Pindari Glacier Trek

We are fresh off the trail of the 6-day Pindari Glacier Trek, which begins and ends in the town of Song. We were led to believe by our trusty Lonely Planet Guidebook that we could get info about the trek and arrange guides, porters, and supplies in Song. We weren't planning to hire a guide or porter, but we did want to pick up some food, maybe rent another sleeping bag, and definitely get some info about the trail route. While waiting for a jeep in a town 38 km from Song, I happened to see a small guide service, so I went in to see if they had information. They were able to sketch me a map of sorts. Great...I did something useful with my time. Little did we know that when we arrived in Song, there was little waiting for us but a dirt street with a dusty snack shop. Obviously confused and not sure what to do, we asked where the trail started, and the locals pointed us to a path leading "up". So we inadvertently started our trek much sooner that we expected, carrying everything we brought to India, and armed with only a hand-drawn map of the trail. We DID know that there was huts to stay in along the way, and some kind of food available there, and the distances between those checkpoints.
We lumbered up the trail, asking anyone we met if we were heading the right way. We eventually found a man who offered us a place to stay for the night, and cooked for us. He also let us keep some of our extra weight luggage at his place for us to pick up on the way out. The next day we plunged into the mountains, and were met by a HUGE landscape of jagged cliffs and a rushing glacier fed river. There was water everywhere, so we never had to carry more than 1 liter on us at a time. The sun filtered through the dense greenery, and the rocks all glittered when the sun hit them (much like the vampires in 'Twilight'). I know this is three movie references in two sentences, but we decided that the scenery was like 'Jurassic Park' meets 'Fern Gully'!
Out on this trail, it is all about supply and demand. Huts were cheap enough to spend a night at, but food was definitely pricey and limited. We have now eaten enough rice and potatoes to last us a lifetime. Vegetables are rare, and fruit is unheard of...but the one thing you can always count on finding at the end of the earth in India is a cup of chai. The chai was amazing, especially for all the chilly nights we spent huddled in our sleeping bags. Another interesting thing was that everywhere we stopped, the hut host was literally pleading us to sell him our headlamp. Mine is an old one with a crack that I would perhaps sell, but we need them for our next trek. We turned down offers left and right. Finally, on one of the last nights of the trek, one man kept upping his offer to Rs. 700 ($14) plus he'd throw in his own hand held flashlight. So we finally parted with the cracked headlamp. Supply and Demand! So a tip to anyone ever trekking in India: bring a bag full of old headlamps, and you will make a profit AND be everyone's best friend along the trail. They are all the rage in rural Himalaya!
Anywhere we stopped, we were always asked, "You have no guide? No porter?". It was nice to be on our own, and in truth the trail was very easy to follow, and we hardly had to carry anything since food and huts were available. The trek lead us into a sanctuary of snowed capped peaks, where we climbed a small hill and sat basking in the sun for 2 hours, surrounded by the beauty. This trek was exactly what we were looking for, and it was a good warm-up for our next one, which we hope to be longer, more remote, and carry our food and rent a tent. So, 90km and one broken Chaco later...we are back in Bageshwar, where we are still deciding which bus will we get on tomorrow morning at 5 am. Joshimath or Rishakesh...I'll let the suspense of that one hang with you until next time!