Serpentine Trail to Kundli Pass 4550m

 

As our last pre-winter Dhauladhar trek of 2021, Ravinder and I chose the rarely visited high pass of Kundli. At 4550m it is mostly used by the shepherds returning from Chamba to Kangra during autumn. Seldom by trekkers. It is a difficult pass with unclear trail marking above Shindi Maata temple (last camping ground of shepherds) on the Kangra side and hardly any trail at all on the Chamba side till you are well clear of the cliffs and reach the tree line. Please do this trek only if you are physically fit and with a guide who knows the trail well. During our 4 days trek in the final week of October, water was difficult to find. I recommend you finish this trek as any other Dhauladhar trek, positively before mid October. Our team comprised of four: Ravinder, Arun Khanna, Akshu (a young local boy) and self. We packed food for five days since the trek is of 4 days.

 

Day 1 – Tangroti Khas – Kharota (1600m) by taxi. Kharota – Thatarna – Hoddi (2800m) trek. Total hiking time approx 4 and half hours.

 

We packed our bags, lunch and took a taxi till Kharota, where the road ends. The trail begins as flight of stone steps, which goes up steeply into the forest, following the ridge above Kharota. It is easy to follow. An hour later we found a water point. From there soon we reached the wide grassy meadow of Thatarna. Few minutes of rest later, we continued following the true ridge top and after several ups and downs, arrived at Hoddi camping ground. We met two shepherds with their flock. We pitched our tents on a flat patch. Here the water point is around 100m down towards west direction from the camping. We had fire at night, watched a magnificent sunset and settled in.

 

Day 2 – Hoddi (2800m) to Khabrotu (3300m). Total hiking approx 2 hrs 10 min.

 

The two shepherds told us to pretty much follow the slope right above our camp towards the North, straight up. We gained altitude gradually. Though our earlier plan for today was to get till Shindi Maata / Alyas goth at around 3600m, the shepherds advised us to go till Khabrotu camping where there was some water. In around 2 hrs we found the water point and then another 50m diagonal traverse brought us to the wide grazing ground of Khabrotu at 3300m. The trail above Hoddi isn’t very clear, so just follow the slope straight up from Hoddi camping. While we spread out our tents and kitchen items, Arun and I went up to do a bit of exploration. We followed the continuous ridge above Khabrotu and found the well marked trail. We gained the upper ridge then reached the alyas goth cave and Shindi Maata temple. We continued further till up to 3800m, placing cairns and stone markers and returned to Khabrotu. The night turned out to be rather windy.

 

Day 3 – Khabrotu (3300m) – Alyas Shindi Maata (3600m) – Kundli Pass (4550m) – Mandrala (3100m). Total hiking time, from Khabrotu to Kundli Pass approx 5 hrs. From Kundli pass till Mandrala approx 5 hrs. Total hiking time around 10 hrs.

 

In the moonlit twilight, at around 5am, we followed the trail ahead and up from Khabrotu camping. It is easy to find. The trail follows the ridge line till the upper ridge then turns right continuing to follow the ridge top till we reached Shindi Maata temple. From there we traversed to the left and then reached the bottom of the wide gully (dry nullah) (during monsoon it must be full of water). We climbed through the nullah, which twisted to the left and we followed the faint goat droppings and trails through massive boulders. At around 4000m we topped the ridge and found the permanent icy slopes ahead and to the right. We turned left and got on to the ice and continued climbing. From here the trail is again visible through the rocks, mud, and the droppings on hard ice. The serpentine path kept swerving to the left. We emerged from the hard ice field to find big boulders strewn all around. Towards the far end the trail again turns right and up along a broad dihedral, where rock slabs are placed for steps. The final fifty meters to the pass follows a narrow flight of loosely kept rock slabs. At around 10am we were at the pass. There’s a small shrine with several tridents etc. The northern slope was totally covered in thick ice and compact powder snow.

 

After offering some prayers at the pass we descended through ankle deep snow. With sparkling blue sky, visibility was good and we could see all the high mountains of Pir Panjal and Mani Mahesh Kailash range. After the snow field came the tottering boulders covered in thin ice making our progress slow and slippery. Once across the boulders we faced sheer cliffs till Galod Dhar camping, where we took a short break. There was excellent mobile signal for Airtel and Jio at Galod Dhar. From there, following some streams we continued further down towards the green meadows far below. Here there’s no trail till we hit the forests. We had to stay on the true left bank of the main stream, which had considerable glacier atop. The trail through the forests was often misleading still the narrow valley kept us going in the right direction. Once we entered the tree line there were many waterfalls and streams and there wasn’t any shortage of water at all. Finally we reached Mandrala camping and stayed inside the cave shelter. I pitched my tiny single tent below the cave. The nearest water point was the stream, around 15 min away, 80 m below.

 

Day 4 – Mandrala (3100m) – Kuwarsi Village (2250m) – Lamu (1900m). Approx trekking time till Kuwarsi 3 hrs. Another 30 min to the bridge. From the bridge by taxi till Lamu.

 

Being a short day, we started at around 8 after some tea and snacks. We got Airtel signal at Mandrala. I called up our friend, Chamail at Kuwarsi to keep some breakfast ready. The trail, though very well marked and visible, is tricky at places and you should be careful. In an hour we reached Bangini Maata temple and offered prayers. Finally we reached the junction with the Indrahar pass trail and then descended further to the Naag temple and to Chamail Singh’s house at around 11am. We gorged on piping hot paratha, masala tea and cauliflower veggie. Around noon we headed further down till the road head bridge, from where a taxi dropped us at Lamu at Ravinder’s uncle’s place. Hot shower, veggie pulao and lots of chatter. The night got rainy and it snowed heavily among the mountains. We were sure glad that we hadn’t been caught in the rain and snow. Our timing was perfect.

 

Conclusion: though this is a difficult hike, the trek from Kangra side to Chamba side is easier to follow. In the monsoon and summer months I think it would be more difficult due to poor visibility and high grassy slopes.