Ambivalent Mountains Hampta Pass

Manali to Chikka

I reached Manali and took a cab for Thrillophilia office. It was around 15-20 mins from the place where my bus has dropped me.

Everyone was supposed to be reached by 8 or 9 in the morning, but you know speed of your herd is decided by the slowest member. And the last person reached there by 10.

So, I got some time to know people around.

After getting a brief about our trek from our trek leader and introducing each other, we boarded cabs and started off towards Sethan. It was around 1.5 hour from Manali.

There were so many hair pins bends along the way. Rolling in cab we finally reached at our starting point for the Trek. It was few Kms from Sethan.

I had read about Sethan earlier. This village is famous for Igloo houses. Our trek leader told us how it was started with one Igloo and now full-fledged business here.

No matter what, the beauty of this place in Kullu Valley is beyond imagination. Panoramic view of Kullu valley lined with pine trees, sharp hair pin bends juggling your stomach and profound beauty of snowcapped mountains.

We started walking. It was only 2 hours trek till Chikka camp site. Landscape became more beautiful as we moved into the valley. There was a Nullah which we had to cross to a bridge to go to the left side of the it, and it could be crossed by one person at a time. That small wooden bridge was adding charm to beauty of the valley. After crossing that, climb was mainly through stones and boulders.

Chikka to Balu to Ghera (11480 feet)

We started from Chikka at 8 in the morning after having our breakfast. It was 5 hours from Chikka to Balu to Ghera. Beautiful Landscapes, distant snowcapped mountains were mesmerizing. It was not a hard climb. Time just passed in appreciating the beauty around and listening to bird's sounds.

There was a river crossing which considered to be dangerous in peak rainy season, but it was ok at this time of the year.

The moment we reached Balu ka Ghera it started snowing. I was so grateful to be there. This frozen rain filled my heart with sweet joy. It was the most beautiful camp site I had seen.

In a blink of a moment, brown rusty mountain converted into a white quilt.

We enjoyed the beauty, had our dinner and went to our tents. It was quite an adventurous night. It was snowing for the whole night. Snow started depositing on the tent wall and created a thick sheet. Some of tents were torn because people slept and didn't remove snow from their tent.

Balu ka ghera to Chikka Return (attempted Hampta pass)

Next day in the morning it felt like we slept in one kind of word and woke up in another.

Now it was a question of returning back to Manali or make an attempt for the Pass. We were very sure that we would not be able to cross the pass considering weather conditions, but we just wanted to trek till the pass.

Some of us were already scared to go any further in the valley after last night adventure. Then after long conversations half of us decided to move forward, with an option of coming back and camp here If something went wrong.

We had our breakfast and started moving towards the pass and others started descending.

It was continually snowing. We were not even halfway the valley some of the members decided to go back.

So, now we were 6 people along with our trek leader. And after 1 hour, I along with other two decided to go back because the view started scaring me. Snow was continuously accumulating, and it was wiping out the trail.

But other two wanted to try till the pass.

We decided to descend but there was no trail. Gush of emotions filled my head. To prevent getting lost ,we decided to wait for others. They came back in half an hour because there was no way up.

We started descending. These beautiful mountains were turned in to a horror movie. Everything was frozen from our eyelids till show laces.

Finally, we reached Ballu ka Ghera around 4 in the evening.

But we could not camp there. We had to go back to Chikka. It was a question of descending back in dark on slippery rocks or staying there which could be dangerous.

So, we started descending again. Everybody was moving forward with survival instinct. Unfortunately, I lost my head torch. Moving forward with phone in one hand and hiking stick in another on a slippery, rocky bed, was no less than risking your life.

We reached the same river crossing, which was looking ok yesterday, was full of fast flowing water and crossing it was another level task. I slipped so many times I could not count.

At last, we reached Chikka at 9:00 PM.

Chikka to Manali

Next day we descended back to Manali. I was full of conflicting emotions of happiness, struggle and disappointment.

There was no phone signal since we started from Sethan. First thing first after reaching back, I called my family. And suddenly it felt like wow I made it.

We reached Manali and stayed there for the night.

Manali to Chandigarh

I woke up early and enjoyed the calm view of river near the property. I explored some eateries nearby. And caught a bus back to Chandigarh in the evening.

Moral of the story, don't plan off season. It could be dangerous.