In Search of the Ghost Cat

During a trip to Kabini in 2017, having successfully sighted leopard & tigers made me ambitious. I now wanted to photograph the most elusive of all big cats – the ghost cat. Few of my friends were planning to go to Spiti valley in Himachal Pradesh in Mar 2018 with the same objective, and I signed-up for the adventure, along with my wife Tanu. The preparations started in Nov 2017, with the creation of first of many list of things that needed to be procured for this two week trip. Over a period of three months, we shopped for winter gear including snow boots, down jackets, balaclavas, gaiters, etc. as we were going to be in snow covered mountains with maximum temperature being -5C while night temperature would dip to -20C!

Finally, the much-anticipated day arrived. Tanu & I boarded the flight to Chandigarh early in the morning, and by evening, we were in the lap of mighty Himalayas – Shimla. As a matter of fact, we knew that next ten days of trip will be tough, hence we indulged and not just with food but with long hot showers and a good night’s sleep too. We met as a group and talked about do’s and dont’s on the trip to ensure our safety. Our group of seven started the journey in two Xylo SUV’s, reaching the town of Kalpa at an altitude of 9700+ feet by the evening of second day. A screening of the movie “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” in the evening added to the enthusiasm and set the tone for days to come.

The third day started with a grim reminder that it was the last place with running water! We all contemplated and then took a bath on a cold freezing morning. We had a hearty breakfast and realised that each of has last min shopping to be done. Between seven of us, we made a quick stop at ReckongPeo market for variety of things, more importantly ginger and lemon for those who cannot live without ginger or lemon tea.

With shopping done, stomachs full, winter wear out, all permits in order, real journey started with a long winding drive, unaware that our first encounter with difficult life is just an hour away. While we enjoyed the views and were talking about the boards put by BRO claiming that it was “world’s most treacherous road”, it hit us.

We were standstill due to a small landslide for quarter an hour and it felt like eternity. Well, that was the trailer as in few kilometres, we ended up waiting for more than five hours while the border road personnel blasted away the rocks, piled up by another landslide, to open up the road.

By sundown, the road opened and we climbed nearly 5000 feet thru the mountain roads to our next destination – village of Mane Yogma reaching 14000 feet altitude. It was amusing and scary at the same time when we realised that in absence of phone connectivity, our home stay owner was navigating us from across the valley through a torch light. By the time we reached, we were tired, hungry, cold and had to walk about half a kilometre from car to home stay. However, the home owners ensured that our welcome was warm both figuratively and literally.

Withdrawal symptoms started creeping in as we were without mobile network for most of the day. It was funny to observe most of us checking our phones with no updates. With no heating available, we used our water bottles filled with boiling water to give us warmth and woke up to a glorious morning. It was a sight to soak in with mountains lit up by sun rays while moon was still on the horizon.

The morning could not have gotten any better as the villagers shared the news of Tibetian Wolves heard in the vicinity. We finished our breakfast of bread & eggs and set out for our first trek of the trip. After walking for about two hours, at an altitude of 14500+ feet, we could not find the wolves but saw the first sign of the ghost cat – its footprints. Our guide tracked it for some distance but we had to abandon it as the terrain became very difficult to walk.

The sight of Tanu being helped navigate a snow-covered slope, where a slip would have meant 4000 feet roll into the valley sent shivers down our spines.

We got serious about the safety after this, packed our loafers & sneakers, and out came the heavy-duty snow boots.

After coming back to the village, we decided to abandon the search and drive higher up, to the village of Kibber, located at an altitude of 14200 ft. This was to be our home for next eight days, as we would trek around in search of the mountain wildlife. In Kibber, we stayed with a local family. Many of the things which we consider basic facilities were non-existent, there was no bathroom, a basic squat type dry toilet, limited heating and of course no phone or television.

