Lamkhaga Pass Expedition 2019: A challenging 8-day cross-over trek from Kinnaur to Gangotri
By: Arjun Paul
Tags: Trekking, Uttarakhand, Kinnaur, Mountaineering, Snow

A sunny Saturday in March 2019, Mumbai: Ever since my last high altitude trek in Jan’17 at Ladakh, I have been out of action due to other international trips and adventure sports. However, I have been researching and enquiring online for more than an year now in order to find the next best mountaineering expedition. I had a few filtering criteria in mind, including the remoteness, trek traffic, difficulty, variety in everyday landscape, mountain peak vs pass, Himalayan range, dates etc. Ultimately I decided on Lamkhaga Pass expedition. Though difficulty is a relative term, this is considered the most difficult mountain pass to conquer in Kinnaur-Garhwal Himalayas at an altitude of 17,300 ft and 90kms long. It offers diverse landscape that includes snowfield meadows, boulder strewn terrain, overhanging glaciers, pine forests, lush green valley and two rivers systems. It is now regarded as the classic cross-over trek from Himachal Pradesh to Uttarakhand which was first crossed by Marco Pallis in 1933.

Honestly, I was a little scared and under-confident as it was supposed to be my first mountain pass and the highest that I ever climbed before. The 13,000 ft trek in Manali during 2016 was not even a giving a close competition. So after booking the trek in March, I initiated my 3 month fitness regime to gain some much needed confidence and stamina.

Map source: Internet

Overview

Region: Kinnaur-Garhwal Himalayas of Uttarakhand and Himachal

Grade: Tough to Challenging

Maximum altitude: 5284 metres / 17320 ft

Distance: ~90 kms

Season: May to June

Cost: INR 30,000

Restrictions: Inner line permits required from Indo-Tibetan Border Police

Our initial planned Itinerary:

Day #0 <23rd May> Shimla to Chitkul (3435 m) — By Bus and jeep

<23rd May> Shimla to Chitkul (3435 m) — By Bus and jeep Day #1 <24th May> Chitkul (3435 m) to Nagasthi — Rani Kanda (3700 m) 10 km 5 hr trek

<24th May> Chitkul (3435 m) to Nagasthi — Rani Kanda (3700 m) 10 km 5 hr trek Day #2 <25th May> Rani Kanda to Dumti (4050 m) — 9 km/5 hr trek

<25th May> Rani Kanda to Dumti (4050 m) — 9 km/5 hr trek Day #3 <26th May> Dumti to Gundar (4450 m) — 15km/7 hr trek

<26th May> Dumti to Gundar (4450 m) — 15km/7 hr trek Day #4 <27th May> Gundar (4400 m) to Lamkhaga Pass Base Camp 1(4400 m)

<27th May> Gundar (4400 m) to Lamkhaga Pass Base Camp 1(4400 m) Day #5 <28th May> Lamkhaga Pass BC 1 to Base Camp 2 (Kinnaur)

<28th May> Lamkhaga Pass BC 1 to Base Camp 2 (Kinnaur) Day #6 <29th May>Lamkhaga Pass BC 2 (Kinnaur) to Lamkhaga Pass BC 3 (14422 ft at Gangotri Side) via Lamkhaga Pass (5282 m/17320 ft) — 11 km/6–7 hr trek

<29th May>Lamkhaga Pass BC 2 (Kinnaur) to Lamkhaga Pass BC 3 (14422 ft at Gangotri Side) via Lamkhaga Pass (5282 m/17320 ft) — 11 km/6–7 hr trek Day #7 <May 30th> Lamkhaga Pass Base Camp 3 to Kyarkoti (3820 m) — 16 km/7–8 hr trek

<May 30th> Lamkhaga Pass Base Camp 3 to Kyarkoti (3820 m) — 16 km/7–8 hr trek Day #8 <May 31st> Kyarkoti to Harsil (2400 m) — 14 km/6–7 hr trek

As it actually happened: Plans are made to be replanned

Day 0 & 1: Mumbai to Rani Kanda in 24 hrs

The plan was to reach Shimla from Delhi on my own on 23rd morning (day 0) and the tour organisers will drive everyone from Shimla to Chitkul via Kufri and Narkanda after breakfast. Dinner and overnight stay will be in Chitkul in guest house/ village home stay. And then on Day 1, we start the trek from Chitkul to Rani Kanda. Dinner and overnight stay in tents in Rani Kanda.

Unluckily for me, the first two days of trip didn’t quite go according to the plan! Due to some confusion with the Day 0, I had booked my flights a day late and it meant that not only did I lost my acclimatisation day in Chitkul, but I had to do Mumbai — Delhi — Shimla — Sangla in mere 24 hours on my own in order to begin Day 2 as per schedule. I met Raacho Trekkers in their Sangla office and they drove me to Rani Kanda camp at night where I quickly had the leftover dinner and crashed in my tent.

Shimla to Sangla via the most dangerous roads in the world

Day 2: Rani Kanda to Dumti

Overcast sky and grey clouds welcomed us in the morning as I met the crew and fellow trekmates for the first time in daylight. After a quick breakfast, I got ready to officially start my trek on foot. Today was supposed to be a long and flat walk to get acclimatised to ~4000m altitude with no surprises.

