Photo Essay a trip to Himachal Day 3— Tosh- Kheerganga Trek

Supreet
Supreet
Aug 22, 2017 · 6 min read

Friday 19th May 2017

I had to check the date in calendar, have totally lost the sense of date or time here in mountains. After spending a relaxing day at Tosh soaking in the beauty of the white mountains & deep green valleys, the morning is as magical. The rising sun is already showering its rays on the peaks which are shimmering as gold & silver. Such a beautiful view. What else could be a better way to start your day?

Met amazing locals & heard their stories for hours. Suneel here is brought & bought up in Tosh, he tells me that about 5 years ago there were no roads to reach this remote village & now it’s flocked by tourists in peak seasons

Going to have a quick breakfast & will head down to the valley, to the dam & then will take a trek to Kheerganga today. It’s about 5 hours of trek (as i was told) & I’m planning to start early so I can reach there on time before the afternoon rains. Going further up & remote :)

lovely & cheesy breakfast early in the mountains

I finally left the room at 6:30 so I could have an early start. Climbing down the village of tosh whistling to some old Bollywood songs.

Tosh from the way up
the small roads are all you have to go up & down these villages. I stayed at Energy Cafe which is at the top most part of the pic on the right above.
The view from the room was mesmerising

By the time I climbed down to the small village called Barshiyani, I was told that the bridge connecting to the other part of the river had been broken down by the officials. They are creating a dam there & it will soon be submerged.

Narrow bridge on gushing Parvati river. Had to take this route because the main bridge was taken down for Dam construction.
Parvati river. The current was no mesmerising it kind of pulls you towards itself. I couldn’t gaze it for long started feeling a bit hypnotized :D

I was told I had to climb the hill on a narrow, muddy trek to the river where another bridge is being put in a place. A bit reluctant, I took the road. It was a steep curvy road down to the river. A few mules going down the road grazing the grass, blocking my way. I somehow passed them & went through the bridge to the other side of the river, start of Kheerganga trek.

small things like smoke coming out from the hut makes you imagine vivid stories. I was wondering who would be living there, what would they do, how easy difficult for them would it be to meet the 2 ends everyday.

Because the bridge is new, the road following it, is also less traveled. I had a hard time finding my way to the original trek.

By this time it was already 8 so I had already done almost 1.5 hours of my 5 hour trek to Kheerganga. A moment of happiness & accomplishment. Little did I know that my 5 hour journey was going to take 6+ hours. The Kheerganga pass is extremely difficult. If you are a first time mountaineer you will find it difficult. Steep slopes, slippery path & rain water from uphill streams following down. With river Parvathy glezzing below us in its full blossom. The trek is difficult but it offers some magnificent views.

On my way I passed through a little village hidden from outside world within the mountains. Colourful doors, flashy varandas.

how would you feel if you have a view from every room of your home :)

After a tedious journey of about 3 hours I passed a pulsating river Parvaty. The current was so high it was intimidating. Having a hipnotic effect. This pass is called Rudra Nag.

Further down the trek I met Kapil & Sandeep, whom I met yesterday during my trekking of tosh. We climbed the rest of the path up together. This was one part of my trip where I actually was happy that my family didn’t accompanied me. After taking 100s of breaks, we finally reached Kheerganga & to be honest it was not something I had expected, not at least in the first glance. This feeling didn’t last long. We bargained for the tents. What started at 1200 per tent was finalised at 600.

Kheerganga is a camping area with Himalayan mountains covering it from all 4 corners. The view is breathtaking & the experience of living in the tent with Snowy peaks in front of you, a book in your hands & a cup of hot coffee; there is absolutely no reason not to fall in love with this.
the magic of black & white. Mountains is where I’d want to spend my rest of the life.

Having the tent sorted, the next thing we did was to jump in the hot water pool. Yep, you read that right. A natural hot water pool amidst Himalayas. One dip & all of our tiredness was gone in a puff. It was simply an experience I can not define well in words. Hot water sprint & a view of icy cold Himalayas. A priceless experience. We were in the pool only for a while before I started feeling famished. Back at our cafe, the taste of humble dal rice had never been this beautiful before. Not sure if this is the cooks or the mountains. It’s 7 pm in the evening sitting in front of the mighty mountains, feeling so small. The darkness is yet to loom & take its righteous place all over them. I hear someone playing guitar nearby. I think I’ll borrow the guitar for Kapil to play some Bollywood songs later in the evening. Another lazy evening being spent adoring the beauty of the view & reading more stories. The mist has won once again.

that’s where I stayed :)
A hot water kund amidst snowy mountains the only word to explain the feeling is Bliss
A magical view of Kheerganga Mountains

Time for me to grab my book, open the zipper of the tent to face the mountains & enjoy reading with a hot cup of coffee. Tomorrow, I may stay at kheer ganga or trek down, no plans & nothing is decided yet. When was the last time I did something without planing, this choice of staying back or moving along is freedom. This thought brought a smile to me. See ya later :)

)

Supreet

Written by

Supreet

Developer at heart & Director by profession. Building @TaritasSoftware one step at a time :)

Welcome to a place where words matter. On Medium, smart voices and original ideas take center stage - with no ads in sight. Watch
Follow all the topics you care about, and we’ll deliver the best stories for you to your homepage and inbox. Explore
Get unlimited access to the best stories on Medium — and support writers while you’re at it. Just $5/month. Upgrade