Exploring the Place that is not on the map | Chamba, Himachal Pradesh |

A hike to the peak of a mountain with almost 10KM steep uphill during autumn was an amazing experience.

Exploring the place that is not on map | Chamba Himachal Pradesh |

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Triund - A Trek on 5 Feet Snow

Trekking third time to Triund had brought me again to Mcleodganj on evening of 2nd March 2012. The Snow at Triund was the key greed to conquer this trek on 3rd March. Jaideep Yadav and Deepak Mishra were too excited to take up the challenge on five feet snow and steep glaciers.

Deepak Mishra had never seen the Snow and Jaideep Yadav had returned unsucesful from Trek to Triund couple of months back. So it was more challenging for me to reach at Triund with my company. Somewhere in mind I was very clear that no matter what happens I will make these guys to reach at the top.

The trek started at 08:30 AM from Mcleodganj. We filled some confectionery, chocolates and water in our backpack. Strangely Jaideep and Deepak were exceptionally excited and energatic to reach the snow point, rather I was surprised that both of them started walking faster than me in the beginning. But it was for a while  and soon I took lead. My intention was to pull them upto half of the distance (7 KM) fast so that we have enough time to climb carefully when last 6 odd kilometers comes in front of us with unexpected stacks of snow.

Unlike summer times, the track had become no man land, we the only three trekkers were breaking the silence of dense forest with all kind of noise.

After 2 kilometer trek, we got to meet 4 dogs who looked aggressive initially. But soon we realized that all they need is pampering and some food. They got both this from us so they joined us for rest of the day. With these four dogs running behind and ahead of us, we finally reached the first stop of our trek, Dharamkot.

We bought more stuff to eat at Dharamkot. Most important buy here was Red Bull. We fed the dogs with biscuits so that they join us till last. It was good company from safety point of view.

Little away from Dharamkot, our track started showing some snow staked on the way. This was the time when we could see the full view of Dharamshala and Mcleodganj from top. By this time, signs of tiredness had started appearing on Jaideep's face. Few words of motivation and pampering to Jaideep we moved ahead. 

Soon came the turning point of our trek when we moved to the other side of landscape where we could see our first stop/breakfast stop and then on 90 degree look up was Triund. The shining white snow there created an unique energy in body and provoked me to run like crazy to reach there. The beauty of Triund covered under Snow was spectacular and breadth taking. For a while I was lost in a way as if I am wandering at Triund with no relation to this world. But soon I came back to reality as we had huge distance to be covered yet, that too full of snow and steep climb.

We were too busy with capturing the beauty of nature, of-course including lot of photographs of all three of us. After moving little ahead on track, we were in front of the first glacier of our adventure. It was huge, scary, steep and almost negligible marks of foot. Moreover, the noise of flowing water under glacier increased my fear. The glacier was almost 7 to 8 feet fat. There was no scope for error. Above all this, the day had grown hot enough to melt snow, so the fear of some snow coming down had almost fasten my heart beat to extreme. Our non stop chitter bitter had suddenly disappeared and silence there felt more haunting to me. With strange fears crossing my mind, we manage to cross our first glacier successfully. 

Our first encounter with such a huge glacier proved two things clearly. First that in our balance 8 to 10 kilometer trek we are going to come across lot of snow and glaciers, second that my both partners will not give up and that was great news to me.

With our first glacier crossing and half a kilometer trek from there, we reached a place called MAGIC VIEW where we had planned our breakfast with delicious Maggi cooked with lot of vegetable. The feeling of reaching at first milestone and feeding maggi was super awesome. We met three trekkers from abroad here. They alarmed us about the track and glaciers ahead. But we ignored it and moved ahead after resting for a while here.

As we were climbing high, the zeal to reach Triund was increasing step by step. The Magic View was the point where never ending snow started and now we had to walk on snow for almost 6 kilometers till Triund. The track ahead was full of Snow, glaciers and steep climb with no marks of foot.

Our mouths were shut permanently and camera was packed. I told both my buddies to focus on their steps invariably. We conquered three times bigger glaciers than first one and way steeper. It was genuinely risky to cross that when water flowing under it was huge. But we had no option than to cross it. This time we just did not stop in the middle and walked carefully on it.

