Back to Himalayan hiking after six years: Ravishing Rupin pass

 

“The Himalayas are a holy land, dotted with sacred lakes, divine peaks and blue glaciers that gleam and soar in the collective imagination of the sub-continent”

― Susan Jagannath, Chasing Himalayan Dreams

My last Himalayan hike was in May 2015 to Sar Pass. I had then decided that I will trek in the Himalayas once every year. But in December 2015, I moved to Beijing for work, and though I got to travel to Himalayas on the other side of the border, it wasn’t hiking. We came back to India during the onset of the pandemic in February 2020, and I couldn’t go back due to travel restrictions. It was difficult to plan a long trek due to the uncertainly of my position, but I suddenly realized that there are the Chinese national holidays between 1^st to 7^th October and that would be my best chance to do a Himalayan hiking. This meant I had an opportunity, and very less time to prepare. Giri, who has been with me on earlier treks had just come back from Pin Baba and suggested that I can go with that group. On 17^th September, I shared my intention in our plan for trek WhatsApp group and Pratap said he and Varada (our teammates during the Sar Pass trek) have booked for Rupin Pass trek between 2-9^th October with India Hikes. I checked India hikes website and saw that the 2^nd October slot was full. Pratap and Varada asked me to book in waitlist and to contact Ms. Prathima, the trek coordinator. I booked for the wait list and called Prathima, who asked me to wait for few days. After that, several attempts to talk to her didn’t succeed. On 23^rd September, I thought I will try for one last time, and if not confirmed, will go with Giri’s contact to any trek available. I called the India Hikes Bangalore office and got to speak to Ms Sharu. She asked me to pay the fees. That was a pleasant surprise and I had to rush with the preparations now. I paid a couple of visits to the nearest Decathlon showroom at Binnypet and bought some essential items. I also booked flights to Chandigarh and back matching Pratap and Varada’s itinerary.

Just the next day, I went for Kurinjal peak trek in the Western Ghats with Hari, Yatish and Pardeep about which I will talk later in another blog. While the trek served as a preparation, I caught a bad cold during this time!

The next challenge was to prove the fitness as per India Hikes standard. This needed uploading of walking and running, the latter with a 5K run in 35 minutes. Though I have been walking regularly, I wasn’t into running. I installed the Nike app and ran on the 28^th morning in the nearby park. The timing was 48 minutes! The next morning, I again tried, pushing myself further. The timing was 41:49 minutes! Possibly it would improve with few more attempts, but I thought it would suffice for now. My dashboard on the website was showing as ‘pending’ all the while. Based on Varada’s recommendation, I opted to offload my rucksack.

Next was to get the required documents. I printed the formats provided by the website, went to Dr Vidya aunty and got my medical certificate. Downloaded the E-pass (that was never used) and vaccination certificates and got them printed. The airline needed us to print the boarding pass and baggage tags (colossal waste! Once again baggage tags are printed at machines in the airport).

Our flight to Chandigarh was on 1^st October at 11:00. My head torch had gone bad by keeping the batteries in it for long. Giri offered his head torch. I met Giri near his house on the way to airport and picked it up. I met Pratap and Varada at the airport and we had breakfast in a restaurant there.

The flight was full, possibly due to reduced Covid numbers in the country.  We reached Chandigarh at 14:15 and looked for pre-paid taxi to Shimla. The first one was too expensive. The next was 3500 Rs, that looked much cheaper. I was going to meet Sharmaji, my friend from AZI on that way. I called him up and we agreed to meet on the way. The journey was smooth, and we reached Haveli building at Dharmapur around 15:45. Sharmaji came there, and we spent about and hour talking to him while we also had parathas and tea.

Reaching Shimla took a long time due to the heavy weekend traffic. The driver Sanjeev Kumar was patient to search the hotel with so many closed roads and dropped us at 20:00 close to Shivalik hotel where we had booking. We decided to walk to Crystal palace, where we needed to catch the vehicle the next day. Shimla is a city built in the hills, walking through the streets is like trekking. After visiting crystal palace, we roamed around the mall road for some time and had phulkas and mixed vegetable curry at a local eatery.

