Buran Ghati Trek

Route Details:

Trek: Janglik → Dayara | Distance: 7.5 km | Duration: 5–6 hrs | Altitude: 2,804 m → 3,366 m

The trek begins on foot from Janglik after breakfast. The trail climbs out of the village through fields and apple orchards, with the wooden houses falling away below you and the Pabbar valley opening up behind. The first hour is steep, so start slowly, find a rhythm and let the trek leader set the pace. Fill both bottles in the village, as the first good water on the trail is some way up.

Above the fields the path enters a mixed forest of oak and maple, cool and shaded, with the gradient easing into a long, steady climb. The forest is full of birdsong in the morning, and in early summer the undergrowth is thick with flowers. There are a couple of streams to cross on stones, and a packed lunch is eaten in a clearing part way up. Keep eating and drinking at every break: today's height gain of about 560 m is the biggest before the pass.

Then the trees thin and stop, and you walk out onto Dayara, a meadow so large that it takes a moment to understand the scale. Grass runs away in every direction, shepherd huts dot the lower edge, and ridges rise on three sides with the valley you climbed out of dropping away on the fourth. The camp is set up in the open, and the afternoon is yours to wander, rest and watch the light change.

Evenings at Dayara are clear and cold, and the sky after dark is one of the best of the trek. The trek leader runs the daily SpO2 and pulse checks after tea, and dinner is early. Put on your warm layers as soon as the sun drops, and sleep in your thermals: at 3,366 m (11,040 ft) this is the first properly cold night, and it sets the pattern for the camps above.

What to Expect:

• Steep start through fields and orchards
• Oak and maple forest with stream crossings
• Height gain of about 560 m
• Dayara, one of the largest meadows in Himachal
• Daily SpO2 and pulse checks in the evening
• Overnight: camping at Dayara

Route Details:

Trek: Dayara → Litham | Distance: 5 km | Duration: 3–4 hrs | Altitude: 3,366 m → 3,500 m

Today is short and gentle, and it is meant to be: a small height gain of about 130 m lets your body catch up with the altitude before the higher camps. After breakfast the trail crosses the top of Dayara, with the meadow stretching away on either side, and then follows a line of grassy slopes and small streams up the valley. There is no hurry, and the trek leader keeps the group together at an easy pace.

The walk crosses a stream on stones about halfway, which can run high with meltwater in June, and passes patches of dwarf rhododendron and birch at the edge of the meadows. Ahead, the valley closes in and the first waterfalls appear on the slopes above Litham. In May snow may still lie in the hollows, and in autumn the grass is gold and the streams are low and clear.

Litham is a broad, flat camp beside the river, with waterfalls dropping down the cliffs behind it and the bowl of the Chandranahan valley rising above. The group arrives in time for a hot lunch, and the afternoon is free. A short walk up towards the waterfalls is a good way to stretch your legs and keep your body moving at altitude without tiring yourself.

This is your camp for two nights, so settle in. After tea the trek leader briefs the group on tomorrow's acclimatisation walk to the Chandranahan lakes: what to carry in a day pack, how long it will take and why the day matters for the pass. The evening ends with the daily health checks, dinner and an early night at 3,500 m (11,480 ft).

What to Expect:

• Short, easy day across the top of Dayara
• Stream crossing on stones
• Waterfalls above the Litham camp
• Afternoon free to rest and adjust
• Briefing for the Chandranahan lakes walk
• Overnight: camping at Litham

Route Details:

Trek: Litham → Chandranahan Lakes → Litham | Distance: 8 km | Duration: 4–7 hrs | Altitude: 3,500 m → 4,000 m → 3,500 m

Today is the acclimatisation day, and it is the key to crossing the pass well: you climb about 500 m to 4,000 m and come back down to sleep at Litham, which teaches your body to cope with thin air before it has to sleep in it. The group leaves after breakfast with day packs only, carrying water, snacks, warm layers, a rain jacket and sunglasses.

The trail climbs steeply up the side of the valley past the waterfalls, then onto moraine and boulder slopes where the going is rough but never technical. In May and June there are snow patches across the upper section, walked in microspikes, and in autumn the ground is dry rock and short grass. Keep a slow, even pace and sip water at every break; the trek leader will stop the group regularly to check how everyone feels.

The Chandranahan lakes sit in a high bowl at the head of the Pabbar valley at 4,000 m (13,123 ft), a chain of small glacial tarns fed by snowfields, and treated locally as the source of the Pabbar river. In early summer they are partly frozen; in autumn they are clear and still. The lakes are a sacred place for the villages below, so please do not step into the water or leave anything behind. Packed lunch is eaten with the whole bowl of peaks around you.

The return to Litham is by the same route and takes a couple of hours. Back at camp there is tea, the daily SpO2 and pulse checks and an early dinner. A mild headache this afternoon is common after a first visit to 4,000 m; tell the trek leader, rest and drink well, and it should settle by evening. Tomorrow you move up to the high camp.

What to Expect:

• Day pack only: water, snacks, warm layers
• Steep climb past the waterfalls onto moraine
• Snow patches in May and June
• Chandranahan lakes at 4,000 m, the source of the Pabbar
• First time at 4,000 m, back down to sleep
• Overnight: camping at Litham

Route Details:

Trek: Litham → Dhunda | Distance: 5 km | Duration: 3–5 hrs | Altitude: 3,500 m → 4,025 m

The move to the high camp is short in distance but steady in height, with about 525 m of climbing in 5 km. After breakfast the trail leaves Litham up the main valley, crosses the river and begins a long, even climb on grass and then on stonier ground. The waterfalls and the Litham meadow shrink below you, and the pass wall at the head of the valley comes into view for the first time.

