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| Trail was wide enough to play football |
How a
year went by without a trek, is something I have no idea of. Doing any
adventure activity won't serve the joy that a trek serves and that too when it
is a snow trek. It had been more than a year that I was caught into work and I
hadn't done enough of mountain walking except for a few short day hikes in
Sahyadris and Leh. The snow was something my heart was craving for.
It was
then on the eve of the new year, 2020 that I decided to do a day hike that had
been on my mind since past few years. A trail that connects Jot in Chamba
district with Dainkund peak near Dalhousie. The whole route is well laid on the
top of the ridge.
This
short yet adventurous trek had been in my bucket list from the past 3-4 years.
Though I had been to Dainkund peak from Dalhousie before winter in 2015, experiencing
those slopes laden with snow was what I had always yearned for.
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| Track covered in snow |
Something
about Dainkund:
It is the
highest point in Dalhousie region of Dhauladhars. It is a point from where the
great ridge of Dhauladhar range gains height which further continues to Manali
to merge with the Pirpanjal range of mountains. This
place gives breathtaking views of both, Chamba as well as the Kangra valley in
Himachal Pradesh. The plains of Punjab and the two rivers, (Ravi and Beas)
stretch wide in the plains and reflecting the sunlight as the sun shines high.
Dainkund is a small peak atop which there is a temple of Pholani Mata (a local
deity) and is well connected with a motorable road diverging from
Dalhousie-Khajjiar Highway.
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| Temple premises at Dainkund and few hills in the backdrop. |
Something
about Jot:
Jot is
further 38 km from Dalhousie and serves as a mini pass to cross the Dhauladhar
range for the people of Kangra valley to travel to Chamba valley and vice-versa.
This is a small village with few dhabas and a Hotel. There are two ways to
reach this place, one from Dalhousie and the other from Pathankot, via Nurpur
and Chowari. Some scenes in the Bollywood Blockbuster ‘Gaddar: Ek Prem Katha”
were also shot on this location.
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| Jot Village and some tourist huts to capturee the views |
Jot-Dainkund
link:
These two
places are well connected through a trail atop the ridge. The ridge is wide
enough for a village to set up. This 5 km trail provides breathtaking views of
some of the prominent peaks in Chamba ( like Manimahesh Kailash) and distant
views of Pangi Valley.
With an average
height of around 8000 ft. the trail is
well marked and frequently used by the villagers to procure necessary supplies
from Jot since Jot has a bus stop and the ration can be sent at this place
easily. While you can experience and enjoy on the grassy slopes in summer, in
winters it serves a basic snow trek where one can even take their children
along.
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| Mt. Manimahesh Kailash in the background |
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| Snow covered valley. |
I began
my journey from Dinanagar at six in the morning, and driving all the way via
Chowari I touched the hiking start point in Jot. I had booked a guide by
requesting the hotel manager and he was ready to receive me by the time we
reached there.
Lalu is a
young man around 29 years of age and is a regular guide associated with many
trekking agencies in Dalhousie. By 10 AM our footsteps were marching across the hills in Jot where few children were
playing around, a group of boys had come to play in the snow. Soon we crossed
the ecological park which the government is creating for tourists. They have
plans to build cottages in this park. (Will the bricks and cement protect
ecology?)
The snow
was fresh and not many footsteps had marched on it. Though already cut path
helped us and saved our time, else we had to make our own route in snow. Sun
was shining bright and the snow crystals reflecting the light straight into our
eyes. (Read about Snow blindness).
 |
Sun wants me to go snowblind but my sunglasses wont let him do so.
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| Soft snow and footsteps |
|
After an
hour of trek, we met a few villagers carrying firewood on their backs. A bright
sunny day is a perfect opportunity for every household to procure supplies
before the storm again sets in and heavy snowfall was predicted in the next two
days. Manimahesh
Kailash was visible while the clouds tried to cover it. The pirpanjals and the
peaks were not clearly visible as the dark clouds ruled in that region. However
looking towards Kangra valley and Punjab, the mighty rivers of Beas and Ravi
were flowing at their own pace while the sun rays spread across the valley.
After a
while, we came across a frozen pond which the shepherds had made for bathing
their cattle. This pond was completely frozen to the core. There were few mud
houses around. Sinve the shepherds cross the Dhauladhars in summers in search of
grasslands so that they can graze their cattle. Further, before the winter sets
in they are back to the Kangra valley. These are the temporary shelters they
build which remain vacant during the winters.
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| Villagers enroute |
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| Pirpanjal range hidden behind clouds |
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| Frozen Pond |
Walking
in soft snow is an adventurous as well as challenging task at the same time. As
the sun was shining bright, the snow was melting, unpacking the packed snow and
it became difficult to walk. As a result, our speed decreased but the cool wind
and splendid views kept me going.
Lalu was
a great company to be with. He had interesting stories to share from his
village, his past jobs at a hotel. He is ambitious and Wants to try new trails.
He also mentioned about a trail from Jot to Dharamshala walking over the Dhauladhar
ridge. This is a trail I always wanted to walk on. Hopefully, in future, I will
tag him along for this trek.
It took
2.5 hours for us to finally reach the temple at Dain Kund and a sigh of relief
kicked in me. By now it was almost one PM and my stomach was craving for a hot
Maggie. There are
few shops at Pholani Mata temple which serve some basic items and easy to cook
food. Having maggie in cold weather sitting on a hill in the Himalayas is an
integral part of any trek and I had to perform this ritual.
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| Approaching the temple. |
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| Pholani Mata Temple |
We left
the place in half an hour as I had to rush back early since I had to drive back
home in the evening. The return
journey was fairly easy as descending on a simple slope gets fairly easy. I could
see the dark clouds rising above the ridges. It prompted me to skip my
glissading plans over those smooth slopes and hurry back to the base. Taking a
few water breaks, we finally made it up to the base in two hours. By this time
the snow had become very soft and our speed is decreasing further down. The
snow was melting and our knees digging down into some places.
There
were some footsteps of black bear visible at some distance. These bears survive
in this cold weather by eating the bark of trees that get damaged in the snow.
The whole area has a dense population of black bear and very famous wildlife sanctuary
nearby Kalatop inhibits most of them.
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