The clouds instead of clearing away were getting more and more dense. As we sat having our lunch the three men we had seen climbing behind us at Toli arrived. One was a Sadhu and the other two were the villagers accompanying him. They also stopped for tea and we took to the trail immediately after finishing our lunch as the clouds were very threatening. The reputation of the trail from Panar to Rudranath along the ridge was very true with the wind beating us with all its might. It was cold but not wet as yet. The climb which was supposed to have been over  was still continuing though at a very gentle pace. I moved as fast as I could to avoid getting stuck in the rain. The Panar gufa came and I nearly passed it without realising it, but on enquiry with Indra, he told that it was the Panar gufa where people used to stay when there was no hut. The trail was good and we were able to move fast. However, the high point was still to arrive. We were now moving on the other side of the ridge and then after sometime again crossed over to the side from where we had climbed up. There were no scenes as the clouds had ruined the views. The grass and rock on both sides of the ridge were a soothing sight. Finally, we reached the high point Pitar Dhar which was nearly 12,000′ and was marked with prayer flags and some bells hanging from the tree trunk laid across the path. A small prayer and some photos later we were again on the trail as it had started to drizzle and also it was getting cold. The trail was passing through the juniper jungle and we had to be extra careful since it was a bear terrain. The drizzle thickened into rain and we were still far from Rudranath. We were walking as fast as possible and due to different speeds were scattered along the trail with myself bringing up the rear. Due to clouds it had got darkened and the rain was adding to our misery. There was still no sight of Rudranath. After some more running along the wet trail I reached a hut along the trail, inside which some people were sitting . Though the body felt like entering and having some thing warm, I decided to continue till I reached the final resting place of the day. The bell on the trail was a welcome site as Rudranath was supposed to be only 500 meters from this place, though due to rain I was not able to see anything. It was now raining heavily and the trail was quite wet. I saw the first hut on the right of the trail but on reaching it, I was disappointed on not finding Indra Singh there. I continued cursing Indra for leaving me alone and was thinking of how to find him. As I crossed the second hut, a familiar voice called me and I saw Indra standing there and calling me. Cursing him for leaving me alone I went to the hut and he took my sack and we went into the room which was the kitchen of this hut hotel and here the kitchen fire brought relief to the wet and tired body. Anyway I was wet and so shifted to the adjoining room for changing in to dry clothes. Thereafter, I did not get away from the fire till I had food and was ready to move to the other room for the night. Things were alright despite long day we had, except the rain during the last section of the trail. The roof of the hut was of tin and so the rain was sounding quite terrible and I was not able to visit the temple for the evening arti. Infact, I was not able to see the temple itself due to rain and clouds. Indra vanished and came back after having attended the arti. Next day I got up as usual but rain kept me in my sleeping bag. It was raining cats and dogs and it was sounding more so under the tin roof. Well the hotel owner came to me and told me to get up as the time of arti was fast approaching. I did not have any choice but to get up and go out into the rain. The only thing I found bad about the place was that it had no toilets and so everyone has to go out in the open. Well it was bad situation in the rain but again there was no choice. The cold was also troubling, but once out of the bed it was not much of a problem. I went to the temple in  heavy rain. The trail was rising and the temple was right at the end. First, came a few rooms which were being constructed and then a few more rooms which seemed to be unoccupied. Thereafter were few rooms where the sadhus were staying and then on a raised platform were the rooms of the temple priest. As I went towards the temple I was stopped and asked to wait in one of the rooms till the temple was opened for the arti. As I was looking around I saw the sadhu who had come to the place along with us the previous evening, in one of the rooms. So I entered the room and sat down. The other two men accompanying the sadhu were also there and it seemed the sadhu had taken bath and was ready for the day. The chillum was being made ready and it was handed over to the older men who lighted it and then handed it over to the sadhu for part taking of Shiva’s prasad. Sadhu was also told to wear clothes as he had taken bath and he may catch cold if he remained exposed. I had nothing to do, except watch them, though I was a bit worried about the smoke in the room. I had to politely decline the offer to have a go at the chillum.

