Along the tracks of a Snow Leopard; Kashmir, India

To say that the previous day was long is an understatement. We had trekked over a high pass (Ghans Galli; 4414m) onto a glacier riddled with crevasses and covered in snow.  There were no detailed maps to pre-warn us of the harshness of the terrain. A few squiggly lines linking villages was the best that we had, together with the knowledge of local herders who would not usually dare to walk these paths at this time of year.

It was the end of October and we were deep in Kashmir, tickling the Kishtwar district, a long-disputed area between India and Pakistan.  Our Urdu-speaking porters and guides were villagers from Pannikher, officially in India; however they referred to Srinagar as “Islamabad”, a clear reminder that governmental boundaries and local opinion were not necessarily one and the same.

We eventually set up camp that night at around 10 p.m. on a shallow, frozen tarn. It was the only bit of flat area around.  Even with a foam mat underneath, my Thermarest on top and Jamie’s thick, expedition down sleeping bag, I could feel the cold of the ice creeping through my bones. The hiss of the stove and crunching of our cook’s footsteps in the snow at dawn was a welcome and much appreciated sound!

And what a glorious morning it was! The skies, threatening with clouds the previous night, had cleared to a serene blue, leaving me almost wondering if I had imagined the previous 24 hours… It was an absolutely perfect day!

Glancing back at the glacier, I felt lightness in my footsteps as we turned our backs on the night that had passed, renewed with awe at the stupendous terrain before us. The valley opened up like a massive chasm, steep walls soaring above and the glacial river meandering carefree in ribbon-loops below. I felt very small; insignificant, yet completely at peace with my place in this Universe. It was perfect.

“Stop” said Robin, jolting me out of my reverie. He was pointing at something on the muddy path alongside his footprints. “Now guess what that is!” he said with a grin on his face. An unmistakable kitty-cat paw print was etched in the ground, clear as day! I felt my heart jump up a notch. For years I have wanted to see a leopard in the wild. With Africa in my blood, big cats have been a passion since childhood. I’ve seen lions strolling lazily through bushveld, witnessed a cheetah jumping out onto the road a few meters from the car and more recently, seen a caracal nestled in long grass, pretending to ignore our admiring gaze. But leopards, of any shape or form, are my very favourite cat of all! I had yet to see one…

We hiked onward down the valley path, her paw prints and the stripe-marks of her balancing tail taunting us along the way. She was ahead of us, perhaps by a day.  That night we slept in the warm comfort of a herder’s hut, memories of the previous night far, far away. A bear paw-print spotted at dusk became the focus of our imaginations; but the story-telling and fanciful dreams could not hold us long as we sank into slumber in the safe confines of our smoky abode.

Again we awoke to perfect conditions, happy and carefree with the promise of yet another magnificent day. Lower down, nearing the confluence of the Bagau and Humpet valleys, the terrain opened up into welcoming plains. Not long after setting off, we came across our leopard’s tracks, this time together with those of a herd of antelope, meandering over the snowy ground. We crossed the river, feet freezing white in the icy chill, turning tingling pink on the other side. Again we met up with the tracks; the leopard following the antelope and us following her. All the way down the valley, our trails criss-crossed. For a full day and a half we shared a path. We never got to see her, but we knew that she was there, perhaps looking down on us from the ridge above…

I have yet to see a leopard. Perhaps one of these days…

I was privileged to join Robin Boustead, Percy Fernandez and Toni Wilson on an exploratory trek for the GHT (Great Himalaya Trail) in India during October 2011. This is an excerpt from those beautiful times. To view satellite imagery of the area that we trekked, go to http://spotwalla.com/tripViewer.php?id=3a964e8f0306acef1&showInfo=yes The yellow SpotWalla markers numbered 36-39 indicate the location of the story above. 

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