Bali Pass Trek : An Experience of a Lifetime @ 16240 ft.

Perspectives : Bali Pass Trek - An Experience of a Lifetime @ 16240 ft ! ✅💪😍

Himalayas 🏔️ has a close place in our Hearts 💕 though we are so far from it ! While we spent our lives climbing through the ferocious Sahyadris (Western Ghats), the magnanimity of the Snow capped mountains pull us like magnetism ! The enormity of peaks, gushing glacial rivers, the powerful winds & the "Keep your Head Warm" temperatures make the decision to venture into the Himalayas, a much Easier one ! 🏞️

We were actually destined to do the Bali Pass, when we dropped the Har Ki Dun DIY plan 😁 While we knew it was a tough one, the terrain, the climbs & descents, the temps & the Altitude, we were sure - Karna Hai Toh Yahi Karna Hai Bhai !! 💪

The trek started with a sumptuous Lunch at Mumbai Airport Lounge 😂 (Actually). Flight on time, we landed at Dehradun with much Josh, looking at the dark clouds forming up above, the sky so High ! 😅 Reached our hotel & had the last Supper.. oh sorry .. The Last Hot Bath 🚿😁 Next day early morning, we were picked by our TTH Transport & there started our journey to be Cherished For A Lifetime !! - Destination : Sankri Village, deep inside, base for a lot of treks like HKD, Kedarkantha, Bali Pass etc. At 6000 ft. we felt elevated (literally) ✅ Such was Day 1 for us 👌

Day 2 to Day 9 🤠🏞️🏔️

Bali Pass is a trek with Difficult gradient - it climbs from Sankri (6000 ft) to Pawan Gharti (8500 ft) near Seema Camp. Jeep upto Taluka & then initially gradual but then intense climb to Pawan Gharati. Phew 😅 Trek ke pehle din pe Hawa Tight 👀 .. This was the evening where we tried our hands on pitching tents, stretching, eating (heheh) ! Swargarohini Peaks (1 2 3 4) were constantly playing Peek-a-Boo witu us 😊

We moved early the next day (a Norm we were going to experience - 5 6 7 / 6 7 8) - Tea, Breakfast, Start of Trek ! All in AM 😂 in that heart freezing cold 🥶❄️. Required a special mindset atleast in the initial days (😊). From 8500 ft we climbed onto Rainbasera (10200 ft) with the Supin River now making its presence felt 🌊 From Rainbasera to Ruinsara Tal (11800 ft). The HKD & Ruinsara Tal valleys are perpendicular here. This is where a few of us or maybe all (in different intensities) started feeling the wrath of Altitude 🏔️ Fatigue, bad stomach, mild headache all set in - without knowing it would be tougher going forward ⏩ 😊 While on the route, we passed ancient villages of Ghangad, Oslo (presumably around 500+ years old & from where most of our porters came in from). Their wrinkled pahadi faces state a lot of adaptation done right for centuries together.👌✅💪 Something about Ruinsara Tal (Lake) - an alpine lake at around 12k ft has a charm of its own ! As the legend goes, one cannot tell the stories of Ruinsara at the lake itself. You'll get possessed 😱

Now starts the best part - the tree line 🎄 vanished & out came the rugged, chippy arid Himalayan terrain 🏞️ While we lost the canopy of dense forests, we gained green brown thatches of grass with small rivulets with clear blue skies & fiery sun 🌞 Agla station - Camp Odari (13100 ft) which literally means Cave. Seems, Bali stayed here while he crossed over to the Yamunotri valley. No lens can do justice to this majestic piece of land - full view of all Swargarohini peaks, route to Kalanag (Black Peak), Bandar poonch Peaks in absolute extravaganz ! 😍 I mean we can stay here for life ☺️ albeit minus the cold ❄️😅 We were greeted with bright (UV full) sunlight, which is almost the only thing you long for 😂

Next we marched on to the Bali Col Base Camp (15100 ft) 🏔️ - some serious semi technical climb on long 60 to 70 degree Inclines with absolute raw glaciars & snouts around you 👀 At that altitude, it takes a toll on your fitness. Staying hydrated, walking slow are the only mantras of making it through ! 💪✅ We reached the camp, weary & tired 😩 but to greet us was our Laksh, Our Objective right in front of us - 1200 ft above - The Bali Pass 🏔️💪 The next morning 🌅, we started pretty early - around 5:30 am and after a enthralling walk through the snow wearing gaiters & crampons, we were on THE BALI PASS (16240 ft) 💖💗 Our Trek Leaders were constantly mentioning - Ascend kuch nahi hai , descent is tricky & long 😱 We were like, ha woh bhi karr lenge 😅 It was one of its kind - technically difficult, good (dil dehla dene wale) exposures, scree, loose chippy rock, toe wrenching distances, tricky traverses & paths made only for ONE FOOT 👣

BUT INSPITE OF ALL, WE DID IT !!! 💪🏔️ AN EXPERIENCE OF A LIFETIME !!! 💗

Sincere Tribute to all khacchars, Porters, Cooks & Helpers for their untiring attitude & Hulk-like capabilities to carry loads of unimaginable weights 🙃 After setting up camps & winding them up, no trash is left behind & mind you, its a task ! ✅✅

Quick suggestions for people taking up High Altitude Treks (HAT) : 😎 (ofcourse for first timers) 🧐

1. Never take them lightly, prepare more

2. Stay hydrated throughout the trek (water is the last thing you will want, but force urself, Use electrol, Tang, ORS etc. as fillers)

3. Take small steps, dont waste your breath

4. Try & eat well, normal food available, protein bars, dry fruits

5. Carry personal medicines, even if they are for some ailment which ceased a while ago (you ain't getting anything up there)

Organisers - Trek The Himalayas

Leaders - Sachin Thapa & Sudhanshu Tomar (Excellent beings)

All is Well that Ends Well 😍😎

#balipasstrek #trekthehimalayas #highaltitudetreks #himalayas