For my first trek of 2020, I have to wait till Dec 25th and now it has to be a winter trek. I decided it’s going to be Rani Sui Lake or as many others call it Saurkundi Lake.
There wasn’t a lot of traffic on the roads and I made it in good 12 hours till Manali. Since it had already snowed in the Manali region a couple of times already, I knew that the Lamadugh route is going to be closed. So for the first time ever, I decided to trek with an organization because the shit can get real crazy in winter treks, it can snow anytime. Although I was hoping to get some snowfall on this trek but I was not prepared to take on it all by myself. So I decided to go with Hippie In Hills for this trek, they take a longer route but that is accessible during the winter months.
So the trek begins from a village called Shankchar, on Kanyal road, which is around 15 kilometers before Manali. After driving for 30 minutes on a tiny gravel road you reach the village, which is hardly 15-20 houses. If you want to have a quick snack before the trek you should definitely try the momos, there are just two shops in the village so you can’t miss it and the momos are to die for.
It was quite sunny when we started the trek and 3o minutes into the all uphill trek I realised I was layered up a little too much, so I had to take down some of the layers I was wearing. The whole trek is uphil all the way till the summit, there is no downhill or level ground at any point, which could make it a tiring a bit. But you get the views of amazing Pir Panjal range right from the start and by the time we reached the campsite on Day 1, mighty Deo Tibba and Indrasan were right in front of us.
Sunset over Indrasan and Deo tibba
The campsite was just before the treeline gets over, there was the source of running water as well. Beyond this point, everything was frozen.
The golden hue of the sunset made the snow covered peaks look even beautiful then they were a little while ago. I just wanted to keep looking at them beauties but the harsh winds made it impossible to stay out even in front of the fire.
The next morning was sunny and windy. After quickly having breakfast at the campsite we pushed for the Rani Sui lake summit. Today’s trek is going to be even difficult than yesterday. The angle of elevation was going to be steeper and the whole trail is going to be covered in snow.
We started early in the day as we have to reach the top and come back to the campsite on the same day. The first hour was very exhausting and very hot. But as soon as we were out from the cover of the treeline it got super cold. Although it was very sunny but the warmth of the sunlight was negligible in front of the wind.
The uphil climb in snow and these windy conditions was getting tougher with each step. After an hour we reached the moraines terrain and things got really difficult. Our guide suggested the idea of returning back as the wind intensity was not like anything he has seen before, but we decided to keep going as the summit was visible. 4 From the group returned from the moraines, me with along another trekker continued with the guides.
I have done quite a few winter trek but I have never experienced this sort of wind. The guide told me this usually happens a day before it snows but even he was witnessing such intense winds for the first time. We struggled to complete the last bit of the trek a lot, we had to trek on the ridge and the wind was strong enough to take us off along with it.
After another hour of struggling, we were at the top. We couldn’t stay there for more than a minute, the wind was so bad that our head and ears started hurting even under the wollen caps.
The return journey was swift, all we wanted was to get out of the wind and stand in front of a fire. By the time we were back in the treeline the sun was on it’s course to set, so we were able to savour a little warmth from the setting sun. By the time we reached the campsite, the group returned earlier had got a big bonfire and we just loved sitting in the warmth and called it a night.
The next morning we got up to be suprised by the snow, everything has turned white. The Kullu valley right in front of us was below clouds and it was all just so beautiful. Can’t describe it, so watch the below video.
The descent till the Shankchar village in snow was so much fun, we slipped more than 20 times but we totally loved it. There was a point when we decided not to trek but slide.
If you are looking for a moderate winter trek with great views, I’d recommend you head for Rani Sui Lake/Saurkundi lake trek. Also one unique thing about this trek is that you get good 4G connection during all the days till summit. Which was very unusual for me and it had never happened before on a trek.
Here is a tentative Itinerary for you from Delhi.
Day 0: Leave Delhi at night by bus and reach Manali
Day 1: Rest up or explore Manali the whole day
Day 2: Start early for Shankchar village from Manali. Begin your trek till the campsite
Day 3: Trek up till the summit point and return back to the campsite.
Day 4: Trek back to Shankchar village, drive back to manali and catch the evening bus back to Delhi.
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