your brain talks all the time, the brain gets a certain sense of the length of the muscles and tension on the tendons, when you stretch you are helping the brain to create a reset, or the brain gets back to base line and starts understanding the body better. 

Then you need to add some variety. As I mentioned about all the benefits of walking, but it is not very complex, it is not all that demanding, so you put walking as a foundation and add some variety. Add different hobbies that you enjoy doing. 

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TALE OF AN AUTUMN HIMALAYAN TREK.

                           

TALE OF AN AUTUMN HIMALAYAN TREK.

2018, 2nd of September, a new Himalayan trek. This time I had planned to commence my trek from Gangotri, the destination was Kedartal near Thalay Sagar mountain, at Uttarakhand a northern India state crossed by the Himalayas, is known for its Hindu pilgrimage sites, and very well known trekking destinations. A mystical land of mountains and mythologies, exquisite landscapes and exhilarating adventure.

After reaching New Delhi, the next day hired a car and started my journey at about 3 pm. On my way picked one of my old time friend Shivendra from Haridwar at 8pm, and proceeded towards Chamba. As it was late, nearly all the road side eateries (Dhaba) were closed, luckily, after a long search found one small dhaba open which was just getting ready to shut, we had our dinner here with whatever was available to cool down our belly fire. 

We planned to spend the night at a higher altitude, so drove towards Chamba which is at about 1800 meters. The next day we started for Gangotri via Uttarkashi. While on our way we stopped at multiple points to experience the beauty of the mountains, this is the advantage when you have your own vehicle. The weather was not that clear, as we normally expect in the month of September. Like in monsoon, there were lot of clouds covering the sky. 

After crossing Uttarkashi, we halted near Maneri Dam, it is nearly impossible to drive ahead without stopping at such a fascinating point. After spending nearly one hour at this point we commenced our journey towards Gangotri. Due to scattered rains since last few days, we could see several small and medium water falls on our way. Along with such beautiful view of nature, the most disturbing element were the haphazard laying of electric wires running from one end to other. As we were not in much hurry, we stopped at every point that allured us with its splendour. That night we had planned to stay at Gangotri itself, which was about 3 hours from the place we were at. 

Where ever we stopped, we tried to start a conversation with the locals, As in most parts of North India, the locals discuss with much interest about politics, the government and it's achievements and failures. 

At about 5 pm we reached Gangotri. After checking in a hotel we went to visit and offer our prayers at the Gangotri temple. Not to my expectation, at this time of the year there was good crowd at the temple. Considering the huge stretch of the Himalayas, but still it's not enough for approx 1.40 billion population of India. 

                                   

The Trek - Day 1 :

The next day started with a clear sky and bright sunshine. As planned, our guide Upendra along with his team of  3 porters reached Gangotri early in the morning. We had already segregated the items we were to carry on the trek, last night itself. While our porters were packing all the trek items, we completed our breakfast and got few snacks packed for the hike. At about 10 am all our luggage were packed and were ready for the trek. Today we were to reach our first destination Bhojkharak. 

Before commencing our trek, at Gangotri my friend Shivendra offered some traditional 'puja' (prayer) and we had 'Prasada' (fruits as offering to the deity). Along with our trek guide Upendra, we had three more persons - Manohar, Mukesh & Suraj, who were our porters. In most of my treks I have experienced that usually in the first day's trek the assent is more, our guide told that it's same here too. Gangotri which is at about 10000 ft altitude, we have to reach Bhojkharak which is at 13000 ft. The total distance we had to cover was approx 9 Km. The first day's assent seems more because our body muscles and joints are yet to get warmed up and loosened up. Also, we do not usually have that much time to get ourselves acclimatised by spending couple of days at a high altitude location where oxygen level is much lesser than where I come from, Kolkata. We just get down from our vehicle and get ready to start our trek, so that we can complete the trek at a least time. As a result, in spite all the pre-trek preparation I do, me after witnessing 55 autumns, during first few kilometres my legs are reluctant to move on. But the expected joy on reaching the destination, the feeling of an achievement, the captivating scenery, beauty of nature, the sweet smell in the breeze, these all creates an ambience which boosts our energy level and we move on. 

From where we were hiking, down in the valley we could see the place from where the trekkers go for Chirwasa, Bhojwasa and towards Gomukh. 

Have met our trek guide Upendra for the first time during my trek to Gomukh- Tapovan, in 2014. He was staying at Mouni Baba ashram along with his trekking clients, where we also had put-up. That time I chatted a lot and had decided to do the Kedartal trek with him. During our chat I came to know that his main job was laying guide ropes for mountaineers who venture to Kedar Dome, Satopant, and Bhagirathi peaks.

