Trail # 6 - A Family Hike

Trail # 6 A family hike
By
Shaikh Muhammad Ali
Page 1
Overview:
Since the time I wrote and published my last article some 6 months ago, a lot has
happened around me. March came with full force and the advent of spring brought
new lease of life for the flora and fauna that grows around abundantly in Islamabad;
a city which I have come to appreciate and love since the time we have moved
here from Karachi to Islamabad in July 2002.
The beauty of Islamabad (unlike Karachi) is that you can get to appreciate all four
seasons i.e. summer, autumn, winter and spring. Although the summers are extremely
hot and the winters quite harsh especially for us Karachiites but the spring and
autumn are so beautiful that we always somehow manage to cope with the
summers and winters here.
April passes somehow quietly but with the coming of May, school (for the kids) got
tough since final exams come in May and this May was no different when most
extracurricular activities came to a grinding halt with focus on studies and
preparation for the exams. Adil (my oldest) was appearing for the final exam of his O
levels through Cambridge while Mohsin (my younger prince) was appearing for his
grade seven papers and my little princess Ayesha was appearing for her grade five
exams.
The battery supporting the uninterrupted power supply (UPS) had given way in March
this year and with the advent of the sweltering heat, it had to be replaced and
replaced it was in May. With the load shedding of electricity after every three hours
for one hour, one cannot live without a UPS in Pakistan. Thanks to our government
who have been lying for the last 20 odd years that there will be no load shedding
and we have come to terms with this blatant lie and a few privileged souls like us
spend around 20-25 thousand rupees to procure a UPS and a battery which usually
lasts us for a good three hours in such load shedding. Reminds me of the brownouts
that I faced in the Philippines when I was doing my Masters there b/w 1993-1995
Poor Adil had to appear for 14 papers in his GCE O level exams this year. Although
he had taken 6 subjects but they all had parts and thus the total number of exams
summed up to 14. He went through the grind for about a month and was almost
exhausted by the end of this ordeal.
June was as hot as it could be. While the school closed but my office did not and I
continue to enjoy my summer break in the office. Laughter.
On the dreadful morning of 22nd June 2016, around 11:00 a.m., Amjad Farid Sabri, the
talented son of the (late) Qawal Ghulam Fareed Sabri was shot dead in Karachi, a
Page 2
troubled city since the last 30+ years. He was assassinated in cold blood and his
apparent fault was that he was a Qawali singer; an art which is abhorred by the
fanatic moulvis and the jihadi element. I was still suffering through the APS massacre
of Peshawar since Dec 2015 and now this brutal murder of a very humble and loving
personality pushed me against the wall and the pain and suffering continued. I
wonder how long the sons of this soil will be killed in cold blood like this and would this
ever stop?
Come 8th July and the worlds richest poor man died; yes Abdul Sattar Edhi is dead, a
man who donated his life for the downtrodden, the hungry, the widows, the orphans,
the poor, the needy, the illegitimate born. A man who spent his entire life in two
shalwar suits, who owns no property in his name, has a fleet of private ambulances
which put his name in the Guinness book of world records. He is no more among us
and he has made the entire nation yateem (Fatherless)!
Thank God, he was given a state funeral by the Armed forces of Pakistan, an honor
which has been bestowed only on two civilians so far; the first being Quaid-e-Azam
Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the father of the nation and the second one being Edhi
sahib. He was buried in Edhi village, about 25 kilometers off Karachi and millions
mourned his death within and outside Pakistan.
Having said all the above, let me now draw your attention to the reason why this
article is being written. The Federal government decided to inaugurate yet another
trail in the Margalla hills for the hike loving inhabitants of Islamabad. Yes, in late 2012;
the Interior Minister inaugurated the Trail # 6 track which starts behind the Faisal
Masjid in sector E-7 in Islamabad.
Some of us hikers had already been here thrice but the trail was given a formal name
by the then government of the Pakistan Peoples party (PPP) in late 2012. And it is not
possible that a new trek is opened in Islamabad and we do not visit.
So on 17th Feb. 2013, a reasonably cold morning; we decide to go hiking on this trail.
As usual, I got up early around 6:00 a.m. and then wake up my better half and the
kids around 7:00 a.m. and start to get ready for the hiking trip ahead. Sabeen
prepared the breakfast for the family and I help her in making burgers for the hike
while I had already purchased chips, dry fruit and juices for the trip earlier.
We leave the house around 8:45 a.m. and reach the west side car park of the Faisal
Masjid at 9:00 a.m. Mr. & Mrs. Dr. Tahir Rasool from Air University, Ahsan Mumtaz s
family, Rizwan Ahmad Khans family and Khawaja Zaheeruddin sahib meet us at the
car park.
Page 3
Within five minutes we reach the starting point of the trek and took the ritualistic
pictures. This article will carry a lot of family pictures. Incidentally, two families have
left for the US after this hike.
(The raiding party before the hike)
(Bird watchers have already taken their positions)
Page 4
(And here is the map of the Trail # 6 and adjacent trails)
(Details of the Trail # 6)
Page 5
(With the abundance of cell phone cameras, a family picture was a must)
Ahsan Mumtaz, a colleague who initially worked with me at HEC and had later joined
PTCL after clearing his international PMP Exams had joined PTCL, the national
telephone carrier. He later left for the US while accompanying his wife and children.
Mrs. Mumtaz won a Fulbright PhD scholarship in Computer Science and they are now
living somewhere in Massachusetts, USA.
(Ahsan Mumtaz and his family)

