Jalsu Pass trek diary - June 2016

The Plan

The Jalsu pass route is a well used trek route to cross the Dhauladhar range separating the Kangra and Ravi valleys. Minakshi Chaudhry in her well known "Guide to trekking in Himachal" lists this as an easy trek taking three days.

Binwa project site above Uttarala

My plan was to take a bus from Delhi to Baijnath on the night of 3rd June, visit Uttarala village on the 4th using Baijnath as base to find a guide and start the trek on 5th. I had planned the trek in 3 stages - Baijnath to Pari (8 km), Pari to Yada Goth over Jalsu pass (13 km) and Yada Goat to Laakewali Mata via Surai (10 km) followed by a bus to Holi.

This was to be a lightweight trek as there would be only two of us to carry the load. In terms of equipment, besides my personal clothes, utensils, sleeping bag and mattress, I carried a two man tent, a multi-fuel stove, 1.5 liter pressure cooker and an aluminium pot and frying pan. The list of items with weight is listed at the end of this post. Provisions and fuel would weigh over and above this. The only food items I was carrying was some emergency tail mix and dried vegetables.

4th June: Baijnath - Uttarala - Baijnath

View near Baklud

I reach Baijnath around 10 am and pick a hotel some distance from the bus stand. It is not the ideal choice as there is a half km walk to catch any bus. It is very hot in Baijnath and the walk to the hotel with the loaded backpack is tiring. Back at the bus stand, I find out that  I will get a bus to Uttarala only after a couple of hours. Second mistake of the day - I go back to the hotel and sleep. Finally I am on the 3pm bus to Uttarala. Just short of the village, there is road work in progress and the bus can go no further. I meet a shopkeeper who says he will guide me to the 'colony' where we will be able to find a guide.

It is about 4.30pm by the time we reach the colony of the Binwa hydro electric project. There are a few shops just inside the entry gate and we head to one of them. I explain my plan to a small audience of shopkeepers and this is then repeated by others to anyone who comes by. In a little while the shopkeepers zero in on a potential guide and contact him.

Raj Kumar

Raj Kumar is a daily wager who operates a machine that is used to lift concrete to higher floors in buildings under construction. He worked as a driver in Delhi but came back because he missed his family. Currently he lives just near the Uttarala colony.  He also has a little land. His ancestors were shepherds and his father worked in a factory in Punjab. The family unfortunately missed out on jobs in the hydro electric project.

We agree on a sum of 3000 Rs as his wage for accompanying me for three days from Baijnath to Holi. (Daily wage of Rs 800 + 600 for bus back). It is past 6 pm and I have missed the last bus back to Baijnath. A shopkeeper with a maruti drops me part of the way after which I walk an hour or so to reach my hotel.

5th June: Baijnath - Uttarala - Khodtru Dhar

Morning view, Khotru Dhar

I take a bus early morning and reach Uttarala. Raj Kumar is waiting for me. We pick up provisions at the Lala's - rice, dal, salt, potatoes, onion and dalia. Raj Kumar manages to get a bottle of Kerosene. We also get eggs from a dhaba and I stop to have breakfast. This is today's first mistake. It is 9.15 by the time we are ready and we have missed the company vehicle that would have given us a free lift to the dam site.

I hand over the tent, cooking equipment and supplies to Raj Kumar to carry while I carry my personal belongings. It takes us 2 hours to walk up to the dam site which falls on the trail to Jalsu. The government built dam is now over 40 years old. We pass by a water source. Raj Kumar convinces me not to fill my bottle as there is plenty of water on the way. This is today's second mistake.

Trail along the Binwa beyond Khotru Dhar

The third mistake follows soon. We follow an unpaved road that circles an enormous hill instead of taking the shortcut going up. This road is what remains of an ambitious but ill fated plan the government had of building a road over the Jalsu pass. Raj Kumar it turns out has been only once before on this route. After following the road for perhaps a km waiting for it to double back we decide to return and find the foot trail. The misadventure costs us at least an extra half hour.

We reach Baklud at 12 and I am parched by now. The water source here has completely dried up. A dhaba normally operates here but because of lack of water, there is no food being cooked. The dhaba owner is kind enough to give us some water from his personal stock.

Cave shelter at Jamad

Further on, we are caught in rain and hail. My rain coat proves quite useless and I am drenched. The trail follows the Binwa river upstream to its source. We reach a place called Khotru Dhar, some distance short of Parai around four. There is a single dukaan. We stop for some tea and the owner turns out to be related to Raj Kumar. It is wet outside and there is no good camping spot nearby. So we decide to sleep in the dukaan that night.

Dinner is rajma chawal and boiled eggs. I cannot sleep that night because of the smoke in the spare room next to the kitchen. The night stay and food costs us Rs 400. Raj Kumar's relative has charged us liberally.

Approaching Jalsu pass

6th June: Khodtru Dhar - Jamad camp (2900 m)

We start at 7 next morning after a breakfast of alu, roti and tea and reach Parai with its three dhabas an hour later. We do not stop. After wading through a stream ( this must be the Binwa) we reach a place my guide calls Kharli right at the base of the mountain where Jalsu is located. It is already 11.30. A steep zig zag climb follows. It is 1 pm when we spot a cave which is a possible site for a tent. There is a water spring nearby. It is too late to attempt Jalsu today - so we decide to call it a day here.

It is a tight squeeze under the cave and it takes a bit of doing to set up the tent. The rest of the day is spent in cooking and resting. There is rain at night and a rat trying to get at our rations and that keeps me awake for the most part.

