ABOVE: our campsite at Triund

It was the first week of october and the weather in McLeod Ganj felt like fall. As we hiked up the hill, we passed through forests of pine trees and found orange colored leaves along our path. I was thrilled, I was getting just the dose of autumn that I needed. (Sidenote, fall happens to be my favorite season) Originally when we looked at trekking options, I enthusiastically searched for 4 and 5 day treks. I'm so glad that didn't work out. I realized quickly how out of shape I was. This trek wasn't extremely difficult, but it also wasn't easy for me. For my short legs, each step felt like I was doing high knees. Most of the time, our guide would be 50 feet away and Michael would be halfway between us. The trek was really refreshing though. I loved every minute of it and constantly wanted to stop and take in the surroundings. Along our trek we stopped at a few little tea stalls and met other trekkers. Some who were traveling beyond Triund, into the mountains.

After 5.5 hours, we reached the hilltop of Triund. It was covered in clouds and we could only see 20ft in front of us. Slowly the clouds cleared and we got a glimpse of the mountains behind. It was exactly what I wanted. We had trekked up from 2,000 meters to 2,700 meters and the view was beautiful! Our guide began to set up our tent while we made friends with other trekkers. We sipped tea on the hilltop and just took in the sites. Just next to our tent were a couple backpackers whom we made friends with, one from the US and one from the UK. Soon the rains came in and we took shelter under the little chai shop. It rained for hours and the temperature slowly dropped. While everyone tossed on their layers, I sat in my capri's and t-shirt and watched the rains come in. I was letting my Wisconsin blood show! Of course at night, I threw on every layer I had and buried myself in my sleeping bag. It was a chilly night to camp! The evening was beautiful. On one side we could see the distant lights of Dharamshala and on the other, the silhouette of the mountains. Above us, the sky was filled with stars. More than I had ever seen in my life! 

We woke up the next morning and trekked up to the snow line which was at about 3,000 meters. It took us an hour and a half and once we reached, we had an amazing view of the mountains! We grabbed chai at the shack and stared at the mountains for a while. This was the start of the Himalayas. Definitely lower peaks on this side, but it was just beautiful. We trekked down to our campsite, packed up and headed back to McLeod Ganj. 

On our trek down, we got caught in the rain. What we hoped would be just a brief drizzle ended up being an hour long pour. The rest of our trek down was challenging. It felt like we were trekking down a creek. About 3 inches of water filled our path of rocks. Every step was strategically places so that we wouldn't slip and fall. When we made it to the bottom, we were relieved. And finally the sun came out! 

I loved our trek to Triund, it was just the type of nature time I needed!