Himalayas 2019: Sar Pass trek

Like every year, I along with my friends planned for yet another Himalayan expedition. And after considering quite a few options, we decided to book for Sar Pass trek conducted by YHAI which is a 11 days expedition. This would be my second Sar Pass trek, as I had done it in 2009. The fact that out of 7 higher camps 4 are new ones compared to the last trek, I was ok to repeat it.

Sar Pass - 2009	Sar Pass - 2019
Guna Paani (8000ft)	Grahan (7700ft)
Fual Paani (9500ft)	Padri (9300ft)
Zirmi (11000ft)	Mingthatch (11200ft)
Tila Lotni (12500ft)	Nagaru (12500ft)
Sar Pass (13800ft)	Sar Pass (13800ft)
Biskeri (11000ft)	Beskeri (11000ft)
Bhandak Thatch (8000ft)	Bhandak Thatch (8000ft)

Day 1: Report to base camp.

We took HP tourism bus from Delhi to Manali, got down at Bhuntar and took another local bus to reach our base camp, Kasol. Since there weren't any activities planned for this day, we spent our day roaming around Kasol market, Manikaran and nearby park. I was happy to see this new park constructed at a place which previously was just a parking lot kept in dismal state.

Day 2: Acclimatization, Orientation and Training.

This day started with a morning exercise at a nearby location, followed by a small trek post breakfast. Also included a briefing about the program, details about the higher camps and general do's & don'ts.

Day 3: Acclimatization, Medical and Kit Inspection.

This day too started with a morning exercise but rigorous one. The trainer actually tried to kill us all before the trek started by asking us to perform some serious jumps, stretches and what not. I was smart enough not to follow each and every instructions from him and thereby stay alive for coming days to see ;-). Others were too, in case you are wondering!

This was followed up again by a small trek post breakfast. And on similar lines, this too was a tiresome trek; a steep one, which kind of gave us an indication of what might unfold in coming days.

There was a presentation later that day which explained about the High Altitude sickness, its symptoms etc. And finally there was a virtual campfire where our batch members came up with entertaining dance, singing and yoga performances.

Day 4: Trek to Grahan camp.

The group got ready early morning, had breakfast, packed lunch boxes and were ready to leave the base camp at 8 am. The batch is sent off with a customary guard of honor by other batch members.

This stretch of walk took us along the Parvati river and was a simple one comparatively. The Grahan village camp was a nice scenic place where everyone had a nice time taking pictures. And later, everyone enjoyed the card games in the tent.

Day 5: Trek to Padri camp.

Trek towards Padri camp took us through some streams and uphill areas. The lunch point was a beautiful place with some big tree trunks fallen down. This gave us all a place to have some wonderful snaps.

The camp was situated in the shadows of a mountain with a beautiful view of snow-capped mountains at the front. This place was an ideal place for us to enjoy a game of Mafia too.

Day 6: Trek to Mingthatch camp.

This was undoubtedly the most difficult day we had in this whole trek. It was about 9 kms long, steep stretch. And what worse, we had the continuous rain to beat too. Imagine walking a steep AND slippery climb in the forest. Of course, many of us had to deal with few falls here and there. At some junctions, we were even found crawling in that mud. We reached the lunch point anyhow after this arduous walk with swollen, bruised and numb fingers. We had no clue the ordeal was not yet over. The final stretch towards the camp had a steep climb, almost like mountain climbing. Many of us didn't dare to look down the mountain while climbing.

The camp didn't have enough level area to accommodate all the tents along with kitchen, due to which the kitchen was little away and we all had to take this mini-trek every time we went to have tea, dinner or to pack our lunch boxes.

Day 7: Trek to Nagaru camp.

This was the day when the snow patches started to show up. Though it was again a high elevation trail, it seemed quite an easy one after our previous day's stretch. The weather was supportive too as we didn't have any showers on this day to deal with. The lunch point was a very tight spot with less space to walk around. We finally reached the Nagaru camp post lunch and we were dumbstruck with the sight it provided.

This camp is situated on the edge of a mountain with snow all around. Due to muddy area with snow melting, this place had become too difficult to walk around. Many of the guys slipped and tumbled. The camp leader, Ankit from Haryana was an entertaining chap and who knew what was required to survive in those kind of tougher higher camps. He passed on some invaluable tips and even demonstrated different walking techniques in snow which apparently came handy the next day.

The camp, surprisingly, had enough network coverage due to which we saw most of us making video calls to loved ones, to share this awesome view we were witnessing.

Everyone at the camp had a sleepless night due to snowfall and high winds at night. Everyone in the tent were up most night holding the tent and pole in those high windy conditions. The next morning we were supposed to start the walk towards Sar Pass at 3:30 am.

Day 8: Trek to Sar Pass & then to Biskeri.

I was up at 2:30 am, went out to take a leak only to realize I need to walk around on the fresh snow to a toilet tent which was partially uprooted. It was cold, it was dark and over the edge. So without much thinking, I can surely say it was the most daunting walk I had to take for a leak ;-)

Everyone kind of got ready by 3:30 am. Cornflakes & milk were served as breakfast and immediately we had to pack our lunch boxes. We hit the road, rather the snow trail, at ~4:30 am and for next 7-8 hours we walked snow.

We reached the Sar Pass summit at noon and everyone were so glad and felt so proud of this accomplishment that we had a group hug and took lots of pictures there.

Immediately after that, the descent started with the most attractive aspect of this Sar Pass expedition i.e. the snow slides. Yes, for next few minutes, we went through ~5 slides. The first slide was around 400 meters and the penultimate one being the longest probably around a km long.

The slides were great and little scary at the same time due to the bumps formed.

Many of them went through the feeling of anxiety & nervousness at the beginning but felt fearless & elated at the end of those 5 slides, in fact wanting to have a few more.

Again, Biskeri is a beautiful camp. I remember our group enjoying a game of Cricket the last time in 2009. Once at camp, we had a task taking care of our wet clothes due to the slides.

Day 9: Trek to Bhandak Thatch/Kasol.

As we were towards the end of the trekking expedition, many of us got tired and due to a sense of completion, we decided to take permission from the camp leader to head towards the Kasol base camp instead of the final camp Bhandak Thatch. Camp leader was quite accommodative and agreed to send the half the batch to base camp along with a guide out of 3 guides who accompanied all through.

This final leg took us more time than anticipated through the Barshani village, from where we boarded a bus to base camp.

On the way to base camp, we decided to book hotel rooms instead of staying one more night at the camp tents. That's the way we decided to treat ourselves post successful summit of Sar Pass.

We reported to the base camp the same evening to collect our completion certificates too.

I must tell you, this was the most satisfying trek by far I’ve had so far. The routes and camps were scenic which took us through some unbelievable arduous trails and mountains which took my breath away. And needless to say, this expedition gave an opportunity to make some new friends, brought in some situations to learn from and some wonderful memories to cherish forever.