Sukh Dali Pass
District Chamba, Himachal Pradesh
Position - N32 22.938 E76 37.765
Altitude – 4618 metres above MSL
Trail Orientation – South - North
Closest Settlement(s) – Klah (South), Hadsar (North)
Named after a snow fed lake which is more often a dry ground than a lake (Sukh for dried, Dali for lake), Sukh Dali Pass is the alternative gateway to the hugely famous pilgrimage to Manimahesh Lake and Kailash. The of late conventionally used route to Manimahesh approaches from the road head at Hadsar towards South. Sukh Dali Pass is about 3 km north of the lake.
The attractions of using this route are many. For starters, you avoid the much abused trail. For the main course, you get to see lots of rare Himalayan flowers in May and June. For the dessert, the real icing on the cake, you see the Kuja and Manimahesh peaks bang in front of you. You can almost throw a stone at these peaks. Finally, probably the best views of Dhauladhars from the North side and believe me, they do look much prettier with the green grazing meadows in the foreground than they look from Kangra.
Crossing Sukh Dali means you combine trekking with an actual pilgrimage if you are religious. It just cant get much better than this.
Trekking to Sukh Dali:
Like the Gaj Pass, Sukh Dali is no trekking destination. Again like the Gaj Pass, thanks to odd enterprising pilgrim who still decides to use this route despite the road connection at Hadsar, there is always some sort of a trail. The trail starts from near Holi and climbs through Tiyari and Klah villages before going to the camps at Jailkhud and Sukh Dali (4000+ metre camp).
If and when you reach Jailkhud, dont get disheartened. Thats because across Jailkhud, there is an imposing rock face, about 800 metres high, atop which is Sukh Dali and hardly can a human fathom where amongst the maze of vertical rock, frozen waterfalls and lots of snow can the trail, if any be. There is a trail and as you get closer to the rock face, it gets clearer and clearer. Its only when you reach Sukh Dali that you finally get convinced that there was a trail and that it led to the top.
The best season to trek to Sukh Dali is middle May to end June. There is lots of snow on the peaks, just enough on the trail to make it fun walking and the flowers are in full bloom. To me, the flowers alone make the trek worth it. Everything else is a bonus.
A warning though. Manimahesh lake and below towards Hadsar is the dirtiest places I have ever seen in high mountains. The August fair dedicated to Shiva receives almost a million pilgrims. Judging by how they leave the place after the fair is over, I dont think they care much about what sort of filth their gods live in. There is plastic littered all over the place. The plastic is more diverse in colour than the flowers on the other side. The administration, it seems does not care a jot about this. Apart from cribbing about this and writing this indicting story here, I plan to do more at a later stage.
Meanwhile, if you dont appreciate more than a city's share of filth near a 4000+ metre lake, I strongly suggest you either do not go on this trek or better still, go to the pass, make a round of the Manimahesh Peak and get off towards Kugti village via the Chobhu Pass. Basically, see the area but dont set sight on the lake and the area north of the lake. For the normal route, click this link. The Chobhu route is still not mapped but I will post it here soon.
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