Trek Report: Rupin Pass (Summer Trek 2007)

We a group of 15 students started for our trek to Rupin pass on 27^th may 2007 at 6.30 pm from JNU campus. We boarded the bus of route no 615 and then changed bus at Safdarjung Airport to reach the Inter State Bus Terminus (ISBT). After reaching to the isbt we found about the bus for Dehradun. We got our ticket booked in the bus scheduled to depart at 10.00 pm. Before the bus departed all the students had their dinner at some restaurants near to the bus stand. The bus could depart only at around 11.00 due to congestion and unsystematic parking at the bus terminus. The delay caused us to miss the bus which leaves Dehradun for Purola at 6:00am. We looked for private buses available for Purola and got a bus which was to depart at 8:00 am. The bus reached Purola at around 3:30pm. We found about the bus for Netwar and came to know that the bus that goes upto Mori will arrive at 4:00pm but some local people also told us that the bus service is irregular and if it will comes it will arrive upto 4:30. The local people also told that jeeps keep plying between Purola and Mori (26 kms). After waiting for about 2 hours we hired a jeep for Netwar. On way to Netwar the jeep had some problem in its headlights and it was getting dark by the time we reached Mori. We stayed at Mori overnight and the next day (29th June 2007) started for Netwar at 6:00am in the morning.

29.05.07

      After reaching netwar we started searching for guide and porters. Some mule owner told us that there will be more snow over the pass so that mules cannot go across it. We then came to know that we could get good porters and guides at the Sankri, next village on the same road. Vinay and Sanjeev proceeded to sankri and hired guide and three porters. When we returned back along with guides and porters it was almost 2:00 pm. Since we had limited time for the trek on that day we immediately started our trek towards Dhaula. On that day we could trek only for three hours and camped at Dhaula. In the evening all the students had a short walk in the forests around Dhaula. That was the first day of camping for majority of the students so we demonstrated them how to pitch the tents.

30.05.07

  On the 30^th of june we got up at 5:30 and after breakfast demonstrated to the group how to unpitch the tents and pack the duffel bag. After getting everything packed we started for the first difficult stretch of our trek. Our target for the day was Sewa village. This village is the last village of Uttarakhand. On the way itself we enjoyed the natural beauty and the lunch and we could comfortably reach sewa by 4:30 pm.

31.05.07

  Next day we left the campsite at around 7:30am and the target for us was the jiskun. Jiskun is a quite big village and it is being connected by road to Rohru. The village is situated on the sloping ridge and hence we couldn’t find any suitable site for camping. So we stayed in forest rest house which was available at a nominal rent.

01.06.07

  As usual students got up early in the morning at 5:30am and got ready by 7:30am. After purchasing some essential items that we had forgotten or missed, we started for Jakha. This day was also a steep climb. The village was visible from Jiskun and seems to be very near but when we started walking it seemed too far. Anyway that day we could reach jakha by lunch time. After lunch we had sufficient time to reach the nearby camping ground along the Rupin River. The villagers also call Rupin River by the name Udaknath nallah. We could reach this camping site only after crossing a tributary stream by a snow bridge.

02.06.07 Acclimatisation Day

03.06.07

After getting up early in the morning the entire group was ready to leave the campsite at around 8:00am. We started walking after a short briefing. The stretch today had steep ascent and was along the left bank of the Rupin River. We walked past the herds of grazing cows and sheeps in the alpine meadows. That day we could cover good distance as the group was walking at a quite fast pace. At around 3 pm it started raining and we had to camp at the alpine pastures below the water fall (locally called chhada). We had a very difficult time cooking our food because of incessant rain till 10 pm. After the dinner entire group went for sleep early. We told everybody to get up early in the morning.

04.06.07

The entire group got up at 4:00am and got ready by 5:15am. After having light breakfast started for our next destination at 5:30 am. It was early in the morning and walking over the snow was very slipery. So our pace was quite slow and we could climb over to the waterfall in around four hours. And we started for crossing the pass that day itself and moved along the very steep scree slopes. But by 2:30 when we were hardly 1km away from the pass it started snowfall. The snowfall lasted for more than 5 hours. We camped below the pass itself. Anyhow we spent that night amidst the chilly winds and the freezing temperatures.

05.06.07

We got up quite late as we found that it will be very difficult walking over snow in the early morning amidst chilly winds. We started at around 9:00am for our destination i.e. Rupin pass. There was all white fresh snow around us. The sunlight was making a very severe glow over it. Under all difficulties we stated climbing the steep slope on the southern side of the pass. It took us almost four hour to reach the top of the pass. The happiness over the faces of the group was unprecedented. The view of the mighty Himalayan ranges from the pass was magnificent. At around 2:00pm we saw the weather conditions becoming worse. So we started descent. The descent was quite smooth and easy amidst the fresh snowfall. Finally on that day we camped at the pastures just below the snow line. On that day we had a very delicious dinner cooked by our colleagues.

06.06.07

 When we got up there was a very fine weather and we packed our luggage and started moving towards sangla. It was visible from that place and the entire group was very happy that they are going to complete their trek. While moving towards sangla we passed throught the sangla kanda. The kanda is a place for keeping cattles of the village. This kanda serves as cattle shelter for the villagers of sangla. Finally we reached to sangla at around 3:00pm. The group was very happy at achieving their destination, for which they had been preparing for more than 25 days. Sangla is a beautiful town on the bank of Baspa River. The accommodation in sangla was very costly so we had to move towards Chitkul then only. We reached chitkul by bus. It took us almost one and half hour to reach Chitkul. We had overnight stay at chitkul. And next morning started for karcham. and then from Karcham we got the bus for Rampur and from Rampur we got a bus for delhi. Thus we had very successful trek.