Page 6
After taking the above pictures, we start the hike around 9:30 a.m. Within a few
minutes, we saw a newly erected signboard which gave us two choices:
(Jabbi in the east or Kalinger in the west)

And since we were heading for the Jabbi village, thus we went east leaving the
Kalinger trail behind. I had befriended Dr. Tahir Rasool, a foreign faculty member from
Canada who had lately moved to Pakistan and was working at the Air University,
Islamabad. I sometimes used to see Dr. Rasool on the way while going to my kids
school in F-11. Dr. Rasool would usually carry an umbrella and a back pack and
could be seen striding off Margalla avenue on his way to work; a good 6 kms walk.
One day, I just could not resist stopping my car and asking him if I could give him a
ride and hesitatingly he decided to hop in and thus we became friends. He would
walk to work daily and traverse the 6 kms distance like a piece of cake. And but of
course he was a hiker too. It was destined that we would meet since birds of a
feather flock together.
Page 7
(Dr. Tahir Rasool and I at the initial stage of the hike)

Unfortunately, Mrs. Rasool could not handle the hike and soon decided to turn
around. We had to bid farewell to the Rasool family since there was no point in
dragging the poor lady all the way up and down for 8 kilometers. Dr. Rasool would
later twist his ankle badly and would almost get off the hiking circle for over a good
one year. This is indeed very painful for a regular hiker but life is like that sometimes.
Within half an hour of walking, we took this portrait picture:
(Mr. & Mrs. Shaikh)

Page 8
Within 35 minutes of our walk, we reached the Phoenix sit out, a resting area where
you could relax and appreciate the chirping of the local birds.
(Of course we cannot spell phoenix as can be seen above)

This picture was so lovely that I could not help resist putting it here. Children are the
life blood of our existence, a source of unlimited joy to the parents.
(The youngest group of hikers on this trip)

Rizwan Ahmad Khan and his family was another group that accompanied us for this
hike. Rizwan used to work for the Higher Education Commission (HEC) and lately
Page 9
resigned from HEC on 8th July 2016 and took immigration in the USA. He was another
good company and since he was becoming a couch potato and gaining weight; I
would always force him to come hike with us
(Rizwan and his physical fitness coach)

Within 1:28 hours, we reached the Palm Spring, the first pond and a natural spring.
We rest here for a while, fill our water bottles and move up.
(The palm spring pond)

