Kumaon Diaries: Stand-Up Paddle Boarding at Sattal Lake

2016 was a redefining year in my SUP career. After discovering the reason as to why I should pursue Stand-Up Paddling in 2015, I immediately jumped into action. I had an advantage with my location, as Gurgaon (the name did not change to Gurugram just as yet), was the hub for most places with excellent connectivity. With the market turmoil around my career in geology having temporarily settled, and having explored most of the lakes and abandoned quarries in and around Delhi-NCR, I decided to focus on creating and breaking SUP records.

I was lucky to find two equally enthusiastic colleagues Shubhadeep and Sabyasachi from West Bengal to join me. We had a shared love both for adventure and for geology. The Himalayas, especially the Shivaliks, are to Gurgaon like Ooty and Kodaikanal are to Chennai. The mountains range from 1500 to 2000 meters in height. I had just completed the Wilderness First Responder Course at Ranikhet. I happened to meet Puneeth, a good photographer from Bangalore.

On July 23^rd, 2016, we started at around 5:30 am from Gurgaon. This was a strategic move on our part to avoid the Delhi weekend traffic. We had a map of all the lakes where we could stand-up paddle safely without any restrictions. That’s when Shubhadeep pointed out to the Sattal Lake.

Sattal Lake immediately brings me the memory of Nainital. To me this was quite familiar, as I had once paddled from Haldwani to Munsyari, crossing Ranikhet, Jageshwar, Bageshwar, Chamoli, Binsar Wildlife sanctuary. In this trip we saw the transit from the Greater Himalayas, Middle Himalayas, and the Lesser Himalayas. I had also stayed at Ranikhet for ten days, at an altitude of 2000 meters. Like in Wellington, Ooty, Ranikhet too was a cantonment town.

In 2000, the large state of Uttar Pradesh was divided into two – Uttar Pradesh in the South and Uttaranchal in the north, which was rechristened to be Uttarakhand. Uttarakhand has two divisions – Kumaon and Garhwal. Garhwal is home to Devprayag, Rishikesh, Nanda Devi, and other places that are of religious significance, thus receives a heavy footfall all year long. Kumaon, however, is less explored, and is home to dense forests and wild Himalayan Rivers. Jim Corbett National park, the biodiversity hotspot, sits in-between Garhwal and Kumaon.

Back to the present, in our six hour journey of around 330 kilometers, the three of us had deep conversations about the geology of the place. The weather was beautiful, with the monsoon peeking in. Going upwards from Haldwani, the entire landscape made me ecstatic. Nostalgic memories of going to Yercaud for the first time in my college days came back flooding to me – I felt the same level of excitement and happiness.

Garurtal was a magical experience. There was a sense of serenity, with the only man-made structure visible was a church which was on the other side. It was like we went to a movie with zero spoilers, and it turned out to be an amazing one. The waters were glassy, with a turquoise hue to it, adding to its mystic feel. I immediately inflated my paddleboard and entered the waters. Shubhadeep and Sabyasachi both debuted their Stand-Up paddling journey at Garurtal, Kumaon. We paddled and swam to our heart’s content. Garurtal is heaven for migratory birds.

The Kumaoni people were super friendly, knowledgeable, and led a simple sustainable life. Formerly a part of the Kurmanchal kingdom (named after the Kurma Avatar of Lord Vishnu, where God transformed into a tortoise and lifted the Earth on His back), Kumaoni culture has close ties with the Kingdom of Nepal, as they were occupied by the Gorkhas for 24 years. Kumaon has a very close connection with the epic Ramayana as well; the Sarayu river that originates from Milam Glacier flows through Kumaon before merging into the Ghaghara river.

The Kumaon Division was established by the British in 1816, after annexing the territory from the Gorkhas. 

After settling in our rooms at Kumaon Mandal Vikas Nigam (KMVN) Guest House, a well-maintained lodging facility established by the Government, we went for a walk alongside the lake, to Kuriyagaon. The Sattal Lake is at around 1370 meters, which was quite a vantage point. We saw a lot of birds along with our guide, who was quick to spot them.

The next morning, Shubhadeep and Debashish took a boat, while I geared up on my SUP board. We paddled across three lakes. While there were kayaks there, Stand-Up paddling was not something that was frequent out there. After a satisfying paddling session, we had a hearty lunch, and returned back to Gurgaon.