Hike From E-9 to Kot Jindan via Siniarri Trek

7/31/2019 Hike From E-9 to Kot Jindan via Siniarri Trek

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Trail 1-B Siniarri Trek Page 1

Hike from E-9 to Kot Jindan via Trail-1B (Darra Siniarri Trek)

(Start Coordinates: 3343'12.96"N 73 00'22.77"E) Elev: 1,922 feet)

(End Coordinates: 3344'38.75"N 72 58'47.42"E) Elev: 3,160 feet)

Total Return Distance: 7.16 kms

3D Google Map of the entire Hike: Maximum Trek Elevation 3,160 Feet


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Opening Statement:

Money is something which I never had, still dont have and probably will never

have. It actually burns a hole in my pocket. And I have come to terms with this.

What the hell! Who needs money when you have happiness? Yeah right!

When I wanted to get married; I asked an uncle of mine as to getting tips on thisissue before I would take the plunge. He told me two things about marriage.

Marriageis nothing but economics and compromise. If you have money and

you are willing to compromise then you should get married otherwise forget the

idea. Well, I still dont have money but I gathered the courage to compromise.

And boy, I tell you that I am still compromising to date. Hope my wife does not

get to read this? Laughter!

Well, in the early marriage days, yourBhabi (My better half) and I would leave

no opportunity to sneak out for a dinner whether it was an uppish restaurant or a

down to earthDhabadepending on the amount of moolah I would have in my

pocket at that very moment in time. One such Dhaba was the Caf Clifton

which was on the way to theClifton beachnearSea view apartments in

Karachiand believe you me, we would feast on one chicken piece barbequed,

oneSeekh kebab,oneParatha, one Nan (Bread) and to wash it down, two

cups of tea. All this in just Rs. 89. Yes, you read it right. Rs. 89 only! And this was

not in 1901. It was 1997.

Come Saturday (a fortnight ago), 19th May 2012; I took my father, wife and

children toHardeesin sector F-7,Islamabadfor dinner. We had fancy burgerswith fries & drinks and ended up paying Rs. 2,850 for the six of us. Goodness

gracious. Look at the rate of inflation in 14.5 years. Just read in last Sundays

paper that the inflation stands at 11% and with the current Federal budget we

will probably end up living in trailer parks

It is not that I could not afford such a dinner once every weekend with my family

but one meal at such an exorbitant rate (and that too fast food) is just not done.

I just felt beside me when I met a poor kid right outside the same restaurant

begging for a few pennies. May God forgive me for such extravagance? Amen!

While we are on the subject of restaurant & eateries, I just happened to visit G-9

Markaz yesterday and while walking around, noticed a strange name of an

eatery HubbaBubba Atomic Foods. Well, I wonder what kind of atomic foods

do they serve but I am sure that these atoms would roll in the stomach of the not

so very atomic customers after feasting there. LOL
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(Names do matter, huh!)

Now let me transport you to the subject of this article. Last time when we were

coming back from the Kalinger hike on 31.03.2012, our team lead i.e. WingCommander Gohar Saeed suggested that we must do the Siniarri trek as well

next time around. This got stuck in my mind and surely I wanted to do this one

too.

On Friday, 13th April 2012; I called up Dr. Group Captain Fahim Hashmi (one of

my PhD graduate scholar) if we could go hiking the next day to the Siniarri Trek

on which he immediately agreed. Within the next half hour, he called up to

confirm that not just Gohar Saeed would lead the pack to Siniarri but Vice Chief

of Air Staff Mr. Hifazatullah Khan will also accompany us the next morning who

was an ardent lover oftrekking.

All the next waking hours, I was wondering as to how it would be like trekking

with such a senior Air Force officer who was retired as well. How would my young

boys take this news? Once I shared the news with them, all three of us had

mixed feelings about the hike scheduled for the next morning. But again,

making contact with people not like you is one of the best things a person can

do. You never know how it will all turn out.

As usual, I got up at 5:00 a.m. and said my Fajr prayers. Woke up Adil first at 5:15

a.m. who too has taken after me (Prayers & trekking both). Mohsin followed next

at 5:30 a.m. I checked out the weather forecast @ 5:30 a.m. which was cloudy

till the previous night but turned fair this morning and stood at 170 C. I later woke

up my better half who grudgingly made usParatha,Chaiandsandwichesfor

the trip. Rancorous, not because I woke her up at this obnoxious hour but
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because she and Ayesha (my little one) were not invited for this particular hike

since it was an all-male affair. Actually, I did not know the distance and the

severity of the trek and thus was not comfortable to tag the ladies along!

We left the house at 6:45 a.m. and reached the rendezvous i.e. the first gate of

the (to be established) GHQ on the Margalla Avenue which is right behind theF-

9 park. The remaining trekkers reached there at 7:10 a.m. and while traversingon the Rafiqui Road (closed for civilians since it lies between the GHQ and the

AHQ), parked our cars at the mouth of the trek in the Siniarri village.

This is what I wrote earlier about the Trail 1B or the Siniarri Trek:

Trail 1A& 1B This is the one of the less known treks and starts at the junction of the

same treks where the treks 1A and 1B branch out. On the left is the Chountra Village

and on the right is the Siniarri Village (GPS Coordinates 3344'29.66"N and 73

0'4.82"E). You start at the intersection behind F-10 and F-9 park i.e. at the first gate

which is between the Army Headquarters (GHQ) and the Air force Headquarters (AHQ)

but unfortunately since it is a sensitive and fortified area, you must be accompanied by

Military or Air Force personnel with whose help you can traverse this path and reach the

mouth of the two villages and proceed from there. It takes roughly 1.5 to 2 hours (at an

easy pace) to reach the top of the famous first Ridge of the Margalla Hills. Here you

reach the Kot JindaanVillage and can further trek enroute to the Khanpur Village

which is another 15 kms from here and roughly takes about 4+ hours. Since both of

these routes are off the beaten trek thus the flora and fauna is amazing and is slightly

different from the other later treks in the Margalla Hills. You also get to see many

quarries which have actually ruined the Margalla Hills. This is indeed a painful site if you

love the mountains. Thanks to Mr.Roedad Khanwho has been able to get this

nonsense stopped and is a famous name in the hiking and trekking circles of

Islamabad.

