chaurasi ka dal

8/10/2019 Chaurasi Ka Dal

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Chaurasi Ka Dal

Trek Details

Description- Almost a discovery. There is no official track on this one for most part. The lake

was on some maps (and is now also on OSM), so we decided to find it by an alternative rote.!ncldes "oin" p a hi"h pass to a lake and then to some villa"es.

Look out for- #harasi ka $al, breathtakin" views from Mmbardhar, the vale of

e%ploration, wild life (brown bears, !be% and &imalayan Tahr).

Start Point' Tndah (* +.* / *.0/, *+ mts), $istrict #hamba, &imachal1radesh, !ndia

End Point' #han2 (* 3.*3 / 4/.0*, 4050 mts), $istrict #hamba, &imachal 1radesh,!ndia

Highest Point- #harasi 1ass(* .3/ / *3./+, 3+5 mts), $istrict #hamba, !ndia

Lowest Point- #han2, $istrict #hamba, &imachal 1radesh, !ndia


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Difculty Level Very Hard: Pass over 4500 metres with discernible shortage o

o!ygen" no trail to the #ass" very stee# ascent strewn with loose roc$" lac$ o water

on the entire %umbardhar ridge" almost non&e!istent local intelligence o the route

Sample Itinerary

Day Start Point End Point Stay Options

4 Tndah Mmbardhar #amp Site, &ts

*Mmbardhar 6nknown #amp Site #amp Site

6nknown camp site 7ase #amp #amp Site

3 7ase #amp #harasi #hali #amp Site

#harasi #hali #harasi ka $al #amp Site, &ts

/ #harasi ka $al $atin #amp site, villa"e, temple rooms

$atin #han2 #hamba hotels

Trek Profile

Trek levation 1rofile

Attached aside is an elevation profile of this trek. The 8 A%is of the "raph shows the hori9ontal

distance while the : A%is shows the elevation. All the ma2or waypoints on the trek have beenplotted on this "raph alon" with their elevations. The distance between waypoints alon" with the


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appro%imate ;movin" time; between each waypoint has also been provided. This assmes a

moderate walkin" pace with no stops at all.

The "raph has been created sin" the rom the base camp, head orth-?est to the base of thepeak. The elevation is abot 3+++ metres here. !nstead of "oin" p the peak, look for anarrow trail on the ?estern face of the peak. This slopes sli"htly down and can be seen

abot a km away on a lsh "reen "ra9in" "rond. >ollow this trail. Overall, it loses abot

4+ m in altitde till the trail "ets lost and yo have steep slope of loose rocks leadin" toa flat area. There are reportedly 53 sprin"s of fresh water here. 53 in &indi is #harasi,

hence the name. :o will see sprin"s of varios si9es oo9in" ot of the loose rocks and a

fla" which marks the place.

. Chaurasi Chali - Chaurasi Pass:>rom #harasi #hali, "o --? on the rid"e yo seeon yor left. :o will see a few rocks pt atop each other all alon" the way. These

ro"hly mark the way, sch way that e%ists. !t@s mostly loose rock, loosened by e%tremetemperatre chan"es and free9in" of the little water content in the rocks. The trail "oes allalon" the rid"e till it reaches a small pass. >rom here, across an open snow "rond in a

depression, yo will see another pass. ?alk down the depression and p it to reach

#harasi 1ass.


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3. Chaurasi Pass - Chaurasi ka Dal:Slide down on the snow from the pass. eep a --

? bearin" "oin" downstream. The lake is Bite a distance from the pass, takes arond *-

hors if yo have fresh snow.

. Chaurasi ka Dal - Chanju:The Cake is a local pil"rim destination from this side of the

pass. So there is a trail, not always very clear becase the traffic is very low and seasonal.!t rns alon" the left bank of the stream comin" ot from the lake. All alon" the left bank,

it crosses a camp site Daili $har and a cople of temporary, seasonal shelters beforereachin" poplation at $atin. After $atin, there are villa"e paths ri"ht p to the road at

#han2.


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Trip Details

!ts one story ! have wanted to write for Bite some time. ! was on this 3 day shortened to + daytrek. ?e had crossed * passes. Thin"s were lookin" "ood. ?e reached a villa"e called "ti on

or way to "ti 1ass, +3+ m hi"h. Then it rained for / hors. !t snowed on the montains.

ven a fool cold fi"re ot crossin" a pass that hi"h was not feasible. ?e had what ! called a;back p plan;. There was this lake called #harasi ka $al ! had heard of on the 7anni Mata Trek.

&eard from 2st one man who had been there. Others arond seemed to be va"ely aware of its

e%istence. Then ! had seen it on a map prodced by Ceomann Maps, last pdated in early 0+s. !thad a track "oin" towards it and one man we had met in April knew abot it. There were isses

tho"h.

4. The map was old - pdated in the 0+s. The map "ys cold have "ot it wron". !t is a

4E*++,+++ scale map while standard trekkin" maps are 4E+,+++ or better.

*. There was a man who knew abot it when we met him in April. This was end of May and

we did not know who he was or what his name was.

. There was a track "oin" towards it shown on the map bt that track was from ?est. ?e

wanted to attempt it from the Soth.