In May and June the upper half of the walk is on snow, firm in the morning and softer by noon, which is one reason the group leaves early. Microspikes and gaiters go on when the trek leader says so. In autumn the same ground is rock and dry grass with frost in the shade. Walk slowly: this is the highest you will sleep, and arriving tired and dehydrated makes the night harder.

Dhunda is a high, open camp at 4,025 m (13,205 ft), set on a flat shelf just below the final slope to the pass. It is exposed and windy, with little shelter and the pass wall rising directly above the tents. The group reaches camp by early afternoon, which leaves time to rest, drink plenty of water, eat well and walk a short way up to look at tomorrow's line.

The evening is short and cold. After an early dinner the trek leader briefs everyone on the pass day: a wake-up around 2:30 AM, what to wear, how the rope sections work and the order in which the group will move. Pack your bag tonight, keep your headlamp and water bottle inside the sleeping bag so neither freezes, and get into your thermals and sleeping bag early. This is the coldest night of the trek.

What to Expect:

• Steady climb of about 525 m to the high camp
• Snow on the upper half in May and June
• First clear view of the pass wall
• Exposed, windy camp at 4,025 m
• Pass-day briefing and the coldest night
• Overnight: camping at Dhunda

Route Details:

Trek: Dhunda → Buran Ghati → Munirang | Distance: 8 km | Duration: 9–11 hrs | Altitude: 4,025 m → 4,572 m → 3,300 m

This is the day the whole trek has been built around. The wake-up call comes around 2:30 AM, and after a hot drink and a light breakfast the group leaves Dhunda by 3:30 to 4 AM with headlamps on. The early start matters: the snow on the pass wall is firm before sunrise and turns soft and heavy by late morning, and the weather on the pass is at its most settled early in the day.

The climb gains about 550 m to the pass. The first hour is on snow or scree slopes of moderate angle; then the pass wall steepens sharply and the trek team takes over, cutting steps and fixing rope on the steepest section so that each trekker climbs clipped in, one at a time. The pass itself is a narrow gap in the ridge at 4,572 m (15,000 ft). As you step through it, the view opens over the ranges of Kinnaur, and after a round of photographs the group moves on before the cold sets in.

The descent is the famous part. In May and June the far side drops away so steeply that the team sets up a fixed rope and lowers trekkers one at a time down the first stretch; below it come long, supervised snow slides that take you down fast and leave everyone laughing. In September and October the snow has largely gone and the same ground is loose rock and scree, taken slowly with poles. Either way, the team leads every step.

Below the snow and scree the valley eases into a long grassy ramp, and the walk down to Munirang takes most of the afternoon, with the river appearing below and forest returning on the slopes. Munirang is a camp beside the river at 3,300 m (10,830 ft), lower and warmer than anything since Dayara. The evening is quiet and happy: warm soup, dry socks, the daily health checks and the longest day of the trek behind you.

What to Expect:

• Wake-up around 2:30 AM, start by 3:30 to 4 AM
• Rope-assisted climb up the pass wall
• Buran Ghati at 4,572 m, a narrow gap in the ridge
• Fixed-rope descent and snow slides in May and June
• Longest day of the trek: 8 km, 9–11 hrs
• River camp at Munirang on the Kinnaur side
• Overnight: camping at Munirang

Route Details:

Trek: Munirang → Barua | Distance: 7 km | Duration: 3–4 hrs | Altitude: 3,300 m → 2,300 m | Drive: Barua → Shimla, about 210 km, 7–8 hrs

The last day is downhill all the way. After breakfast the trail leaves Munirang and drops steadily through forest towards the Sutlej side, losing about 1,000 m in 7 km. The path is good but steep in places, so use your poles, take shorter steps and give your knees a rest at the breaks. The forest is cooler and greener than anything on the Pabbar side, and water is easy to find.

As you lose height the first signs of Kinnaur life return: cattle tracks, walnut and apple trees, and then the stone-and-timber houses of Barua, a village above the Sutlej near Sholtu. Mobile signal comes back around the village for the first time since Janglik, so a rest stop here is the moment to tell your family you are safely over the pass. The trek ends at the Barua road head by lunchtime.

From Barua the group drives back to Shimla along the Sutlej through Kinnaur and Rampur, about 210 km and 7–8 hrs on a mountain highway. This cab is not included in the trek fee: we help the group book shared cabs, paid directly to the driver and split among trekkers. The road is long and the arrival in Shimla is late, around 10 PM or after, depending on traffic and road conditions.

Because the drop is late at night, we recommend booking your onward journey from Shimla for the next day rather than the same evening. Shimla has plenty of hotels near the Old Bus Stand, and a night there lets you rest, return your Free Trekking Gear without hurry and travel home fresh. Overnight buses to Delhi and Chandigarh, and the toy train and road to Kalka, all run the next morning.

What to Expect:

• Steep forest descent of about 1,000 m
• Barua village on the Kinnaur side
• Mobile signal returns near Barua
• Trek ends at the Barua road head by lunchtime
• Shared cab to Shimla, about 210 km, 7–8 hrs (not included)
• Late-night arrival in Shimla; book onward travel for the next day
• Overnight: no stay (trek ends)