Fieldwork

Here's a tour of my study area in the Great Himalayan National Park:

The park has three valleys, but I worked only in the most southern valley, Tirthan Valley. The park entrance is marked by a large gate with several small buildings. Here is the view of the gate looking out of the entrance:



The view entering the park. We crossed a series of narrow, creaking bridges across the Tirthan River to get to our study sites:



30 minutes into the park we arrived at Rolla, a rest station that lies within the valley beside the river. Huts are available for use by researchers and trekkers. We camped here two nights during our research:



10 minutes past Rolla, we hiked either left upwards toward our northern study sites (Shilt, Dulunga, Grahani and Chorduar camps) or right across the river towards our southern study sites (Basu and Koilipoi camps). We camped in huts (Shilt, Koilipoi) or under rock cliffs, depending on what was available. Here are a few of the camps:


Shilt.


The men at Grahani, lying on their bed of fresh pine branches under a rock cliff.


Koilipoi.


Our highest study sites have incredible views of 3,000m down into the park:



One day after walking trails on our first trip into the park, Pritham asked me if I wanted to climb to Rekundi Top, one of the stunning lower peaks of the Tirthan Valley. I agreed and we climbed for 2 hours and 3,200 feet (1,000m) over streams, up a rocky gorge (where I saw a pika!) and through a grassy meadow where shepards used to graze their sheep. We rose above the tree line and into patches of snow that had not yet melted from the spring sun.


The view from Rekundi Top.

My body was still adjusting to the terrain the altitude, so I was utterly exhausted by the time we neared the peak. As I rested while Pritham summited the 13,000 foot (4,000m) peak, it began to snow. I gazed out at the landscape around me, jagged chains of mountains spreading away from me in all directions. I felt as though I was at the top of the world, even though I was really at the bottom of the highest peaks in the world. Stunning.

Our last night in the field, we celebrated by making kheer, a rice pudding desert. We were so happy to nearly be over with the work and took many photos in honor of the accomplishment. The next morning, as we rose to complete our final call count at 4am, it rained. Since pheasants don't call consistently in poor weather, we were forced to stay another day and night in the field. Ah, the irony. Here we celebrate our "last" night in Koilipoi: