Thanks, Chadwell ji and Singh ji, for these old fond memories. On 7 Dec 2016 8:25 am, "Gurcharan Singh" <[email protected]> wrote:
> Thanks Dr. Chadwell for beautiful account. > My older photographs are at Delhi, but here few from our first visit to > Ladakh in about 1971 when we had hitch-hiked the rides from civil and army > trucks, but luckily had Govt. Dak Bangalows to stay: Myself, Dr. R N Gohil > (you must be remembering) and our friend from Zoology, we even rode a > Donkey. > Also seen is Dr. Bimal Misri (on right) in Khillenmarg meadow above > Gulmarg covered with Euphorbia wallichii, patches, same plant clicked in > colour in 2010 > > Dr. Gurcharan Singh > Retired Associate Professor > SGTB Khalsa College, University of Delhi, Delhi-110007 > Res: 932 Anand Kunj, Vikas Puri, New Delhi-110018. > Phone: 011-25518297 Mob: 9810359089 > http://www.gurcharanfamily.com/ > http://people.du.ac.in/~singhg45/ > > On Tue, Dec 6, 2016 at 5:21 AM, C CHADWELL <chrischadwell261@btinternet. > com> wrote: > >> Dear Dr Singh >> >> Yes, things have certainly changed. I realise that funding for >> Universities in India is much better than it was in the 1970s and 1980s >> plus one >> must appreciate genuine security issues which have compromised assess to >> some parts of the State for decades. >> >> The images I have just been posting re: Botanizing in Kashmir were >> taken using slide film (something that was not available much in India) in >> the 1980s and then scanned in on a cheap scanner given to me some 20 years >> ago I think. About a year ago, I used my very cheap, modest, second-hand >> digital camera (obtained on e-Bay by one of my sons) taking pictures at a >> local canal. In 2 hours I took as many photos as the total number of rolls >> of 36 exposure slide film I would have taken for a 1-3 month visit to >> Kashmir. Yes, one could not afford more than 1 or 2 shots per plant >> encountered. The great thing about digital (now that memory cards can >> accommodate vast numbers of images) is that one can take as many as one >> likes 20 (or more) per plant if one so wishes, at no cost! >> >> The budgets for my travels in the 1980s were very tight. We travelled >> overland from Delhi by train, being robbed one time just as the train >> started to leave the platform at the Old Delhi Railway Station, with a >> camera bag taken. Despite spending months warning my team (who were on >> their first visits to India) about security, especially in cities and >> during journeys, insisting that money-belts were used, the person who had a >> camera bag and our best camera (I could not afford anything other than a >> cheap, poor quality one) had put his money-belt in the camera bag. His >> passport, return airline ticket and 1/4 of our money for a 3-month stay in >> Kashmir, gone. Rather a shock and it was is 24th birthday! Us Brits are >> not accustomed to the heat of an Indian summer, so tend to be disorientated >> & prime targets for thieves upon arrival - though I should add this applies >> in cities *all over the world*.... I know of Indians who have been >> tricked & cheated in London (though often the pick-pockets are not British >> - an accurate statement as Britain has its fair share of 'British' thieves). >> >> On reaching Jammu we took a bus to reach Srinagar via Banihal. We could >> not afford to hire jeeps, so travelled around the Kashmir Valley by local >> bus. The situation in the early1980s was, I imagine not much better than >> the 1970s. To visit Aphawat we got a packed bus to Tangmarg (one *had* >> to transfer to another bus for Gulmarg) but found this almost impossible >> for us novices as normal, "first-come, first served rules did not apply. It >> was a "free-for-all" - there were few buses to Tangmarg with large numbers >> of potential passengers waiting for them and one had to rush and try to >> push aboard which with 4 of us + rucksacks, in a foreign country, not a >> simple task, so spent hours failing, time after time..... >> >> Most of the time we would hire a pack-animal or two at the road-head for >> a 7-10 day trek and walk all the way with smaller day ruck-sacks, camping >> in the mountains. As we did not have the money to pay the exorbitant >> prices the main ponymen wanted, we tended to be given a teenager with >> little experience instead. A number of times our rucksacks came off >> the ponies and ended up in streams and rivers. Quite a game. >> >> On one occasion camped at some 3300m below Kolahoi's north glacier, the >> poneyman decided to treble the prices to take our rucksacks back to >> Pahlgam. We refused. In the middle of the night he departed! We were >> left to carry all our gear back, which took us 3-4 days - thankfully, >> almost all down-hill. See attached images. A valuable lesson and in >> time we got to know reliable Kashmiris especially my good friend Ghulam >> Rasool Beigh, who was trustworthy, worth hiring him to make more >> satisfactory arrangements. Anywhere in the world, having a local person >> you can trust makes a big difference, making you less vulnerable. >> >> On my journeys into Ladakh some years after my first visit in 1980, with >> Ghulam's help, we paid drivers of Public Carrier Trucks to take us first >> from Sonamarg to Kargil then along the Suru Valley and one year into the >> Zanskar Valley, having to wait 4 days on the Pensi La, for a truck >> returning from Padum. >> >> The roads are much improved in Ladakh these days, though the opportunity >> to return to Zanskar has not arisen. At present, I could not afford even a >> flight to India. >> >> It was a delight to be able to reach the top of Sinthan Pass in >> Kashmir by a comfortable 4WD a few years back. And to fly from Delhi to >> Leh in little more than an hour - a journey which had taken 4 arduous days >> of travel back in the 1980s. >> >> In theory one could fly Delhi to Leh then hire a jeep straight to the top >> of a 5000m+ pass but that would be foolhardy in the extreme. Just because >> one can get up to higher altitudes much more rapidly these days does not >> mean it is sensible to do so. >> >> >> Best Wishes, >> >> >> Chris Chadwell >> >> >> 81 Parlaunt Road >> SLOUGH >> SL3 8BE >> UK >> >> www.shpa.org.uk >> >> >> >> >> >> >> ------------------------------ >> *From:* Gurcharan Singh <[email protected]> >> *To:* J.M. Garg <[email protected]> >> *Cc:* efloraofindia <[email protected]>; C CHADWELL < >> [email protected]> >> *Sent:* Tuesday, 6 December 2016, 4:57 >> *Subject:* Re: [efloraofindia:258309] Fwd: Botanizing in Kashmir Part II >> - Scaling 'Sunset Peak' Pir Panjal Range, Kashmir & locating Saussurea >> simpsoniana >> >> I only wish we had digital cameras (I enough funds to use film cameras >> liberally) in early seventies when we would visit Apharwat Peak every week. >> We would start at 7.30 from Srinagar take a bus to Tangmarg about 40 km >> away, start climbing from 7000 ft to Gulmarg 8000 ft, Khillenmarg 10000 ft, >> to top of Apharwat mountain 12500 ft, descend down to take lunch and make >> tea at Ahlpather lake 12000 ft, start climbing down and take bus from >> Tangmarg at about 5 pp. >> And one day myself and Dr. A H Munshi (both working for our PhD) >> started from Pahalgam around 7000 ft, at 7 am , explored Lidderwat (about >> 9000 ft) and reached Tarsar and Marsar Lakes more than 13000 ft alt, at 4 >> pm, took something to eat from a local teastall, started almost running to >> reach back Pahalgam. >> Ladakh with no regular Transport system we hitch-hiked our travel, >> till we got a Departmental jeep in later visits. >> >> >> Dr. Gurcharan Singh >> Retired Associate Professor >> SGTB Khalsa College, University of Delhi, Delhi-110007 >> Res: 932 Anand Kunj, Vikas Puri, New Delhi-110018. >> Phone: 011-25518297 <011%202551%208297> Mob: 9810359089 <098103%2059089> >> http://www.gurcharanfamily.com/ >> http://people.du.ac.in/~singhg45/ >> >> On Mon, Dec 5, 2016 at 7:16 PM, J.M. Garg <[email protected]> wrote: >> >> Thanks a lot, Chadwell ji, for the marvellous details. >> ---------- Forwarded message ---------- >> From: "C CHADWELL" <chrischadwell261@btinternet. com >> <[email protected]>> >> Date: 6 Dec 2016 7:18 am >> Subject: Botanizing in Kashmir Part II - Scaling 'Sunset Peak' Pir Panjal >> Range, Kashmir & locating Saussurea simpsoniana >> To: "J.M. Garg" <[email protected]> >> Cc: >> >> >> >> 1. Near Sunset Peak, Pir Panjal Range, Kashmir - Chris Chadwell & a >> colleague followed the right-hand ridge to the top of this mountain, home >> to Saussurea simpsoniana >> >> 2. View from Col below Sunset Peak >> >> >> I had quite a difficult time negotiating the ridge to the top of this >> mountain, as the large rocks we walked on (at quite an angle) often moved... >> Near the top there was an exposed section, with a sheer drop on one side >> (to one’s death) so I used a hand to help keep my balance. Unfortunately, >> a piece of jagged rock about 75cm long moved crushing the top of 3 of my >> fingers cutting half-way through one. Feeling