Bali Pass Trek Blog, Part 1 – Read Here
Day 4: Rainbasera to Ruinsara Tal – Trek
After cleansing our face with the chilled river water, we had our breakfast and got ready for the trek. The local guide already told us that today’s trek is going to be a little tough and steep so we all were prepared.
We continued on the same trail and began walking on the left side of the river. The first half an hour of the trek was almost flat, after that it became uphill. We crossed a few waterfalls which made us partial drenched and negotiated some tricky patches too. Today, there was no lunch break so we didn’t take a longer break. We just took 2 breaks in between and walked continuously. The final 300 meters to our campsite was steep but once we reached there, everyone was mesmerized. There was a vast lake in front of us and a huge valley on the right side.
There were 2 wooden huts available so we didn’t have to pitch our camps there. We decided to sleep inside those huts. After relaxing and admiring the views, we had our lunch and then we went for a walk along the lake. Initially, we decided to take the complete round but the lake was too big so we dropped the plan and returned back. Later in the evening, we had a small debate over politics and education in India between all the trekkers followed by Antakshari. The night was cold but thanks to the huts as it was warmer comparative to tents.
Day 5: Ruinsara Tal to Odari – Trek
Woke up to a fresh and sunny morning. After a healthy and yummy breakfast, we packed up our belongings and began the trek. Today’s trek was important as we were about to reach the altitude more than 4,000 m. First, we descend the complete mountain down to the river, crossed a wooden bridge and then trekked uphill through a steep zig-zag route. After reaching the top of that mountain, a meadow was there with some tiny water streams. We walked for further 2 km on that meadow and reached the campsite, Odari. Yes, the name of the campsite was Odari and the meaning of it is Cave. Vegetation almost ended as we were already above the tree line.
As per the legend told by one of the locals- Bali (a character in Ramayana) had a fight with Lord Hanuman and he hid there in this cave and then crossed the pass to get the blessings of Goddess Yamuna. This is why the trek is called Bali Pass.
We reached the campsite by around 2 pm and had our lunch. After some time, we went for an acclimatization walk followed by a session of knots, rope up and self-arrest techniques given by our trek leader, Rahul. We also did a small bonfire session in the late evening and played Antakshari. The night was really cold. We slept early so that we could witness the early morning views of Swargarohini massif.
Day 6: Odari to Base camp – Trek
We woke up at around 5:30 am and experience the crystal clear view of snowcapped Swargarohini. It was a mesmerizing moment for all of us. We were lucky as the weather was lucid and Swargarohini peak was looking amazing. We then had our breakfast and began the trek towards base camp. It was the toughest day for me in terms of trekking. We continued our climb through that meadow and soon meadow ended and moraine started.
The base camp was 3 km from there but the stretch was too difficult. We had to walk on a narrow ridge which had an inclination of around 60-70 degrees and the trail was full of scree. The scree made the climb much difficult. Adding to this, the ridge had glaciers on both the sides having a downfall of around 100 feet which made the trek scary too. I was stopping after every 5 minutes and taking rest. The trek leader told me to count every step and take rest after every 50 steps. He also played motivational songs to give me a boost. Somehow, I completed the trek and reached the campsite.
We had our lunch and everyone went inside their tents to take some rest. The campsite was situated at an altitude of around 4600 meters. After half an hour, the weather turned bad and snowfall started. Another bad thing was that I was having a headache and it was the headache of AMS (Acute Mountain Sickness). When I told the trek leader, he instructed me to go out, drink a lot of water and walk. I did exactly the same and the headache was gone in an hour.
Now I was feeling much better and confident for the next day climb. We had dinner by 7 and did all the packing as we had to leave early in the morning. The night was the coldest one as the mercury dipped to -14 degree celsius by midnight. To tackle the same, I went inside the kitchen tent and slept with the cook and staff. There were a total of 14 members who slept in that kitchen tent and the tent was quite warm as compared to our living tents. Thanks to the cook who allowed us to sleep there.
Bali Pass Trek Blog – Part 3 – Read Here
