Pangot,Chanfi, Sattal: Walking with Nature

 

“Keep your love of nature, for that is the true way to understand art more and more.”

~Vincent Van Gogh

 

“You don’t take a photograph, you make it.”

― Ansel Adams

 This is the second time I went to Pangot, and somehow this time seems so much more enjoyable.  Was it because the first time I had to “been there done that”, and this time I didn’t have to do anything, and yet did it all. I took a camera, different lens for different situations, and just walked or drove, stopping when I wanted for as long as I wanted.

Old huts give way to new houses

The forest quickly grows over places no longer needed for habitation.

Sadly, from the five or so homestays about three years ago, it’s become fifty.  It is not long before this quiet niche too surrenders to the Great Indian Traveler, though it is a toss-up between locals making a living versus the hordes that descend on these places on weekends.  Though to their credit the local authorities are doing their best to ensure a litter-free experience.

The forest is lush green and thick in most places...

...particularly when the leaves are backlit

These places are a birders paradise, being recently put on the birders map and more so because of the abundance of forests. I do not intend discussing endemic vs exotic plants here, suffice it to say that a little way off Nainital there does exist deep, dark forests. Like all great forests in India, the more difficult it is to get to, the more pristine it is. 

A butterfly by the side of the many roads I walked in Pangot.

There were forests along the road and though hot, there was shade at most places.

For the first few days I walked and photographed, starting at 5.30 am when it was cool, less trafic and so quiet.  Birds appeared when the sun came up, (and so did vehicles!!) and from the tops of trees greeted the new day till the heat drove them into the foliage. It is also characteristic that some places are completely devoid of birds and some places, a few metres away, full of them.

A timid Barking Deer peeps at me through the trees before approaching to sip water at Woodpecker Point

Eurasian Jay comes in to bathe at the pond

About two kilometres from the place I was staying, there is a little pond in the forest called Woodpecker Point.  I spent two lovely occasions, one in the evening and one morning sitting there, making images and watching denizens of the forest around come to drink water and bathe. The highlights were three Barking Deer, of which two came timidly down to drink, the third did not summon the courage.  There were plenty of bold Grey Wagtail feeding on insects in the wet mud.

On subsequent two days I got driven by a local, being to go further and then walking which enabled me to do some nature images further afield.One day I went to Chanfi and Sattal where, along a stream in Chanfi I photographed a country bridge, and looked for birds.

The bridge over a small stream in Chanfi, I spent many contented hours walking along this rivulet 

An inquisitive Macacque looks at the camera before continuing to feed.

It got hot by midday but I spent two engrossing hours by a stream (when everything else was asleep) photographing the life of brilliantly green Damsel Flies. It was mating season and finally after much courtship and coyness they mated.

An emerald green Damsel Fly, there were so many of them flitting about and around....

...these brown females

...but only this pair mated.

Along this stream I saw many-hued dragonflies too, if undisturbed they invariably return to the same perch, this gave me wonderful opportunities to photograph them. They are of many colours from brilliant reds to absolute black and a myriad of shades in between.

There were Dragonflies of so many colours, like this one with a black body forward and crimson behind...

...White and black...

...and these two fully crimson and shades of blue...

As the sun began to set, I went to Sattal, where in a forest nearby I saw a Brown Wood Owl being mobbed by many lesser birds.  The highlight as always is the “studio”, a small stream near which one can take photographs of birds which come to drink and bathe in the evening.  To aid photographers the forest department has put in a few sticks on which the birds perch before diving into the water.

This Black Bulbul comes in to drink and bathe with a Tickell's Thrush and Red-billed Leothrix awaiting their turn...

...a Himalayan Black-lored Tit looks at me....

...a flock of Red-billed Leothrix get to the water...

...White-crested Laughingthrush drying off after a bath...

...a White-throated Laughingthrush examines me before jumping in.

On the second day being driven I went in search of the elusive Koklass Pheasant, I drove quite a distance and saw one Koklass in the distance. But saw many more butterflies attracted to thistle flowers. Simply being out in the hard and craggy terrain is a joy.

There were clumps of thistles by the road wherever the sun shone, where there were thistle flowers, there was nectar...

... and always butterflies to sip the nectar.

On one of my many walks, I saw Thistle in full bloom by the roadside, and in a first for me, I saw butterflies, Hummingbird Moths and bees attracted by the nectar of these Thistle flowers. Many insects are drawn to these flowers and a lot of clumps by the roadside.

A House Sparrow gets the caterpillar.

There many caterpillars everywhere, of some sort of moth, and though the birds were feeding on them, they didn’t seem to get any less. There were spiders too, big ones and small ones, they made the bedding their home and one had to constantly shoo them away.

Often I would do nothing but sit in the sunshine and watch the world go by. The sunset was particularly beautiful from here.

Sunset in the mountains

Hiking is so universal that it's truly an activity everyone can do. Whether you're young or old, an expert or an amateur, there's a trail out there that will be perfect for you. So the next time you're pondering an outdoor adventure—maybe even reading quotes about camping and think of where you could go, but please leave no trace of your passing.

 

G.M. Trevelyan

"After a day’s walk, everything has twice its usual value."

John Muir

"Of all the paths you take in life, make sure a few of them are dirt."