HEAVEN! I am using this word for a reason for this post. Hampta Pass Trek is a trek which emerges through the lush green meadows of the upper Kullu Valley to the chilly barren cold desert of Spiti. The meadows, mountains, the snow glaciers, along with the streams of fresh white water adds to the eyefulness of the trek. 20 kms of dramatic scenery, constantly elevating altitude (from 2800m to 4300m highest), adventure of various kind is associated with this 2-3 days long trek.
This post is going to be a long post with details of my experiences in the trek along with some eye pleasing photographs that I have captured during this amazing trek to HEAVEN!
Before the trek starts, we had to reach the HAMPTA dam site by a vehicle through an astonishing road with sharp curves from Prini village Manali, its about 15 kms by vehicle till the place from where the trek starts. The following photograph shows the view of the Manali valley from the road.
The weather was very pleasent that day. There were occasional clouds with a misty vibed sunshine adding to the exitement of our trek while we were on the way. The image below depicts the exact vibe.
As we gained altitude, we could now see huge unclimbable mountains standing aside of us like a straight wall while we were travelling by a narrow curvy road.
According to the legend, pandavas used to live here on their 'AGYATWAS' time. In Indian epic MAHABHARATA, Pandavas were given 'AGYATWAS' of two years as punishment. In 'AGYATWAS' they should not be seen to anyone in the world during their tenure of 'AGYATWAS'. They choose this place. We can now imagine the remoteness and tranquility of this place. There are many places associated with pandavas in this region and one of the place is shown in the photograph below. This is 'PANDUROPA' where they used to cultivate their food crops while they lived here during their 'AGYATWAS'.
After covering a little distance from this holy place we got out of our vehicle and started the trek. In the picture below we can see the ending of the road and starting of the way, to the HEAVEN!
Now, we started hiking. The misty weather added to the tranquility of the place. The altitude here was about 2800m and we were elevating very fast.
After trekking though mesmerizing woods for about 40 minuts, we reached a campsite named Jobra. Situated at about 3000m this was a campsite for India Hikes. We can see the yellow camps in the picture below of the Jobra campsite.
The path ahead was through the grassland with occasional trees on the way. We kept on walking for about 45 minutes and stopped when we reached this place. After seeing this place we started getting HEAVENLY feeling. The mighty mountain, misty weather, white watered river flowing through the meadow and the HEAVENLY vibe forced us to stop and enjoy the moment.
We pitched our tents at the same place and decided to spend the night there. We fetched water, started fire, made food and enjoyed till the darkness covered the HEAVENLY view.
Next day, the weather was same. We woke up to the misty cold view in front of us shown in the picture below.
We prepared food and started with out further trek at about 9 in the morning. After crossing the river by a small bridge we reached a campsite named Chikka in 30 minutes. From here onwards the real challenging trek started.
The trek ahead was through a narrow path with great elevation. In the picture below we can see people climbing above Chikka basecamp.
The path ahead was dangerous too. We had to cross waterfalls and walk along a steep mountain with a fast flowing mountain river on another side.
This is the river which was just a step away from us. And there was no scope of any carelessness over there.
We rached at the place above Chikka after an hour of difficult trek. But now we had to cross this white water river which was in our way.Ppeople usually come here with proper ropes to cross the river, but, we had nothing of that kind. So, we decided to move to top from where the river was emerging, so as to face less force and volume of water.
At the top, there was a way made by the shepherds for their crossing and we used that to cross the river. Now, HEAVEN was waiting for us.
We reached another campsite, Jwara after sometime. The altutude here was about 3600m and the vegetation changed. The trees completly disappeared and the snow ladded mountains were now clearly visible. We were very close to HEAVEN now. Here we felt that we were standing on the front door of the HEAVEN.
After some kilometers of easy hike we reached the last campsite of the HAMPTA PASS named Balu Ka Ghera. Situated at 3900m, from here we could see HAMPTA PASS covered in clouds and mighty glaciers.
WE SAW HEAVEN! At the image pasted below, we saw one of the best view even seen in our life. The mighty HAMPTA PASS in its full glory with a misty vibe covering its untouched peaks.
I waited long to capture the shot that is below. The clouds were hiding the beauty of HEAVEN from us but we patiently waited to see and capture the clear picture of the HEAVEN (HAMPTA PASS).
Now, we rached to the place from where the river was born. One of the glacier that fed those while water streams on the way before. It was truly an amazing experience watching a river originate.
After crossing the HAMPTA PASS the cold desert of Spiti starts from Shea Goru (3700m), we did not go that further, as we did not wanted to go to Spiti. We wanted to go to the highest altitude and then return to our hometown Manali.
We came back to Balu Ka Ghera (shown in picture above) after going to HAMPTA PASS and stayed there for the night. Next day we went back to Manali by the same way we came.
It was truly an HEAVENLY experience full of adventure and thrill.
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(I tried to keep the photos as unedited as possible to show the real experience)
ALL PHOTOS ARE CAPTURED BY CANON 1300D and edited in LIGHTROOM.
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MORE TRAVEL AND PHOTOGRAPHY POSTS ARE ON THE WAY, JUST NEED SUPPORT.