Day 1: October 2, 2021; Shimla to Jiskun: We woke up at 4:00, got ready and walked to Crystal palace. Mr Sanjeev who was coordinating the travel and there were two groups of India Hikes trekkers, one for Buran Ghati and the other for Rupin Pass. Most vehicles were Bolero. We were guided to a Force Trax. Three others – Monika, Ram and Kishan shared the trax with us. I got to sit behind the driver in a very congested place. While the distance from Shimla to Jiskun is only about 200 kms, the difficult road makes it 11 hours long journey.

We left Shimla at 6:15 and saw the open zoo and green valley pass by. The first bit was smooth, but large part of the journey was off road. The driver, Kamal Kant, was an expert in manoeuvring and reversing with ease in tough locations. The route was very scenic with many streams and Pubbar river. The first stop was around 8:45 for breakfast. We ate onion parathas with curds. I also tried omelette. People booked for lunch at the breakfast stop. We passed Rohru at 10:30 and people picked up their lunch around noon from a restaurant at Chirgaon. As we didn’t pre-book, we bought some samosas, sweets, and fruits. As the journey continued, we could see many apple orchards on either side of the road. Many vehicles loaded with apples passed by. Kamal Kant stopped once, requested a vehicle owner, climbed the vehicle, and got us fresh, juicy apples.

Kamal Kant with freshly filled water

The lunch stop was around 14:30 at a viewpoint that offered excellent views of the hills and valleys. The place was very windy. All the other vehicles also had stopped there. People spent around an hour before resuming the journey. The off-road drive was cumbersome and had stoppages due to road works. We passed apple orchards at Chanshal and arrived at a beautiful tall waterfall at 17:30. On continuing for 10 minutes, we faced a patch where there was landslide, and had to get down here. The walk to the campsite at Jiskun was supposed to be 2 km but became longer due to this. We settled the travel expenses (Rs 1962 per person) and started walking on the dirt road towards Jiskun. The two bags and not having worn shoes made my walk tough. After some time, there were very steep ascents through the village to the camp. The long treacherous jeep journey had taken away the energy making the ascent difficult. We reached the camp around 18:30 and were given places to stay in proper rooms with mattresses in the floor. Six people shared a room. Trek leader Sudhanshu Vats explained the next day’s program.

Rupin pass trek map

Jiskun camp

Day 2: October 3, 2021; Jiskun (7,700 ft) to Jakha (10,318 ft): Next morning wake up was at 6:00 and refreshing black tea was ready. At 6:30, The leaders looked at the documents (Covid vaccination certificate, medical certificate, and declaration) and checked oxygen saturation and blood pressure. My blood pressure was higher (160/90)! I was advised to avoid salt and ORS). This was the case with many people.

The Jiskun base camp has a three-story building, each floor indicating the lower, middle, and upper Himalayan peaks. Rooms have been names after the peaks. The view from the base camp is amazing. The camp is a no trash zone. There is a map indicating our route. The slogan “everyone must trek because it transforms lives” is pasted in many places. During the breakfast, we were asked to be ready at 10:00. We all assembled in the first-floor room and Sudhanshu asked everyone their brief intro and the reason to choose India hikes. It was an interesting session where people expressed their expectations, and the leader gave tips for a successful journey. Sudhanshu is a very passionate trekker who had joined India Hikes eight months ago. After half an hour, we assembled in the ground and all the other two leaders, guides and the chef were introduced. We were given an eco-bag to put any trash that doesn’t belong to the mountains, that we find on our way. We were also introduced to the two guides, Vimlesh Rangar and Chotu Rana.