Finally it was the time for arti and we all moved to the temple. I was the only trekker apart from the sadhu. Another man was the Mauni baba, the one who had taken the vow of silence. The pujari was a tall well built man and after he had finished the arti he gave the prasad to all present and then we stepped out. I asked Indra about the location of the few water tanks, I had read about and as he was explaining it to me the pujari who happened to listen to the conversation lost his cool and started abusing Indra for letting out the secrets to the outsiders. Indra apologized to him but still he kept shouting abuses towards him. We left the place without having any altercation with the pujari and came down to the hut with some bitter taste.

The rain was not looking like easing and we had our breakfast and waited thinking about what to do next. It was bad scene, as my further plans were getting compromised if I was not able to leave Rudranath that day. I was thinking about the trail as we were supposed to move down hill and it would be very difficult to get down on the wet slippery path. Finally around ten thirty I took the decision to move out in spite of rain. Indra did not have any problem and so we got ready and moved out in the rain which had thinned down. Taking some photos of the temple which was visible in the rushing clouds I was on my way. We retraced the path till the hut, I had encountered previous evening on the way to Rudranath. Indra who had moved off a bit earlier was sitting in the hut and as I reached it he called me in. Two forest guards were also sitting there. Both the gentlemen were in their late fifty’s but had the duty to patrol the jungles around Rudranath every two week or so, and here I seemed satisfied with one visit itself. We had tea with them and took leave of them. The problem was the trail which would have turned into a mesh due to heavy rain during the night. The trail moved up from the hut to a depression on the ridge. Once there we turned right and started along the beautiful trail. The clouds had started to drift apart to give us some view in front and the rain had stopped. We reached the Nyla pass which did not seem to be a pass at all since we had moved across the ridge just beyond the hut. The height was around 12,000′ and it was the highest point on today’s trail. Indra showed me a patch of open grass with a white spot on one end, much down below us and told me that it was Ansuiya Devi and another big open patch was Mandal. Well it seemed to be quite manageable till I actually walked down the trail. Immediately after the Nyla pass the climb down begin over a zigzag trail. The trail was alright initially and then it was a bit grass covered and we had to walk with extra care. The foot hold was satisfactory till now and we were able to loose height fast. As the cloud cover opened a bit more the trail we were running on yesterday evening was visible along the ridge and had the weather been clear it would have offered us fantastic views of the valley down below. May be sometime in future. The jungle was yet to start and we were moving over open space. The small Hansu bugyal was seen down below and sheep were grazing there. Luckily they were a bit away from the trail and so we did not have to face the dogs, but what we did have to face was the bad, stinking and slippery trail. The goat shit had made a mess of the trail and more so after the rains. Very carefully we crossed the path with the dogs barking at us with all their might and we trying hard to avoid all the shit and muck around us. We succeeded in crossing the zone without any thing sticking to us. Immediately thereafter we entered a dense jungle and the trail zigzagged through it. The walk here was made difficult by the rotten leaves and branches which covered the trail. The jungle was thick and we walked together as few meters distance was good for keeping one another out of site. The jungle kept us company for long and then it started to open up. We were still quite high up in the mountain, though we had been moving down all this while and now we were coming in level with a big bugyal towards our left where one temple was seen at the far end. I was thinking that we may be going to that place, but it was far off and not on our trail to Ansuiya Devi. It was the temple of  the Devta of the region.

