Cranks' Ridge

Kasar Devi is a temple on the Kaashaay Hills, 7 km north from Almora, where Swami Vivekananda once came to meditate[1][2] in the late 19th century.

[3] The ridge became a haunt for bohemian artists, writers and spiritual seekers in the 1920s and 1930s, including notable western Tibetan Buddhists, W. Y. Evans-Wentz, and Lama Anagarika Govinda, who in turn was visited by Anandamayi Ma and Neem Karoli Baba.

[citation needed] In 1962, Allen Ginsberg came with Peter Orlovsky, Gary Snyder and Joanne Kyger to visit Lama Govinda.

[7]" In late 1964, Ralph Metzner visited Lama Govinda on the ridge and was later joined by Timothy Leary on honeymoon with his wife Nena von Schlebrügge.

This reputation is due to the alleged gap in the Van Allen Belt above the ridge, a perception arguably strengthened by the free and easy availability of hemp on the slopes.