On our trek rout we went through dense Deodar forest (Himalayan Cedar tree), with sound of gushing mountain river all the way. This river is called Kedar Ganga which has its source from Kedar Baumukh glacier. We were actually trekking towards this glacier. 

Mobile signals are very rare to find, normally you wont get any signal, but suddenly reaching a ridge you will get strong signal, therefore we should not set our expectations based on some one else's experience, as the situations go on changing. 

Now, after hiking for couple of hours could see few Bhojpatra trees (Himalayan Birch tree), Upendra told that we could see many more as we hike ahead. As our trekking speed was not bad, so had enough time to relax, had some light snacks and experienced the beauty of nature in the surroundings on our way. Only because of these local guides and tough hard working Nepali porters hikers like us are able to venture into such treks. Though we pay them for their job, but every job can not be measured with money alone. 

During September if the weather is clear then it's altogether a different fun in trekking. It looks like the nature has taken a dip in a pool with different colours, everywhere we could see different colours on trees, flowers, fallen leaves, mix of green and brown grass. We hike along right side of the river during Kedartal trek, but for Gomukh trek we trek along the left side of the river in the adjacent valley. During this route there is a rock formation known as 'Spider Rock', crossing this point is considered very tough. We were to cross this rock formation on the first day itself, I had brought ropes, for use in crossing this point if required. 

Suraj, who was from Nepal informed us that tonight he will prepare a Nepali dish for dinner, made with roasted tomato and lots of red chilly from which I stay miles away. After trekking for nearly three and a half hour, since we started from Gangotri, covering nearly half way mark, we decided to take a break and have some snacks. After resting for half an hour we again started our journey. Upendra, our guide informed that the 'Spider Rock' formation will come shortly. More than feeling nervous, I was more eager to see and experience crossing it. Most of the trekkers who had undertaken this trek start their conversation with this 'Spider' rock formation. 

Now the trees we could find all around were only of Bhojpatra. Looking Ahead we were sure that the forest area will end shortly, could see only boulders and mixed patches of green and dry grass slopes. After hiking for about 20 minutes I saw our guide waiting for us, now this was 'Spider Rock' area which have to be crossed. It was about 6-8 meters wide, will mention later about how we crossed and the level of difficulty. We have to trek for about 1 km more, at a distance we could see the Thalay Sagar mountain. Suddenly we saw a tin shed on the other side of a small water falls, that was Bhojkharak. 

We had to just descent a bit and cross that water fall and the climb a bit to reach our first destination. On reaching the site though the shed looked bit tattered, but from inside it was not bad. Our guide along with porters went inside the shed, for us they erected a tent outside. We had reached Bhojkharak at 4 pm, taking halts on our way it took nearly 7 hours. 

We did not find the climb that tough, as we were told when we were making plans of this trek. Just below where we had put up the Kedarganga river was flowing making loud sound. We were surrounded with huge majestic mountains. The advantage of reaching the site during day light was we could experience the beautiful landscape. After preparing tea for all of us, our team started preparation for dinner.  Once it got dark, one of our porters made a fire with some dry twigs and wood which he collected from nearby. While our team was making dinner, we started to chat with our guide and porters and tried to know them more closely. Also, we did bit of next day's planning. At about 7.30 pm we had our dinner and went for a much awaited sleep. 

Day - 2

We woke up at 6 am. It was slightly cloudy, but the clouds soon started to move quickly. For breakfast, we had very yummy sweet cereal, in this pleasant atmosphere, we ate quickly while watching the snow capped mountains, because we wanted to leave for the journey ahead. 

As always the same place was looking more beautiful in morning daylight, as compared to evening. Soon we got busy packing our tents and belongings. As in the mountains if the atmosphere is clear then the sun rays are strong, as a result the portable solar panels that I carried for charging electronic gadgets and batteries, worked excellent. Packing sleeping bags and tents in covers are not so easy. 

Around 8 am, me and Shivendra headed forward, our guide came with us, everyone else stayed and completed the packing and then caught up with us. As per the weather forecast today and tomorrow clouds were expected, but seeing the blue sky we were really overjoyed, this was an ideal weather for trekking. After leaving Bhojkharak, on covering nearly 300 meter we found beautiful colourful flowers on bushes all around the trail, these flowers are normally found at an altitude of 10-20 thousand feet. Today, our destination was Kedar Kharak, which was around 4 kilometres from Bhojkharak. We were slowly hiking while enjoying the surroundings.  

