KAGHAN: THE UNSEEN RHAPSODY PART-2
I reached Jalkhad at around 1 in the afternoon. As the name being self explanatory, Jal-khad can be taken as a large ditch in the path of river Kunhar. The abundance of blue-green algae had turned the lake into emerald green, and with the thick coniferous forest at the other end, the place appears to have jumped right out of a fantasy. The carpeted road ended at Jalkhad and from there onward it was just a gravel road, one that can be tough on a trekker’s feet. The work done by FWO up to this place is of high standard and a mighty difficult one. Kaghan road via Babusar pass to Gilgit, if made operational, can actually reduce the time to reach Gilgit by 7-8 hours. I bought some pakora’s to soothe my tummy and started off on foot. As per the local info, it was a 2 hours walk up to Baisal. Soon I was offered a ride in one of the passing by jeeps, which apparently had pity on a lone backpacker trekking in perilous mountains. I reached Baisal at 2 o clock and started off on foot for Lake Lulusar. It took me another gruesome 2 hours to reach the lake.
They are a bead of seven lakes, the higher one dropping in the lower lake with lake “Surkhail” being the highest one at approximately 15000ft above sea level. While the first lake on the way up is known as the fairy lake. The name “Sat-sar mala” was coined somewhere back decades ago when maybe there were actually seven lakes, but at this point in time there are known to have only six of them. “Sat-sar mala” being not on my current list of the expedition to assorted lakes, I sat there fantasizing about the beauty and the magnificence of the place.
……to be continued
Part – 3