An Arch to Captivate You

Mankind has used arches to celebrate battle victories or events and to welcome the victorious warriors home. In recent times arches are created to welcome visiting dignitaries to a city or a nation. Nature also creates its own arches. We bring you the story of one such natural arch.

Your favourite Captions Contest is back! Kaun Banega Ghumakkad (KBG) is slowly inching towards the Platinum Jubilee edition. We are here with KBG-73, the 73rd edition of KBG! Does the picture of a natural arch trigger your imagination? If yes, give it a caption and win KBG-73.

This picture is courtesy our daughter Akanksha who had recently visited the Arches National Park in Utah, USA. Called 'The Delicate Arch', it is one of the most visited and photographed sandstone formations. Thank you Ashi for the picture.

For better visualisation of your caption, here is an enlarged picture of the Arch without the contest logo.

Does the Arch not look very fragile? Fifty two feet tall, does it appear about to collapse on one leg? It would interest you that the sandstone arches in that Park are 65 million years old. The Arch has been created by constant erosion due to wind, ice and water. The Arch has been depicted on a postage stamp commemorating Utah's centennial anniversary of admission to the Union in 1996. The Olympic torch relay for the 2002 Winter Olympics also passed through the Arch. So much for a brief history of the Arch.

Now go ahead and give a caption for the above picture featuring The Delicate Arch fast!

How to Submit a Caption

For the first-timers on KBG, you can respond using any of the six channels below:

1. Leave a comment on this post
2. Send email to hbindia@gmail.com    
3. Respond on the FB post
4. Comment on Instagram @ghumakkadhb 
5. Comment on Twitter @HarshBh21184761
6. Send a WA message. If you want your WA number to be added to Ghumakkad's list, send an email.

So folks, get going and give your caption pronto! If you feel like, you may submit more than one caption.

Previous Contest

KBG-72, the 72nd edition of Kaun Banega Ghumakkad Caption Contest had featured a picture of two African Lions lazing around in the savannah of Ngorongoro Crater in Tanzania, East Africa. Our picture story titled 'Lazy Lions' included all the captions submitted by the readers of KBG-72. The story also features embedded videos to give you a feel of being with the lions in its natural habitat. Two of the creative captions of KBG-72 are reproduced below:

Hope we have succeeded in diverting your mind away from a world torn with war and strife. Ghumakkad aims to spread joy and cheer all around like our logo shown below. Thank you Ramya Sriram for such a creative logo.

Now, be your creative best and shoot your response. Most catchy captions will be the Winners of KBG-73! All the best.

Thank you all the readers for your continued support.

Stay connected, stay safe.

   - Harsh-the-Ghumakkad with Neeta Bhargava/ 14th April 2022

#thedelicatearch #archesnationalpark #sandstonemarvel #travelisfun #ghumakkadhb #ghumakkadharsh #KBG #kaunbanegaghumakkad #onlinecontest #takeabreak #captions #powerofobservation #craetivecaptions #utah #usa #nationalparkservice #hiking #erosionofsandstone #naturesownarch #twokidsandpoetry #preservation #ecology

Women Hiking in Water

Ever hiked in a flowing river? 
For 25 kilometers?
At the bottom of a thousand feet deep Canyon? 
Women hikers on their own.
Waist deep water- challenge for a non-swimmer!
No markers, no guides.
Like to do it? Then read on.

Zion Narrows is hailed as one of the top-5 adventure hikes by NatGeo. Located in Utah USA, Virgin river cuts through the Canyon in a north-south axis. One can hike either N-S (also called top to bottom hike) or S-N called bottom to top. For a complete adventure, hiking the entire Narrows from top to bottom, from Chamberlain Ranch down to Temple of Sinawava is recommended. That's exactly what an all-women team of four hikers did! See the map below.

This is a guest story by Akanksha, Ghumakkad's daughter who hiked the Zion Narrows along with three other women. All of Indian origin and in their thirties had left their husbands and children behind for two days of adventure. Kudos to Abha, Akanksha, Anchita and Kiran for doing it!

Pictures courtesy Akanksha. Used with permission.
Akanksha's poetic story in her own words. 
__________________________________________ 

Carrying 20 odd pounds, We set out to hike
The Zion Narrows, which seemed dream like.

