We were standing atop Gramang Galu (Kadigncha Pass) last month and we could see the mountains running Westwards above Tiun Village. The serrated ridges rising above Dyna Sar Lake were visible and although we couldn’t complete the Gramang Galu trek, we had a new challenge at out hands.
Sari Pass is the traditional route followed by Lug Valley folks for Dyna Sar Lake annual pilgrimage which takes places in the Bhado month of Hindu Calendar. There are two trails, one from Samalag Village and another from Tiun Village. Last month, Peter Van Geit had taken the Samalg Route and the gps trail marked by him was going to be our guide on this expedition. We chose to take the Tiun trail and a few wrong turns on the way threw us completely off the grid. While the pass stands at 3750 meters, we ended up a few hundred meters above the pass and had to spend an extra night because of our shenanigans.
However, it turned out to be a good “wrong turn” for we could see the mountains (and passes) of Bada Bhangal up close. As you know that I am keeping all the stories for my upcoming book, so you’ll have to wait until October for the detailed stories.
Meanwhile, you can buy my first book here: [Sabse Uncha Pahad: 31 Treks in Himachal Pradesh (Hindi Edition)]
Until then, have a look at the beautiful Lug Valley….
Thakur and Sharma at Tiun Village. In the background, on the left side, you can see Himri Pass and Gramang Galu which we had tried to cross last month.
The vast expanse of Lug Valley. This whole region is believed to be presided by Fungni Devi deity and accordingly certain rules have to be followed here. Like no smoking in the village, and no noises on the trail. I wish this noise rule is replicated throughout the country.
One of the many temples of Fungni Devi on the trail. In the background, you can see the Southern catchment of Fozal Valley
Nitin Sharma leading on the trail. We were just about to take a wrong turn which would land us in a completely uncharted area. Which forced us to spend a night extra at sub 4000 meter altitude.
Thakur Sahab (Left) and Nitin : It was a pleasure walking with these two fine gentlemen
This is where we should have gone instead of walking straight up. Somewhere near this point, where the sheep are basking in the mountain glory, the Samalag and Tiun trails meet.
Towards Thamsar Pass as seen from Sari Pass
Kali Das shepeherd. He was more than happy to welcome us in his settlement. He is 65 years old and been rearing livestock since he was 15 years old.
Beyond this lies the beautiful land of Bada Bhangal…
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Trek Trivia
- Where does the Trek start from?
- The trek starts from Kalang Village. There is a road connecting Kalang with Tiun Village but like all other roads in Himachal, this road too is in shambles. So you have to walk 5km on road before the real hike begins.
- You can start from Tiun Village or totally bypass Tiun Village and start from Samalag Village.
- What are the stay options on the route?
- Strangely, folks of Lug Valley don’t welcome outsiders in their villages. So much so that sometimes you can’t even enter the village. Perhaps the caste divide runs too deep. But we met helpful people on the way and they guided us throughout our journey. We stayed in a temporary shelter just outside the Tiun Village.
- Is water available on the trail?
- Tiun trail is a water less trail, so it is advised to replenish your stock at the village itself. The Samalag trail runs along the stream coming from the pass, so that trail has plenty of water.
- What is maximum distance and maximum altitude one gains on Sari Pass trek?
- For Kalang-Samalag-Sari Pass-Lohardi: Maximum Distance: 23-25km / 3750 meters maximum altitude
- For Tiun-Sari Pass-Lohardi: Maximum Distance: 25km/3750 meters
- Because we lost the trail, so we had to walk 27km and ended up gaining as high as 4030 meters.
- Download GPS Logs here…
- All the gps logs are available on My Strava Profile.