Just a Couple of Weekend Warriors

 Well I feel like I can only talk about beautiful mountains and bluebird skies for so long until you all just get annoyed with my repetitive prose, so this post will be more about showing you the magical beauty of the Himalayas rather than telling you.

It looks like we've become something of weekend warriors here in Uttarakhand for the month of January. During the week Davis works on his project and learning Hindi and I work on my book, volunteering with Ecologists Without Borders and a few other random things. We usually work out in the mornings and eat meals together, our weekdays have been pretty routine this month and our weekends have had a similar vibe, although being different in many ways, they've all included a few hours on the motorcycle, plenty of blue sky, and some uphill hiking. The bit of routine has been a welcome change after all of our traveling around the last month and a half or so.

gettin some new kicks

making roti for dinner 

sewing our new badminton bag

Beautiful view on my morning run

our favorite trash puppies

I talked about this in my last blog post, but the first weekend in January we went to a small village so that Davis could learn about local farming with a contact that he had there. The man was super helpful and showed us around his farm, plus he gave us some delicious rosemary tea and had a very informative interview with Davis. On our way back to Srinagar we passed through Pauri and saw a lovely temple as the sun was setting. 

The following weekend we went to New Tehri to explore and went on a small hike there but spent plenty of time gawking at the incredible view of the Himalayas (which has become one of our favorite things to do). We also went to two waterfalls that we had seen on Google Maps but they ended up both being more of a trickle than a falls.

underground market

The following day we followed one website article that we had found for a hike to a temple on a hill. Getting to the spot to start the hike definitely took some work. We were driving all over the place and eventually asked for directions, which then took us on a pretty sketchy "road" to where we started the hike. It actually ended up being a super wonderful hike up to the Khait Pravat temple. Roundtrip the hike was 4.75 miles with 3,200ft of elevation gain. It was steep but really cool, and we sat on the summit for awhile, enjoying the sun and the views. 

We went up on that point!

The next weekend we went to Guptkashi because Davis had a meeting with a farmer group there, and then we went up a little higher to Dewar where we had found a trek on Alltrails that was supposed to start from there. 

always lookin out for that reflection :)

the sweetest cuddle puddles 

The hike had no reviews and no photos. We had no idea what to expect. And Davis got sick. But we did our best and we attempted to follow the route, which was extremely hard to do. Eventually we made it to the ridge and route finding got a bit easier, but Davis was feeling pretty weak so we enjoyed the snow, I made snow angels and a few snow face prints, and we sat and again enjoyed the immense beauty of the mountains, and then we descended.

We drove to Kanakchauri after that funny little 6 mile hike where we stayed in one of the only possible places there. Our room had a bathroom, but no sink, and the power was a bit funky as well. But the hike was well worth it. We hiked the following morning to Kartik Swami temple. Davis was feeling a bit better but not 100% quite yet. This hike is much more popular and has a very easy to follow trail to the summit. Near the top the path turns to stairs as you ascend to this temple that sits at the foot of the Himalayas. It almost appears to bow at their feet. This is one of the best views we've gotten, and the views have been magnificent constantly, but here they were even better. The views were nearly 360 degrees. The Himalayan peaks took up their portion of the horizon, and the rest was blanketed with soft blue rolling hills as far as the eye could see. 

my escort to the temple

We finished off the day's events by going to a temple on the river on the way back to Srinagar.

Coming up- I'm spending the first two weeks of February at an ashram in Rishikesh doing a 100 hour yoga teacher training while Davis spends some time with farmers in Kenatal. 

Much love, folks!!