Legend had it that on the fringes of Salt Range, in the
wilderness of Potohar Stretch, there lies a reservoir surrounded by vertical
cliffs on one side and the thick forest on the other. Springs ooze out from the
mountain cracks, making a ring of waterfalls that fall below shaping up into a
lake.
Legend had it that the emerald waters while glow under sun
reveal the underwater delights, the stones and pebbles, the reef patterned
ridges and fish and crabs.
Legend had it that a few stranded Pakistan Air Force
Commandos discovered the lake once they got lost during a survival exercise and
named it SWIKE.
Legend had it and so we heard of it
.…
and we were there
....“And for
once, the gossip was right.”
A Panorama of Swike Lake (
drag mouse right or left for the view, top right for full screen)
SWIKE is the jewel of
Salt Range, an isolated retreat away from the reach of routine bystanders. The place
had it all, the lake, the waterfalls, rocky cliffs and the green stretch. So overwhelming was the experience that an
overnight camp out at SWIKE was planned.
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| Swike Waters |
The group comprised of seven in total, six human beings and
one Dodo. The party comprised Sherazi, Ladla, Kaboom, Rashid Minhas, Jayzee,
Dodo and me. The ill planning was done at an Officers’ Mess at
Rawalpindi. A lot of requesting, borrowing and seeking favours finally enabled
us to proceed further in executing the plan. The fun part was visiting Metro
Islamabad for procuring groceries (Kaboom knows that ;) …..and yes there were plenty of mitthaas
from Excel Labs.
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| The Emerald Touch |
Three bravados reached SWIKE in daylight, installed the
tents and were eventually left stranded in the darkness with cell phone
torches. Some characteristic emotional SMS messages from Rashid Minhas and Dodo
kept the remaining four moving to join the group at nightfall. Jayzee, Sherazi,
Kaboom and Me had to carry the supplies in SACKS on our shoulders during an
hour and a half long trek / hike at night. Poor Kaboom got punctured having
carried the FIREWOOD IN A SACK on his back and we had some mending done upon
reaching the RV. After the tiring and wrecking hike what Jayzee was worried
about was his SHEESHA APPARATUS and to our sheer disapproval was even ready to
trail back to find it.
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| The Night Swim |
The night was cold, started with some fun swimming at night
and the melodious voice of Sherazi and Chorus singing “Japphee kut ke jee
pawen ik vaar gujjraa……….”. The food was tasty and built some appetite.
Here was the first twist, Rashid Minhas spotted an underwater snake that peeped
out just beside one of our tents and stared in hostility to on looking flash
light. And here came the first memorable quote of the night “you know the
water snakes are not poisonous and they don’t bite outside water” (I don’t
recall who was that) but the tone was confident. Such was the wildlife wisdom
that got us relaxed and going for the night. The fire was lit, Jayzee prepared
some classy SHEESHA and Sherazi went hostile on mitthaas. The cards were
out for the night and it was when Ladla, Kaboom, Dodo and me were playing cards
that Rashid Minhas (the same snake culprit) got suspicious of hearing some wild
animal out in the dark. We all had our part of enhanced sense of sound on
varying times and remained on vigilance and flash light searches for the
remaining night. The only weapon with us was in custody of Dodo and Dodo was on
fire for the night. We couldn’t conclude whether it was a Cheetah or something
else out in the forest, but we all had consensus that Dodo is possessed.
Dodo with a loaded weapon was thriving
to go out in the wild at night and all our energies were consumed into looking
out for some wild animal’s entry from outside and preventing the exit of the
other wild ….. from inside. (Dodo we still love you…)
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| FIRE!! Dodo!!!!!!! ... and Jayzee's signature SHEESHA |
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| The Camp |
The morning was bright, and SWIKE was ever welcoming. We had
GARMAAs in breakfast and then went on to a swimming spree. It was some rock
jumping into the water, lots and lots of hesitation by one on the jumping rock
(no, I won’t say the name); holding of Water March Past under the able
leadership of Sherazi; Ladla Rashid Minhas and Dodo floating on tube; and yes
the pictorial poses of photogenic Jayzee. It was also a visit to the waterfall above,
standing on the algae carpeted rock and looking below into the SWIKE was something
the thought of which still mesmerises me.
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| The Group (Jayzee is taking the snap) |
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| Jayzee |
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| SWIKE |
By noon we had rolled over and started our hike back to the
civilization. Having hiked for 45 minutes, gone past our landmark Camel Feature
and reaching on the top platform, we had a break. It was then we looked back on
SWIKE. There was our dialogue with nature, a dialogue with SWIKE and we
reaffirmed that we will be there again. We accepted the direct invitation from
SWIKE>
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| The Camel Feature |
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| SWIKE : The Jewel of Salt Range |
