Last few steps to the Hampta Pass & beyond there is Barren Beauty & Chandratal ! by Pankaj Deshwal

Hampta Pass Trek (13300 ft)

It was June end and the trekking season was nearing its end.  It started raining and most of the treks in Uttrakhand were out of bound as all the roads closed due to landslides which are pretty common in Gha

rwal even when it’s not raining. I searched for my options and short-listed Hampta Pass. The reason for selection was quite obvious, this trek has everything, river crossings, lush green forests, adventurous descent, amazing camping sites and above all Chandra Taal the moon lake. Hampta pass was used to cross over from Kullu Valley to Spiti Valley when there were no roads. These two valleys are as different as day and night. One is lush green other is barren beauty.  

So on 14^th of August we hopped on Volvo from Delhi and supposed to reach Manali around 8:00 next morning. Mountains are as unpredictable as wives, we hoped there are less chances of landslides in this part of the himalayas. Landslides caused massive traffic jams and it took us 23 hours to reach Manali. We survived the day and planned to camp at Jobri Nala so that we can save a day. Jobri is a dam site around 20 Kms from Manali. We stopped at Prini (8 Kms from Manali) which has a office of the dam construction company and we needed permission to go till Jobri.  We reached Jobri Nala at around 10:00 in the night. As soon as we got down from our jeeps it started raining heavily and we reached campsite totally drenched .Our camps were ready when we reached there, we were served hot tomato soup and after dinner we retired to our tents. We were at 9000 ft and I had some trouble sleeping. 

Wet Start - First Morning at Jobri Nala Camp

Day 1 : Balu ka Ghera : We started at 08:00 AM sharp from Jobri nala. The trek is pretty straight forward, just walk along the nala on the right bank towards north. After 1 hour of walk we reached a small wooden bridge and within an hour from the bridge we were at Chikka which was supposed to be our camping site for yesterday had we not been sitting in that bus for extra 10 hours. Chikka is a beautiful camping site with large camping ground with a large waterfall towards the west of it, towards north-east you can see snow covered mountains which makes you believe that it is the Hampta Pass but it is not. We stopped for a small break at Chikka may be around ½ hr. We started from Chikka at 10:30. The trails takes a turn to south-east from north after 30 minutes of walk. There is a steep climb after Chikka till you reach the river crossing after around 2 hours of trek. It was bright and sunny and the valley looked so amazing, you could actually see the sun reflecting from the raindrops on the grass. Only down side is the 2 hours of relentless climb and you are always gasping for breath instead of enjoying the beauty of the valley. We reached the river crossing around 12:45 PM and the last member arrived at 2:45 PM. Steep climbs separates the experienced trekkers from novices like wheat is separated from chaff. Its  not that the new trekkers lack stamina, its the technique. Whenever you face steep climbs keep walk slow down doesn’t matter but keep on walking, focus on the next step instead of looking at the highest point and cursing yourself why you signed up for this. We crossed the river by holding each other’s hand (human chain they call it), water was pretty cold and knee high. We had our lunch there at around 3:15. After the crossing the valley opens up and you can see couples of miles up the valley. After 1 hour of almost flat walk there is again as steep climb of around 45 minutes to reach Balu ka Ghera. Balu ka Ghera got its name from the river sand that Hampta Nala brings along with it. Hampta Nala breaks into 4-5 smaller streams at this place and you actually camp on this sand. Elevation is 11000 ft and scenery is again amazing.

Comrades in Arms - Shiv, Karan, Japun & Ashutosh @ Jobri Nala Bridge before Chikka

Smoky Mountains- Just After River Crossing 

Finally the sun shone upon us- A morning at Balu Ka Ghera

Day 2 : Hampta Pass : Today we started at 08:30 AM and after an hour of mild ascent we reached second Balu ka Ghera, it is also a beautiful camping site, so if you camp on Chikka on your first day this is the actual camping site you should target. From here there is a continuous  steep climb till the pass. Terrain is rocky and climb is difficult. After an hour of climb from the second Balu Ka Ghera you hit the snow but the climb is easier than on the rocks. It takes around 1-2 hours to negotiate these glaciers. First of our batch reached the top at around 12:00 and the last at around 3:00. As far as pass is concerned the view is not that great as the view is blocked by mountains on all the sides. But there is majestic Indra-aasan   and Deo Tibba towards the south. Also you can see the natural rock formation which looks like a castle known as Indra-Quila towards north from the pass. Once you cross the pass entire trek is north east till Sha-Guru the next camping site. The decent is pretty steep and it took some members of our group around 4-5 hours to reach Sha-Guru, but a good trekker can reach Sha-Guru in about 2 hours once pass is crossed. Sha-Guru is a river bed, lush green and with some of the most amazing views. We were in Spiti, though it was barren and rock but it has its own charm.