rather sorry for myself, >> I showed this to my fellow Britisher – a tough 6 foot 5 inch Scot, >> expecting sympathy and first aid. He dismissed the wound as minor – so >> I was left to bandage myself up un-aided. And to him, it was nothing. Some >> years earlier, when using a chain-saw alone in Scotland, in a fairly remote >> spot, this slipped cutting deep into the flesh from just above his knee for >> some 30cm. He managed to walk quite some distance to his car and drive >> himself to hospital! So why was I making a fuss about such an >> insignificant wound.... When at work, as Deputy Principal of a National >> Trust for Scotland Garden, he wore shorts for part of the year - the scar, >> proving what had happened to him, being visible. >> >> 3. Saussurea simpsoniana, Pir Panjal Range, Kashmir >> >> 4. Saussurea simpsoniana, Pir Panjal Range, Kashmir >> >> 5. Saussurea simpsoniana, Pir Panjal Range, Kashmir >> >> 6. Saussurea simpsoniana, Pir Panjal Range, Kashmir >> >> 7. Colleague of Chris Chadwell’s @ 4500m gathering specimen of >> Saussurea simpsoniana for pressing >> >> 8. Pressing Saussurea simpsoniana @ 4500m, Pir Panjal Range, Kashmir >> for depositing in University of Kashmir Herbarium – *it is important to >> cut the specimen of bulky plants like this Saussurea in half to aid the >> pressing & drying process, otherwise they are liable to rot and be ruined* >> >> 9. Pressing Saussurea simpsoniana @ 4500m, Pir Panjal Range, Kashmir >> for depositing in University of Kashmir Herbarium (see 8 for comments) >> >> >> *I would like to take this opportunity to say that I consider there has >> been much confusion between Saussurea species (this is a complicated genus) >> with e.g. Saussurea obvallata being misidenfied in the NW Himalaya/Ladakh.* >> >> *As for S.simpsoniana and S.gossypiphora, I do not consider they are well >> understood in the NW Himalaya.* >> >> *Given that very few other botanists have ever scrambled about on the >> peaks in the Kashmir Valley, one is largely left with very few specimens >> gathered on more accessible passes.* >> >> I have seen (and photographed) what I understand to be S.simpsoniana >> above the Rohtang Pass in Himachal Pradesh; other have recorded >> S.gossypiphora from the area. They may well be mistaken. >> >> Returning to Kashmir. Stewart records S.gossypiphora from a few >> locations in Kashmir @ 4700-5700m (incl. Mt. Kolahoi on cliffs) but I >> wonder if these specimens might not be S.simpsoniana. >> >> I have seen a photograph of Oleg Polunin's taken in Kashmir, which is >> also what I take to be S.simpsoniana not S.gossypiphora. >> >> As for S.simpsoniana, Stewart knew this as Saussurea sacra (following >> FBI) with a single collection by Koelz from Chortren Chen @ 5500m. Quite >> a muddle I think. >> >> Interestingly, Dickore & Koelz, in the most up-to-date check-list for >> Ladakh list 19 Saussureas incl. S.gossypiphora but not S.simpsoniana, nor, >> correctly, S.obvallata. >> >> 'Flora of Lahaul-Spiti' list S.gossypiphora from the Rohtang (which is >> not part of Lahaul, so should not have been included in this flora anyhow) >> but I suspect this is a misidentification for S.simpsoniana. I shall try >> and locate my images of what I consider to be S.simpsoniana taken above >> Rohtang, to post (and thus submit, as supporting evidence). I have not >> seen the Bor specimen in the DD herbarium. >> >> A full taxonomic revision of Saussurea in the Himalaya is required - >> quite a number of new species have been described in the E.Himalaya in past >> decades. >> >> As with all genera, the more good quality images members of this google >> group post of Saussurea, the better we can start to understand the genus. >> >> >> Best Wishes, >> >> >> Chris Chadwell >> >> >> 81 Parlaunt Road >> SLOUGH >> SL3 8BE >> UK >> >> www.shpa.org.uk >> >> >> >> >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "efloraofindia" group. >> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >> email to indiantreepix+unsubscribe@ googlegroups.com >> <[email protected]>. >> To post to this group, send email to [email protected] . >> Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/ group/indiantreepix >> <https://groups.google.com/group/indiantreepix>. >> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/ optout >> <https://groups.google.com/d/optout>. >> >> >> >> >> > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "efloraofindia" group. 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