June 2, Friday, Gangotri
We got going late as we decided what to do. Karen, Laura and Gwen went with Sushil and Baldir, our MGVS guides at a rapid pace past the Gangotri and up the long trail along the Ganges toward Gaumukh. Marrion, Rocky, John, Richard and Bill followed at a leisurely pace all going part way up and then returning in the evening. The walk along the increasingly narrow road, much of the time only four feet wide and cut into rock cliffs was beautiful. The Ganges, 50 yards wide, surged between and over huge rocks below us and rising above and almost overhanging us were the mountains, a few with snow on them. It didn’t snow much this winter and so the mountains weren’t as snow-covered as usual. The hardy group of five arrived in Bhojbhasa in mid afternoon and then decided to climb up to the blue glacier at Gaumukh where the river poured out, not a trickle but fully formed and roaring. Then they returned to Bhojbhasa for the evening. The other walkers returned in a light rain by supper time.
JUNE 2