Now the last few trees were left, but there was quite a lot of beauty in them. Shiny, colourful leaves, on top of which was sunlight, cold winds, a blue sky, and behind mountains embedded in snow, and a completely different looking Mount Thalay Sagar. Then , suddenly it started to rain. Waiting for some time, when the rain receded, we resumed our trek.  Now, Mount Thalay Sagar started dominating this landscape. I was told that the mountain to it's left is called Mount Bhrigupanth. 

Upendra and his team looked quite relaxed, there were reasons for this. First of all we did not have to walk that far today, and the weather was good as well. On the way, we came across a few points where it would be not at all easy to cross alone, but the weight of all the items would be a problem for the porters. Mountain trekking is always a team effort, everyone does their own things, but also has to support others. It is also important to note that more than weight, luggage volume causes issues. 

The environment is so delicate here, by looking at the conditions of the mountains one can very well judge. On the mountain slope in front of us we could see a heard of Himalayan Blue Sheep, I was expecting them, because in places around Gangotri there are always many of those. Gomukh which was behind the mountain in front of us, has plenty of such Blue Sheep. 

I also noticed plenty of landslides compared to other parts of Himalayas, I found more of them here. I noticed these conditions in my Gomukh trek too. On both sides of the river, big grasslands were hugely impacted by landslides. It is noticeable that the Himalayan mountain range is very unstable at the moment.

At one spot, found Upendra waiting for me, at first I thought that he might have stopped to wait because I was too behind, but it was really because he needed to accompany me in the dangerous area ahead. Around half a kilometre of the journey was crossing a landslide zone, underneath was the fast flowing Kedar Ganga river, and the entire path was made out of soil and dirt, towards the top, there was risk of rocks tumbling down. In these types of trails, there is no harm in walking, just that you need to try and avoid stopping there as much as possible, and you need to be aware of whats happening above you. This is because, even the smallest rock can bring many rocks down with it, and all of those travel down at extremely high speed. This is because of the Himalayan Blue Sheep that walk these areas push rocks down.

Shivendra and Upendra were way ahead of us. But by our hard luck, there was a group of Himalayan Blue Sheep travelling just above us, this was just the what I was hoping wouldn't happen. Because of this we were quite alarmed. Taking care with our every step, it took us around half an hour to cross this region. Taking care with our every step, it took us around half an hour to cross this region. 

It was 1 pm, we had left Bhoj Khadak at about 8 am, until now, we could only cover about three and a half kilometre. It took so long because we were constantly stopping and drenching our eyes with the magnificent surroundings. If we had hastened our steps without appreciating these surroundings, then what's the use of such treks. 

The herd of the Himalayan sheep was moving along with us, above us on the rocky slopes. There were 3 advantages to this - first, seeing a group of these is quite a beautiful encounter, secondly, there is the sense of not being alone on this trail, and the third is the excitement that behind or around them, we might spot a snow leopard too. Now we had around one kilometre to go, because of this, while looking at a captivating view, we sat down at a nice place to eat something and appreciate the stunning Himalayan view.

After around half an hour, we resumed our journey, and headed upwards towards the left. As we headed forward, the mountains and hills around me were looking more and more beautiful, which was hampering my trekking speed, because normally, I struggle to trek, but on top of that, I cannot resist these types of picturesque views, which always allures me to stay fit so that can undertake such Himalayan treks.

Scattered clouds on the blue sky have the same effect on landscapes as spice in food does. Without clouds, the landscapes look slightly pale, but when the clouds appear, they now look mystical. However, when there are too many clouds, the beauty simply vanishes. Upon reaching the top, we saw the field where we planned to stay for the night. This was Kedarkharak, the base camp of our destination.

At first glance, this place looked like Tapovan, similar to it, there were many grass fields, and small streams which were flowing the glacier's crystal clear water. Around us, many mountains covered in snow stood still, and clearly visible stood Mount Thalay Sagar. For a while, I stood staring at this scenery.

As our porters arrived earlier, they didn't just lay out the tent, but they took out my solar panels and put some batteries on charging. All of a sudden, it became colder. First of all it was already evening, and on top of that it was very windy. Looking at the clouds, I predicted that we could get a snow fall. My favourite hot Kichdi (a dish in South Asia made of rice and lentils) was ready, and I was starving as well, so I instantly attacked on the food.  After having our meal, we started to set our items because it had started to snow. One of our porters started putting everything inside the tent, while we were setting it all inside the tent, it's not so easy due to limited space inside the tent. 