We left the camp around 11:00 and started climbing up. The trail was shady and scenic. The first view of Rupin river was amazing. In about 40 minutes, we came to the Tela khad wooden bridge that looked like recently painted. I moved ahead to realise that people took a refreshment stop at a shop on the way. After about half an hour’s break people started moving and we got the first view of Jakha hanging village around 12:50. The name is due to the appearance as if it is hanging from the cliffs. It is said that Jakha was a part of Dhara village that is at a higher elevation but shifted down due to a massive landslide. We reached the camp around 13:20 (in about one and a half hours from the start). The building was very impressive with similar Himalayan peak theme as that in Jiskun.

Jakha camp

Seven of us were given place to settle in the top floor large room like a dormitory. The all-round view from there was amazing. After keeping out rucksacks there, we came down to have delicious lunch and rested for some time. At 16:00, Sudhanshu led the team to Jakha village. We visited a temple. An elderly person we met told us that the wood carving was all done by local youth. They had a much larger temple that was burned along with the village and the present one was rebuilt a few years ago. There were kids playing, ladies working with smiling faces all around. Jakha is indeed a nature’s wonderland where people are content with what they have.

Temple at Jakha

Playing marbles

Wholesome smile

Easy walk across the bridge

Jakha Hanging village

We were back in the camp by 17:30. In the evening in the dorm Sudhanshu had a session with all of us. There was a game played to make everyone remember the teammates names. Sudhanshu narrated his life transforming experience during a trek and told some ghost stories of the Himalayan hikes. There were three people from the earlier batch who had stayed back due to higher BP. The next day they travelled with us and were taken to next camp where their teammates had settled.

Day 3: October 4, 2021; Jakha to Saruwas Thatch: Next morning wake up was at 6:30 with black tea and breakfast at 7:30. At 8:15 we all assembled and after introduction of the chef, we left the camp at 8:25. During the briefing it was told tat Vimlesh will be in front, Sudhanshu in the middle and Chotu in the end of the team. In about half an hour, there was a break as a long line of rams were coming from the opposite site. Most people walked up the trail where there was an exercise of hugging the trees. Around 10:05 we started climbing up again through picturesque trails. I realized that my comfortable pace was faster and most times I was with the Vimlesh in front of the team. While it is not about racing ahead, once must keep moving at a pace comfortable to oneself. In the nature my fitness woes and BP worries had vanishes and I was feeling very energetic. We were mostly walking alongside the river and crossed another wooden bridge at Udaknal just before arriving at a snack shop at 10:50. Here I tried the “ogle ka cheela” (barley pancake) with local honey. The honey was divine! A dog accompanied us from here and stayed with us till the end of the trek! 

Ogle ka cheela

Vimlesh with a friend

We spent about an hour here catching up people who came later, and then proceeded to the campsite that was about 90 minutes’ walk. Reaching the Saruwas camp needed crossing a small bridge built by India hikes. I was at the camp by 13:20 (~5 hours with leisure breaks) and we were given tents. Pratap, Varada and I shared tent 4 here. The riverside campsite was stunningly beautiful. Once everyone arrived, there were some exercises led by Anupam, a trainer with Reebok at Delhi. Sudhanshu explained about how they got Hillman to make tents they are using now. He also explained use of the eco-friendly toilets. India hikes justifiably takes pride in introducing many best practices in high altitude trekking. The present-day toilets were inspired by how cats cover up their excreta (https://indiahikes.com/toilet-tent-evolution/#gref). While the Rupin pass trail has no dearth of water, as a policy India hikes promotes water contraption, where a mug of water is added to a perforated tin and the outflow is used for hand wash or dish wash.

The rest of the day passed off smoothly and the night’s sleep wasn’t easy. We moved our rucksacks to the main tent that was used for briefing and serving food to create more space for three people in the tent.

