Lambri Pass - Part 2

The next day’s destination was “Australian thach”. The name “Australian” because a bunch of trekkers from Australia were the first ones to camp here. It was a steep climb from the “Budhi Nagin Temple” through a mix of oak and rhododendron forest. We climbed up to  “Nochi Top” and then there was a very steep descent to be negotiated. Ved was contemplating whether we should fix rope here to get down. But there was enough soft snow along the slope and the chances of slipping were less. So we decided to descend without any rope.  The descent was around 200 to 300 mts  and we took quite sometime to go down. The snow was ankle deep mostly, however at some places it was knee deep. We were very watchful and with the help of our great support staff we didn’t have much trouble negotiating the descent.

We had a nice lunch at a beautiful meadow just after the descent and then started for the camp. There was lot of distance to be covered today. It was a walk mostly along a ridge on one small mountain to another one. This being the winter, most of the ridge line was covered with snow and we had to do a lot of the snow plodding. The weather had started to turn sour and we could see that it had started to snow on the surrounding mountains. 

Most of the walk was on ridge before we encountered a large snow field with knee deep snow. As always on a long day, the last mile is always a challenge as we ambled along in the snow. It was a long day before we reached “Australian Thatch”. This was basically a “gaddi” camp which was deserted in the winter. As we settled down in the camp, it started to snow a little and all of us decided to huddle in the tents whiling away the late afternoon playing cards. Some hot maggi and tea was enough to give us some required warmth and lift up our spirits.

Since the weather had really turned bad in the late evening, Ved told us that we will need  to take a call in the morning if we were to climb up to the Lambri pass or we would directly go to a nearby village.  Luckily for us, the weather cleared up in the morning and we decided to go attempt the pass. As we climbed up from our camp, we could see the small pass. The trail to the top of the pass was through brown meadows and over a well-marked trail. To our right was the Tirthan valley and we got a panoramic view of mountains around the Great Himalayan National Park. 

The sky was overcast but the weather was holding up. As we reached the top, we realized that it was extremely windy and cold. But we were finally there after about couple of hours of climbing. 

We spent some time at the pass clicking pictures. Few of us broke out into an impromptu dance which seemed to be a cross between “Garba” and “Bhangra”. But this made the time spent on the pass memorable. 

Getting down the pass is almost always as challenging as climbing up and descent from Lambri pass did not disappoint us in this challenge. It was very tricky and sometimes a tad difficult descending down. The whole of the descent, which would have been a boulder field in summer, was covered in deep snow. Mostly the snow was waist deep, however some places it was chest deep. All of us were getting down being very watchful. To add to it, all of us slipped and fell in the snow multiple times and this was causing the hands to go numb. None of us were wearing gaiters and all the snow had gotten into the shoes and even the feet were numb from the cold. However at some places, where it looked possible,  we did have fun glissading down. It took good amount of time to reach to the tree line and then it was an easy walk down in oak forest. After a final walk in the woods, we reached another beautiful Himalayan village called “Jamala”. The road head was a little ahead where a vehicle was waiting for us. 

As I started to leave the village behind, suddenly it struck me that my Himalayan vacation was over and it was now time to head back to civilization. And so the visit for Sandeep and me to another beautiful Himalayan region ended with the company of our wonderful friends Brijesh, Avinesh, Dilip and Deepti. Winter treks are always so much fun if one is ready to bear the cold and the company of the amazing people make the trip even more memorable. There were a few stretches where it was tricky to negotiate the terrain but the company of friends and an awesome team of people keeps the spirits high and the in-hand tasks easy.  I would specially like to mention and congratulate my friend Deepti. This was probably one of the first trek for her and the grit and determination that she showed during the trek, makes me so much proud of her.

For me a Himalayan vacation is all about majestic mountain views, clear night skies awash with stars, walks in the woods listening to the birds and insects, the warmth of my tent and my sleeping bag, small pleasures eating simple food and the feeling of humility and realization that I occupy but a tiny space in all of His creations. Till next time, I will live with the memories of this wonderful trek.

More photos of the trek here - Lambri Pass Trek Photos