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About Rupin Pass Trek: There are several passes which connect the Baspa valley of Kinnaur to the Garhwal in south. Once these passes were used by shepherds and traders rather than using the circuitous Hindustan-Tibet road in present days. The route offers wide range of landscape, altitude and gradient. The trail passes through virgin Oak and Fir forests , interior villages in the river valleys at lower elevation while beautiful meadows ( referred as Thach in local language), alpine wild flowers, waterfalls, steep ice fields on higher altitude. From the snowbound pass there are spectacular views of Kinnaur Kailash range and other peaks of Charang Ghati ridge.
Itinerary:
Day 1: Pickup in the morning from Dehradun and reach Dhaula (~ 1675m, 5500 ft) . Distance around 200 Km and can take 9/10 hours. The road is one of the most scenic in Garhwal region while we go up to the classy hill station of Mussorie at the beginning, turquoise Yamuna river in the middle and conifer forests and meandering Tons river at the later half of the journey. The major points are Mussorie, Yamuna Pool, Damta, Nawgaon, Purola, Mori and Netwar. Dhaula is a small village with handful of homes and few home-stays for shelter. Night stay in lodge.
Day 2: Our trek starts today. We will follow he Rupin river valley and take the trail from Dhaula. The trail is moderately steep at the beginning while going up to the valley . After a Kilometer the slope becomes gentle and Rupin runs beneath in the gorge. There are several apple orchards beside the trail. At stretches the walk is almost on the level ground. Finally we enter the village of Sewa (~ 2000m, 6550ft). There is a wooden crafted temple in the village which depicts the influence of Kinnauri culture. The Distance is 10 Km and may take 5 hours. Camp for the night.
Day 3: We start in the morning while crossing the village and accompanying firming fields. After a while enter in the thick damp forest and descend gently to the river bed. After crossing a side stream we enter in the boundary of Himachal Pradesh. Climbing from the river bank we cut across the road at Gosangu (~ 1950m, 6400ft). From here the climb is steep and long. At times the trail is narrow and rocky cliff in one and the river down far below on the other side. Climbing at a moderate pace for 3 hours , we reach Jiskun (~2300m, 7550ft). After crossing the village we descend in the forest. Another climb for an hour takes us to the last village of the trail, Jhaka (~2650m, 8700ft). Distance is 12 Km and takes around 6 hours. Tent over night.
Day 4: Starting from the campsite at Jhaka, we gradually climb and cross the upper part of the village and enter in to the magnificent conifer forest. Gently we loss altitude while walking through the forest and after an hour we cross the snow bridge on the Rupin river to go to the trail on the other side. We continue our trek on the boulder covered stretch to reach Buras Kandi. This trail is often used by the shepherds for grazing in summer and monsoon. A steep ascent and followed by walking along the river bed takes us to our today’s camp named Suruwas Thach (~ 3400m, 11150ft). Distance is 7 Km and may take 5 hours. Camp for the night.
Day 5: Today we walk on almost level ground and amidst the meadows while we can see numerous cascading waterfalls feeding Rupin. The trail goes through the lash green pastures to our campsite at Dhanderas Thach/Lower waterfall camp (~3550m, 11650ft). Distance is 6 Km and takes up to 4 hours. Camp over night.
Day 6: A small day’s trek will give us a much needed recuperation on high altitude before crossing the pass. Trail nature differs based upon the time you choose to trek. In the beginning of summer the trail is filled up with ice fields and semi hard frosty snow while in the later half after the monsoon there is hardly any snow. From the base of the water fall the ascend is steep till we reach the top called Rati Pheri/Upper waterfall camp (~4000m, 13100ft). Distance is 3 Km and may take 2/3 hours. Camp for the night.
Day 7: We start early in the morning to cross the pass. From Rati Pheri the climb is steep and demanding. After an hour or so we reach the vast stretch of snow field and locate the pass above on the ridge line. We climb up slowly as the oxygen level depletes. The exhilarating climb ends at Rupin Pass (~4650m, 15200ft) and the view is mesmerising. This eternally snowbound pass puts up the snowy mountains of Kinnaur Kailash range on the northern side while the Rupin valley in the south. Spending around half an hour we startthe steep descend towards Sangla side. Again depending on the season the level of snow will be determined. After crossing the snowline the descent is sharper till we reach Ronti Gad at the starting of the green meadows (~4100m, 13450ft). Distance is 12 Km and may take 10/11 hours. We camp for the night.
Day 8: Today is our last day of trek and we start in the morning to descend to the Baspa river valley. The height loss is rapid till we reach Sangla Kanda. This is a meadow and has a small lake.There are small settlements of the villagers for summer and monsoon season. Number of trails cutting across the meadow but eventually leading to the main trail. We go down further to enter in to the tree line again and finally to the village of Sangla. There is a bridge to cross the Baspa river and climb up to the motor able road at Sangla (~2700m, 8850ft). Trek ends here. Distance is 12 Km and may take 6 hours.
Note: The trekkers can take the bus from Sangla to Shimla in the evening at 5 pm or may get in to any of the hotel/lodge that the town has. There is also a bus in the morning to Shimla.
P.S.: The distances and altitudes are indicative and may not be exact.