A


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ever havin" been there. The only bri"ht li"ht was the e%istence of the lake on the map, the


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was the risk of a rock rollin" down and catchin" s in the wron" place. >inally, abot 4 we

reached or ;little pass;. At least we tho"ht so. The ;little pass;, mind yo, was 3+ metres,

hi"her than all the passes in the $haladhars. !t did not have a name. ?e christened it #harasi1assbecase it spposedly led to #harasi ka $al.

!n normal times, when we reach a pass, we normally make a lon" stop, sometimes more than acople of hors 2st to look arond, en2oy the scenery, have somethin" to eat and

Stck whereG

Sch. At 3+ metres above sealevel with no cle where yo are

and no information on the ne%t

campin" spot, the first thin" yodo is want to "et down the other

side. And then yo see a 4+-4

foot vertical ice wall all arond.Somehow, we fond a way to

avoid the wall, only to walk on

more of the loose rock stff on a

vertical slope. ventally, we sliddown on an almost vertical slope

of snow with heavy backpacks.

Sddenly, we were feelin" mch better. The pass was done. !t was not little by any stretch ofima"ination bt it was done with, we had reached the other side. ?e were almost "ettin" to hi"h

fives when somethin" sddenly dawned pon me. ?here in the name of the "od was the lakeG

?e were ++ metres below the pass and cold see another ++-3++ metres. o trace of a lake.

All arond s were montains, really hi"h ones and we were in the middle, probably where thelake shold have been. $id we come down the wron" passG


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And it cold be rond the corner.

6nless it became impossible to

walk, ! was not "oin" back. A fewhndred metres below on the trail

(that did not e%ist), we trned a

sharp left and viola, there was alakeI

!t was Bite a lake. ! had never

seen somethin" as beatifl.

verythin" abot it was perfect.!ts shape, the color of the water,

the srrondin"s, the Biet arond

it, the lack of people. !t was thelake of my dreams. ! have seen

many a lake on TJ bt none Bite as beatifl as this one. This time there were actal hi"h fives.

All the tiredness of a lon" 5 hor day with no rests at all, climbin" p a ;little pass; was "one in aminte. ?e were alive a"ain. The tension in the air was replaced with non-stop discssion with

both me and Fan"o claimin" how each one of s was ri"ht abot the path we had taken (while we

were of corse not ri"ht all the time) or how the other was "ettin" nnecessarily

concerned Secretly, we both knew what we went thro"h, the dobts we had, the nmber oftimes we wanted to trn back and almost did bt pre stbbornness kept s "oin". :o don@t

mention sch thin"s, do yoG :o 2st want to revel in the moment and take ot hors of tension

by talkin" for hors, "oin" over each moment many times over and 2st smilin", bein" happythat yo did somethin" yo have never done earlier and who knows, may never do a"ain.

!t was perfect becase we had fond it from scratch. Another day, when ! "o back, ! won@t find it

half as beatifl as ! fond it when ! ;fond; it. There is a lot of pain in discovery and littlepleasre. The little pleasre however lasts a lifetime, the pain only the first few moments.

! write this post drnk. beers down on my way to a friend;s marria"e. So, yo know this is

absolte trth and nothin" else. !n the last 4+ months, ! have been to many places, known and not

so known, trekked and not so trekked, internet-ed and not so internet-ed. ! have also conferred

the label of heaven on earth to Trind, taken it away and "iven it to areri Cake bt and this is abi" bt, ! have never been to a place like Mmbardhar. !t@s not well known, its remote, it@s really

remote, it@s not visited by anyone e%cept the


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!t@s what ! call the 1oonhillof

&imachal. ! don;t like

comparisons, ! don;t likestereotypes. Still, ! call it the

1oonhill of &imachal. !t;s a

temptation ! can;t really resist.?hen yo can see the

$haladhars to the Soth,

Manimahesh ran"e to the ast andthe inimitable 1ir 1an2als to the

orth with a cool bree9e caressin"

yor face, a stron" sn warmin"

yo p, how can yo not behmanG &ow can yo not be

enchantedG &ow can yo be what

yo were before bein" thereG &ow can yo contine the same e%istenceG Somethin" has to

chan"e.

! admire the 7ritish, particlarly for choosin" nbelievable locations for >orest Dest &oses.

Kite how they missed Mmbardhar remains a mystery.

$m"ol Twins (1ir 1an2al Dan"e)from Mmbardhar

!t@s nice they missed it becase its

then left to the people who are

willin" to e%plore. Sitated km

off a small villa"e called Tndah(and they have a >D& there),

Mmbardhar is not a place yowold ever hear of. ! dobt if it

has ever even been so mch as

mentioned in the cyber world. !t

has e%isted as lon" as the&imalayas. !t has been called

Mmbardhar for as lon" as the


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Mmbardhar is a reward reserved for those willin" to make the effort. ever ever try to "o there

as part of a packa"e tor to 7harmor or elsewhere. $o not make a day trip. $on;t "et

dis"rntled at the bad road from $hako" to Tndah. $o any of this and this pa"e is ftile. !t@smeant only for people who can meander here lookin" for e%ploration, have eno"h time to la9e

arond on the slopes for one day withot wantin" to hrry back to somewhere or somethin" and

still feel they did not have eno"h of the place. This is not a 2orney which is rewardin" in itself.!t can be to"h bt the reslt more than sffices.

!f yo want more, "o on ahead and e%plore ri"ht p to #harasi ka $al. ! bet yo will never

for"et it.

chaurasi ka dal

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