Jalsu Pass

7th June: Jamad camp (2900m) - Jalsu pass (3500m) - Channi camp

On the way to Yada Goat

We start at 7.30 after a breakfast of dalia and eggs and reach Jalsu top by 9.30. At the top are to be seen sheep and a couple of shepherds. After spending a half hour or so resting and taking in the views, we start our descent. The first obstacle is a frozen stream that has to be crossed extremely carefully. A slip will take one down rapidly. We reach Jalsu ka Paddar - a wide green pasture by 10.30. It is a nice walk from there on up to Yada Goth which we reach by 1 pm.

We stop at a dhaba across from the ramshackle government lodge. The dhaba owner, Bikham Lala, prepares a delicious kadi/rice which serves as our lunch. The view from his place is stupendous. The Lala stays here alone 6 months of the year. Among his other sources of income is money from selling Nag Chattri, a jadi booti. It fetches Rs 1600/kg in the Amritsar market and is bought by thekedars. We enjoy a drink of delicious chach.

Trail to Yada Goat

We resume our trek at 2.30 and after crossing the Channi nallah, reach Channi, a camping site with a single dhaba by 4.30. It is a nice walk from Yada Goat to Channi with expansive views of the valley sloping down to the Ravi. The route used by the public is not maintained by the Forest Department. Instead they have built a road along a distant ridge for exclusive use which they keep in good repair.

We pitch our tent outside the dhaba in Channi. An old couple lives there and caters to the needs of travellers. Lala says he has a "machine" implanted in his chest. The operation was done at the PGI in Chandigarh and cost 1.5 lakhs. (The "machine" is probably a pacemaker) He owns a flock of 100 sheep which his son looks after. They have houses in Surai village on the Ravi side and in Paprola in the Kangra valley. They have apple trees and cows but still operate this dhaba for additional income. Their main customers are the khacchar runners and pilgrims heading for Manimahesh. We have dinner with the couple.

Temple at Yada Goat

A khacchar gang arrives just before we retire and keeps us awake the whole night. We fear that one of the khachars will run over our tiny tent. The five runners - all in all a rough bunch - keep making wild noises and flashing their torches throughout the night to drive away wild animals which are a threat to their khacchars. They pack up and leave at the crack of dawn.

8th June: Channi camp - Lake Mata Wali - Holi

We cook a khichidi of rice and dal in under 10 mins, eat and set off on a narrow path hewn in the rock face. On the way, Raj Kumar takes a detour to get some lovely chach from a villager. People here don't charge for chach.They have plenty of milk because of the cattle and chach that cannot be used soon is thrown away.

A clump of pine before Channi

As we progress down the valley, the Manimahesh range is visible framed by hills on either side of the valley. To our left are the Dhauladhars standing across Palampur. Far in the distance, the village of Bajol located across the Ravi can be seen.

The first village we pass by is Surai. The village has a guest house and is located at some height above the main trail to Laake Wali temple. A trail to Bara Bhangal takes of from Surai and leads to a point where the Ravi is crossed on a rope trolley.

Approaching the temple, we are in for a steep descent to cross the Channi nallah over a narrow bridge followed by a steep ascent. The bus timings for Holi from Laake Wali are 9am, 11am and 3 pm. There is plenty of time for the next bus. We order lunch at the dhaba which gets cooked and eaten over the next hour.

The Lala, Channi

The temple overlooks on one side the nallah which we just crossed; on the other side one gets a sheer view of a construction site of the Bajoli - Holi hydro electric project on the Ravi river being executed by GMR. GMR also seems to be carrying out work on a building right under the temple complex - project trucks ferry building material and workmen.







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A video of the protest by women of Holi against this GMR project




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Around 2, I bid adieu to Raj Kumar and he sets out walking the trail we have come on. In a short while I spot him heading upwards across from the river. I learn later that he reached Yada Goat that night. The next day he took the ridge to the right of Binwa river and reached Tar village - the place of his in laws - by nightfall.

Laake Wali Mata Temple from across the Channi Nala

I catch the 3 pm bus and get off at the bridge over a stream flowing into the Ravi at Holi. The PWD has a large guest house just over the bridge where I find accommodation for the night.

Himalayan Trek 15, June 2016

Postscript 1. If you would like to hire Raj Kumar as a guide please contact him at 9805686205. 2. List of items I carried with weight in gms. This excludes weight of provisions and fuel. ITEM                                                                                                                    Weight
Rucksack (60l)	1715
Rain cover	165
Tent (2man)	2250
Sleeping bag	1560
mat	150
trekking pole	250
Rain jacket (white), plastic bags	150
Zip Jacket - Down	900
Woolen monkey cap	90
Cotton top, bottom ( Pant 285, Kurta(145), T shirt (115))	545
slippers	240
Track Pant/ T shirt, trunks, socks, (cap, shoes, knee caps) - wearing	0
Extra Socks ( 3 pairs, 165), shorts ( 2 pairs, 205)	370
Fleece pullover	310
Towel	80
Daypack	170
Camera	280
Diary/Pen/reservation slips/money/cards/mobile/torch/route maps/provision list	290
Med Kit	100
Toilet kit        -Tooth brush (35), paste (35), hand/paper soap(30), sunscreen (40), empty bottle, toilet paper	150
Spares/repair kit-    spare batteries (camera (40), torch(40)), charger (100), old newspaper, needle, thread, rubber band, adhesive, safety pin	190
Burner, pump, oil container, carabiner, rags, windscreen, match box	680
Cooking pot with cover ( tea, store dal,veg)	290
Ladle, knife, spoon, egg holders, scrubber	120
Pressure cooker	910
Personal Utensils-  Spoon,fork, tumbler,plate                                                               130
Water bottle, carabiner	190
Food ( dried vegetables), ziploc bags	160
Emergency Trail mix	150
TOTAL WEIGHT =	12530