Your trail is the river, some 20 feet wide
And the gorge is majestic, a thousand feet steep, dwarfing you, with no place to hide.

Very nervous, not knowing what’s in store
We gave it our best shot, not to shy, but explore.
Four women in our thirties, with only a swimmer amongst us
We stepped into the river, with caution, and a wooden truss.

The water was waist deep, and I was gasping for breath
Will I make it or not, carefully I would tread.

The water was cold and would make you dizzy
But we were well clad, in neoprene socks, a tad bit cozy.

By the river, we pitched our tent,
And the next morning, we set out again.

And what an adventure we had.
We, non-swimmers got dunked, in a pool, deeper than we thought
And started saying our prayers, with loved ones in our thoughts.

Just wanted to get across, across to the other side
And get on with what we started, to finish it right.
Thank God for our swimmer, who pulled us out
Because of whom we are still up and about.
Grateful for coming out alive, we were quiet for a while
But soon gathered our wit and set out in a file.

We finished our hike over two days
With memories in our hearts, which shall forever stay.
Bruises and cuts decorated us all
As we retreated, into nightfall.

Whatever said and done, the canyons are mighty sleek
They leave you in awe when nature starts to speak.

It was a 16-mile walk, a walk in the river
The best I’ve ever walked, One I’ll always remember.

____________________________________________ 

Thanks Akanksha for the gripping story written as a poem. Keep writing and keep hiking!

Ghumakkad had posted another guest story of a hike in the canyon titled 'Coyote Gulch- Hiking in a Stream'. It was written by Nikhil, our grandson then ten-year old. Akanksha the guest author of this story is Nikhil's mother. As they say, talent runs in the genes!

Ghumakkad has also hiked in USA. You may read the story 'Toddler on a Trail' where a two-year old toddler hiked with Ghumakkad around a lake in California.

When Akanksha had sent the pictures of Zion Narrows hike a year ago, one picture caught my eye. It showed how water chisels through solid rocks. I had then created a PQ- picturesque quote using the picture. We end this story with the PQ reproduced below.

Thanks for browsing. Do share your experiences of similar hikes or other adventures.

    -  Harsh-the-Ghumakkad with Akanksha Bhargava/ 24th Jan 2019
#zionnarrows #canyon #hikinginwater #womenhikers #adventure #utah #akanksha #ahsknaka #gueststory #ghumakkadhb #ghumakkadharsh #backpacking #PQ #virginriver

Coyote Gulch- Hiking in a Stream

We all hike in the mountains.
In forests.
In river valleys.
In the desert and so on.
Have you ever hiked in a flowing stream in a canyon?
And camped for two nights?

Ghumakkad's ten-year old grandson did that. Of course with his parents and friends. But it is creditable for the two families to go on a hike in water. Complete with hiking poles, loaded back pack and their three-year old  toddler too! This is a guest story written by Nikhil, my grandson. Pictures courtesy Ankur Bhargava and Abha Maheshwari. Used with permission. 

What is Coyote Gulch? Coyote Gulch is a slot canyon in the middle of Utah’s massive red rock country. See the two maps below.

There are numerous blogs about the trail which give further details.
Here is Nikhil, the author who wrote this story when he was ten years old!

Nikhil's story follows:
_____________________________________________________ 

Hike name – Coyote Gulch in the Grand Staircase Escalante Area, Utah, USA

Duration - 3 days and 2 nights

Team – Abha, Soumitra, Ankur, Akanksha, Nikhil (10), Arushi (9), Rohan (7), Naman (3)

Day 1

Drove on a dirt road named BLM255 for about 2 hours to reach the trail head.

Our trail was called the Hurricane Wash via Chimney Rock. This way we would cut down our hiking time by half, not knowing what lay ahead for us.

We reached chimney rock in time, - 11:30 - but we lost all the time that we made, to find our way to Hurricane Wash. We wasted about a mile in navigating our way to the wash over the rocky terrain. I was carrying about 17 pounds, dad was carrying about 27 pounds, and mom was carrying Naman.