Day 4: October 5, 2021; Saruwas Thatch to Dhanderas thatch (lower waterfall, 11,700 ft): The wakeup was at 7:00. Warmup exercises followed by chef introduction was at 9:00 and then we left for the next camp. It was a very scenic trail that showed the Rupin waterfall in different angles. Once again, I was with Vimlesh and the youngsters who stayed ahead. The first stop was in an hours’ time by the river side where we did photography. Moving ahead, we arrived at snack shop at 11:30. I tried momos and nimbupani here. We reached the Dhanderas Thatch campsite at 12:30 (three and a half hours with leisure breaks). We met a small group that was trekking with Trek the Himalayas (TTH) close to the camp. Once gain here we got into tent 4. The campsite was extremely beautiful and so was the view from inside the tent. Inspired by Pratap, I tried time lapse photography with my iPhone using Pratap’s tripod and the result was good! In the afternoon around three, we were taken to a nearby waterfall for acclimatization. There was a rain bow formed in front of the falls offering a spectacular view. After spending an hour there, we returned to the camp. That evening we played enjoyable ‘Mafia’ in the lunch tent. The night sky was filled with stars and Pratap tried to photograph the galaxy. The results were awesome.

With Aman, Dheeraj, Ankesh, Anupam and Vimlesh

View from the tent

With tent mates

Galaxy, PC:Pratap

Day 5: October 6, 2021; Dhanderas thatch to Upper Waterfall camp (13,385 ft): The trek started at 8:30. Once gain the trail was very scenic offering a constant view of the waterfall. The first break was near middle of the falls in about an hours’ time. After about half an hour we started moving forward. Now the top waterfall was offering a clear view. Around 10:20 there were large number of rams coming down once gain and we had to give way. Around 10:45, we crossed the waterfall using the same path that the rams had used. Next break was at 11:20 and moving ahead we reached the Upper waterfall camp at 12:00 (3.5 hours with enough breaks). Again, the riverside campsite was gorgeous offering amazing views all around. Afternoon I tried the time lapse once again 😊.

With Goutham, Sriram, Rahul, Sneha and Shoiab

With Chotu and Vimlesh

Around 16:30 we walked to the top of Rupin falls and the view of the valley was breathtaking. We did lot of photography till the sunset and returned to the camp. That evening again we played Mafia and it was enjoyable.

Upper falls crossing

Day 6: October 7, 2021; Upper Waterfall camp (13,385 ft) to Rupin Pass (15,279 ft) via Rati Pheri, further on to Ronti Gad (13,139 ft): This was going to be the longest day. I was up around 4:00 and were ready by 5:30. We had an early breakfast and had packed our lunch for that day. There was briefing by Sudhanshu where he said we will have a particular formation while crossing the gully and the pass so that some people are not left behind. Vimlesh gave a nice talk summing up all the happenings so far and what we need to look for now. We left the camp at 5:35. The early accent to Rati Pheri was all through dry trails. This was a huge contrast to the pictures I had seen where the trail was snow filled during post winter treks. We mostly stuck to the formation that was suggested initially where mainly the ladies were in front. By 8:00 could see the gully at a distance followed by the pass. In about half an hour we were at the rocky gully. Next was a steep climb through the rocks. The view of rams overseeing the trail was interesting. I was on the top by 9:30 and the last person reached about 15 minutes later. Everyone was happy for having successfully done Rupin pass! A lot of photography followed, with people getting their photos clicked with the banner that said successfully done Rupin pass. We also took a few group pictures.

Gully seen from a distance

Climbing the gully

Rams welcoming the trekkers

Done!

With Varada and Pratap

Team

After about half an hour at the top, we started descending. The view of the Kinner Kailash mountain ranges was spectacular. The descent was quick. We stopped at 12:30 near a stream for lunch and finished our chapati-subjis. The downward trail was grassy with yaks grazing. Close to 15:00, we could see the Ronti gad campsite, and quickly reached the site (~9.5 hours from Upper waterfall). Like the earlier campsites, Ronti gad also offered all round stunning views. The rest of the day went smoothly.

