Pin Parvati trek starts from Phulga village of Kullu, Kasol and ends at Mud village of Spiti and vice-versa. The uncanny Parvati valley through which the Parvati river chisels its curvy path and the contrasting deserted mountains standing upright under the spell of Spiti’s barrenness upon which the dark shadow of clouds linger on. Believe me there won’t be a single boring day during the trek. Here is the list of 10 exciting things to look forward to during these 10 days of Pin Parvati trek.

Day 1 : Hot springs of Kheerganga:
Surrounded by green mountains from all the 4 sides, Kheerganga is the 1st camp to Pin Parvati trek. Soaking your body in hot springs after an arduous climb and staring out at the tall giant mountains truly rejuvenates all your senses. That feel when you see the steam rising from the hot spring mixing up with the fog around and you are all indulged in a luxurious spa is worth all that climb!

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Day 2: Landslides of Tunda Bhuj and the Birch trees:
The 70 percent of the trail from Tunda Bhuj to Thakur Kuan is through the thick dark forest. You get to see enumerable waterfalls on the way. It is one of the most beautiful trails where you get to see lot of wild flowers, birds and berries.

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Day 3: The boulder crossing of Thakur Kuan and the manual pully:
Day 2 was beautiful and enchanting and day 3 is going to be full of adventure and adranaline rush. There are total 3 boulder crossings but it is not as easy as it sounds, better buckle up.One slip and you will be carried away by the gushing water of Parvati river but only after getting yourself crushed against giant boulders. And then there is a manual pully used for crossing river.It’s really a fun to watch yourself getting parceled to other end in that tin basket and mind it, the same pully bridge is used for horses too!!

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Day 4: The pandu pull 1 and pandu pull 2 on the way to Odi Thach:
Mighty river won’t let you sleep! On the way from Thakur Kuan to Odi Thach you cross the Parvati river twice through two bridges: Pandu pull 1 and Pandu pull 2. Pandu pull 1 is a boulder stuck in between a waterfall and river, slippery from one end and few grip points at other. Pandu pull 2 is made up of pile of rocks and is rather easy compare to Pandu pull 1.

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Day 5: Mantalai Lake:
The camping site, Mantalai lake is an attraction in itself that you look forward to.A sacred place for pilgrims,the most scenic view for photographers, the silent valley for writers and the gateway to enchanted beauty for wanderers. Lord shiva’s temple at the height of 4116 m marks the entrance to Manatali lake which also serves as water source of Parvati River. It is good to see that you made up till the source of river that you have been traversing along for past 4 days 🙂

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Day 6: Camping along the Glacier at Base camp 1:
On day 6 you get the first look of glacier that you are going to walk on the D-DAY. If you have reached till Base camp 1 then there is no going back, congratulate yourself because you are surely going to cross the pass(even if you have to be rescued, it is going from the other side only :P).The excitement of tomorrow and the rumbling down rocks at night will keep you pretty much awake! It is the nearest that you can get to those stars at night, make your wish on the brightest one!

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Day 7:The D-DAY, walking on glacier, stream crossing on the way to Base Camp II:
Finally the day has arrived for which you tormented yourself physically and mentally not only for past 6 days but for quite a few months with all those preparations.It is all going to be cakes and roses today. You are going to walk on glacier,bypass lots of crevasses and finally you are going to cross Parvati side of Kullu and reach the pin side of Spiti. Hang on, that’s not all, just when you will think that it’s all over, there a floody stream waiting to eat you up one the way down to your camp.

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Day 8: The stream crossing  in subzero temperature on the way to Wichkurung Thatch:
So you have crossed the Pin Parvati pass, climb the damn mountain, crossed the streams, survived the storms and now all you have to do is descend and descend is suppose to be easy right? Well, not during Pin Parvati trek. Day 8 brings to you the challenge of most difficult stream crossing, not because of the flow of water but because of crossing stream bare feet in subzero temperature, you will stop feeling your legs, feet for upto half an hour after crossing the stream. Don’t worry, you won’t die and no, you won’t get frost bite but you’ll surely get the essence of it. Good Luck

Day 9 : Tanned mountains of Spiti and the Pagal Nala : On the way to Mud Village:
You are not the only one getting tanned in that Sun. The barren mountains of Spiti looks like as if they are ripped of their cloths and are made to stand there to get tanned. Today you will spot some of the magnificent multicoloured mountain ranges of Spiti Valley.

Pagal nala will be last stream you will be crossing on foot. Named as Pagal Nala because when the ice bridge/barrier melts with the day heat the accumulated water suddenly comes gushing down via this stream hence named as Pagal, you never know when it will get mad!!

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Day10 : Spiti to Manali:
Back to world, back to network, back to western toilets and hot water baths…but roads are still winding, the streams are still blocking your way, the sand silhouettes are still staring at you and the prayer flags are still fluttering. How dare you to think it was all over? Not until you keep the flame of travel kindle in your heart my fellow travelers

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Happy tripping folks!!

Pic Courtesy : ShalinThakur, Shawal Thakur, Arun Bose, Pooja Dhiman, Prerna Shah

Contest entry for The Adventurer Blog Contest November 2017 by Bikat Adventures