Hampta Pass Trek – Less pain, all the pleasure.
Trekking is one of the most famous travel activity people indulge in. Himachal Pradesh has more than 200 trails to walk on, some of them are extremely remote and only meant for seasoned trekkers. But some of them are easy too, with mostly flat terrain along the trail and are easy to hike.
One such trek is the Hampta Pass trek. It might not give you the thrill of adventure that a life risking trek would, but the scenic views of the whole trail is enough to give you the heavy dose of awe inspiring natural beauty. After much research on the internet and discussion with fellow travelers, I chose to climb to Hampta Pass. The trek takes around 4 days and you cover a maximum elevation of 4260 m.
The trek on foot starts from Allain Guhugal Hydel Project junction and leads into a light forest full of pine, deodar, maple and oak trees. After half an hour of moderate hike, the forest ends in a lush green meadow bisected by the Rani Nallah and it is a sight to see. Chika is a large campsite beside the Rani River on a spacious patch of green and is a perfect spot of sky gazing in the night.
The next destination we had to reach was Balu ka Gera and I was told that it falls on the right of Chika. The path along the river is full of colorful Rhododendron and silver Birch trees and the combination of these colors along with the flow of the river and lush green mountains made for a view straight out of heaven. The guide told us that behind this snow clad mountains lies Hampta Pass.
We woke up early because it was going to be a long day with 9 hours of trekking but the fact that we all would be crossing Hampta Pass made things sweet. The initial climb of an hour takes you to the first plateau which is covered in fresh snow in the months till June. Next comes another plateau and then a couple of ridges and this phase is what you can call the most difficult part of the whole trail.
After the second ridge, Hampta Pass is just 15 minutes away but the climb is tough and tests you. When we reached the pass, everyone was panting like running dogs but the stunning view took away the pain. We just sat there for a while and let our minds and souls sink in the beauty.
The descent is tricky and mental focus is required or you might slip and fall and hurt yourself.
Everybody unanimously decide that we would be camping at the Chandrataal campsite, and I was more pumped than ever.
We began the next day in a vehicle driving to Chandrataal lake, which is a 70 km journey. Upon reaching the Lake, everybody was stunned. It was perhaps the most beautiful thing I had ever seen in my life.
We stayed there for a while till it was our time to leave back to Manali.
Trekking is one of the most famous travel activity people indulge in. Himachal Pradesh has more than 200 trails to walk on, some of them are extremely remote and only meant for seasoned trekkers. But some of them are easy too, with mostly flat terrain along the trail and are easy to hike.
One such trek is the Hampta Pass trek. It might not give you the thrill of adventure that a life risking trek would, but the scenic views of the whole trail is enough to give you the heavy dose of awe inspiring natural beauty. After much research on the internet and discussion with fellow travelers, I chose to climb to Hampta Pass. The trek takes around 4 days and you cover a maximum elevation of 4260 m.
The trek on foot starts from Allain Guhugal Hydel Project junction and leads into a light forest full of pine, deodar, maple and oak trees. After half an hour of moderate hike, the forest ends in a lush green meadow bisected by the Rani Nallah and it is a sight to see. Chika is a large campsite beside the Rani River on a spacious patch of green and is a perfect spot of sky gazing in the night.
The next destination we had to reach was Balu ka Gera and I was told that it falls on the right of Chika. The path along the river is full of colorful Rhododendron and silver Birch trees and the combination of these colors along with the flow of the river and lush green mountains made for a view straight out of heaven. The guide told us that behind this snow clad mountains lies Hampta Pass.
We woke up early because it was going to be a long day with 9 hours of trekking but the fact that we all would be crossing Hampta Pass made things sweet. The initial climb of an hour takes you to the first plateau which is covered in fresh snow in the months till June. Next comes another plateau and then a couple of ridges and this phase is what you can call the most difficult part of the whole trail.
After the second ridge, Hampta Pass is just 15 minutes away but the climb is tough and tests you. When we reached the pass, everyone was panting like running dogs but the stunning view took away the pain. We just sat there for a while and let our minds and souls sink in the beauty.
The descent is tricky and mental focus is required or you might slip and fall and hurt yourself.
Everybody unanimously decide that we would be camping at the Chandrataal campsite, and I was more pumped than ever.
We began the next day in a vehicle driving to Chandrataal lake, which is a 70 km journey. Upon reaching the Lake, everybody was stunned. It was perhaps the most beautiful thing I had ever seen in my life.
We stayed there for a while till it was our time to leave back to Manali.
