Fwd: Botanizing in Kashmir Part I: Attempting to climb Mt. Kolahoi & Saxifraga pulvinaria

[J.M. Garg]

Thanks, Chadwell ji, for the wonderful efforts.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: C CHADWELL <chrischa...@btinternet.com>
Date: 5 December 2016 at 10:40
Subject: Botanizing in Kashmir Part I: Attempting to climb Mt. Kolahoi & Saxifraga pulvinaria
To: "J.M. Garg" <jmg...@gmail.com>

Just to show that Chris Chadwell really has explored for plants in places

few botanists venture, kindly view the attached images of me scrambling about

near to Mt. Kolahoi, one of the higher peaks in the main Kashmir valley @ some 5400m.

The images are scanned in from slides taken in the 1980s plus 2 from the 1970s made

available to me by the late Oleg Polunin.

1.  View from Lidder Valley

2.  View from Upper Lidder Valley

3.  Mt. Kolahoi's north glacier - I scrambled above the glacier onto the cliffs to the left which was

home to large colonies of Meconopsis aculeata

4.  Snout of Kolahoi's north glacier - main source of Lidder River which flows through Pahlgam

5.  A colleague negotiating slippery waterfalls to collect botanical specimens for the University of Kashmir

herbarium

6.  Closer view of Mt. Kolahoi from the West.

7.  Snout of Kolahoi's south glacier - perhaps you can make out the two porters to the left of the glacier (one

with a ruck-sack with a yellow sleepa mat)

8.  On the south glacier after 'accident'

9.  Chris with two local villagers hired as porters to carry our rucksacks as far as the 'col' where we had planned to

camp, attempting to scale Kolahoi the next day but it was not meant to be.

10. Saxifraga pulvinaria 'White-pitted Saxifrage' - photographed by Oleg Polunin; recorded up to 5400m in Kashmir

11. Saxifraga pulvinaria 'White-pitted Saxifrage' - photographed by Oleg Polunin; recorded up to 5400m in Kashmir

I had spotted what I take to be Waldheimia glabra near the snout of the glacier and was hoping to get good photos

of Saussurea simpsoniana, as well as reaching the top of the peak.

A Britisher colleague and I plus our Scottish guide, the son of a couple who ran a school in Kashmir, who had climbed to

the top of the mountain before.  We carried our rucksacks & tents from Pahlgam past Aru and up a side-valley, arranging

for two men from the last village to act as porters for the day to take our loads to a drop-off point, allowing them to safely

return.   The following day we planned our ascent.

Unfortunately, my British friend became unwell and it was decided he was not fit to attempt to climb Kolahoi, so he returned

to Pahlgam.  I carried on with my guide but as the ice of the snout of the glacier was slippery and the porter's footwear not ideal,

steps needed to be cut into the ice to safely negotiate a short steep section.  In the guide's over-enthusiasm, the ice-axe he was

using bounced off the ice with the sharp end going into the top of his head!  There was not much blood.  I administered first aid,

bandaging him up.  He said he was fine and that we should continue.  I, correctly said a form no, imaging what could happen at

any time and certainly if we went higher....  What a shame but one must always "play safe".   The fittest and strongest I had ever

felt in the Himalaya.  I was relieved to get the young man back to his parents (one of whom was a doctor).  Thankfully the wound

was not too serious and no permanent damage.   Mountains must be treated with respect.   Clearly the Gods were not with me that day.

I never got another chance to found out what grew at 5400m (some 18,000') in the Kashmir Himalaya - not that too many others know.

Best Wishes,

Chris Chadwell

81 Parlaunt Road 
SLOUGH
SL3 8BE
UK

www.shpa.org.uk

--

With regards,
J.M.Garg

'Creating awareness of Indian Flora & Fauna'

Winner of Wipro-NFS Sparrow Awards 2014 for efloraofindia. 

For identification, learning, discussion & documentation of Indian Flora, please visit/ join our Efloraofindia Google e-group (largest in the world- around 2700 members & 2,40,000 messages on 31.3.16) or Efloraofindia website (with a species database of more than 11,000 species & 2,20,000 images).

The whole world uses my Image Resource of more than a thousand species & eight thousand images of Birds, Butterflies, Plants etc. (arranged alphabetically & place-wise). You can also use them for free as per Creative Commons license attached with each image.

Also author of 'A Photoguide to the Birds of Kolkata & Common Birds of India'.

[Prashant Awale]

Wow, Great... That is really adventurous...