Page 10
(Khawaja sahib and Ayesha enjoying at the palm spring pond)
(Rizwan and his family posing for the camera)
Page 11
(A family portrait right before we left the Palm springs)
(A very old banyan tree in the background)

Since we had small kids accompanying us, we took this hike as more of a family
picnic, a get together and a light walk and thus were in no hurry to reach our
Page 12
destination. We would stop every half hour to take water breaks and would shoot as
many pictures while enjoying with our kids.
(Ahsan, a very loving father as can be appreciated from this snapshot)

By 11:45 a.m. we had reached another spring which had a much larger pond as
compared to the previous one where we had stopped earlier. Since Jabbi was
another hours hike from here, we decided to have our lunch at this spot and out
came our lunches, snacks and juices.
(Khawaja sahib, Mohsin and I at the 2nd spring pond)

Page 13
(And out come our lunches, snacks and drinks; a family picnic)
(Who is this American couple with a Coloradoan Bandana and a Texan 5 Gallon Hat?)
We ultimately reach our goal post i.e. Jabbi around 1:00 p.m. while passing through a
standing crop of mustard. The field was ripe with mustard flowers and accorded us a
beautiful and serene look.
Page 14
(Green fields forever)

The entire hiking party reached Jabbi and found their places to relax but Ayesha was
very tired and thus Sabeen and she walked rather slowly and I had to go down and
fetch them for the last leg of the hike.
(The hiking party at the top of Jabbi)
Page 15
(The victorious lot at Jabbi)

Jabbi was an extremely small place probably owned by one family and they did not
like us, intruders. Although the government had opened up this new trail for hikers but
the family residing at Jabbi had no idea about this and they were initially very upset
with us as to why we were intruding in their area. Later, we tried to convince them
that we will not be here for long and will not disturb their peace, destroy their crops
and would stay here for a while, catch our breath, take a few pictures and retreat.
After staying at Jabbi, we started to retreat around 1:30 p.m.
(Ladies leading the trailing party)

Page 16
By 2:54 p.m. we had covered half the distance on our way back. We did not stop for
any break and came down in leaps and bounds.
(Half the distance to Jabbi; the 2.0 km marker)
(The youngest hikers with Mrs. Mumtaz at the Trail # 6 marker)
Page 17
(The last of the Mohicans on the way back)

By 4:15 p.m., we had reached the starting point, counted all our jewels and parted
ways after saying our sweet good byes to the wonderful families that accompanied
us for this memorable hike. I wonder when we will get a chance to go hiking again
with this group!
(The group is all smiles after completing yet another wonderful hike)
We left for home around 4:30 p.m. while reaching here by 5:00 p.m. As usual this
family hike will be cherished for a long time to come.
Page 18
End Note:
Adils GCE O Level result was announced on 11th August 2016 and much to our
surprise and amazement, he has topped in the entire Northern region at the City
School by securing 6 A* in his O level part II exams while he had already secured 3 A*
in the part I exams last year. Thus, he clinched the highest position with 9 A* which is a
feat in itself. He continues to make us proud parents while adding more and more
feathers to his cap. Family members say that he has taken after his great
grandfather, Dr. Shaikh Muhammad Ibrahim (Khalil) who was bestowed with the title
of Taj us Shura-e-Sind; (the crown of the poets of Sindh, Pakistan), a very learned
scholar who was fluent in 8 languages, completed his Medical degree from London
and his specialization in skin and venereal diseases from University of Vienna, Austria
(all on scholarships).
Adios!
Shaikh Muhammed Ali
The Wandering Dervish
E-mail: dushkashaikh@gmail.com
Cell: +00-92-321-5072996
Saturday, 26th Ziqaad, 1437 H
27th August 2016, 3:34 p.m. (PST)
Page 19

Trail # 6 - A Family Hike

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Trail # 6 - A Family Hike

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Trail # 6 A family hike