Hampta Pass

10th Oct- 14th Oct, 2010

Photographs & Comments :

Organized by: www.Indiahikes.in Prashanth UC (ucp@thoughtrain.com)
 Team Hampta

Doctors Route Guide Trek Leader

Jeweler & Philatelist
Mayukh & Partha Shyam Sharma Rakesh
Abraham

Web Specialist Software Developer Stem Cell Researcher Sales Trainer Software Specialist
Vandana Lakshmi Megha Prashanth UC Prashanth K
Manali- Hamta Pass- Chandertal

Chandertal
4300M
2.45 Pm, 2660M, Near Hamta Village, road breaks, we begin our
walk
Slimness checked ! Passed between barbed wires !
Sign of times@ SethanVillage (2830M) : Roti Kapda aur TV
 PanduRopa Village :
Pandava’s cultivated this paddy field, ever since it has not stopped
 A tree
The world a blur to most
Most see a tree as a tree
The day you actually see 
When the world is not the same world
A tree is no longer a tree
A tree is something that bears fruit
A tree is something beautiful
Even in the harshest winds
A tree stands its ground
A tree with leaves of majestic green
No longer just a tree 
But a tree that is a work of art
That is the day you see the world 
That is the day the world comes into focus
That is the day you truly see the tree 

- Laura Green
Trees that give shelter Nature that gives streams to wet our feet
Man cuts it down for development Using it for bridges to keep our feet dry
End of Day 1 : Jawadi ( 2945 M) As sun sets- kitchen gets active
Roti- Subji-Dal-Chaaval diet begins
Day 2: Sign of things to come- Green to Barren
9.00 Am- Destination Bhalu-ka-Ghera Via Chika
Musafir Hoon Yaaron Na Ghar Hai Na Tikhana
Mujhe Chalte Jaana Hai Bas Chalte Jaana
 Leaves are floating softly down; Some are red and some are brown.
The wind goes swish through the air; look back, there are no leaves there.
Getting creative in creativity
Huge boulders
and rock
formations;
Some with
distinct shapes
and features,
Others take
imagination.
Just 30 Min in scorching morning sun, our bottles are out
Sight ahead or sight behind
its
Nature’s canvas
Never has it won
any award; nor has it
bothered !
 “Sapno mein trekking; Naino pe trekker; trekking ka mazaa aagaya !
hoo trekking ka mazaa aagaya !” – HIMMATWALA song adapted to HIMALAYWALI
10.15 Am: Dr Partha, tries Dhanuraasan for his tired legs
We always take pride in going up while water always flows down, why I wonder
For photography lovers view at 18mm and view at 135mm; either way a sight to behold
Who crosses first ? Goats won ! At Chika 10.30 Am
Little drifting clouds can turn into storms had warned the book “Into thin Air”; So did our guides
Umbrella- Owners envy; fellow trekkers pride
We always started together; stayed together ; till our breathing ability forced us apart
Any shadow was natures invitation to rest
From Green to barren- Notice how big and dark clouds have become
Very fishy ! For there are no fishes here !
Sun may be scorching ; cross here is bone chilling !
Mules, horses and porters catch up with us, they always start an hour late,
folding up the camp.. but an hour too early to reach destination
 1.15Pm- Lunch: 1 Boiled Potato/egg and 2 Pancakes
that’s what we need… ever finished lunch like that at home ?!
“Hurry up guys ! We need to move fast, baarish aasaktha hai”
- Sharma ji
1.50Pm: 30 min of post lunch walk we halt again for rest !
3.00Pm: Forecast comes true ! First snowfall of the season
Fortunately Mules move fast and tents are almost ready at Bhalu-ka- Dera
3600m: Snow brought cheer and chill
Mules and Horses graze…
 I move little higher to spot a Balu, but found our own people!
“In 1979, in the book The Sinking Ark, the author Norman Myers suggested that human activities were causing about two extinctions a week on the planet.
By the early 1990s he had raised the figure to some six hundred per week. (That’s extinctions of all types—plants, insects, and so on as well as animals.)
Others have put the figure even higher—to well over a thousand a week. A United Nations report of 1995, on the other hand, put the total number of known
extinctions in the last four hundred years at slightly under 500 for animals and slightly over 650 for plants—while allowing that this was “almost certainly an
underestimate,” particularly with regard to tropical species” - A Short History of nearly Everything by Bill Bryson
In absence of a bear I am inspired to write a book titled
“ Man Mountain and the Mule”
Sunset pose and fun activity
 5.44 Pm