Day 7: October 8, 2021; Ronti Gad (13,139 ft) to Sangla (8,776 ft) via Sangla Kanda (11,427 ft): We left Ronti gad at 8:25. The descent was quick, and we were at Sangla Kanda around 9:30. Here most mobile networks were working, and people got busy catching up with their families over voice and video calls. I posted one group picture in our WhatsApp group 😊. Next was going down by dusty jeep trails. We could see Sangla town around noon. Walking through apple orchards (I managed to pluck one!), we reached a bridge across Baspa river in Sangla. The town has considerable Buddhist culture, and the bridge was adorned with five colored Buddhist prayer flags.  Walking through the town was tough with the steep climb in the rads and steps. We reached the restaurant “Tamang food villa” by 12:30. We also returned the sleeping bag liners and collected our rucksacks. As many people came at once, it took long to get our food. After lunch, the settling of accounts by those who had rented India hikes gear and delay in the vehicles arriving made us to leave for Shimla at 15:25. There were better vehicles this time and we were told that the road is also better. We got a Tata Sumo shared by five of us. Ram and Kishan who were with us during the onward journey also joined us on the return.

Ankesh, Dheeraj, Aman, Ram, Anupam, Sriram, Kishan and Vimlesh

Ankit, Ankita, Aditya, Ram, Kishan, Varada

Kinner Kailash range

Sangla

Certainly, the vehicle was better and so were the roads for a major part of the travel. It was amazing to see the national highway 5 wind through the enormous mountains. We could also see lot of construction activity related to the roads as well as Baspa river hydroelectric projects. The driver (Sachin) stopped near a dhaba for dinner while the other vehicles stopped at a different place. We had parathas with curds. It took some time to search and reach hotel Nirvana where we had booking. The 220 km journey took about 8 hours and we were at the hotel by 23:30. We paid to the driver as instructed. We came to know later that all other vehicles reached much later in the night. Ram and Kishan also got a room in the same hotel.

The hotel room was comfortable, though a little far from the city centre. Next morning, we went to the mall road for breakfast.  Varada was missing south Indian food, he was very keen to try the Indian coffee house. We ordered masala dosa, cutlets and coffee. None of them had any taste. While Pratap and I managed to finish our coffees, Varada didn’t! We then walked to hotel Shivalik where we had left some of our clothes. In front of Shivalik is the cable car that goes to Jakhu Hanuman temple. We took the cable car (Rs 550 per person) and visited the temple. We came back to the mall road by 13:30 and had pizza/burger lunch with Gowtham and Sriram at Honey hut. After lunch, as Aman and friends wanted to meet, we walked to the Brew Estate, a microbrewery. We met many of our teammates there and had a gala time for couple of hours. We then visited an art gallery where Pranjal, a 15-year-old girl’s paintings were displayed. The variety in the paintings was commendable. We came back to the hotel and rested. We booked a taxi to Chandigarh for the next morning through the Hotel owner, Dhananjay.

In the cable car

Art gallery

Shimla night view

Hanuman at Jakhu temple

Next morning, we caught the taxi at 8:00 and had breakfast at “apna dhaba” at Solan. We reached the airport around 12:30. Pratap and I had left a jacket and a sweater respectively in the taxi during our Chandigarh-Shimla trip. We contacted the driver and his friends got us our clothes near the airport. Flight to Bangalore was at 14:25 and the journey to Bangalore was smooth. We took a cab from the airport that dropped me home and continued to drop Pratap and Varada.

This ended my hurriedly planned Himalayan hike. It was wonderful to be trekking in the Himalayas again and be away from the 'civilisation'. While there was initial uncertainty about the fitness, I never felt challenged during the trek. India Hikes, unlike my previous trek organisers, is a very professional and corporate like company. The best parts according to me are, A) very delicious food with desert every evening. Every day had a different menu. It is a luxury to get such meals in the remote terrains, B) beautiful campsites by the side of rivers, C) amicable and helping guides. Thanks to Varada and Pratap for the initiation and help in planning. I went with two friends and made more new friends. A big thanks to the friendly team and the leaders.

Here is a video created by Pratap that sums up our trek in 15 minutes:

PS: After returning to Bangalore I not only got my BP tested, but also underwent detailed cardiac investigation. Happy not to be having any issues 😊.