Trek Himachal

After the scathing criticism of Manimahesh waste (mis)management, its time to be fair to the location itself. The normal route from Hadsar upto the lake is quite well known and too well frequented. 900,000 just in the month of August and then some. There is however another route from Holi in Chamba District which crosses the Sukh Dali Pass and then descends to the Manimahesh Lake. Its an old pilgrim route which was used by people climbing from Kangra District via Dhauladhars when there were no roads, taxis and choppers. There is still an odd pilgrim on this route once in a while but by and large the trail is free. As with anything not too frequented by humans, the trail is full of stunning beauty. Summer time is flower time. Right upto the base camp of Sukh Dali Pass at Jailkhud, there are blooms of myriad colours.

The moment you reach base camp, you feel puzzled. Thats because you can't see any way to the pass, just a steep rock face which gains 800 metre elevation. Its a little initimidating at the beginning. When you have to camp just below this imposing face, staring at it one whole evening and then again waking up to find it outside your tent door, it can get a little disturbing. However, if you strain your eyes, you can see some sort of a trail going up. Sure, it zig zags a lot, it is hellish steep despite the zig zag. There are even times you are not sure if this is a trail and that it leads where it is supposed to lead. Keep your faith. Thou shall not doubt your lord, the god. It does reach the top of the slope but only in its time, no sooner and no later. Thats where Sukh Dali is, a seasonal lake which dries off around July. Sukh Dali literally means dried lake. The pass also borrows its name from this lake. Once you reach the top of the ridge, this is what you see.

Kuja Peak (L) and Sukh Dali (R).

I am not quite sure about this but Kuja is a cousin of Kelang Wazir (Kelang is the god after whom Keylang, the HQ of Lahaul and Spiti has been named). This peak is around 5200 metres and has been successfully climbed a couple of times. Local belief however has it that the god does not let people climb it. Just to vindicate this opinion, there have also been failed attempts with people stuck for 2-3 days in a snowstorm.

From Sukh Dali to Sukh Dali Pass is an easy looking but tough going trail up. The total climb is just in excess of 400 metres but almost all over a mass of small rocks and no trail or huge rocks with high step climbs. The pass is 4620 metres high, which is some serious height. Its not really far from Sukh Dali though. Everytime there is tiredness in the legs or huffing and puffing in the lungs, there is the option to turn back and look at the Kuja Peak and the wonderful Sukh Dali. If that does not suffice, wait till you reach the top of the pass and cross over.