11 Min Later

Sun colors
better than
Photoshop for
sure !
 Colors created by Man

The fact is, we don’t know. Don’t have any idea. We don’t know when we started doing many of the things we’ve done.
We don’t know what we are doing right now or how our present actions will affect the future. What we do know is that
there is only one planet to do it on, and only one species of being capable of making a considered difference .
- A Short History of nearly Everything by Bill Bryson
As Venus appears- temperature dips towards Zero
Abby’s “to eat or not to eat” is governed by one singular issue - temperature
of water for washing the plate !
Dep:9.00Am Destination Hampta Pass
Indiahikes policy being implemented “ Leave behind only footprints”
3765 M, 1st break after 45 Min
 Had read Himalayas were still growing; felt it today !
Destination was always higher however high we went !!!
 “A wife who keeps the home warm, watches expenses,
knows what is on your mind and acts accordingly is
everything. Who cares if the heavens catch fire!”- Sarvagna
Sarvagna would have written these lines differently had he seen this place
 3870 Mt
water freezes
while dripping
That’s where we started just took 2.5 hrs !
Rest and Rejuvenation every 100M ascent
12.00 Noon, 4000 Mt, “Mule Express” crossing we make way
 Landmark Mountains and
stone patterns- Searching for
hidden symbols like in the Da-
Vinci Code
It’s the thought of reaching this restaurant
in Manali, that kept some us moving !
“Bas vo bada pathar ke peeche
Hampta Pass hai”- Sharmaji
kept on* motivating us

* This was indeed the last big pathar for a change !

Hampta Pass- 4300M, 2.12 Pm
 Why Hampta
Pass ?
“Because it’s
there”

George Mallory is famously quoted as having

replied to the question "Why do you want to
climb Mount Everest?" with the retort:
"Because it's there", 
May we pass more passes
Indrasan at 6400 M, View from Hampta Pass
Steep Descent to Sheagoru, 2.30 Pm,
Twisted ankles can be complementary
For someone below we would have looked like colorful mountain goats*
*not that our intelligence is much more than them !
 3.09 Pm

18 mm Wide angle sight

200 mm telephoto sight

Our camp is seen

A twist for the lens

is few hours*1 for man*2

*1 I managed to reach at 5.10 Pm

*2 All 3 Women reached 30 min earlier
Spiti Valley- Left view
Spiti valley Right view
 Spiti Valley- 180 degree* view
One may count the stars, but boulders impossible

*21 Photos were stitched to get this view

 “It is not the
mountain we
conquer but
ourselves” 
Edmund Hillary 
Our conquer stories
over plates of finger
chips !
Day 4: 3940 M, Shiagoru
Awaiting the rise of the sun to….
“Defrosting ourselves”- Megha
Not able to title, cant take it off either
Beauty is not skin deep- it is mountain high !
That’s- All of us
 Trekkers on the right: choose to
take long route across bridge
Below: Dared to dip in chilling water
and wade across

Departure time :9.20Am

Journey back picturesque, eventful* and less oxygen consuming !
* Unintended dip in water happened with me
1.00 Pm
Back to civilization : Chatru ( 3383 M)

Done it all : Climbed Mountain, Walked

distance, Crossed rivers more than all
enjoyed it fully !
Quick Maggie, before setting off to Chandertal
Entering Chandertal Sanctuary at this place
Please park and walk said the board
- 4Km to Chandertal ( 4300M)
What to say?- Just see
We are halted by arresting beauty
From whatever angle -pristine
Sri Suktha: Om, Hiranya varnam harinim; Suvarna rajatasrajam; Chandraam hiranmayim *– Could have been inspired by this
*O all-knowing fire-god (Agni), would you kindly propitiate , the Goddess of prosperity, one whose body has the golden color; one who is decked with gold and
silver garlands; one whose sari is yellow colored and one Whose face is like the full moon and whose eyes bless humanity with soothing grace
Took a vow to return back* on full moon night

*with family
Cant get any more happy
Moon checks-in and we walk out
Back in Manali shopping in a trekking shop, did we forget we just finished or
are we preparing for another trek ?- You bet…..!!!
Snow on the rock
Like snow that drifts in air
We come to earth with fan fair
Like a rock that has fixed in position
We have our ties bonded in relation
Like snow that clings on the rock
We mingle with our own folk
Snow melts and flows down as river
Giving life, livelihood and laughter
Let us be like snow on the rock
on the Mountain top,
awaiting to deliver
- Prashanth UC ( 18th Oct 2010)