Uttartakhand || October – 2023
“Some mountains only require a good pair of shoes. Others require an entire team to conquer. Knowing which is which, is the key to success.”– We Dream of Travel
Through the forest, crossing wooden bridges into bugyal, then by the river, to rocky moraine area, ending up with a glacier patch which leads us to the final incline of Bali Pass. This trek has had a wholesome of different views, experience and terrains. Each and every day brings you to a new view of the Himalayas welcoming you with the brightens of morning in front of you. Although I would like to clear that this is not a beginners trek but a moderate to difficult level trek. So make sure you have the required level of experience and fitness before opting for this trek !
The Bali Pass Trek is a trek package of 8 days and 7 nights, it starts of from Sankari and ends at Jaan ki Chatti. Tent stay starts off from the 2nd day after we reach Seema and the last stay is at Lower Dhamni. Over the period of these 8 days we start off from 6,400ft (1,950m) and gain the maximum elevation of 16,200ft (4,950m), and we pitched our tent at 15,100ft the day prior to our Pass crossing day.
I personally did it in the start of October but I would recommend that if one is looking forward to witness snow and ice patch on the train then please plan your trek before October. As we could hardly see snow or ice patches on our train while we were on it.
So the trek starts off with our reporting at Dehradun railway station, from there we are off for a 7-8 hours of long road journey on the mountains, to reach Sankri. From Sankri on Day 2 we again need to cover some distance by a vehicle and then we are dropped off at the last village where road access is there which was Osaka. Although this construction of vehicular road till Osaka made the trek a little easier for our first day. On our way we passed local temples, small vegetative field owned by the locals and some tea-shops, wherein the trekkers enjoyed “Buransh juice” which is made from a local flower. On the first day the weather was quiet pleasant, with some patch of little drizzle at the very later segment of the trek reaching our camp site Seema today.
Next day a 10km trek route was planned for us. Today’s trek was quiet an easy one, we walked along with Supin river and surrounded by beauty of nature. On our way we came across some huge honey bee hives(just like the ones in Jungle Book), caution-to not disturb the hives at any point of time as your safety is in your hands only. Further on we also came across many heard of goats passing us, which brought smiles to everyone’s face. After reaching our campsite we had to establish our tents on our own, which was quiet fun too. And today our stop was at Devsu bugyal.
The 4th day was our trek towards Ruinsara Tal, for which we had to cover 8-10 kms all along the Supin River. Along the way we crossed and witnessed some beautiful waterfalls. The journey was very scenic today. The trek came to an end after we crossed Supin river where the water temperature was less than 5 degree, and then pitched the tent on the other side. The temperature started to drop by from today onwards, where we reached at the height of 11,800fts.
New day ,new start, and new destination to reach . Today we were heading to Odari, it was rather a short day today where we only covered around 4kms . Today was the day were we leave the treeline area and enter the rocky and moraine terrain . We attained a height of 13,100fts and could see the magnificent Swargarohini range from the campsite.
As per the natives it is said that Bali, brother of Sugreev spent a night here at Odari.
Cause we had time in the afternoon so it called for an Antakshari round, these little-little fun moments we had together added gems to this memorable trek.
Trek from Odari to Bali Col Camp is although just a patch of 5kms, but we gain the altitude of about 2,000 fts and reach at 15,100fts in those 5 kms only. So the trek route for today is pretty tough because of the steep ascents. From our campsite at Odari we could see our first steep ascent and we thought that it might be the only one, but once we climbed it the trek leader said this was the shortest one and showed us the real elevations. These patch of Ridge walk was called Narma Kandi. . completing today’s trek was like competing Bali pass itself , the feeling of accomplishment we had after crossing all the tough accents and finally able to see our campsite at Bali col camp was unexplainable, we hugged ,congratulated and celebrated our achievement for today. Honestly this day was the most crucial day for each and every trekker as today firstly we had the most difficult terrain to cross , including the most elevation to gain in a day, and on top that this was the highest point where we camp . So mentally and physically staying healthy at this campsite and height was a major task for each one of us . We saw people not being able to keep up , although having strong physique but their eternal health wasn’t supporting them at that moment . So make sure you take the required steps and stay in shape till this campsite. This was our last day were we would have elevation gains, as from the coming days we were supposed to drop down and reach back to our base camp at Jaan ki Chatti. The fact that some treks have their summit at 15,00 fts and we were to camp at the same height is something all trek trekkers need to keep in mind, and not take it casually.
We had to march at 4am the next morning as we needed to reach Bali Pass before sunrise. On the route to Bali Pass you might find ice or snow patches. Even at Bali Col camp you might find snow if you are lucky enough and plan the trek accordingly!
The satisfaction we felt as soon as we summited our Bali Pass was unexplainable . The view was on another level, Swargarohini on one side, rang of other most beautiful peaks on the other and down was a terrifying ditch or chasm. After taking few photographs we had to trek down now, descending about 8kms today and reaching 11,00 fts directly (a 4,000fts drop) was No Joke. I would really like to say it out to the trekking community that please be rather more careful while descending, because major injuries happen then only, as we get all exhausted and tired with load on our shoulder in makes us misjudge our steps and one mistake can cost us much heftily. Every one reached Lower Dhamni our next campsite on our own pace, with foot pain, blisters and heavy body aches. But finally reaching our last campsite made us forget everything and rejoices our victory of completing the Bali Pass Trek. We celebrated with “samosa” with afternoon tea and “gol gappe” rather than soups in the evening snack time, finishing off with certificate distribution and “gulab jamun” with paneer in the dinner.
So the last day is an Optional day, not an option between trekking back or getting vehicle service, but rather if you want to visit the Yamunotri dham on our way down or directly reaching Jan ki chatti. We personally had a voting system wherein 2 groups were divided and trek guides took charge accordingly, upto 95% went to visit the Yamunotri Mandir, where you can also enjoy the hot bath followed by Darshan.
Although everyone reaches Jaan Ki Chatti together and sit back in our mini buses saying goodbye to Bali Pass trek and coming to an end to this trek! Followed by moving on to Dehradun ( this might be an optional service by the trekking company that you chose ).
For me this trek was very different from the other ones I did before, as Uttrakhand mountain are rather very different from Kashmirs valley type mountain range. I would suggest you all to make sure you add this trek in your bucket list ,as this trek takes you through mouth dropping views plus very vivid terrain and amazing beauty of nature. You can spot Swaragini, Black peak, Bandar Punchh and many more such magnificent ranges on this trek.
