The small emerald-green lake reflected the lofty mountains rising like a mighty fortress almost around it. The lake’s clear water reflected the blue sky and the cotton-white clouds that drifted over. The ripples on its surface indicated an abundance of rainbow trout (Salmo gairdneri). The lake was bounded by a dense growth of shrubs and trees with specks of pink, crimson red, yellow and violet colours from a variety of wild flowers. A bridle path went around the 750m perimeter of the lake and the mountains echoed with the calls of numerous species of birds starting their morning foraging activities. Basking in the warmth of an early September morning sun we savoured the beauty and serenity of Dodital an alpine lake at an altitude of about 3000m in the Uttarkashi district of Garhwal Himalaya.

Our journey to Dodital started from Rishikesh amidst the sal (Shorea robusta) covered foothills of Himalaya on the banks of river Ganges. The five hour drive on the first day took us to Kot bungalow in Uttarkashi. The bungalow stands on a mountain slope, which had patches of terraced rice fields, amidst a dense grove of pine and oak trees that was reportedly visited by leopards at night. Bhagirathi, turbulent from recent rains, was faintly visible from the bungalow.

The drive from Kot bungalow to Sangam Chatti (1500m), which is the road head for Dodital and at the confluence of Assi Ganga and Bhinsi Gad, goes along a deep valley where Assi Ganga flows. Near the bottom of the valley there were villages and golden-yellow paddy fields beyond which pine forests had started ending in dense oak forests where rain clouds rested. On the way we saw groups of gujjars returning from their summer alpine pastures on their 200-250 km long journey to their winter homes in the sal dominated Shivalik hills below. The buffaloes, which had spent months in the forage-rich alpine pastures, looked well fed. The rains had caused several land slides in the region and the road too was blocked one kilometer short of Sangam Chatti.

Sangam Chatti to Dodital is a 22km trek. Our first day’s destination was Agoda (2040m) which is six kilometers from Sangam Chatti. The climb for the initial about one kilometer goes over stone steps and through a dense patch of Alnus nepalensis which is a colonizer on fresh landslide sites. The trek, thereafter, goes along the right bank of Assi Ganga whose roaring drowned all other sounds in the valley. The left bank of Assi Ganga rises to a steep mountain covered with a dense growth of oak and other broad-leaved species. Overhead, flycatchers, drongos and cuckoos flew among the canopy and hunted their evening meal. As it was rapidly getting dark, we could not stop to identify more birds. Soon we saw the cultivated fields of Agoda with hill paddy and ragi crops standing. Crops of Fagopyrum esculentum, grown for grain in the Himalaya, with its pink flowers and Amaranthus hybridus, with its bright red long pendulous clusters of numerous tiny flowers, grown for its edible seeds, added colour to the scenery.

Agoda was at the epicenter of the 1992 earthquake which had killed thousands of people and damaged property worth crores of rupees. One of the buildings fully destroyed by the earthquake was the forest bungalow which was on the eastern end of the village over looking Assi Ganga gorge. In its place, a two-roomed new bungalow has been built almost at the same site.

The scenery around the bungalow was breathtaking. Giant mountains rose in the east from below which the Assi Ganga flowed. The ridge across the river had oak, fir (Abies pindrow) and a large patch of Alnus nepalensis along a landslide. Two waterfalls, with columns of silvery-white water, cascaded down the ridge. A tall ridge of rocks and grass covered slopes, an excellent habitat for goral, rose to north of the bungalow. As we sat in the verandah, the cool breeze slowly gave way to a cold breeze. The sun went behind a thick screen of rain clouds and a tall column of white clouds rising over the rain clouds, lighted by the setting sun, glowed golden for a few seconds and then gradually became grey. Late in the evening, an almost full moon rose over the mountains and flooded the valley with brilliant light, but then a few minutes later it got totally covered by dark clouds. Thereafter the valley remained in darkness till midnight when we went to sleep. The sun was well above the mountains when we got up the next morning, greeted by the call of a lone scimitar babbler from the gorge. In the nearby clump of oak trees, on the border of cultivation, there was a group of rhesus monkeys being barked at by three dogs. A boy, who appeared on the scene following the dogs, came with half-eaten potatoes in his hands and complained of monkeys having even learnt to dig for potatoes! Around 0845 hrs we left Agoda and started our 16 km walk to Dodital. The sky was cloudless and blue and the light was bright and warm. The torrential rains of the previous weeks had turned the forests into a sea of green with multi-coloured flowers all over. We walked slowly, admiring the quality of forests, photographing the flowers and also looking for wildlife. Soon chir pine (Pinus roxburghii) and banj oak (Quercus leucotrichophora) gave way to blue pine (P. wallichiana), deodar (Cedrus deodara), which is planted here and moru oak (Q. dilatata). These were followed by Taxus baccata, fir, maple (Acer pictum) and kharsu oak (Q. semecarpifolia). Some of the kharsu oak and maple trees were enormous in size, over 5m in girth, and could be 500 years old. Most of the larger trees had an abundant growth of epiphytes on their moss-covered tree trunks.

