Magical Mystery Falls Trek..part 2

Magical Mystery Falls....the mystery that remains unsolved...and the magic of the mountains

Last trek was in April 2004...Clear skies, just a little nip in the wind, springtime in the Himalayas....The first half is a slow ascent from Barlowgunj.....the path covered with fallen, dried oak leaves. The right hand side is a well-forested 'khud', a gorge through which in wintertime the leopards do come sometimes. Mrs. Singh, now 85+, recalled how a few months back her Alsatian was almost taken away....Motilalji even told me of one leopard caught napping at 5 a.m. on the small playground (but that's an exaggeration ;-)

Anyway, the path winds through, mainly through the dense oak forests. And on the left hand cliffside one finds gooseberries ("anchus") occasionally, the kalijhora shrubs, the nettles ("pahari bichchus") and what not....Here's a pic of the winding path...



A few steps from Barlow and I was greeted with the sound of the cuckoos & the rat-tat of woodpeckers....But most of all, what soothes one's nerves is the damp smell of the fallen leaves and the gentle mountain breeze.

The gentle climb ends in a plateau......and the sight of Pari Tibba, or Hill of the Pixies. Pari Tibba is a special hill...it features in about 10+ stories of Ruskin Bond, the famed author....But then, the story of Pari Tibba, known by many names, such as the Haunted Hill, the Burnt Hill, the Fairy Hill, or the Hill of the Pixies......is a story or an epic in itself. Pic of Pari Tibba from the plateau :



I still can't explain the mysterious fluorescent streaking lights I saw on about 4 to 5 occassions from the window of our house.....I was told you could see them only late at night...and each time I saw them was about 2 or 3 a.m. at night from the verandah......I still haven't got an explanation. So I prefer to call it the Hill of the Pixies. But let me not trangress from the trek....

Covered in a dense foliage of oaks, rhododendrons in its lower reaches to pines near its western summit, plus mainly the dense undergrowth foliage.....it is indeed a sight to see from the Plateau......There are gorges, one that can be seen also in the photo...these gorges are filled with rivulets. One of the most dramatic sights I've ever seen a little bit below from this vantage point was an eagle gliding, gliding...and then suddenly diving down into a shrub....some scuffle of feathers..and it flies up, a silvery snake in its talons...

The stream of Magical Mystery Falls flows through a gorge at the base of Pari Tibba.....