Outside the snowfall had already started, tiny flakes of snow. The clouds were not very dense, but since we left Gangotri, we kept a close eye on the clouds and had prediction of a possibility of lots of snowfall. one of the porters, who was also our head cook, with help of others were preparing dinner. My friend Shivendra took this opportunity to capture this moment outside on his mobile phone camera. As I had hoped, the snowfall intensity increased and we all went inside the tent and listened to songs on radio. The clouds slowly dispersed, and the weather opened up. The rays of the setting sun was now shining on the tips of snow capped mountains. 

After a while, it became dark. Now, we were eating hot potatoes with salt on top, while watching videos on our phones. After having an amazing dinner, we went to sleep. 

Day - 3

The next morning, as expected, the weather was clear. Brightly shining sunlight spread in all directions, and because of frost, the surroundings were covered in white. During the morning, the the rays of the rising sun looked beautiful on the peaks of the mountains. Me and Shivendra were appreciating this view while sipping hot tea. It was cold, but in the Himalayas, if it isn't cold, then what's the fun? 

In front of us was Mount Bhrigupanth, then was Mount Thalay Sagar, and to its left was Mount Jogini- 2. The same group of Himalayan Blue sheep that was with us yesterday, were in front of us at a slight distance. While sipping our 2nd hot cup of tea, we were following their movements, and in the background was the sound of a Kerosene stove coming from our kitchen tent, which made me feel warm. 

The rear side of Mount Bhrigupanth is joined with Mount Meru, the same Mount Meru which is visible from Tapovan. What to say about Thalay Sagar, it's beauty is why I came on this trek in the first place. 

Unlike my previous treks, today I wasn't in much of a rush, because I only had to travel around 3 kilometres. At around 8 am, we left for Kedartal. With me joined Shivendra and our guide Upendra. While our 3 porters stayed at the tent. To our right flowed a stream of crystal clear water, and behind that was Mount Jogini. Our guide Upendra told that this is actually Jogini-2. 

While hiking towards Kedartal, I was expecting to see the same group of  Himalayan Blue sheep that we saw this morning, because I saw them heading towards this direction, however I ended up not finding them anywhere. The sunlight was glorious, and it was quite cold, but this is the weather in which trekking becomes most fun. 

Down towards Gangotri , the weather looked clear, but where we were heading the clouds were rising quickly. I was told that after half an hour of walking, we would be able to see all the peaks right in front of us. Judging by the rising clouds, we thought that the weather might not be clear for long, so we hurriedly moved on. As always, Shivendra was walking ahead of me. 

We were walking at an altitude of around 14000 -15000 feet, but we weren't really that exhausted. The path was well-defined and clear too. As I was told, before reaching much higher, we were beginning to get a clear view of all the mountain peaks. When we reached the top, we felt like our trek was worth it. Left to right, huge mountains embedded in snow. Right in front was Mount Thalay Sagar, which was now even closer for us to look at. Mesmerised my the beauty of our surrounding, we had completely forgotten that we had to trek till the Kedartal lake. 

Even though we were walking on moraine (loose stones and mud that have been carried along by a mass of a glacier and left when melted), there was a clear path available to follow. Himalayan trekking is not fun until you have to cross a glacier or see a crevasse. 

Until now, the trek was quite easy for me, but how hard a trek is depend on the conditions - for example, if it started to snow, this rout would become significantly harder to cross. If it rains heavily, it would be too slippery, but more importantly, rocks would start to fall at a high speed, making the rout dangerous. In addition, our body works differently in different situation and time, my body may be active today, however tomorrow it might be exhausted instead. Therefore calling a trek easy or hard depends on various factors, again this may vary from person to person. 

Ahead towards the right , I was expecting to see the Kedar Baumukh glacier, the source of Kedarganga river. Now, I had reached the point where I could see Kedartal. Half a kilometre from here, we would have to ascend towards the right. Once we got there, we could see the Kedar Baumukh glacier. 

As I expected, the Kedar Baumukh glacier was right in front of us. This was a big and massive glacier. This is where the river Kedarganga originates, this is the same river that has been flowing besides us since our departure from Gangotri. Our guide Upendra informed us that the water in this river actually comes from three glaciers of Bhrigupanth, Thalay Sagar, and Meru. 

In one way I was quite lucky, because even with the muggy weather , I got a stunning view. Otherwise, the peaks would have been hidden behind the clouds, and the entire trip would have been ruined. 

After about 10-15 minutes, Upendra & Shivendra started the descend towards Kedartal, which was around 100 metres from here. For the first time, we saw KEDARTAL lake. I stood for a while, looking at the view, and 15 minutes later I arrived at the lake. Even though the weather was cloudy, the lake water looked as if there was blue sky above. 

