01 October 2023, It has been raining heavily since night, and the rain is not alone to add to the troubles...the rain has also brought with it dark clouds, hail, lightning and thundering. The bad weather since yesterday evening has created problems for the locals. This time the monsoon was also not good, about 350 people lost their lives and property worth Rs 2000 thousand crores was damaged, along with this the condition of the apple crop also deteriorated.
This morning the 60 km long race started at 06:30, the team told me that I have to go to Barua village from where the runners have to be sent to Vashishtha temple, so I reached Barua village drenched in rain at around 5 in the morning. 30 runners are running 60 km and all are troubled by the rain since yesterday evening. Runners are wearing rain jackets and telling themselves repeatedly that the weather will be fine.
Barua village is 5 km away from the start line, the first runner reaches me at 7 o'clock and I send him towards Vashishtha. By now the rain has become light. I am watching the sunrise amidst the dark clouds, it seems as if some divine power wants to come to earth and bless the runners for their courage.
By around 07:30 all the runners cross the point of Barua village. I am crossing the village on foot, birds are chirping in the apple orchards, parrots flying in the very few rays of sunlight are trying their best to protect themselves from the cold. From here I reach Nehru Kund which is about 2 km away, from here I will get a vehicle to go to Solang Valley.
Standing on the bridge at Nehru Kund, I get overwhelmed by the view in front. The first glow of the sun is falling on the Dhauladhar and Pir Panjal mountain ranges, in whose glow Hanuman Tibba, Friendship Peak, Shikhar Bah, Mukar Bah, Ladakhi Peak and Patalsu Peak appear like diamonds. Of all these mountain peaks, I have summited Friendship Peak and Patalsu Peak first.
After walking from here I come to the road from where Jogini Waterfall is above. Now I have to walk 6 km because the car coming to pick me is busy with some other work. So I walk with my umbrella in the rain towards Anjani Mahadev Temple where I have to write the times of the runners. In less than 2 hours I reach my destination from where I can see the mountain with Bhrigu Lake.
Here I will record the times of 30 km category runners and enjoy the views from here. I sat here for about 5 hours and kept writing Runner's Time. After completing my duty, I came back to Solang Valley where I had lunch and ended my day.