Rupin Pass Trek - India Hikes - May 24-30, 2022
After my early retirement in Jan 2020, trekking was a passion
I was eager to pursue, before my ACL-reconstructed knees and general energy
levels gave way. But first COVID and then another bothersome knee surgery
(meniscus tear) held me back. Finally I was ready to go for it, along with my
wife Bindu. I love mountains and snow, those were the basic requirements. The
Rupin Pass trek with Indiahikes (based on extensive positive feedback) fit the
bill, so we booked it for May’22. Even though we have done the Everest Base
Camp and Gokyo treks, we are now 54 and were quite apprehensive about our
ability to do the tough trek. It was going to be a 7-day trek, going up to
15,300 ft elevation, with temps below 0°C at night, and 2 tough days –
climbing a waterfall, and then the summit up a steep snow covered gully
(supposedly 70° incline, though I still don’t buy that) with a long, steep
descent afterwards. But – nothing tried, nothing gained, so we did high 5s and
went for it!
This is what the trek was going to be:
Dramatic First Day
The first
day was supposed to be a long drive from Shimla to Jiskun, about 10 hours
(5:30am –> 3pm). It turned out to be 20 hours, and we almost didn’t reach at
all (in fact only 1/3 cars actually got there). 18 of left in 3 vehicles in the
morning amidst constant rain since the night. 6 of us – Suresh, Anand, Gopal,
Murugan, Bindu and I – were in 1 car. We stopped for lunch at a nice fishing
camp by the river Pabbar. Here we learnt that rain here meant heavy snowfall in
the mountains, and to reach Jiskun, we would need to drive up to beyond 12000
ft and then descend. So we would need to change vehicles and get snow chains
for the tires, especially since it was a gravel road all the way. As we
ascended steeply, we could see snow on the sides, then on the road and finally
as we got close to the Chanshal peak, there was a thick blanket all around and
a desolate landscape, with just a few vehicles going along. At one point we
were stopped because snow had slid from the higher slopes onto the road, and a
few vehicles were stuck up ahead. A JCB would need to clear the path before we
could proceed, or we had to go back. It was ~6pm by now, and bitterly cold and
windy outside. We had to get out of the car so that the tires could be removed
to put chains on them. But in the middle of that cold desolation, guess what we
saw – a food truck selling hot tea and maggi! Go figure. That brought some
warmth while we waited. We did see a lovely sunset between clouds and 
took some pictures. Finally,
at 9pm we got the green signal to move ahead. After 100m or so, the car started
skidding, because the chains couldn’t get traction in the gravel. What now? Get
out and push the car, or stay there for the night in the cold. Even turning
around on the narrow road was going to be challenging. The routine for the next
hour was – push, car moves ahead, get in and vigorously warm yourself, car
starts skidding, Arnav tries for some time, we get out, push, car moves ahead….
You get the drill! Every stop looked like we were stuck for good, but somehow
we kept going. We had lost track of the other 2 vehicles soon after we started,
and later learnt they went back at midnight. At some point, we passed the JCB,
and then we were finally past the summit and descending, and soon the snow
disappeared. At midnight, we reached a place called Dodar, about an hour from
Jiskun. It dawned on us that none of us knew exactly where to go, since the
IndiaHikes (IH) co-ordinators were in the other cars. We just knew it was a
homestay in Jiskun, and the driver knew Jiskun was an hour or so ahead. So the
Q was – do we find a room and stay here for the night, or try our luck. But we
were all gamblers that night, so we moved ahead. The road became narrower,
rockier, with what looked like a deep valley on one side and the mountain slope
on the other. We were glad it was pitch dark, and we couldn’t look down the
slope. Not a soul in sight. After an hour, we kept looking for the Jiskun
village, but could see nothing. We passed 3 houses (one under construction) but
despite honking couldn’t see anyone. At some point, it just didn’t look like
the right road, so we stopped. I went ahead with my phone flashlight, while
Suresh and Anand went to try to find someone in the 3 houses. The road ahead
was looking very run down and rocky. Meanwhile Suresh and Anand were not
finding anyone awake, but suddenly saw a still, white apparition rise up in the
middle of the road, between them and the car! The last thing we wanted was to
tackle ghosts. They were scared out of their skins, before they realized it was
Gopal, trying to frighten them. He almost ended up over the cliff 😊.
We decided to reverse, since there was no space to turn. The driver was looking
back, and Bindu goes – “Please look ahead also”. We all burst out laughing. Finally,
we were able to wake up someone in one of the houses, and he told us we had
passed the road to Jiskun, a very narrow road going steeply up on the left,
which we had thought was a walking trail. Oh well! We went up the road somehow,
and suddenly Murugan spied the yellow banner of IH, and a sign said IH
homestay! Yay!!!! Finally at 1:30am we had arrived.
To make
up for all the harrowing experiences, we got a very warm welcome from the IH team
and a hot dinner before bed in the dorm rooms. If this was the boring day 1, we
wondered what was in store on the more exciting days! We had been really lucky
to make it to Jiskun, but I am not sure what we learned – to be more
conservative or to keep taking risks?