Catching a breath before the grueling climb starts

Finally Hit the snow

And then the descent began- After Crossing the Pass

Royal Throne of Indra - Indrasan Peak close-up

Day 3: Chattru- Chandertaal. : We started at 08:30 from Sha-Guru. Today we were supposed to get down to Chattru and from there to Chandra-Taal. It is mild descent till Chattru in the valley, we crossed the river and took a right flank of the river. After about an 1 and ½ of walk the trail descents sharply to the bed of Chandra River. Once you are at the river bed there is another hour of trek till Chattru. Entire trail is on the left bank of Chandra River. Today was the day of photography. Couple of guys in the group had those heavy DSLRs and along with those big lenses and they could not take those out as all those climbs sucked all their energy but today it was much more relaxed and everybody was a photographer today. Moreover Spiti is photographer’s paradise. First of the batch reached Chattru aroud 12:00 and the last reached at around 2:00. Our taxis were waiting, after having something at the Dhaba in Chattru we started off to Chanrataal. It was a two-three hour drive from Chattru to Chandrataal. We took a small stop at Batal, here there are couple of Dhabas and a satellite phone. Entire road is non-metalled/gravel/jeepable whatever you call it and one vehicle can pass at a time. We reached our camping site which is 15 minutes before Chanrataal. We dumped our camping equipment there and started off to lake, didn’t want to miss the sun-set there. After 15 minutes of drive we reached the base of Chandrataal. There is a 10 minute walk from here till the shore of the lake. Blue water of Chandrataal (13000 ft) looked spectacular under the backdrop of those brown mountains. It took our breath away. There couldn’t be a better culmination of a 3-days (which was supposed to be 4 days) arduous trek at those dizzying heights. After a group photo, I took a walk around the circumference of the lake, it took us 2 hours but was a heavenly experience. We reached our camps at around 09:00 in the night and by this time winds had died down but it was cold as hell. Although you can hire a cab directly from Manali to Chandrataal but the way we did, took all the pain and sweat to reach there, it was lot sweeter than had we chosen the earlier option.

Shahguru Camping Site - Morning Bliss

Again ! - Chilly Start, river crossing at Shahguru 

Let's get some warmth - Trekkers soaking their feet in sun after river crossing

First Glimpse of Spiti

Moon Walk - Walk to Chandra Taal

Regular Photo Op @ Chandra Taal

Dusty Roads of Spiti

Day 4:  Now came the last and final day when everybody was planning to go home and join their respective offices next day. Day started with a bang, one of our vehicles broke down in the morning and it took us 02 hours to get it working. I wasn’t bothered as I knew we had time in hand. Finally we started at 10:00 AM from our camping site and reached Batal around 10:45 AM. Everything was looking great, scenery was amazing with Chandra flowing along the road and you could easily think that you are on your way to Leh. But fate took turn for worse, when we were 15 kms from Chattru at 01:00 PM one of our vehicle got punctured and it took us another 30 mins to start again. We had hardly covered 2 kms we saw a truck parked in the middle of the road. We honked and hoped for the truck driver to respond but nothing happened. After waiting for 15 minutes we got down to have a look. As we reached the truck we saw key still inside and driver nowhere in-sight. Keys inside the vehicle and no sign of the driver its is unbelievable on the plains but in mountains you can believe it. You leave a thing on the road and you can pick it up the next day. We walked 100 mts further down the road and saw a truck has broken down and the truck in the middle of the road was giving cover fire to that truck. We enquired about the condition of the vehicle and came to know that it’s not gonna be mobile as axel is broken. In circumstances like this you take a chill pill and wait for this to happen.  Its  quite natural in mountains to wait for things to happen as nature has it there not humans. But we decided to take up this challenge and build a road around that truck so that our vehicles could pass. It took us another 2 hours to build that small patch and we started again at around 3:30 from there. Everybody thought its gonna be an easy day,  we will reach Manali sleeping in the taxi. But in the mountains you don’t decide anything but mountains themselves decided everything, probably that’s why people in hills are so calm and have a laid back attitude. We finally reached Manali at around 07:00 PM. At the end of everyday on a trek you feel a sense of accomplishment after completing the day’s trek. On that day there was no target for the day and we were just supposed to relax sitting on our arses but nature gave us our target for the day, there is a patch of road in Spiti which we built together and all of us were so proud of it.   

And then we built the road

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