The morning's 20+ km section though was just short of brilliant ! A downhill gradient on bitumen following a stunning river valley comprising an army of eroded sand sentinels was sheer joy right up until the moment we had to endure the diesel fumes of a convoy of 50 Indian buses commandeered by the Indian Army travelling in the opposite direction on the same narrow road.
3 kms on and we were at the foothill of the famed Gata Loops. 21 switchback loops towering directly about us seemingly taking traffic straight up into the cloudless sky !
The one positive aspect though was that the significant number of loops indicated a not too high gradient allowing some cycling respite on the never ending circuit !
Following Pete we battled our way upwards with the view expanding exponentially on each loop. By loop 16 (yes I was counting !) we hit a not too uncommon traffic snarl with road workers laying a new section of fresh bitumen. Sneaking through with our bikes our traffic respite was only short lived when workers cleared the backlog forcing us to take a 30 min break by the side of a narrow unmade road section to allow the traffic through !
After breathing in a large volume of dust and fumes the traffic eventually cleared allowing us to complete the loops and continue a further km or two to our lunch stop complete with its amazing views.
The last 12 kms to camp included a really tough 7 km climb to the 5,000 metre peak at Nakeela before a rough 5km descent to Whiskey Nullah complete with its 2 parachute tent shops and absolutely nothing else !
With our high camping altitude the night was an early one with temperatures expected to drop below zero !
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| The Gata Loops done and dusted ! |
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| Whiskey Nullah - Nothing ! |
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