Today we are going to Indrahar Pass located in Dhauladhar mountain range, the height of this pass is 4342 meters and it is an inaccessible pass of Dhauladhar. This pass is situated above Dharamshala City of Himachal Pradesh. If you have ever been to Dharamshala or Kangra Valley, then this pass is present in the same snow covered range that you have seen. Although I have summited many passes of this range, I found Indrahar to be the most difficult.
The approach to Indrahar Pass starts from Mac Chowk, the climb also starts from here which ends directly at the pass itself. I did a 10-day basic course in McLeodganj in which we were taught to meditate. After 10 days of penance, I decided to go to Indrahar pass via Triund. So as soon as the meditation course is completed, the next morning I set out alone towards my destination which is about 20 km away.
The track starts from Mac Chowk whose height is 1750 meters, while walking on foot I reach Galu Temple which is 6 km away from the start point. By the time I reach here, I meet friends from my meditation group. On talking, I come to know that these people are going to visit Triyund and I tell them my plan that I am going to Indrahar Pass beyond Triyund Hill. All the people are foreigners so they do not have much knowledge about the geography of this place… I point my finger towards Indrahar Pass and show everyone that I am going there. Everyone is happy and says that if we had time, we too would have liked to go there.
While having fun on the way, we cross Magic Cafe which is 9 km away from MAC Chowk. 2411 We sit at my place, drink water and talk about our meditation course. They laugh a lot and sit there and drink tea. The entire trail is very well visible till Triund, the trail is about 2 to 3 feet wide. The path is not smooth and is full of stones. I like every path which is located in the mountains. The most special thing about this route is that Dhauladhar Range is visible from everywhere.
We reach Triund Hill by 1 pm where the height is 2850 meters. Most of the tourists come here and camp one night and go back the next day. Many people would be like me who would go to Indrahar Pass and come back on the same route while some people go on foot from here and cross Indrahar Pass and reach Holi village to reach where you have to trek another 30 km.
Bidding goodbye to my friends at Triund, I head towards Snow Line, Snow Line is a café located 2.5 km from Triund. All the people who go to Indrahar Pass make the snow line their base and move towards the summit from here the next day. After reaching here, I too will spend the night here. An uncle lives here who provides tents to the tourists, I also take a tent on rent and sleep in it. I wake up early the next morning and head towards my destination.
The first light of the sun reaches the mountain at 7 o'clock and after that this light takes over the entire valley. I cross Laka Cave by 8:30. Shepherds stay night at this place. Now the pass is only 2.5 km away from here and believe me it takes me 3 hours to climb this 2.5 km. What actually happened is that while flowing further, the weather starts getting worse and there is no rain at such a height, snow starts falling here. I am alone while 2 people had walked from the snow line till the pass but they went back halfway. So now I am alone on the mountain and now it is snowing.
I stop and drink water and think that if I cover the remaining two and a half kilometers quickly, I will be able to get down before evening. Thinking this I start walking on the snow. It takes me about 3 hours to reach Indrahar, I faced a lot of trouble while walking in the snow, I slipped many times but the good thing is that I did not get hurt. I reach Indrahar Pass at 3 pm. At a height of 4342 meters everything is buried in white snow. I am able to see from this valley to another valley. In the other valley I can see the holy mountain Manimahesh. Here, as soon as the clouds disappear, the sun comes and everything becomes pleasant. There are temples of Lord Shiva on all the mountain passes located in Dhauladhar and people place trident on this open roof temple. I also manage to click some of my photos with the help of self timer.
Around 03:30 I start walking back towards the snow line. Now I am having a little more trouble getting down because the snow has started melting. But I slowly start descending. In two hours I reach Laka Save and in next 2 hours snow line. After reaching here, I eat pulses and rice from uncle and tell him that I will go down from here tomorrow. I am tired after walking all day so I fall asleep quickly.
Next morning I leave at 7 am and go to Kunal Mata temple which is situated about 3 km away from the snow line. There are some foreign tourists here who have come to see the goddess. I have darshan of the goddess in the temple and start descending back towards Triund at around 11 am. I stop my journey after reaching Mac Chowk, 9 km from Triund.
I have written this blog after a long time, actually I was missing in Himachal Pradesh for the rescue of a boy. And then later I also went to Kedarnath about which I will write soon. I hope you liked this pass of Dhauladhar.