Himachal Pradesh, India
5 Days in the Himalayas
A crossing that starts in pine forest and ends in a cold desert — the valley changes character completely in the space of a single pass.
Day 01
The drive up to Jobra is twenty-eight hairpin bends, and then the trail simply begins at the side of the road. Maple and pine, the Rani nallah running loud somewhere below, and the first camp in a clearing that feels much further from town than it is.
Day 02
The forest thins out and the valley opens without warning. Jwara is a meadow with a stream cutting through it, ringed by walls high enough that the sun arrives late and leaves early.
Day 03
Higher, colder, and the treeline is gone. Balu Ka Ghera means a bed of sand — a flat expanse of glacial silt where the river braids apart and the pass finally becomes visible ahead.