Bhutan: A Hymn in the Himalayas

Sar Pass diaries

22^nd May 2012 - Bhandak Thatch Camp – 8,000 ft

Its time to rejoice.. express gratitude for the Great Himalayas and Weather Gods for safe completion of trek....take photos.. share e mails n cell nos... recall memories of last 9 days of a Great Trekking Expedition – Sar Pass...time to make promises to meet again back in these beautiful mountains...We are 57 participants from different states of India and had a wonderful time together as SP 13 batch of YHAI. We reached here yesterday .. the last camp in our trek.. Today we will proceed to base camp via Barsheni & Manikaran.

As I close my eyes, my mind wanders through those thrilling moments...

13^th May 2012 to 15^th May 2012 - Kasol Base Camp – 6,500 ft

After a hectic bus ride on narrow roads curling through Himalayan landscape, we are here at base camp... a beautiful place about 40 kms from Kullu .. surrounded by tall pine trees and located on banks of River Parvati with a magnificent view of snow covered peaks ...

Bed tea at 6 am.. warm up exercise at 7 am and breakfast at 8.30 am became an enjoyable routine.

on 14^th May we went for acclimatisation trek in nearby hills for about three hours and on 15^th it was time to practice rappelling & rock climbing.

Now its time to get ready for a Great Himalayan adventure from tomorrow. We had read about experience of earlier years’ participants of Padri-Grahan-Ratpani-Nagaru route of Sar Pass trek . This year it would be all the more thrilling to explore the new route planned by YHAI.

YHAI base camp at Kasol

16^th May 2012 - Kangachani Thatch – 7,800 ft

Just 2 hrs trek after a short bus ride from base camp, this camp is located near a small glacier. We could still see devastating effects of glacier that carried huge tress & rock boulders along with its flow. The weather was clear and we enjoyed camp fire with warmth of hot chocolate.

17^th May 2012 - Khordu Thatch – 9,100 ft   

A steep climb for about 6 hrs through the dense forest of Pines, Devdar ,Maple trees & streams took us to Khordu by 4 pm. Khordu in local language means walnut. It started raining and it was quite chilly & cold after 6 pm. By 7.30 pm we all retired in our sleeping bags with a bit of fear of black bears in this dense forest.

Camp @ Khordu Thatch

18^th May 2012 - Zirmi – 10,500 ft

As we left Khordu in morning , the weather was very clear and we reached here by 3 pm. A beautiful camp site on green meadows & surrounded by snow capped peaks. A few moments of silence on nearby rock gazing at mountains was a blissful experience. Steaming hot khichadi with a spicy onion-tomato gravy.. thanks to our cooks & a fellow participant  for a mouth watering dinner.

With Ritwik on way to Zirmi camp

mesmerizing  view from Zirmi camp site

Zirmi camp site

 19^th May 2012 - Tila Lotni – 12,500 ft

We left Zirmi around 8.30 am and had a steep climb for an hour. The route was beautiful through dense forest & lush green meadows. The weather was clear till we reached lunch point around 1 pm. We had just enjoyed our first few steps through snowy patches.

As we finished our packed lunch with steaming hot Maggie noodles by 1.30 pm, Great Himalayas blessed us with snow fall which continued for next 4 hrs till we reached Tila Lotni. We had just crossed Tree line & we had to exert more due to lower levels of oxygen & humidity. The narrow track was entirely through snow covered mountains with a steep slope of nearly 2,000 ft on one side. Three of us missed a step & we had a live replay of Jack n Jill’s story. After a free fall of nearly 400 ft on icy slopes, all were rescued & safely brought back by sherpas, our guides.

The camp is located on a rocky patch surrounded by snow covered slopes on all the sides. By 6 pm , the weather was bit clear and we could take a few photos. We retired in our tents by 7 pm after dinner. It was chilling cold with first ever experience to spend a night at temperature of zero degree Celsius. With pretty excited minds we tried to catch up some sleep.   

trekking towards Tila lotni in snow fall

Camp @ Tila Lotni

20^th May 2012 - Sar pass – 13,800 ft

A bed tea at 3 am , breakfast at 4 am and fall in for head count at 5 am to leave Tila Lotni towards Sar Pass.. thats how we began our day. The weather was clear as we left by 5.30 am.

After a few minutes of steep climb we felt warm & gradually proceeded to a snow covered ridge towards Sar Pass. Nearly for next three hours we walked through this ridge. We enjoyed the splendid view from the top with some of the surrounding peaks almost at the same height. We thoroughly enjoyed our first snow slide to enter a small valley connecting Sar Pass. It was 10 am but the scorching heat of sun was unbearable on this vast expanse of snow. After a short break at tea point we continued towards base of a snow covered slope.

The word “Sar” means a lake in local language, which presently in frozen condition, is located on left side of this slope that connects to Sar Pass ridge. We reached the base of steep slope of about 200 ft .With the help of a rope , we reached on Sar Pass ridge... a narrow ridge with about 4 ft width & 40 ft long. By now we had walked for nearly 7 hrs through this snow covered terrain and were extremely tired. Now it was a fun time after exhaustion... the thrilling experience of slide for about 400 ft in sitting position with sack as a back support...great experience..

After slide , we relaxed for a while at lunch point. We continued for another 2 hrs through snow covered route and reached camp at Biskeri Thatch by 4.30 pm.

21^st May 2012 -  Biskeri Thatch – 11,000 ft

We reached here yesterday evening. A beautiful camp site located on the edge of green meadows. At 5.30 pm , suddenly the weather changed  & it started drizzling. After sometime snowfall started & continued till late evening. Rain showers continued in morning as we left for Bhandak Thatch by 9.30 am.

22^nd May 2012 - Bhandak Thatch – 8,000 ft

We reached here yesterday afternoon..the last camp in our trek.. located on green meadows, it offers a magnificent view of snow capped mountain ranges.. everybody was relaxed after successful trek through Sar Pass.. thanks to the blessings of Great Himalayas , Weather Gods and support of our guides n YHAI  that we could complete this trek.

We proceeded to base camp via Barsheni – Manikarn with some of the most cherished moments of our life.