On the first day in Kibber, our group trekked to a nearby vantage point, in search of the mountain wildlife. Soon we saw a herd of mountain goat, Ibex, on a nearby mountain. Our excited group got out the cameras and took few hundred pictures before the Ibex moved up higher in the mountain – probably irritated with our constant chatter. After that it turned out to be a long day, waiting for news from the “spotters” who were scouting the nearby mountains for signs of the ghost cat. As we finished lunch, we got the news we were waiting for – a cat has been spotted. Though, it meant that we would have to trek for four hours. It being our first day at that altitude, it was advised against and we took the hard decision to go back to the village. On the way back, we caught sight of villagers herding the Yak’s back to the village.

With mobile phones reduced to basic game-consoles and cameras, we were now completely cut-off from the rest of the world. Evenings got longer and we started exploring ways to bring variety in life and what better way to start it than food. A combination of Maggi and bhujia, sandwich made out of local bread, concoction of leftover snacks served as bhel puri, overall innovation at its best. A local version of spice mix was instant hit and many of us carried it back home.

The second day in the Kibber village, overall sixth day of our trip, proved to be lucky day. During breakfast, the walkie-talkie crackled with an update from our star spotter, Rinchen, that the ghost cat is visible “nearby”. As there was no option to take a bath, we all were ready within minutes of finishing the breakfast. Carrying our heavy cameras mounted with even heavier zoom lenses, we set out for the nearby spot which was “just” four hours exhausting trek away through some gorgeous, snow covered landscape.

After reaching the edge of the cliff, we stared hard at the mountain opposite to us. Rinchen kept telling us that the cat was sitting opposite to us, but we could not spot it! We could see the yellow beak of the Alpine Chough flying in the air, the abandoned nest of a Golden Eagle, and even the well camouflaged hide where NatGeo photographers were camping, but could not locate the ghost. Suddenly, some of the stones moved, and there it was – my first Snow Leopard aka the Ghost Cat! We could finally see the magnificent beast taking a stroll on the ridge opposite to us.

https://www.wwfindia.org/about_wwf/priority_species/snow_leopard/about_snow_leopard/

As the day progressed, the ghost cat kept playing hide and seek with the sunlight while feasting on a kill – a Blue Sheep. Only later we came to know that the Blue Sheep was killed by another snow leopard, and this one had laid its claim on the kill by chasing away the original predator! Our group stayed focused on the leopard, and kept capturing every move of it in our cameras. Our hosts got hot lunch for us at the ridge – fried rice, momos with tomato chutney had never tasted so delicious!

With sun starting to disappear behind the mountains, we gathered our gear and started the trek back to the village. All of us were on cloud nine!

Next day morning, seventh of our adventure, the lady luck was still smiling on us! We had struck gold – a mother with two cubs. This female leopard was the one which had originally killed the Blue Sheep earlier. The group gobbled the breakfast and sprinted out as if we were jogging in Cubbon Park, but better senses prevailed within minutes and we settled into a well-paced trek. Today was an easier trek – we had to walk only for two hours to reach the rendezvous point. And the landscape kept getting better!

After the trek, the first sighting of the mother snow leopard stretching in the morning sun left us speechless! With no bushes to hide, she was clearly visible with naked eye.

As we watched excitedly, the mother moved towards the cave, where both of her cubs were waking up.

After that, it was a glorious day of observing the mother & her cubs laze around in the sun, cuddle with each other, and snap at the stray birds that came too close.

While the family slept, the birds flew around – Lammergeier, Griffin, Alpine Chough and Golden Eagles. It was an interesting sight when a juvenile Griffin attacked a  Lammergeier. Nature, eh?!

The dinner conversation continued to revolve around our luck with the sightings.

On the eighth day, we moved our focus away from snow leopard to other wildlife found in the area. We walked across a snow field and then trekked up a steep mountain, to draw up at eye-level with a herd of Ibex, the mountain goat expert in climbing vertical cliffs. The expertise of our mentor, Shreeram, played a crucial role in ensuring that we did not scare away the gentle giants. His instructions – if you walk alone, Ibex will equate you to a snow leopard. If you walk in small groups, you will seem like a herd of Yak to them! The tip worked, and I was able to take some close-up shots without scaring them away.