There were dramatic changes in the occurrence of other plants with altitude. Arisaema jacquemontii, the cobra plant, occurred throughout but it was more abundant, closer to Dodital around the gujjar camp. Similarly Geranium wallichianum, with its bright purple flowers, and Polygonum amplexicaulis, with ovate-heart-shaped clasping upper leaves with terminal spikes of deep red flowers, occurred almost throughout from little beyond Agoda to Dodital. Some species seemed to be favoured by butterflies like Dipsacus inermis, (more between 2000m and 2500m) which, with its globular heads of numerous cream-coloured flowers, was observed to be a favourite species. Senecio chrysanthemoides, with its numerous golden-yellow flower heads and with deeply lobed and toothed green leaves, was much more common above 2500m. It seems to be an indicator species of heavy grazing as it was found in profussion around Majhi (2750m), the summer cattle camp of the Agoda village. The cattle camp was in the midst of a large patch of giant kharsu oak trees which were heavily lopped. There was no regeneration and the heavily mutilated trees appeared to be dying. Impatiens amphorata and I. sulcata were the most common wild balsams, both occurring in abundance above 2500 m. The former, with golden yellow flowers, preferred moist shaded places, while the latter with dark crimson flowers was found along water courses. Saxifraga diversifolia, a species of herb with small golden-yellow flowers, grew in clusters around 2500m lending immense beauty to the stony slopes in exposed areas.

As we were using the route used by villagers, gujjars and trekkers, sighting of large mammals was nil. The four younger forest officers who were accompanying us, had heard gunshots twice in the far off mountain slopes while they were on the same trek some weeks ago. Both the times the shots were heard towards the evening at the end of a long trek and therefore investigations could not be carried out. It is likely that the local villagers poach in these mountains regularly. We saw two groups of common langur, both above an altitude of 2500m. One Range Forest Officer, who has walked along this route several times, said that in winter it is possible to see goral and Himalayan tahr. We talked to Kalam Singh, who for several years has been running the only tea shop near a fast-flowing stream at Kachheru, about 8 km from Agoda, about the large mammals he has seen. His list included jarao (sambar of the high altitude Himalaya, reported to be much larger than the sambar of the other areas), black bear and serow. In the only encounter he had with the serow, the animal, as any serow would do, threatened him with hissing and lunging forward. Along the trail there were pig diggings and leopard scrapes. The forest staff and the villagers confirmed the occurrence of barking deer. The habitat above 2500 m, with an abundance of ringal, the hill bamboo, looked ideal for musk deer. Sighting of three monal, an adult male and two females, about two kilometers from Dodital standing on the path cackling and flying away at our approach was indeed memorable.

Although we did not come across any account of the formation of Dodital, it was possibly as a result of landslides in the past, whose signs can still be seen at the southeastern end of the lake. The trees around there are much younger and less dense than those in the surrounding areas. The mass of rock and earth coming down the hill, as a result of the landslides, possibly blocked the stream that springs from the gorge at the base of Bakra Top (Darwa Top), an alpine meadow-covered mountain west of the lake.