Shivendra was preparing for some religious rituals, so did our guide Upendra. He told that there it is believed that, Lord Shiva from his side contributes the water from this lake to Bhagirathi river, that is why it's called Kedartal. 

For me, it does not look as if the water in this lake comes from any glacier, rather, it looked like water accumulated from rainfall or from the ice melting nearby. When considering length of the lake, there was less water in the lake, still the length was nearly 1 kilometre, and the width about 400 metres. Here, everyone takes a dip, and I had not even touched it yet. So, I thought that I might as well splash some lake water on my head and face. Truly speaking, I was so charmed with the surroundings that I was not paying much attention to the lake. 

Mount Thalay Sagar, which was right in front of us, is around 6000-9000 metres in height. The first ones to go to the top of this mountain were a British and American team in 1979, and the first Indian team scaled this Mountain in 2008. 

It had been around an hour since we reached this lake, because when we left  for this place we only had some tea, now we were quite hungry. We had packed some snacks with us, while admiring the surrounding we had our snacks. 

The weather was ever-changing, some times it was snowing, some time it became sunny and clear. We were to return in a while, so we started to take some pics. Because of the surrounding snow, even in bit cloudy weather, we had to wear goggles, because there was so much daylight around us at this altitude. We stayed here for about 2 hours, and my mind was quite satisfied. Now we began our return to Kedar Khadak. On the way back, we met few trekkers, their plan was to set camp at Kedartal. 

In around an hour we reached Kedar Khadak. Down from there towards Gangotri, the weather was looking clear. Our porters who had stayed back, had prepared food for us - rice, beans and Nepali spicy chutney. As soon we started to have our food, a group of Himalayan Blue sheep started to come towards us and grazing, assumed this was the same group we had been seeing throughout the past 2-3 days. This was a new experience for me, I had never seen them this close before. Before we could make the assumption that we were somewhat special and that's why attracted these animals, Upendra told me that these sheep love salt, and whenever they see humans they always come near expecting salt. One of our porters spread salt at a distance for them. 

It only was 3 pm, few more trekkers had arrived, Upendra suggested that on our way back, there is a great place where we can pitch our tent for the night as there it was less cold, and Thalay Sagar is also fully visible from a distance.

 At around 4.30 pm , we started our descend , we only had 2 kilometres to hike. We were just a bit tensed about the landslide zone, which we crossed quickly, there was no group of sheep above, so there was less of a risk of rocks falling. We arrived at our destination for night stay in an hour, now the path from here to Gangotri was 2 kilometres lesser. Instantly our team laid our tent and got in for a rest. 

Day - 4

Next morning I woke up seeing the sun rays spread all over Mount Thalay Sagar. The morning bright sunshine and the excitement of accomplishing our mission induced a wave of energy into every member of our team. All of us, specially our porters who were fond of dancing, started dancing to the tune of local folk music, to which me and my friend also joined. 

                                

It was 8.30 am, after having a light breakfast, we started to pack our belongings. This was a bit emotional moment for me, as we glimpsed Mount Thalay Sagar for the last time. We took few photos, and started our descend at 9 am. 

After hiking for some time, we could see Himalayan Birch trees again. Behind them could see the Mount Thalay Sagar, as if bidding goodbye to us, in such a clear weather it was looking more magnificent. I looked at it for the last time with a heavy heart and continued moving forward. 

                                        

My wish to go on a trek with Upendra had now come true, and what a wonderful trip it was. I found this trek easier compared to my previous treks only because I had a guide like Upendra and his wonderful team of porters. 

And then came again the 'Spider rock', which I had mentioned before. All I will say about this rock is that, on this trek, in different seasons, there could be many sections of the trek that could be scary, but 'Spider Rock' is not one such section. To cross it, you don't even need a guide. 

Now we were nearing Gangotri. I think none of my treks were this smooth. I had made up the plan that if I ever went on a trek to Kalindi Khal, it would be with Upendra only. At around 12 noon we reached Gangotri, and ended our journey by looking at the Suraj Kund waterfall. 

Though, end of any Himalayan trek makes me very emotional, but when you realise it's so amazing how much of the world you get to see when you trek then you feel rejuvenated and start planing for your next trek. One thing I had realised in life that - You can not buy happiness, but when you go for a trek, that is pretty close. I am not addicted to trekking, I am addicted to the way it makes me feel.

My one suggestion to all who read this blog is - do not let age be an excuse to not start your trekking journey. The body is capable of amazing transformations at any age, just you need a positive mindset and few very basic physical training, that you can do at your home. 

Trekking has taught me that, I am capable of so much more than I ever imagined. Any Himalayan trek will heal whatever it is you are ready to heal.

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