Bir-biling is a very famous site for paragliding in India. Tourists from India and abroad come here to enjoy paragliding, foreign pilots have set many records by flying their gliders for hours over the Dhauladhar mountain range. So we are going to talk about Chhina Pass Trek and how to reach here.
The distance from Delhi to Bir is 585 km, which takes about 12 hours to cover. On the way I get to see Chandigarh, Una, Amb, Kangra, Palampur, Baijnath and Bir. In the morning, the Dhauladhar mountain range from Palampur is seen shining like gold with the first rays of the sun. The mountains are covered with a white sheet of snow that fell in winter.
I take a room in Bir and roam around. A trail race is going to be held here for which I have come to volunteer. After fulfilling my responsibilities in the event, I keep one day for myself. And today I decide to trek from Gunhed to Billing and further to Chhina Pass. I go from Gunhed to Billing by taxi. Billing is 16 km from Gunhed and the taxi takes about 50 minutes to cover this road. Gunhed is situated at an altitude of 1350 meters whereas Billing is situated at 2350 meters.
The walking distance from Billing to Chhina Pass is only 6 km, I set out on foot with the intention of going to the grassland situated above Chhina Pass. In Billing, where paragliding is happening on one side, the Kangra valley is visible in the background. Nowadays, the road construction work is going on in full swing from Billing to Chhina Pass and further to Rajgunda village, so these days this road has been closed for tourists for about two months.
Vehicles cannot go but who can stop a pedestrian. I reach Chhina Pass which was 6 km away by walking. It takes me about 2.25 hours to cover the distance covered by this rough road. Billing was at 2350 meters and Chhina Pass is at 2850 meters. In just 6 km, there was an elevation gain of about 400 meters which is a good workout for a 2.25 hour trek.
I stop at Chhina Pass, drink water and set out to see the famous grasslands here. I go another 2 km and see beautiful landscapes on the way. From here I can see many mountain passes located in the Dhauladhar mountain range, such as; Thamsar Pass, Makodi Pass, Nohru Pass and Langha Kinnauri. The trail leading to Thamsar Pass is also visible amidst the pine forest. The river 'Uhl' flowing below the Rajgunda village was also seen flowing at full speed. I felt very satisfied seeing the view from here.
Shepherds are the ones who use this grassland and bring their sheep and goats here and stay here in summers to feed their animals. Due to the height, the grass here is very nutritious. In winters, there is two to two and a half feet of snowfall here and then this place gets cut off from the rest of the areas. In winters, one can reach here only when there is very little snow in the entire Himalayas. By the way, let me tell you that I have come here once before, that too in winter.
Tents of some locals are also set up here, on talking, it was found that the villagers are cultivating cabbage on their lands, so this time the shepherds are not going to bring their animals here. There is a temple of Satvadini Devi at a distance of one and a half km which holds special importance for the villagers of Bir and Rajgunda, people come here to worship on Mondays. There is also a hut near the temple in which devotees can stay for the night and can go back after visiting the temple the next day.
After spending about 3 hours here, it is now time to go back. The entire route from here is downhill, so I reach Chhina Pass in 20 minutes. It is getting dark and the orange and yellow lines of the setting sun are shining in the sky. There is also a temple of Maa Vaishno Devi on Chhina Pass where I start descending towards Billing with folded hands. I reach Billing in one and a half hours and by the time I reach there, the sun sets. From here, I take a taxi and reach Gunhed village directly where I am staying.
So that is all for today, I hope you liked this trekking. See you in the next post. A separate post will be on Gunhed waterfall which I had to write today but could not. So see you in the next post, till then take care of yourself and keep smiling.
Disclaimer: This post is originally written in Hindi and I have used Google Translator to tranlate the Hindi text in English. All the photos have been clicked by me from POCO F1 and edited in Lightroom/photoshop.