After crossing this huge glacier we were to climb 90 degree for next 2 kilometers and that was Triund. But these two kilometers proved to be the most haunting to me. The only question in my mind was "How we will come down ?" I did not share my fears with  Jaideep Yadav and Deepak Mishra as this would have taken them onto the verge of giving up there itself.

800 meters before Triund,  Jaideep gave up and refused to climb. The reason was steep valley down looked scary and his shoes were completely wet. Here rather than motivating him I forcibly pushed him to walk up.

The purity of snow here proved that coutable number of people have reached here. Unmarked track proved our point further. We were among very few to reach at Triund. It was amazing to see  Jaideep and Deepak feeling proud of completing the trek. The view and feeling was beyond imaginations. Unlike last time Green lush, Triund was pure white. The place filled us with infinite Joy. 

We spent an hour over there where we met two young Monks and had heavely delicious steaming Dal and Rice in only shop open at Triund.

Now it was the time to head back to Mcleodganj. The challenge started with our first step to go down itself. It was steep and scary. The same unmarked Snow felt killer. I guided both my buddies to use edge of their shoes and to keep cross feet wherever possible. I did not allow them to put flat steps which are most dangerous on snow. The steep downhill of two kilometer was the most critical part of our journey back with litterly no scope of error.

Suddenly both  Jaideep and Deepak gave up and sat where ever they were. To keep eye on them and guide them I was the last one. At one steep path  Deepak  simply sat on snow and started screaming. Looking at this situation  Jaideep  turned back upward but I did not allow him to go back. Now this was the most tricky situation for me. Rather than screaming back on them, I decided to go to front and help them. The track was small enough to not to allow anyone cross, so I decided to make my own path on snow. As I reached close to  Deepak my right leg bumped into snow and my right leg got stuck till waste. I had no choice than to stay calm. Slowly I managed to come over it. After this I immediately asked  Deepak  to move slowly and then  Jaideep.

Once we crossed the biggest glacier, I could see  Jaideep's and Deepak's heart beat coming back to normal. I was happy that we managed to cross the main challenge safely. Moreover when  Jaideep was wearing flat shoes and  Deepak  was wearing shoes with soul which had become flat over a period of time.

On the way back, we met lot of people who were trying to reach Triund. We were sure that none them would reach.

With extreme happiness and satisfaction we trekked back to Mcleodganj. It was long day and ofcourse God had made it really special for me as Snow and peaks of Himalayas are too close to my heart. The day I marked in my life as some of those days where I was fully satisfied with what I did.

Dharamshala - Mcleod Ganj - Green lush paradise on earth

First time ever in my life I reacted, "Oh My god, this place is way beautiful than my hometown in Chamba". This happened when we reached Mcleod Ganj. Anand and me traveled by Cab all the way from Nangal (Punjab) to Dharamshala to spend a day there. The drive from Una to Kangra was quite hot but beyond Kangra a magical change is weather brought a breath of relief for us.

The best part of trip was that we had no plans about how to spend a day and where to stay. By the time we reached Mcleod Ganj it was an evening time on Friday. The view of Mcleod Ganj in an evening looked serene and soothing to eyes. Green lush valley with almost no pollution and relatively less crowd was blissful experience. This magical paradise took away all the tiredness we had accumulated during the hectic day in which we travelled from Gurgaon to Nangal  (Punjab) followed by few hours in hot day of Nangal and finally four hours long drive from Nangal to Mcleod Ganj.

We landed at hotel named M Hotel through an agent and got a good deal for room facing Green Lush valley of Mcleod Ganj and Dharamshala. We off loaded our luggage with few minutes break and we were back on the streets of Mcleod Ganj.

Unknowingly we chose to explore the road connecting a place called Naddi, later we learnt that on the way of it there is very famous and sacred lake called "Dal Lake". The road was covered from both sides with symmetrically grown Oak and pine trees. Each curve of this road broke the whole view and brought an excitement of "What next?” So we ended up walking 2KM on that beautiful heavenly road with enjoy full cold breeze unlike our day journey.

Now the time was for food. We inquired few people and a common suggestion came up was "Restaurant Mcllo". The restaurant is situated in the very beginning of Mcleod Ganj town and easy to spot. The restaurant had Indian and Chinese preparation in its specialty. The ambiance of the restaurant is really super awesome with eye catching dim lights, natural air flowing from outside and beautiful view of Green lush valley under it. The food lived up to our expectations and would suggest everyone visiting McLeod Ganj to experience awesome dining there.