We had lunch on a tall rock since everyone was exhausted and then started walking again to find the entrance into the trail. We finally found the drop to the trail around 2:30 pm. The trail was very sandy and made it more difficult to walk even though it was all flat. Gradually the ground started getting wet and gave way to visible water which led to the river.

We changed from our hiking shoes into our water shoes and neoprene socks – special socks that do get wet in the water but keep you warm once you are out of the water.

We followed the river for the next 2-3 miles to Jacob Hamblin Arch which was our destination to camp.

It was a sight to behold. One because it was so impressive and huge and secondly because we were all tired and couldn’t walk anymore :-). We all got to our respective jobs – pitching tents, filtering water, preparing to cook dinner and playing (kids).

We had Maggie for dinner and mom made mac and cheese for the picky eater Naman.

We all went to bed instantly after dinner since fires are not allowed in the park. Once inside the tent, I was bored, because I was not so sleepy. Mom and I did some stretching because my legs were hurting. That relaxed my muscles and I fell asleep. It was really warm that night. But the wind was howling – hoo whooo . It woke me up four times.

Day 2

We woke up. Enjoyed some packaged mini waffles and ate oats for breakfast.

Mom – dad and Soumitra chachu (Dad's brother in Hindi)– Abha mausi (Mom's sister in Hindi), took some pictures against the arch while we kids were busy making a castle.

We then all changed into our water gear and headed out for the day. We hiked for about 4 miles and saw two water falls, the Coyote Natural Bridge and a little gateway.

Took some pictures along the way and our precious cargo – Naman – changed shoulders couple times..

At about 4pm it was time to head back to our campsite. It had started to get cold. It was a windy day, compared to the previous day. I was leader for most part of the hike and had to set a pace.

Parents made Chole and Rice for dinner. We had to hide our bowls under our jackets because the wind was so strong that it was blowing sand all over. There was sand everywhere – on the ground, in our eyes, in our mouth, inside the tents, and in food.

We kids, were in one tent, while the grown ups and Naman were in another. We slept and called it a day. It was windier than the previous night.

Day 3

There was this one time when Abha mausi and Soumitra chachu got a little separated and I and my parents and Rohan and Arushi were all together. We kept hiking thinking that A and S are right around the corner. We hiked on the trail to keep away from the water and then again stepped into the water when there was no trail/land.

It was at one such instance that we lost our way. Mom and Dad turned around and said, “We should wait for A and S. Its been a while since we saw them” – not knowing that we were the ones who were actually lost!!! Dad said “ let me look at the map, if we are on the right track “ And guess what??? WE WERE OFF THE TRAIL. We kind of panicked a bit, because we had thought that they were the ones lost, so it would be pretty hard to retrace our steps. We had decided on a distress call code “ huku huku “ and would keep repeating it until the rest of the party replies to it. Luckily, Soumitra chachu heard us and ran to where we were - shouting “Ankur.” We followed Soumitra chachu to where we were supposed to go and got back on the trail.

We hiked through a different path once we found the rocky terrain, which had new obstacles we didn’t know about. Once within view of Chimney Rock, Naman got down from his carrier and started to scale the steep rock walls, making everyone ashamed of themselves. See the video clip below.

Naman was climbing the rocks like a spider.

We got off the path by a lot, but found our way back to Chimney Rock. Everyone was so happy when we reached the car. We (as in the whole party) hadn’t eaten anything besides an energy bar, so everyone opened all packages and started hogging.

_________________________________________________________________________

That was the end of Nikhil's story. Amazing, isn't it?

Nikhil and I had hiked together earlier. The story of one such hike in India can be browsed by clicking "Father's Day Hike".

 

Another outing where Nikhil and Ansh our eldest grandson in India, co-authored a story was 'Why Kodaikanal'. We can see two of them together in the picture below.



So, this story was special. Not because it featured an off-beat trail in USA, but because it had been written by a ten-year old hiker himself. Thanks Nikhil. And thanks Abha and Ankur for incredible pictures and the videos. May you all keep hiking!

Thanks for browsing

   -  Harsh-the-Ghumakkad with Nikhil Bhargava/ 31st July 2018

#coyotegulch #Hamblinarch #hiking #canyon #chimneyrock #naturalbridge #camping #ghumakkadharsh #ghumakkadhb #hurricanewash