Jiskun (7600ft) – Jhakka (8600 ft) - Saruwas Thatch
(10700 ft) - Dhanderas Thatch (11700 ft)
The next
morning was relaxed, and we took in gorgeous views of the mountains and
valleys. We had lost mobile connectivity long back after lunch the previous
day, and would only get it back near the end of the trek (so now you know why
we were so lost). There was no news from the other 12 people, so we moved
forward to Jhakka, our destination for the day. It was a lovely walk along the
trail with great views of the mountains, valleys and the Rupin river and it
took about 2.5 hours. 
Jhakka is also a
homestay, so tents would start the next day. We visited a village Dhara in the
afternoon, Manish and our trek guide Avaneesh gave us a very good tour, it was
great to see how they live together as a community in a sustainable way – with
common grain stores, and everything made locally including shoes. Jhakka is
called a hanging village, because they have balconies in the houses which hang
from the top. Ground floor is for cows, 1st floor for goats, and 2nd
floor for people. Finally, in the late afternoon, we heard that the rest of the
group had reached Juskun, and would start off for Jhakka right away to reach by
dinner and catch up with the schedule. What a warm welcome we gave them,
followed by a lively dinner. The youngsters (of course me included 😉)
played Mafia till midnight.
We got our full briefing the next
morning. IH is organized well, and takes safety and sustainability very
seriously. They took BP and oxygen readings for all of us, fortunately no one
failed them. Oxygen readings would be taken twice a day everyday, and anything
below 85% would mean the person would have to return. Our trek leader was
Akshay, a fit and fun guy of 27. We would need to follow whatever he told us to
do, to ensure safety and harmony. We were not allowed to leave any of our trash
during the trek, instead we would pick up trash on the way and segregate it
every evening. With all that understood and pledged, we moved forward towards Saruwas
thatch. We passed through a lovely dense coniferous forest, with very tall
trees, and then went down to the Rupin river, crossed it and kept going. It
took us 5 hours to reach our destination, and when we first saw it from far, we
were very thrilled. We crossed the river again to get to it. There were bright
yellow tents to sleep in, a dining tent, and 2 toilet tents. The toilets were
dry pits, with sawdust to put into them for hygiene, no water allowed. We were
to use water sparingly, through holes in a can, for washing dishes. No baths
till we completed the trek and were back in Shimla. Food was very wholesome: black
sweet tea in the morning, breakfast was varied, along with regular tea, lunch
was rice, daal and some curry, tea and snacks in the evening, and dinner would
be roti, rice, dry curry, daal, and dessert!
We did alliteration introductions over evening tea – Kind
Ketul, Dramatic Dhwanit, Happy Harsh, Maverick Mihir, Marvellous Murugan,
Alfresco Akash, Real Rahul, Awesome Aniruddha, Angry Anand, Polite Priyanka,
Great Gopal, Super Suresh, Adventurous Abhishek, Rocking Rachna, Acrophile
Akshay, Vibrant Vivek, Kind Krishna, Brave Bindu and Structured Sumeet. Bindu
and I were 54, the next set in their mid-forties, going down to Aniruddha at
22! Soon Bindu and I were moved from Madam/Sir to Aunty/Uncle 😊
Through the trek, everyone acted like a team, and people were so helpful and
respectful to us oldies, making space for us to sit, offering to serve us meals
or carry our bags. Going to the toilet at night was a pain, due to the cold,
darkness, and need to open the tent, wear shoes, zip the tent and to reverse the
process afterwards.
The next day was a short
acclimatization trek to Dhanderas thatch, before the real fun would start. It
took 3 hours, but the highlight was the break by the river, where we all drank
water from the river like cats – on our bellies and with our tongues. Vivek and
Krishna had brought really delicious snacks, of great variety and large
quantities – from home-made chikkis to savoury seeds to banana chips to local
mixtures. And Vivek would go around offering them to everyone personally. Huge
respect for them! Akash led us on a high tempo happy song, which energized us
all.
One piece
of sad news was that Gopal had pushed himself late for the trek fitness and was
carrying a small knee injury which became worse on the first day, and didn’t
get better over time. Given the steep ascent and descent coming up, he decided
to return with one of the IH staff members. We bid him goodbye. As they say,
the mountains aren’t going anywhere, you can always come back, but health comes
first. Others were all doing well, the youngsters leading and Bindu and I
bringing up the rear. We would go as a group, with a lead guide Satinder and a
trail guide Avneesh, and Akshay moving back and forth among us. It was pretty
cold at Dhanderas thatch, esp at night. After the first day, the weather gods
were smiling on us, and we only had a couple of passing drizzles and hailstorms
while trekking. The rest of the rain happened while we were at camp.