Our plan took another turn while we were waiting for food in Mcllo wherein we realised that one day is not enough to explore this place and we agreed to extend our trip by a day.

The second day of the trip started early at 5:30 AM for me. I chose to enjoy the run on Mcleod Ganj Naddi road to explore those mysterious and beautiful terrains. It was the most memorable run of my life ever, in middle of dense forest with no one around and cold breeze accompanying me throughout my run. Few KMs and I felt the low oxygen levels and steep uphill run added more spice to it. Somehow I managed to reach Dal Lake and to my disappointment Dal Lake was empty for cleaning purpose. I decided to go further uphill and see what is on the other side of the mountain. Few steep curves and I reached Naddi. The view from Naddi was breadth taking with snow covered Tall & Giant Mountain just behind it. Spent few ten minutes there and I started downhill run back to Mcleod Ganj.

The most beautiful time of the day at this hill station is morning few hours. So I decided to see the other side of this place which was Bhagsu Nag temple road. This side is completely in contrast with Naddi road with no trees around it, one can see the wide view of valley and high peaks of Dhauladhar range of Himalayas. In calmness of morning, Mcleod Ganj looked more spiritual.

We ate our breakfast at small dhaba because our Hotel restaurant was not open at 8:00 AM; hang over of late night party (till 2:00AM) which disturbed our sleep to large extent.

Now the time was for some stress and test of our stamina. Yes, we had a plan for trekking. The route we had chosen was Mcleod Ganj to Triund, which was 13 KM one side with steep climb to the peak of the hill. Our guide reached dot on time at 8:00 AM, so were we ready at that time. The day was cloudy which helped us climb faster. This route further leads to a place called Illaqa which is the last destination for trekkers. It’s a two days trek from Mcleod Ganj.

As we kept climbing each KM, the view of Dharamshala looked more and more serene. We met lots of foreigners on the way. We took few halts before we finally reached at the Triund in four hours. The weather at Triund was too cold with clouds all around and quite fast wind.

Triund is situated at the peak of the mountain and behind it is another giant mountain which was full of snow. The place was full of greenery all around. Triund has few guest houses for stay and limited shops having basic need stuff. The enjoyment of tea lying down on green grass facing snow covered mountain was priceless.

Since it was lunch time we asked a tea shop guy to cook something for us. He offered two things to us, Maggi or Rice & Dal. Of course we opted for Rice and Dal because we wanted to taste the preparation of Triund.

As we ordered the lunch, suddenly it started drizzling and soon it turned into rain. We ran into the Tea bhaba to take shelter. The view outside was spectacular with clouds crossing the mountain. Temperature dropped to almost 10 degree celcius. Soon Tea Dhaba was full of people to take shelter from rain like us. We spent more than half an hour watching view outside and enjoying cozy weather. It felt as matter of few moments. Then came freshly boiled rice and nicely cooked yellow dal with almost no spices in it. This combination at Triund tasted the best ever. The apatite of stomach was addressed by Rice and Dal however apatite to stay and enjoy the climate never ended for us. A cup of hot mild coffee followed by the meal worked wonders and provided the energy to go out in fast wind after rain. It was dam cold. The view immediately after the rain was very clear and Giant Mountain behind Triund peak was crystal clear.

We started our trek back to Mcleod Ganj in Cold winds all around. The weather magically changed very next moment we climbed down from Triund Peak. The trek back looked too long than it felt when we climbed up.

That day we slept so deep that we did not even realise that the party in Hotel went up to 2:00 AM in night.

Mcleod Ganj is one among few places where I promised to come back and spend more time to enjoy the nature. One more reason why I fell in love with this place is that people from Chamba (especially Bharmour and around it) are settled here and they speak my native place dialect. So I felt like coming home.

Dharamshala - Mcleod Ganj are well connected with road and air. There are Volvo buses connecting this place with Delhi and an Airport Gaggal 15 KM away from Dharamshala. Few things among must do is to see here are Bhagsu Nag Temple, Bhagsu Waterfall, Dal Lake, Naddi and Triund Trek. And yes, one must try food in Mcllo restaurant. The best months to visit this place are monsoon months viz Jun to Aug.