The bad luck of previous 2 days trickled into today too. As to make matters worse, it started raining and snowing heavily on Day 2, and while walking through a landslide prone zone, I heard a faint rumbling noise getting closer. And before I could turn my head to the hill on my left, a falling rock crashed behind my right foot like a small meteorite. Before the dust settled, I heard my trek mates praising my fortunes and shouting at me to run. That sudden momentary jolt of mortality was enough to remove any residual doubts I had of taking this career-break!

The snowfall was so heavy that we couldn’t trek on day 3 and we camped beside the Indo-Tibetan border police (ITBP) garrison for two days. They advised us against crossing this 5400m tall mountain pass in the extreme snowy condition and group unanimously decided to check the conditions on next camp before taking a judgement call. It felt good to be among 7 serious climbers and away from popular trek agencies with their overcrowded routes/groups.

Clicked a few minutes before the rockfall

Sudden heavy snowfall transforming the landscape. A ray of sunshine emerging as the clouds start dispersing

Day 3: Still stuck in Dumti

We spent most of the two days in the kitchen chatting away and the delicious food made by our cook was a real mood-booster. With everything wet and cold outside, the four of us who were sharing the large pink alpine tent (Kamlesh, Nikhil and Franklin) decided to explore the ITBP military outpost and ended up befriending two staff in the medical bunker. We enjoyed lots of perks as there was a big furnace to heat ourselves and wet clothes, a chance to listen to the men’s stories and chunks of chocolates & dry fruits.

Day 3 also brought the first sunny day of the journey and fortunately the sun returned every day since then. The value of a clear sky can seldom be greater as it is in an adventure sport! We spent the morning exploring the nearby temple, bathing in the cold river and doing elaborate photo sessions. After some discussion with ITBP officials, we finally decided to continue our trek from next day as the weather forecast was favourable.

Camp in Dumti Due to heavy snowfall, we spent two days here upon advice of the Indo-Tibetan border police

Sunbathing in the first sunny day of trek beside Baspa river

One of the best clicks during Photo session on Day 3

Day 4: Dumti to Gundar

I still vividly remember this day. It was a long walk along the Baspa river through the vast boulder rich plain surrounded by several unnamed peaks adding to the incredible landscape. Hiking in this quiet painting-like terrain was simply magical and relaxing. We passed through the second ITBP outpost where we ate our lunch and were treated with hot tea by the personnels. After a quick open-sky nap in the sunny afternoon, we headed towards Gundar campsite.

Since we had already lost one day, we walked a bit more and camped at Upper Gundar so that we could cover the route of Day 5 & 6 in one single day. The campsite was the perfect spot to take awesome timelapses during sunset with several clouds, mountain peaks and gushing river, all in one frame. Later in the evening I began experiencing mild headache and tiredness, which I presumed to be because I didn’t sleep well since I departed from Mumbai on a late night flight. The 4-person tent in Dumti also made sound sleeping difficult with all the congestion. So to avoid any further complication of AMS (Acute Mountain Sickness), I took some medication after informing the trek leader. Moreover, I got them to pitch a 1 -person private tent for me that night too.

Everyone should be quiet near a little stream and listen

Following the Fox pug marked trail

For the first 5 days of ascent we trekked alonside Baspa river which is the biggest tributary to Satluj. And during 3 days of descent, we were mesmerized by Jalandhari river which is the major tributary of Ganga. The photo shows the Baspa river originating from the Baspa glacier just 1 hr away from this camp. Being accompanied by rivers on each day of the trek was truly a blessing except for the fact that the sound of it really makes you want to pee

Day 5: Gundar to Lamkhaga Advance Base camp (somewhere between BC 1 & 2)

The Diamox tablet and proper rest worked wonders as I was feeling pumped up to begin our first difficult section of the trek route. The next few hours were were spent ascending towards the advance base camp (at 15,500 ft) alongside Baspa river glacier and surrounded by mighty peaks of India and Tibet.

Today was marked our first tryst with Snow slope/ridge traversing with high exposure to fall. Climbing steep 45 degree+ iced terrain in a zig-zag manner trying to land every step into the shoe-depression made by the person ahead of you was super tense. On top of that I had to slice every foot-mark with my shoe so as to create a firm grip while maintaining my body close to the slope. And if I fail to do any of the above steps, I could either fall/slide-off or ruin the trail for others behind me!

So after around 4–5 hours of sharp scary ascend on ice and boulders, we reached the advance camp on one of the ridges. For the first time in 5 days, we also got the glimpse of Lamkhaga pass peak from far away, nestled between various other high altitude peaks and glacier overhangs. The Kitchen tent was pitched on top of a thin picturesque ridge and our tents were below it in the flat under-slope. Today was also the first night that we had no flowing river close by and hence the crew boiled huge chunks of snow for cooking and drinking. With nothing much to do after dinner, the shutterbugs in us (Kamlesh, Prasun and I) captured some surreal night-photography for 2 hours in the crystal clear chilly night. The moon-lit mountains and glaciers, torch lit tents and millions of stars transported us to another realm. Words won’t do justice to the sights that we witnessed so I wouldn’t even try any more!

Gundar to Lamkhaga pass base camp: Today was the first time I trekked in snow for an entire day and was good dress rehearsal for the D-day which involved 12 hrs of strenuous climb in thick snowfields and glaciers

One of the many knife-edge snow ridges

Portrait mode on!