Dhanderas Thatch (11700 ft) – Upper waterfall camp (13200
ft)
This was our first
real test. We could see the Rupin waterfall ahead, in 3 parts – upper, middle
and lower falls. We could also see a red tent way up there beyond the upper
waterfall, our destination for the day. We had to climb up along the falls and
cross some snow bridges along the way. We ascended 2000 ft over about 2km
distance, after the initial gentle walk along the river. The surprise was –
Bindu was asked to be the first in the group right behind the lead guide
Satinder. She had been going at a very steady rhythm, which would be critical
at these elevations on a steep ascent. So we started off, and I was soon bring
up the rear. But all said and done, with the steady walk, we did it without too
much fuss and ahead of schedule. The views of the mountains and falls ahead,
and later the valley spread out to eternity behind us, were out of this world.
We reached in time for a hot lunch, and spent the afternoon resting or roaming
around. I took the opportunity to walk over to a snow bank and slide down it for
some fun.
Summit day – Dhanderas Thatch (13200 ft) – Summit (15300
ft) – Ronti Gad (13000ft)
This was
the big and long day – 4/4:30/5/5:50 was the mandate – 4am wakeup, 4:30am black
tea, 5am breakfast, 5:50am assemble to start. It was dark when we woke up and
got ready, but bright by the time we started. There was a steep rocky ascent to
start with. Today also Bindu was leading, but I was right behind her – no
laggards in the rear 😊 We maintained a slow steady rhythm, and
later there was an area of gentle slopes and lovely views of the mountains,
before we reached the 
snow area. From here,
it was all snow walking. We had been given micro-spikes the day before to put
on now, without which we wouldn’t have been able to go up at all. Even with
them some people were slipping and sliding. After an ascent for some time, we
reached the final really steep push to the top – the 70° gully. We went zig zag up,
and even then we were panting and in danger of slipping and falling. But then
suddenly, I was at the top and Akshay was congratulating me. It felt a little
unreal. Behind us was the steep gully and the expanse of snow, ahead was a
large expanse of snow going downhill, with snow capped mountains in the
background. And we were perched on a little rocky area. Phew, and Wow!!!! We
had all made it, and done it fastest for that season, at 9:30am (the other
groups had reached in the 10am-noon window). After the initial exhilaration and
resting, there was a frenzy of picture taking, especially with the banner of
DONE.
Then we started the descent, but
minus the spikes, since they had to be taken back for the next group. Now the
fun started, with everyone slipping and falling. Rahul said – lets just do it
right – and slid beyond the trail and down the slope, with Satinder jumping
after him to stabilize him. He went down a good 100m. Once he was on his feet,
it seemed like a lot of fun, so Bindu and I also tagged with Satinder and slid
down. It was wind rushing fun!!! The rest of the descent was a trudge, first
through snow, and later over dusty gravel, for 9km, before we finally saw our
camp far below and went down to it. We were quite tired, but still did some
stretches to unwind. We had eaten packed lunch on the way. Mihir looked like he
had drunk himself crazy, the way he was walking – turned out he had High
Altitude Sickness, his oxygen level had dropped to 69% and he had a headache
and dizziness. There were some anxious moments. Fortunately, Akshay was
carrying an oxygen cylinder and administered some to him, along with Diamox.
Some of us had been taking Diamox from the beginning, some others didn’t. But
we were all ok, and soon Mihir was also in fine mettle.
Back to Sangla (8000 ft)
The next day was the last day of the trek, and so we took
some fun pictures in our Rupin Pass T-shirts before starting. Bindu was given
the “Spirit of the Trek” badge for leading the trek at a steady pace, and also
for her ready help to anyone and very serious trash picking. Everyone
congratulated 
her
enthusiastically! We were given fridge magnets of the Rupin falls. We had 5-6
hours of descent in dusty terrain to Sangla. My knees were really sore by the
time we reached. We crossed the river and then had to go up again to reach the
road. We had lunch, said our goodbyes, and started back for Shimla. Here we
took our first bath in 7 days. Funnily, we didn’t really feel dirty etc there –
mountain air I guess. It was Abhishek and Rachna’s first marriage anniversary,
we celebrated it at the Chandigarh airport with a small cake cutting. What a way
to bring up your first anniversary!!!
Bindu
recovered from the trek very quickly, but I took 2 days of rest to get into
some normalcy. I need to build my stamina, will start some yoga, and stamina
exercises. There was no connectivity on the trek, and what a boon that was. The
moment we reached Sangla, everyone was on their phones and conversation
completely stopped. We need regular detox from phones/devices. Same with
traffic – until Sangla it was so quiet, suddenly all the harsh sounds came back
with a fury. We really enjoyed our trek with IH, don’t need to look elsewhere
next time. Akshay was a wonderful trek guide, and had the right balance of fun
and discipline, even with the older folks. He and the other guides were very
encouraging, and kept us together and safe during the trek. And our group was
so good, we hardly had any arguments, everyone was helping each other and
sharing. Will remember that for a long time. Until the next trek then…..
Link to the handwritten trip diary:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1mjtjGua3YVWaeV40M40u-jqj1hN5GMfP/view?usp=sharing
Link to the pictures
https://photos.app.goo.gl/PDiHtB8jhrWt7fGq7
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