That evening, Tanu decided that we all were due for a change in the taste palette. She took over the responsibility of cooking dinner, and we all were treated to jeera-aloo with parathas!

 

We took the ninth day as the off-day from long treks. Today we moved around the village, admiring the landscape and photographing the village life.

As we kept moving around during the day, we came across innocent looking Blue Sheep, happily grazing on dry grass and posing for the camera. Some of them were so close to me, that I could not use my 400mm lens, and had to zoom out!

Interestingly, our snow leopard adventure was still not over! That afternoon, we got one more opportunity to observe & photograph the ghost cat, this time moving around a bit more menacingly.

On the tenth morning of our trip, we bid emotional farewell to our hosts & the village of Kibber, and drove to the village of Langza at an altitude of 14500+ ft, for the last leg of the trip. We reached there late in the afternoon. Soon after reaching the village, we broke into two groups – one group went to a vantage point to photograph the sunset over snow covered peaks, while a smaller group set out in search for wildlife near the village. As you may guess, I was part of the wildlife group!

That proved to be the right decision, as soon we came across a pair of Red Foxes that had just woken up from their day long slumber and were running around – we could not decide if they were playing or fighting!

After a bit of hide-and-seek in the high mountains, one of the fox made a dash for the boulders right in front of me. A very unlikely thing for the fox to do, but I was not complaining.

As the sun set, the light was too dark for continuing with wildlife photography. But, it was not the time to pack the camera yet. Langza village has Buddha looking over it from the mountain top, providing a unique opportunity to see the universe as Buddha was seeing it – Buddham Sharnam Gachami!

After having dinner with our hosts at the home stay, I was all set to create the photograph which had been on my bucket list for few years now! Armed with a full-frame Canon 5D camera, it was time to climb the mountain and create startrails.

After three hours in gruesome, windy, bone chilling night with the mercury dipping to -10C, I could make the image I wanted to make for a while. Thanks to our landscape photography mentor, Manish, I was able to get the correct coordinates for pointing the camera, ensuring that the stars made a perfect circular arc in the final photograph.

On the eleventh day of our trip, we started our return journey. By afternoon we were in Kaza, and got a chance to connect back to world through news on television. Well, that took some effort while we convinced two kids of our hosts to give up their cartoon show.  Various strategies were tried with mixed results – we were able to get enough airtime to get the re-assuring confirmation that aliens have not landed anywhere in the world! As the TV tuned back to cartoon channels, we got ourselves busy with a deck of playing cards.

Next morning, we started our drive back to Kalpa. The cameras were all packed up, and all we could think about was hot shower and network connectivity. But the mountains still had surprises in store for us, as if trying to persuade us to stay back. We reached Kalpa amidst heavy snowfall which continued through dusk.

We enjoyed the snowfall and then got on-to the highest priority activity of the day, a hot bath. As we packed heavy winter gear and ordered hot tea and pakoras to indulge ourselves, little did we know that sky was at its colourful best. The snowfall cleared up and mighty Kinnaur Kailash peak emerged through the clouds. I had read somewhere “Burst of gold on lavender melting into saffron. It’s the time of the day when the sky looks like it has been spray-painted by a graffiti artist”. I could understand the meaning of that statement after the breathtaking sunset!

Next day we drove back to Shimla. In the evening, we toasted to our incredible trip and had a mini-feast to celebrate the conclusion of the journey without any untoward incident!

On the fourteenth morning, we drove to Chandigarh. After fourteen days of chasing very agile wildlife, sharing the food of some of the most hospitable people in the world, and soaking in the sights of an unbelievable landscape, we all parted our ways to return to our respective homes.

We had started from our home with lot of anticipation & a bit of apprehension. We came back from the mountains with memories to cherish for a lifetime.

Thank you Manish and Shreeram from Darter for this unforgettable experience. Thank you Gopal, Dr. Maha, and Pinaki for the great company which made the entire trip a fun-filled adventure.