We then started our journey to Binsar. We passed Bowali and Almora en-route to Binsar forest area. The forest entry check-post at Binsar forest area charges about Rs. 150 per person for entry. The car is charged Rs. 250. In my opinion, it is pretty steep.
But, all that was forgotten once we entered the Binsar forest area. Those huge oak and pine trees were omnipresent. We could see them pretty much everywhere. One more thing we noticed there was there were lots of forest fires. It came to our notice that this area was declared protected somewhere in the mid-eighties, and since then, lot of people who were at that time residing in the forest were moved out by the Govt. The people who got impacted were not happy about that, since they were enjoying the rich forest bounty, and that ceased immediately. That is one reason why they are not too co-operative with the forest department. Guides over there mentioned that some forest fires could actually be ignited by these people too.
Anyway, we reached KMVN rest house at Binsar. This is one of the only two rest houses in that area. There is another forest rest house, about half a kilometer away from KMVN rest house. The forest rest house is the place where they have a sunset point.
After lunch, we hired a guide, who took us to a 2 km one way trek inside the forest. The guide was good enough to explain us the vegetation around that area. That is vastly different from what we see in South India. Forests in south are denser than that in Binsar. Binsar is about 1700m above sea level, and as mentioned, there are huge oaks and pines, with deodars here and there. Animals that live here are different from what we see in South too. Barking deer lives here. Leopard thrives in this environment. In fact, we were also shown a Leopard footprint. It was more like the Leopard had marked its territory. It seems like Leopard needs 5 sq km of area for its existence, on an average. Also, the terrain is so steep that only animals who are nimble can stay here. For example, you will not find a tiger here.
Our guide also explained various plants and trees, and how each one of them helps the other. For example, there are some algae which grow on oaks and pines, which actually help maintain the moisture level on the tree. Nature at its best!
We reached a view point called Zero Point. This is a small shelter which is situated at a strategic point from where you can see a very beautiful view of the mountains and the vegetation around.
We came back from the trek, only to go to another place for a sunset. This is the sunset point, and it is a part of the forest rest house I was referring to. This is about half a kilometer from KMVN rest house.
We did this distance in our cab. We were all decked to take some photographs, when we met a couple from Bangalore. They live about a km or two from where we live. It is like going all the way to California and meeting Indians :-). They had come from Jim Corbett National park, and they had sighted the big striped cat, the one we would consider lucky to sight. I saw those photos in his Nikon something, and I loved them. After drooling at the sight of the big one, we got ready to take some photos of the sunset. He setup his Nikon expensive something on his expensive tripod, and she had another Nikon expensive something else. I had my Canon S3IS, and the moment the sun started setting down, all of us started clicking our cameras. Please pardon my photography skills, and trust me, the places are much better than what my camera says they are. Here are some shots of the sunset taken from the sunset point.
Some shots later, the sun set, and we retired for the day. The rest house has a terrace from where we can watch sunrise. So, I got up early in the morning to see if we can get a good view of the Himalayas. Unfortunately, it was cloudy that day, and there was no view of the Himalayas. But, we spotted two barking deer, and a bunch of monkeys.
We then started our journey to Kausani, via Almora again.
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