It requires great commitment, willpower and of course physical & mental toughness to undertake such expeditions.. My salute to Chadwell ji...

All the photographs (Slides) shared are awesome...

Regards

Prashant

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[C CHADWELL]

Dear Prashant

Thanks for your generous comments.  It made extra sense for me to abandon my attempt to climb my Kolahoi,

as my Britisher companion, who had to withdraw before we reached the glacier, was vastly more experienced

in mountains than I, with rock & ice-climbing experience in winter. Adventurous though I am, have always judged that

it makes sense to "come back down" from the mountains in one piece.  The British have a habit of "dying valiantly in the field"

and no doubt my name would have been 'elevated' had I done so but one must try to make wise decisions in the interests of

the safety of companions and anyone hired.  Local people whether in the Indian Himalaya or Nepal, be they porters or guides, may

have little experience and zero training, so it is the responsibility of Westerners who undertake treks (and more demanding

scrambles to keep them safe as well).

It is my intention to post other Parts, from Kashmir covering Sunset Peak (Pir Panjals) where I did locate Saussurea

simpsoniana; Nichinai Pass (a straightforward walk during a trek but a very cold place to camp below the hanging glaciers,

with an enormous colonies of Saxifraga jacquemontiana, Primula reptans etc. plus other adventurous explorations in Ladakh and Lahoul.

I have always had a fascination with 'higher alpines' and it is informative to see the habitats where they grow.  Whilst not undertaking

formal surveys, as I am able to reliably identify many (though not all by any means) of the plants I come across in

the Himalaya, this has put me in a unique position to assess the abundance (or not) of species which inhabit high places.

It is impossible to judge the status of said species unless one goes up into the higher mountains and is able to scramble

about amongst boulders, on steep slopes and at times on cliff-faces not forgetting being able to recognise the species seen.

In recent decades thanks to the sterling efforts of the Indian Army and others, tracks and roads have been built (with at times, loss of life, so we all must be appreciative) providing access to many high passes but one still MUST venture beyond the roadside to understand the vegetation and be mindful, more accessible though such places are by vehicle compared with trekking, such passes are not necessarily representative of the region's vegetation.

Caution must be shown even with the luxury of a comfortable 4WD vehicle along a major route.  Take the Manali to Leh 'road' as an example.  Many people cross the Baralacha La by road every day it is open.  I met Dr Walter Koelz an American zoologist who with Thakur Rup Chand made extensive botanical collections in Kulu Valley, Lahoul & Ladakh for the Russian Nicholas Roerich back in the 1930s - they travelled on foot, taking weeks, when nowadays such trips can be completed in a day or two.

In the early 1990s I reached and went beyond the Baralacha La (at about 4800m not especially high).  A year later a colleague of mine who had accompanied me on one of those occasions (by then into his late 60s) repeated the journey with a fit, slim young man in his 20s, who had previously trekked to a similar altitude in Nepal with no problems (walking is a better means of acclimatisation than using a vehicle).  They spent the night on the pass itself.  During the night the young man's lips turned blue and he started cough blood, causing great concerned - he was taken down rapidly (a vehicle helps) and within a week he had fully recovered.  He clearly had not acclimatised adequately and strangely enough (or perhaps not so) it is not always the younger ones who cope best with altitude - though sooner or later even the world's leading mountaineers can no longer reach the heights they once could.

I trust you will enjoy viewing these images as well.

Best Wishes,

Chris Chadwell

81 Parlaunt Road 
SLOUGH
SL3 8BE
UK

www.shpa.org.uk

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From: Prashant Awale <pka...@gmail.com>
To: J.M. Garg <jmg...@gmail.com>
Cc: efloraofindia <indian...@googlegroups.com>; C CHADWELL <chrischa...@btinternet.com>
Sent: Monday, 5 December 2016, 6:37
Subject: Re: [efloraofindia:258224] Fwd: Botanizing in Kashmir Part I: Attempting to climb Mt. Kolahoi & Saxifraga pulvinaria

[Dinesh Valke]

Salutes to your enthusiasm and determination, Chadwell ji !! 

Challenging terrain and of course weather can be cruel too.

Best regards.

Dinesh

Cc: efloraofindia <indiantreepix@googlegroups.com>; C CHADWELL <chrischadwell261@btinternet.com>

[J.M. Garg]

Thanks, Chadwell ji, for detailed accounts.

Cc: efloraofindia <indiantreepix@googlegroups.com>; C CHADWELL <chrischadwell261@btinternet.com>