Yeshe, Sangye, Katishe and Satawa walked through the
uncertain trail in the hidden cloud valley. They could make out the trail, and
as the four of them were expert trackers, they could walk fast in the trail,
picking up the signs. The trail of the wild yak and the wolves were very
obvious, but there were no signs of any human footprints. The path certainly
did indicate that the herd and pack had been moving inside the hidden cloud valley.
How far could they go ahead, safely? Yeshe was worried, for as they moved in,
the valley got darker and darker.
They did not dare to speak to one another. For, though
the trail showed clearly that the yak herd and the pack of wolves had moved
ahead, nearly a day earlier, the animals could have doubled back on another
adjoining trail and could be watching them. Instinctively, the four of them
knew exactly what was to be done. They separated their tasks, with Yeshe
leading the trail, watching the signs and walking forward. The other three kept
Yeshe in their sights and were walking along with him in silence. Sangye kept
watching their rear, along the trail that they had walked down from, being
careful about any movement from behind.
Katishe kept his gaze to the inner regions of the valley.
He could only see forests, with darkened canopies. The bushes and bamboo kept
the lower areas hidden from sight. He could not see beyond 2-3 meters. But, he
stayed alert and watched out for any sudden movement or signs of animals.
Satawa looked out to the upper ridges, watching out for signs of movement of
animals. He could see outside the valley, up towards the higher regions.
Yeshe could read the trail easily. The yak herd or the
pack of wolves had not attempted to hide their trail. They probably did not
expect that they would be tracked to this hidden cloud valley. Very soon, the
trail began to climb gradually. The four trackers realized that the trail was
climbing out of the clouds. This could get awkward, thought Katishe, for they
would never know if there was any danger below the clouds, following them.
Yeshe kept looking forward, for any sign of the yaks or wolves returning back
on the trail.
Soon enough, they were out of the clouds, climbing up the
hidden valley. Immediately, the four of them turned to see if they could spot
the trail from where they had climbed down. It was not to be seen. That would
be the reason why they could not spot this trail that was climbing up, Yeshe
thought, and pointed to the rocky ridge that protruded in the hill sides
between the two trails. They looked ahead to the adjacent mountain wall, and realized
that there were similar rocky ridges protruding out of the slopes, preventing
anyone from locating the other trails.
Yeshe could see that the trail climbed up, above the
clouds, and went over the edge. That would be dangerous, but they could not
resort to any other means. There were no other ledges or side-trails for them to
go ahead and check out the forest. With Sangye keeping a watch on the
rear-trail, they walked steadily ahead. The trail narrowed down to about six
feet width, and the signs of the yak and wolves were easily seen. There had
been no snowfall here, and the signs were clear and could be understood by the
expert trackers.
The yak must have walked in a single line, helping each
other, for the tracks were all close to each other. The wolves, judging by
their tracks, had mingled with the yaks, and both the animals seemed to be
comfortable with each other. The four trackers walked out of the hidden cloud
valley and came up to the ridge. They could see down both the sides. They could
see the hidden cloud valley, but the valley on the other side was not the Beyul
that they had climbed out of. This was a different valley and had no clouds.
They could see the entire valley. It seemed to be a sort of a plateau, and
there were grasslands in the valley floor. The grasslands were ringed with
forests.
Yeshe pointed out to the grasslands, and said, “There,
look. At the edge of the grassland, if you look carefully. It seems to be a
man, sitting in the open grassless patch. This trail will take us to him. How
did a lone man come to be up here? Why is he sitting out there, motionless, on
the grasslands in this remote valley? Should we follow the trail of the yaks
and wolves, or should we walk up directly to the lone man sitting up there?”
It looked very surprising to see the lone man out there
on the grassland. But, as they walked down, on the trail of the yak and the
wolves, they lost sight of the lone man. They were walking inside forests,
darkened without sunlight. With all their combined skills, they could keep
walking through the trail, picking up tracks of the yak and the wolves. They
knew the dangers. They could catch up with the yak and the wolves, or, the
animals could return along the same path. Worse, they could run out of
daylight, for as the day progressed, the onset of dusk would be quickened in
these high valleys.
The walk through the darkened forests seemed without any
end. They were tired, and they kept eating some of the food stuff that they had
been carrying with them. At one of the mountain streams, they had rested for a while,
refreshing themselves and refilling their water bottles. It had been a relief
to sit for some time and take stock. They did not speak to one another, for
they could easily be near the yak or the wolves. They took courage that there
was a lone man sitting out there on the grassland, and that could mean that
perhaps, there was no danger.
They came to the edge of the forest, and it was a
different world from what they had seen from the ridge of the valley. The
grassland was not grassland at all. It was more like a grass-forest. The grass
was almost 5-6 feet tall, and was interspersed with bamboo that was taller. The
trail continued inside the grassland, and they could pick up the traces of the
yak and the wolves. This was certainly more dangerous than stony trails or
forest paths. There was no way to understand what animal could be coming at
them. As Katishe said, “We can only go ahead. We cannot return. We need to find
a place to camp for the night, and we know that there are no safe places behind
us. At least we know that a lone man was sitting out there. There may be a
place to stay somewhere nearby.”
The grassland trail was quite wide, and they could see
that the yaks had walked through, two alongside. The wolves had been moving
back and forth. The trail looked like it had been used quite often, and yet,
they could not see any human signs. How did the lone man come up on the
grassland, if there were no open signs? Up ahead, the grass was getting
thinner, and lower. They moved cautiously, for they could begin to see all
around the grassland. It was Sangye who commented, “This is a strange place.
There are no birds to be heard here. Strange spirits are at work in this
valley. Let us be cautious.”
Yeshe replied, “Yes. I noticed that. Not only the birds,
but there are no other sounds in this valley. It’s totally silent. This trail
seems to go across this valley to the other side. As you can see there is no
other trail that we can spot that can lead us to any shelter. We have no option
at all. We have to follow these yaks and wolves. Where they would have gone, we
go in their pursuit. We have come into this valley for that purpose, and let us
go ahead, no matter what the dangers may be.”
The three trackers agreed with him, nodding in silence.
The grass cover kept going lower and except for the bamboo clumps, they could
now see the trail ahead of them for a greater distance. They kept looking
around to spot the lone man that they had seen sitting in the open grassless
patch somewhere on the plateau. Yeshe was torn between continuing on the trail
of the yak and the wolves, and going away from the trail to meet the lone man.
Satawa, understanding Yeshe’s dilemma, said, “Brother, let us continue on this
trail. If we see the man, we can call out to him and ask him to join us. Let us
not lose this trail.”
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