We moved out of the jungle and reached the small Kanda bugyal  where a few huts are located. Trekkers can get shelter and food here. We also made a small halt and the owner was kind enough to provide us tea and biscuits. A big party had stopped here on their way up to Rudranath, but all were inside and lying down with exhaustion due to the climb up. We did not have any such problem and were in a hurry to reach Ansuiya Devi and then Mandal the same day. We left the place with thanks for the tea and hurried down the path refreshed. The first step now was to reach the Amritganga river and so we continued down into the jungle with the path now being alright and moving down in zigzag fashion. It took lots of time to reach the river and we went across it on a bridge. I had heard about the cave of Atri muni which was a bit off the main trail. Indra told me that it would take nearly 20 minutes to reach the place which is located near the river and due to heavy rains there was lots of water and it will not be possible to reach the cave. He further told me that it was a bad spot and one has to be very careful in entering the cave due to slippery rocks. Since we could not have reached the cave we decided not to waste time there and continued on our way. The rain which had been holding on till now was once again threatening us and we were moving towards the village as fast as we could. The trail was still through the dense jungle and it was also late.

A broken structure of a house came into view and we were at the village. The house was totally in shambles and no one was staying there. The small white structure which I had seen from top was on one end of the open ground and it was the temple of Duttatreya. There was a big temple with a bigger tree on the left of the trail which is dedicated to Ansuiya Devi. Few houses were seen behind it and this finished the village. Opposite side of the temple on the right of the trail was a lone big house and adjacent to it was an open shop. This was the hotel and the shop where one can have food and stay. It was about to rain and it was also late so we decided to stop at Ansuiya Devi for the night. We straight away went to the shop and lowered the bags. The fire burning in the center was welcome and we sat there having tea as rain started to fall in full swing. After we had got some strength back we lifted the sacks and took them to the room on the first floor, where few beds were laid. After changing we were again back in the shop and after having placed our order for food we went off to the temple. The temple is big and the tree is even bigger. Renovation work was going on and so the inner area of the temple would have changed from what it would have been earlier. I hoped that the outer area is kept as it is so that the temple does not loose its old beauty. We sat there for the complete arti which was a complete relief from our experience at Rudranath. Here the pujari did not have the rudra roop and things were much pleasant.  We shifted back to the shop in heavy rain and sat there watching the small Kanda bugyal we had crossed on our way down, which from here seemed quite high up. Thinking about the party which was staying there for the night, we thought about what must be crossing their minds in this heavy rain.

The next day we were up and about as the day broke and even though the sky was overcast it was not raining. Slowly we got ready as we had only six km to walk as from Mandal we would be in vehicle. As the breakfast was getting prepared we decided to visit  the Dutta temple, which I was told that the Marathi team members visit without fail. The temple is a new one and the murti is also new. Behind the temple a small structure stands which is used by the sadhu’s halting at this place. Beyond it the jungle again takes over the mountain side. We had our breakfast and immediately left the place. The path now was very wide and well laid. As we moved a bit out of the village a small structure came up on our left which I passed without bothering as I thought it was a water point. I do not know what came to my mind but I stopped and went to see the tap, but in place of tap I found a beautiful monolith murti of Ganesh, sitting in a reclining position. It is a temple which should not be missed by any as the murti is excellent. We continued on our way and the drop was quite a bit till we reached the village. The trail passed through the village and as few drops of rain had started to fall we did not stop there. Thereafter we reached the Ansuiya Devi gate and Indra told me that we had reached Mandal which is located on the main road from Gopeshwar to Chopta and onwards to Okhimath. The trek had ended and we went to the Bhagat lodge on the other side of the road for change. As we came out it started to rain cats and dogs. The way we had come was totally covered by dark clouds and it seemed the rain gods which had been very kind to us while we were on the trail had let go. What actually happened to the party which was to climb up that day shall remain a mystery, but I can imagine their condition. No taxi was ready to take us with our bags inside and it was not possible to keep them on top in such heavy rain. Anyway I purchased a polythene sheet and with some covering loaded the sack on the top and were soon on our way to Gopeshwar. Another change of taxi and we were on the main road from Srinagar to Badrinath at Chamoli.  Here, Indra went up towards Helang from where he would have gone to his village and I started the second leg towards Kumaon, which is another story.