Next morning we decided to do some fishing in Dodital. We have not seen any specific account about the introduction of trout in this lake. The initial introduction of trout in India was at the instance of the European residents during the latter half of the nineteenth and the beginning of the twentieth century. According to the late Dr. V.G.Jhingran, who retired as the Director, Central Inland Fisheries Research Institute, Barrackpore, trout culture in the Tehri region of Garhwal, commenced in the early part of this century with the transplantation of eyed-eggs from the trout farms in Kashmir to Talwari and Kalyani farms. The fry raised in these farms were used to stock Pinder, Birchi and Assi Ganga streams. Possibly during this operation some far-sighted adventurous Britisher may have released the trout in Dodital.

Families of white-headed and plumbeous redstarts, grey and pied wagtails were feeding along the edge of the lake alongside us. In the gin-clear water we could see numerous trout swimming or coming to the surface to feed on the small insects struggling on the surface or flying low above the water. But the fishes looked small, possibly between 300 and 600 gm. The reason for the fishes not growing larger (> 1kg) could be due lack of sufficient food and space. However, there was ample cover for the fishes to escape predators - the anglers. We did not see sign of any other predator in the lake or its vicinity. Dense overhanging vegetation along the edge of the water and submerged tree branches, which the anglers call snags, forced us to cast the lines only in certain places. Nevertheless, by midday we had caught 12 trout which provided a substantial amount of delicious fish curry for our lunch.

Dodital is on a well-used trekking route which goes across Darwa and Sonpara Top to Hanuman Chatti and Yamunotri. On the second day of our stay a Swiss and an Italian trekker came with a team of eight porters, pitched tents, stayed for the night and left for Hanuman Chatti the next morning. On the day of our return we met two trekkers, both Engineers from Madhya Pradesh, on their way up. They had neither guides nor porters. Such small scale trekking, as long as it does not leave non-biodegradable litter, can be compatible with conservation. In fact, the trekkers by recording animal sightings and reporting any illegal activity to the authorities concerned, can help conservation immensely. Frequently we saw the women from the nearby gujjar camp, followed by goats, going up the densely wooded slopes near the lakeside to cut fodder for their livestock. We walked to their camp and asked them the usual question: why can’t they give up this wandering way of life and settle down in one place? The gujjars also gave the usual reply: they are willing to settle down provided they are given suitable alternatives. They added that over the years many of their kith and kin have given up this itinerant way of life and settled in and around towns like Dehra Dun and Rishikesh. We only hoped that rest of the gujjars will also give up their dependency on the forests, which disturb and damage wildlife habitats enormously, and settle down in one place which would ensure a much better future to their progeny.

We also feel that there is a need to put a regulation on the number of shops operated by the villagers near the Ganapathi temple adjacent to the lake. The trout may grow larger and breed better if some feed is given soon after winter, say in May and June. The additional number that would result as a result of this feeding programme can be housed in a smaller pond that could be built, about 50 m downstream of the lake. In such a situation, the adjacent summer camp of the gujjars, which is closer to the suggested site for the smaller pond, should be shifted somewhere else. The feeding programme can also help in channeling more trout into the Assi Ganga which has about 25 km of excellent trout habitat. The last 10 km below Sangam Chatti, however, would need protection from netting.

After staying in Dodital for two nights, we trekked back to Sangam Chatti in a day. We collected flowering plants all along so that our colleague Dr. G.S.Rawat, a fine field plant taxonomist could help us identify them. As we went past Majhi we wondered whether this practice of having summer and winter home should still be allowed in the ecologically sensitive Himalaya. The weather was not kind as there were intermittent rains between Kachheru and Agoda. As we descended, some times walking precariously on steep slippery slopes, we thought about the vastness of this difficult Greater Himalayan habitat which is seldom patrolled by the Forest Department or surveyed by wildlife biologists. Any effort in patrolling and surveying would need monumental effort in terms of organising trained and committed manpower. We also pondered over the fate of the animals living there and the illegal activities like uncontrolled medicinal plant collection and poaching (particularly snaring) that must definitely be happening there. All these made us realize that such activities can be controlled only if the local people have a stake in the resources the mountains offer.These resources should generate money: through ecotourism, regulated medicinal plant collection and cultivation, fishing and possibly hunting. The revenue thus learned should be used for the welfare of the local people to harness their support for conservation. A debate of experts and a decision on this is an urgent need of the hour.