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Miscellany
Valley of Flowers
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The author with a fellow trekker, Mr. C.S. Yogananda (from Karnataka)
sitting near the grave-stone of Joan Margaret Legge - a botanist
from the Kew Botanical garden in London, who while collecting
floral specimens in the Valley in 1939, fell to her death. A
memorial was erected in her honour. Etched in English and Hindi into the
white marble of the gravestone is a line from Psalm 121 which reads: "I
will lift up mine eyes unto the hills from whence commeth my help."
Another panoramic view of the Valley of Flowers. Here small stream
meanders through the Valley. So charming is the atmosphere, that one does
not feel like returning to the mundane world.
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Kindly read
an informative write-up about the Valley of Flowers:
In 1982, the smallest national park in the
Himalayas was created to protect the catchment area of the Pushpavati River.
This stream emerges from a glacier then tumbles downward to meet the Ganges.
It follows the contours of the steep valley which leads to Hemkunt Sahib, and
is the constant companion of the pilgrims who trudge upward on the footpath.
The stream's source is in a valley which British mountaineer Frank S. Smythe
passed through in 1931 after a successful climbing expedition. He was awed by
the variety of
wildflowers growing there, and returned in 1937 to collect more than two
hundred botanical species. His 1938 book entitled The Valley of Flowers
brought this remote Himalayan meadow to the attention of the world.
A short distance above the village of
Gobind Dham, the path to the Valley branches off from the main path to
Hemkunt Sahib. There, a wildlife guard in the employ of the Forest Department
issues entry permits for the national park. From this checkpost it is a three
kilometre trek to the entrance to the Valley of Flowers itself. The trail
passes through forests and meadows and across rivers and an avalanche slope
before the floor of the Valley opens up before it.
The Valley of Flowers is a glacial
corridor, eight kilometres in length and two kilometres in width. Its floor
slopes from almost 3,500 metres above sea level up to almost 4,000 metres.
True to its name, the Valley is carpeted with wildflowers during the monsoon
season. Of the many species which coexist in this unique ecosystem, the most
popular among visitors are the Himalayan blue poppy native to the region, the
uncommon varieties of primula and orchid which bloom during June, and the
impatiens, potentillas, and campanulas which paint the valley pink, red, and
purple during July and August.
A stone path meanders among the flowers and
across streams. The flowers grow so tall that leaving the path is difficult.
Few visitors continue beyond the first one or two kilometres inside the
Valley. They pause to photograph flowers, drink from a mountain spring, and
scan the valley floor for a glimpse of a grave rumoured to be there among the
flowers. In 1939, Joan Margaret Legge, a botanist from the Kew Botanical
garden in London, was collecting floral specimens in the Valley when she fell
to her death. A memorial was erected in her honour. Etched in English and
Hindi into the white marble of the gravestone is a line from Psalm 121 which
reads "I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills from whence commeth my help."
(The source of the above
Write-up is Sikhnet.com. Link to their Web-page is:
http://www.sikhnet.com/hemkuntsahib/valley.htm
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