Our new trekker i.e. Vice Chief of Air Staff Mr. Hifazatullah Khan was

introduced to us by Dr. Hashmi and Gohar Saeed who turned out to be young

at heart and a very serious trekker. We were to find rather early that our hikingskills were too primitive, nave and embryonic as compared to his. Very soon, he

took the lead and started sharing amazing real life stories of his trekking

escapades. It was indeed a pleasure to have accompanied him on this

particular trek since he was a walking encyclopedia on theMargalla Hills.
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We started our hike at 7:16 a.m. and within 30 minutes reached this picturesque

spot.

(The off the beaten Siniarri Trek)

In the next 14 minutes i.e. at 8:00 a.m., we stopped for our first water break and

took this picture.

(From L-R: Myself, Adil, VCOAS Khan Sahib, Dr. Hashmi & Mohsin)

By 8:18 a.m. we had reached this scenic spot and were overwhelmed to see theblossoming Kachnar(Bauhinia variegata)trees.
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(Kachnar trees in full bloom)

I stopped around 8:30 a.m. to take this picture of the CentaurusTowers in the

morning haze.

(D. Hashmi took this picture while I am trying to catch another view)

We were tempted again to stop and enjoy the breathtaking flora arrangement

around us. By 8:38 a.m. we captured this snapshot.
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(From L-R: VCOAS Khan Sahib, Gohar Saeed, Adil, His Excellency and Mohsin)

Exactly at 8:45 a.m. we reached Kot Jindaan our final destination. Around 8:52

a.m. I took this picture of the famousboulderon this route.

(Adil and Mohsin at the Kot Jindaan Boulder)

We brought out the snacks which comprised of drinks, home-made sandwiches,

dry fruit and water while Khan Sahib shared some more interesting stories of his

earlier hiking trips. We asked a young lad who was hanging around to take a

group photo for us at 9:16 a.m.
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(All six of usBoys day out!)

Further north we could see a trek heading into the valley. Khan Sahib informed

us that it leads all the way toKhanpur Damwhich was roughly 15 kilometers fromhere. At the mouth of this trek, we could see a group of trees and he identified

that they were wildolive trees.

(Olive trees at the mouth of the Khanpur Village trek)

While we were discussing the olive trees and some stories of air force boys

trekking on the Khanpur village trek, Mohsin decided to have a second helping.
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(Mohsin caught snacking on candid camera)

At 9:35 a.m. sharp, we decided to retreat while conquering yet another ridge in

theMargalla Hills. Within eight minutes of descent, Adil and I stopped by to takethis picture while the rest of the gang was descending slowly.

(SirEdmund Hillarywaiting forTenzing Sherpa)

Now the sun was rising fast and it was becoming warmer and thus we decided

to walk fast. By 9:50 a.m. we were able to capture the entire Siniarri pass in this

snapshot.
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(The entire Siniarri pass with Islamabad in the backdrop)

On the way back, we took two short cuts and thus were descending faster than

we had gone up. The trekkers were more interested in returning to base campthan stopping for any more pictures. I was still able to catch Mohsin at 10:28

a.m. who was at the tail end and was being monitored by me.

(Mohsin posing at the tail end of the group)

By 10:33 a.m. we had reached a natural spring on a slightly different path and

took this group photo. We all drank to our hearts content and filled up our

emptying water bottles.


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(Posing at the natural spring which is right underneath our feet)

We finally reached our cars at 11:00 a.m. and decide to go to Dr. Fahim

Hashmis house reaching there at 11:15 a.m. where his better half served usPakoras and a hot cup oftea.

(Mohsin posing outside Dr. Hashmis house)

We stayed there till 12:15 p.m. chatting and finally reached home around 12:25

p.m. This was yet again a wonderful hike with three amazing gentlemanly Air

Force officers. I am again thankful to Dr. Hashmi and also to Wing CommanderGohar Saeed. Without these two gentlemen, we could not have hiked on this

particular trek.

While I am trying to complete this article on 4th June 2012,Islamabadsizzles at

430 Celsius. Luckily, the month of May had been rather pleasant this year but

hiking in June will be a no-no. July and August will be monsoon and thus again it
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would be too wet to traverse on theMargalla Hills. We would now be moving

further North either towards theGalliyator further up theHimalayasfor our hiking

escapades. But this would surely need more time, planning and of course

money!

I would like to leave my readers here with a thought that dont think about what

you will tell people after you retire. The time is here and now. Pick up the penand make the most of it. No one can learn to love by following a manual and

no one can learn to write by following an academic course. You just fall in love

and you just start writing; just like that!

If you spend too much time trying to find out what is good or bad about

someone else, you will forget your own soul and end up exhausted and

defeated by the energy you have wasted in judging others. And finally, you

dont need to climb a mountain in order to know that its high; you dont have

to go all the way toVladivostokto be able to say that you have travelled on the

Trans-Siberian railway. Just get up, get out and go do it

Au Revoir!

Shaikh Muhammed Ali

E-mail:[email protected]

Cell: +00-92-321-5072996

4th June 2012, 9:08 p.m. (PST)
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Hike From E-9 to Kot Jindan via Siniarri Trek

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