Kheerganga- A Trek to remember

#HimachalPradesh is a land of countless beautiful treks. Anywhere you turn to is a valley or a mountain and tucked away into this wilderness is The Kheerganga, a very refreshing and surreal trek. This 13 km trek is said to be covered in 4-5 hours at a moderate pace. However we took a good 6-7 hours at leisure to arrive at the top.

Kheerganga trek wasn’t on my program list. I had overheard a conversation at the breakfast table of the camp and decided to join this group of boys, accompanied by two tour guides from the camp. The boys moved at their own easy pace. Hiking you can only do when you have the determination in you. And so the guides and me proceeded by ourselves.

Being stationed at Kasol, we had to reach Barshaini by a taxi and that was a 45 minute journey from Kasol. Barshaini is a small village from where we were to start the hike. At Barshaini, we checked into a cafe, had breakfast of potato stuffed parathas with tea, and filled our bottles with water. After a scrumptious breakfast, we decided to start our climb by 11 in the morning. I was suggested to change my shoes to suit the snow and ice covered trails ahead, so we hired shoes from a shop nearby. There were plenty of small shops that gave out hiking shoes, winter jackets or hand gloves on very minimum affordable rents. We advanced on our journey with sticks and enthusiasm. Me, Vivek and Nitish.

From Barshaini, there was a trail that went down from the dam, where there was a bridge over the gushing Parvati River. Upon crossing the bridge, we were now on the trail to Nakthan. The beginning of the trek was a short gentle climb or rather a casual walk upwards. However, being a sunny day, in the absence of any tree cover it started to get tiring and hot. After around 2 hours, we reached Nakthan village, a traditional Himachali village with small wood and stone houses which seemed from another age or frozen in time. A stone platform is made above the ground level to give strength to the wooden superstructure above it and also preventing it from snow and ground water.

There were a few cafés for travellers and trekkers, where we stopped to relax a bit. It was sunny and therefore exhausting hence stopping for a while, chatting away with smiling locals was relaxing. Fortunately, my travel partner had alpenliebe candies with him, which according to him is a great choice on uphill climbs, it helps the throat to not get dry and also provides energy from sugar. All three of us popped in a few and continued our walk uphill passing by pine forests, a huge waterfall. After the waterfall, the trekking trail began to get a little challenging, however there were several nice places to sit in the shade of trees where we could sit and share some cordial conversations to relax.

The weather had now started to feel cooler, and we could now see traces of snow ahead on our paths. The Sun had begun to hide behind the mountains and darkness had begun to pitch in. And so I was suggested to not take many breaks and move faster. News had reached that there had been heavy snowfall above and therefore the paths are covered with snow. I could now see that the pine forests and green valley’s ahead were blanketed in snow. The paths were extremely narrow with valley on one side and the gushing Parvati River at the bottom of it. The slippery trail had to be walked with extreme caution as one misstep and there you go plunging into the ice cold river never to be found again. Here I learnt that walking on fresh snow is not the problem, but walking on ice settled by the snow is the tough one. It was now pitch dark, every one walking hand in hand, making noises to let others know they are following. With mobile lights on, we just walked on for another two hours and finally reached the top. We could now see several tents and small lights, many people in small groups had arrived.

By the time we arrived at Kheerganga top, I did not realize my feet had begun to get wet due to the snow and ice. My finger tips and toes had frozen and therefore had no sensation and I was losing my breath as well. For a few moments, I thought I was losing it. But with guidance and support from co-travellers, I could regain my state back to normal in few minutes. To Kheerganga, the first half of the trek is moderate and second half is steep and slippery, very difficult particularly in the snow weather.

We spent the night in the tent chatting on our forgotten childhood stories and playing games, local food from the campsite kitchen. The whole night was severely windy and breezy, the weather had dipped to -21 degrees. However after the long day, we snored away, blanketed in 3-4 drapes.

Morning next day, the campsite at Kheerganga offered views that seem straight out of a Christmas card. I was standing in the midst of snow covered mountains, my feet in knee level snow, I could hardly speak and hear my rattling teeth due to the chilled weather. Usually it is said the best time to visit Kheerganga is between the long periods of May and November, however I chose December as I wanted to experience snowfall and here I was in full snow. All the trouble during the climb made it worth having seen this view. Oh yes, the best view definitely comes after the hardest climb.

After breakfast, and a photo session, we started our descending at 10am. Coming down is far more difficult as you tend to slip downwards over the icy wet tracks. However the feeling of accomplishment is motivating enough to energise yourself and pep your walk. Also long walks with a friend is something I have for long wished and so it was definitely special exchanging various experiences on the way down with my tour boys who had now become friends.

We came across few fresh waterfalls, where we filled our water bottles with clean and pure water. The paths were a bit slippery due to small streams here and there. We also stopped at a cafe to enjoy a cuppa Maggie and some snacks, before making the final push towards going down. On the way, we passed by the Rudranag Temple, perhaps I had missed noticing it while going up. Rudranag temple has a waterfall beside it. I remembered that we had to cross over the bridge near Rudranag to get to the other side of the mountain, upon which the high altitude meadow of Kheerganga’s actually beauty unraveled. At some points, the trail was extremely precarious due to vertical slopes, extreme downhills and some slippery tracks.

With the spectacular views and various challenges faced, it absolutely became an unforgettable adventure of a lifetime. And without the positivity, enthusiasm and camaraderie of my brilliant trekking heroes cum tour companions Vivek & Nitish, It would have undoubtedly not been possible to remain so upbeat and cheerful throughout this expedition. I owe them big time😍