Trek to Triund and Laka

The trend of being in North India during New Year continued this time as well as I headed for a 2 day trek in the Himalayas.

--->A trip which ended even before we could sink in the feeling that we were away from home in the lap of the Himalayas.
--->A trip which was finalized just hours before we boarded the plane to Delhi.
--->A trip which was completely unplanned yet looked pretty planned after its completion.

So let me take you through my short and sweet trip to the snowy ridge of ‘Triund’ and glaciated ‘Laka’ in Himachal Pradesh.

29th December 2007:

8 am: My cell rang. I blabbered something in sleep. It was my friend Amitesh who had called me. I called him back and it was decided on the spur of the moment that we were moving out of Mumbai to the cold vibes of the Himalayas.

5:30 pm: We boarded the HRTC bus to Dharamshala from ISBT, Delhi. Fare: Rs 297. Distance: 530 kms.(approx). Out came the pullovers and jackets. One hell of a journey that was bumpy and agonizingly cold.

30th December 2007

5:30 am: Dharamshala bus depot was eerily empty (but obvious). Our next destination was Mcleodganj where we had to find a guide for our trek. We walked up the stairs which led to Dharamshala market. Share jeeps ply between Dharamshala and Mcleodganj every 10-15 mins. We were lucky enough to find one. Reached Mcleodganj at 6:30 am, 10 kms from Dharamshala. Fare: Rs 10.

After a hot cuppa tea, we leisurely walked towards Bhagsu Temple(2 kms) enjoying every bit of the beautiful Sunrise(rare sight for people like me who generally wake up when the Sun is right above the head :))

In Bhagsu, the search for a guide continued until we found Terrestrial Adventures. Struck deal with those guys there and we were ready to leave by 10:30 am.

10:50 am: Myself, Amitesh and Kamlesh(guide) hit the trail to Triund via Dharamkot- a distance of approximately 9 kms.

I noticed a cow which had a lovely nose :) Enlarge the pic for better results.

We started gaining height in no time and found ourselves in the middle of a thick pine forest.

We made our way out through the forest to reach a small temple from where we could see valleys on both sides.

The trail now continued to meander which gave us spectacular views of the Kangra valley.

Some strange but beautiful trees.

Our first encounter with ice.

At around 1 pm, we had our lunch just a few yards beyond the so claimed Oldest Chai Shop which is exactly midway between Mcleodganj and Triund. We were happy to know that we had covered 4.5 kms:)

We could now clearly see Triund, our destination, a ridge lying just below the snow capped Dhauladhar range as seen in the pic.

The well defined path started getting worse by the minute as it was ice covered. It was so slippery that only deft handlers like Kamlesh could make their way through in one attempt. We skillfully slipped and slopped the remainder of the distance.

3:30 pm : The mighty Dhauladhar range stood right in front of us. We had reached Triund(9200 feet approx). We spent the first few moments just gazing at the impressive range which seemingly was at stone throwing distance. As the distance between us and the mountain was less, it looked humongous.

Kamlesh met his friend at Triund who owned a tea shop. Johnson-a pup, was his pet.

On top of a ridge, beautiful vistas of the Kangra valley on one side and the colossal Dhauladhars on the other, a cup of tea in my hand…ahhh….it couldn't get any better.

To my surprise, the Reliance phone network had not gone. I called home and informed that we had reached the top. I must say Reliance has a very good coverage all over.

We spent the evening wandering around the ridge having a gala time with Johnson.

Sunset - needless to say, was remarkable.

The tea shop owner left for Mcleodganj that evening and gave us the permission to stay in his tea shop that night. We were in two minds whether to stay in a tent(which is fun) and bear the shivering night or stay in his tea shop which might give us some respite from the cold. We chose the latter as it was indeed very cold.

31st December 2007:

8 am : Kamlesh woke us up and gave us bed tea. It was then time to have some delicious bread omelette.

8:45 am : We pushed off towards Laka glacier some 3-4 kms away at 10500 feet(approx).

We came across a rock which said Snow line Café -3kms

Very soon we found ourselves walking on snow and ice. Amitesh had a sore knee due to which he opted out from venturing ahead into the snowy land. He headed back towards Triund leaving me and Kamlesh on the trail to Laka.

The route ahead was curvy, constricted and snow covered making it extremely treacherous and intimidating. It was quite an unnerving experience until we hit a gentle slope where we found lots and lots of soft snow in store for us.

10 am : We reached Snow line café near Laka which was partially covered in snow.

There was snow everywhere. The weather was perfect with spotless blue skies which formed a brilliant background for some of the pics.

Some more pics.

A few furlongs ahead was a gentle slope which led to the base of Dhalaudhar. Kamlesh pointed out Indrahar pass (4350m.) and Lahesh Cave.

10:30 am: It was time to get back to Triund as Amitesh was all alone and we had to be back in Dharamshala by evening to catch our 8 pm bus to Delhi.

11:15 am: We reached Triund very quickly. Amitesh was lazing around on a rock. While tea was being brewed, we ambled along the ridge, took some more pics and chatted with some foreigners.

12:10 pm: We bid good bye to Triund and swiftly made our way towards Mcleodganj.

3:45 pm: Back in Mcleodganj. Snacks time. We left Mcleodganj only after thanking God for our wonderful trip to heaven. We visited BhagsuNag Temple, Saint John's Church and Namgyal Monsatery.

8 pm: Occupied the last 2 rows in the Volvo which were empty. Stretched our legs and off we went to sleep welcoming 2008 in dreams.
Fare: Rs.715

1st December 2008:

5:30 am: ISBT, Delhi. Temperature : 5 degrees celsius.

As the flight back to Bombay was at 10:55 am, we went to my uncle’s place.

11 am : Luckily, Delhi was devoid of fog and all flights were on time and by 1pm we reached Mumbai with wonderful memories.