A trek to the high altitude, glacial Kareri Lake

At Kareri lake

On the May Day weekend, I along with my brother decided to go on a trek to a relatively lesser known destination – Kareri Lake. We were a group of 12 people, a mix of solo travellers, friends and siblings (a rare pairing, as we learnt). What we all had in common was our eagerness to escape the humdrum of our city lives.

Aman and I

We were served a buffet breakfast at Kareri village, our starting point for the 15 kms trek, with a hearty serving of the snow clad Himalayas on the side. Our group leader, Ashish gave everyone some instructions on responsible travel and we were on our way. We trekked through green pastures, blooming rhododendron trees and broad leaf forests. Once the actual trail began, we were literally climbing up the river bed, traversing huge rocks in the process. A few lunges later, I could feel the muscles in my thighs awaken. We kept moving ahead, taking frequent breaks along the way.

The first stop was next to a small waterfall where we filled our water bottles with fresh, chilled stream water. Some people dipped their feet in the water while the more adventurous ones, their heads. I munched on chocolates and frooti along the way in order to keep my energy levels high. The clean air, flora and fauna were such a welcome relief from my busy city life. A black dog kept us company along the way, stopping as and when we would.

We were close to our base camp, Reoti village, when dark clouds set in. As thunder roared above our heads, we kept walking ahead. Light rainfall followed. We stopped for a late lunch at a small café set inside a cave. A short while later, we crossed over a metal bridge and reached Reoti village. Everyone took a moment to take in the beautiful scenery; sheep grazing on the mountains and the Nyund nallah flowing through.

Campsite at Reoti village

Our camp for the night was set in a deep valley; a bamboo bridge dividing tents on either side. Our tent had the most magical view, of the forest and the stream running through. Just when everyone was settling in, there was heavy rainfall. Aman, my brother and I listened to the Doors as raindrops battered our tent. Our evening snacks comprising of tea, popcorn and maggi were just what we needed to enjoy the lovely weather and scenery.

At night, everyone shared their stories huddled around a bon fire under the starry night sky.

One of the many ladybirds

Up the river bed

We embarked upon the remainder of our trek the next day, right after breakfast. Along the way, I took a dip in the icy cold waters, which was one of the trip highlights for me. Many others followed suit. The trail was tiring yet picturesque; I took frequent breaks to admire nature in all its glory. There were all kinds of ladybirds along the way, their body designs fascinating.  

As we reached the top of the valley, we could see the snowy mountains up close. The sight of the beautiful, fresh water Kareri Lake amidst snowy mountains made me forget all about the arduous journey that we had undertaken.

As we trekked up the rocky, sometimes steep trail, I was reminded of challenging situations that I had faced recently; the trick is to keep swiftly moving ahead.

Of Butterflies & Snowy Peaks

The orange and black butterfly brought back memories from my childhood, flying right above Gobind Sagar reservoir waters, visibly enjoying the new day that had just begun. We were on our way to Kasol, running very late, primarily due to the traffic jam in Delhi and partly due to a few slow moving members of the group. We had stopped for breakfast somewhere close to Bilaspur, with still a long way to go.

Our group captain set the tone for the day by playing some nice numbers on the Volvo’s music system once everyone was back onboard. We were passing through small towns and villages, with open fields on both sides; the mountains beckoning in the distance. The drive to Kasol/ Manali is one of my favourites, with the mighty Beas river flowing alongside.

At Alpine Guest House Cafe

We finally reached our hotel – HHH around lunch time, although we were very tempted to lie down on the soft and luxurious bed; we resisted. My friend, Sukhmani and I decided to head out to one of the many cafes in order to make the most of our free day. The next day, we were to trek up to Kheerganga, a perfect long weekend summer getaway. Alpine Guest House café was our first stop, it had a beautiful view of the snow clad mountains as well as the roaring Parvati river. A hot glass of coffee and paneer pizza provided us with the much needed energy. We went to a German bakery later to have those delicious chocolate balls. Later, we shared the leftover chocolate balls with a beautiful husky who sprang out of nowhere. He did not leave us with much of a choice.

Jim Morrison café, another well known café was unfortunately shut for renovation. We found another great café right behind our hotel called River side cafe. It was a nice, quiet find; by the river as the name suggests.  Their mint tea coupled with the sound of the flowing river was refreshing.

Fresh mint tea

For dinner, we went to an Israeli café on the main road, right opposite Alpine Café’s entrance. Although service was understandably slow, their hummus with lamb and freshly baked pita bread was worth the wait. 

Breathtaking view en route

The next morning, we made our way to Bershani in a taxi, our starting point for the Kheerganga trek. It was a beautiful 45 minute drive past Manikaran and a few other villages en route; the river Parvati flowing alongside as we steadily climbed towards the snow capped mountains. We bought walking sticks for our 14 kms long trek, at Rs. 20 apiece, got a group photograph and off we went. These walking sticks were a good decision, as we later realized. It helped us keep our balance at various rocky, marshy areas.

Our first stop, Nakthan village took us about an hour to reach, the way up here was fairly easy with a few steep areas in between. As we were carrying rucksacks and the sun was out in all its glory, we took frequent water and rest breaks. There were a fair number of trekkers, majority of them carrying day packs. As we kept walking and climbing higher ground, we were getting closer and closer to the snow clad mountain tops. Passing through apple orchards, streamlets and waterfalls along the way made for some amazing photographs and memories. We took a long-ish break at Rudranag which has a couple of dhabas and one of the larger waterfalls; many people took a dip in the icy cold waters there. I lay on the ground, resting my back and taking in the scenery.

Breathing in the deodars

The real trek started post Rudra Nag. It was a steep incline pretty much all the way from there. We were now surrounded by deodar forests, providing us with the much needed shade. As we kept trekking our way up, we could feel the strain in our lower backs. Sukhmani and I made several rest stops, sometimes just to take in the sound of the birds, the river flowing down below, to observe the butterflies flying past us or to simply breathe in the fresh mountain air.

         

Made it!

Campsites at Kheerganga

After a couple of hours, I was absolutely thrilled upon seeing the ‘Welcome to Kheerganga’ sign. After taking a victory picture with it, I dragged myself up the last steep stretch towards our campsite. We were lucky to get a roomy tent for two, the mixed vegetable and rice gave us the much needed energy. After a short nap, we made our way to the famous hot springs. One dip and I could feel the pain and tiredness in my body disappear. Definitely recommended after the arduous trek up!

Reflection of the setting sun

As the sun began to set, we watched it light up the snowy peaks with its warm, orange glow. Once back at our tent, we layered ourselves up with all the woolens we had as it was starting to get cold. It was night sky full of stars; I had not seen so many stars in a very long time. We lay down on the cold ground, star gazing, trying to spot different constellations.

Soon enough, the bon fire had been lit and we could hear everyone singing and dancing around it. As we joined in the merry making, it was a night full of stories, music and laughter under a blanket of stars, a perfect ending to a perfect day.