Rupin Pass : A journey through the mostly unexplored green trail!! Part - 1

Climbing has shown me a courageous, strong side of myself, a beautiful bravery!! 

 To me, heaven on earth is exploring on a mountain trail. I am going to share my experience about latest expedition, Rupin Pass. Nature cannot be seen in a hurry, the more time you spend in nature, the more you enjoy.

Rupin pass trail will take you through a journey of some of the most unexplored parts of Himachal. You will experience traditional Kinnaur architecture,  quaint village, stunning meadows, dense  forest and the most amazing beauty of Himalaya.

Excited much? Let's go on the green trail!!

Day 1 : Dehradun to Dhaula   

Altitude : 5230 ft.

We, Team of 16 mountaineers, started our journey from Dehradun, Uttarakhand at morning 7 o'clock on 19th October and reached Dhaula on evening, after 9-10 hours of drive through beautiful mountains road. Trekkers need permission from Forest department, UK to enter  Govind National park.

 Dhaula, a little village of a dozen homes, at the bank of river Rupin.

   We stayed there at night in tent under the billions of stars and it gave us those moments of realization and told us we are just so tiny in comparison to the cosmos. We woke up to chirping of birds in a bright morning right before sunrise.

Day 2 : Dhaula to Sewa  

Altitude : 5230 ft. to 6300 ft.

 Today our destination is Sewa gaon, 11kms from Dhaula. We started around 7:30 a.m after some exercise and breakfast with sandwich, eggs and tea. We started off by passing a few lovely small wooden houses, an easy gradual climb for few kilometers alongside the river Rupin. Soon we realized the intensity of the sun as we came out in open.

After some time, the trail started to climb sharply, was not too easy as sun was not in mood to help us either. On the trail we met some friendly villagers and kids scamper about with their adorable smile and a gentle ‘Namaste’.

  After climbing some steeps for another 30-35 minutes we reached to village Dhuyni, a little pahaddi village with stunning landscape and surrounded by large fields of the red cereal grain ‘Cholai’. The valley gets bigger in size and the sun gets brighter. A curve in the trail and an unforgettable scenery was waiting for us – a river coming out of a gorge (river Supin) meeting the river Rupin. The sky colored water of Rupin with the background of snow capped mountain, seemed like a dream to us. 

Nonetheless, we had to keep moving with the amazing scenery. After 40-45 mins of walking through ascending trails a little 'Dhaba' was there. We took some rest there before moving forward with the cliff face looming over us.  Village 'Sewa', a little hamlet,  is our destination for the day and we reached there around 1:30 p.m. We were walking through the village with some beautiful wooden house, hanging from the rock and the field of grain 'Cholai'. The little kids were curious about us and exchanging adorable smile after eye contact, was enough to make us all forget our weariness.

At Sewa we stayed in a lovely tea house. Two caretaker was ready to server our lunch with steam rice, dal, salad, pickle and papad. In evening, we went to explore a local temple, combines of local and Kinnaur architecture. 

Day 3 : Sewa to Jiskun

Altitude : 6330 ft. to 7700 ft.

Today we will move towards the village named 'Jiskun', 11 kms from Sewa gaon. It will take around 6 hours of trekking through rhododendron forest, pine forest, alpine meadows. The most interesting fact about this Rupin pass trek is the sceneries on the trails are constantly changing and nature tends to be more attractive. After leaving the Sewa gaon, the trail starts to climb sharply, though you may not fill it as you will absolutely immersed in beauty of nature. After 20-25 mins of walking the steeps eases out and  the trail is going to meet with the River Rupin after some descend. Now you are in the bed of Rupin, known as Haldi Khad. The end of Uttarakhand.

Once you cross the river Rupin, you are in Himachal. Again a steep climb ahead of us and we are heading to the village Dodra, one of the remote part of Himachal Pradesh. At the village there is little chai shop with some essential groceries, chocolate bars. Now cross the wooden bridge, heading towards Kawar and take any one of trails which meet with the overhanging road to Jiskun. After 2 hours of walking through the gradually ascending trail, we reached to Jiskun with stunning view of snow capped mountains.

 The trails after Kawar was mostly flat but the main challenge was the intense heat of the Sun, you need to drink water as much as possible to get rid of dehydration. We arrived lower Jiskun around 1:15 p.m. The lovely villagers welcomed us with gentle 'Namaste'. 

  

The first post office of Himacal Pradesh is situated here. Another 15 mins of walking and we reached to upper Jiskun, a picturesque Jiskun valley was ahead of us. A tea house was ready for much welcome rest.

 After lunch, we came out to explore this lovely village. There are some eateries, shops of wooden sculpture with traditional Kinnaur architecture. Most of the house was made of wood and hanging from rock wall.

As Sun was going down, the temperature had started to drop apparently with the bone chilled wind. After snacks in evening we all enjoyed the garba, traditional folk dance of Gujrat. Please don't judge as no one knew it perfectly. 

                                                              

Day 4: Jiskun to Udaknal

Altitude : 7700 ft. to 10,420 ft.

A difficult day was ahead of us as most of the trails were steep. We started our day early and heads towards Udaknal via Jakha village. After 2 hours of walking we reached to village Jakha, the last village on the Rupin pass trails. Jakha is also known as the hanging village. On the trail to Jakha there are so many apple and walnut trees. 

 The trail out of Jiskun descends rapidly through a forest of pine and deodars. Some parts of the forest are so dense that the sunlight does not reach properly.

After 40-45 mins of walking ,the trail started to climb gradually. The next one hour of climb is the most beautiful experience of this trekking. The scenery was changing frequently. Now the trail passes through the forest of fir trees and after some times the trail zigzags upon the ridge of the slope.

 We reached Jakha around 10 a.m. Again the villagers welcomed us warmly. We met a old lady on the trail, near to Jakha, who claimed her age was 102 yrs. The hill dwellers don't lie. We were overwhelmed by experiencing her ability at this age.

We rested for a while on a small balcony of a house and the householders offered 'Lassi' made with sheep's milk and apples. After restored our energy, we started again and after 30 mins of walking we crossed the border of Upper Jakha village. Now you are on high altitude so you need to remain hydrated else AMS (Altitude motion sickness) may hit, which is very common at the altitude higher than 8,500 - 9000 ft.

 After half an hour of Jakha village the trail again plunges into a magnificent fir forest, so sudden that it almost as if a gate has opened. After almost 2 hours of jungle walk, a big surprise on the trail, we are on the bank of river Rupin and a wide open valley with full of boulder. From jungle to river bed it was an thrilling journey. You need to cross the river by boulder walk (If the snow bridge is melted). 

 We expected a snow bridge over there to cross the river but no luck, the ice melted. We took our lunch on the river bed as we carried packed lunch for the day. After some rest again we started for  another 1 hrs-1.5 hrs of boulder walk to reach our campsite. This campsite is on a valley beside river Rupin.

 Though I didn't face any difficulties on this trail but one needs to be more cautious here as most of the boulders are not settle and there are some little streams passing through the boulder. After reaching the camp we filled our water bottle with hot water and kept it in sleeping bag, else the water will freeze at night. After snacks with spicy Maccheroni we entered into the tent as it was not possible to roam here and there at the temperature of  0 °C with bone chilled wind. 

Today this much!! From day 5 to day 9 will be in the next part, Stay tuned.