The day after tomorrow, the bus from Delhi drops me at Manali from where I take another bus to Solang Valley. Here I take a room and roam around and try to acclimatize my body according to 2450 meters. At night I sleep thinking about going to Mount Patalsu Peak, this peak is located at 4250 meters, this peak is very steep due to being in the Pir Panjal range and there is an elevation gain of 1910 meters in just 7 km. So let's go to this summit in which we were two people who know how to reach Mount Patalsu Summit.
Waking up with the sun in the morning after a warm sleep at night always gives a heavenly experience. After freshening up, we get ready and pack the bag in which we keep chocolates and a bottle of water. I tell my friend @sara.negi that we have to walk fast, the first 7 km will take us 7 hours and at least another 4 hours to return. So today we will have to walk for 11 hours to cover just 14 kms in which we will go above 4250 meters.
So without having breakfast we leave Solang valley at 7 am. By the time we reach the cemented bridge on the Beas river, the rays of the sun have knocked and Mount Patalsu peak has started playing with the first rays of the day. From the bridge we witness the Beas river which comes from the Beas lake situated at the confluence of Pir Panjal and Dhauladhar mountain range. The Beas river is flowing at its speed and wishing good morning to nature.
We cross the first km in 40 minutes and reach Solang village, in the year 2000 this village was completely made of wood but a fire in the same year burnt this village to ashes after which this village was rebuilt using cement. Now this village looks a little modern.
Crossing the village, we are admiring the Friendship Peak which is situated at a distance and has a height of 5125 meters. Looking back, we can see the tunnel going from Solang Valley to Atal Tunnel on which vehicles are seen crawling like ants. Now we have entered the periphery of the forest and here the noise of the road has been left behind. Now the sound of our breathing is coming and nature is trying to say something by remaining silent.
About one km from the village, there is a small grassy ground where we meet people with horses, these people are carrying cement pillars on horses. On talking, we come to know that fencing will be made with these pillars of the forest department's land so that wild animals do not destroy the fertile land. After talking for 5 minutes, we move ahead and suddenly enter the tall grass. This grass is giving the feeling of a tea garden. The grass wet with the night dew is also wetting our clothes.
After getting rid of the long and wet road, we enter the pine forest, this forest is famous for black bears. The locals in the village had told that nowadays due to apple orchards, black bears are coming to the village from the forest almost every day and causing damage to the crops. We are walking while shouting that if the bear is nearby, it will move out of our way and we will not have a dangerous encounter with this dangerous animal.
By 11 o'clock we have crossed the 4 km mark and reached another grass ground, the special thing about this place is that from here all the pictures of Solang Valley are clearly visible if the weather is clear. And this place is also situated above the tree line. We are getting the view of Mount Patalsu Summit, this mountain looks as if we will reach it in an hour but when it comes to reaching it by walking, it gets further away with every step.
So finally we reach Khobi at 12 o'clock, after reaching as per the planned time, we take rest. We drink water and in the meantime two participants of the running event held here come from behind and rest with us. We talk about the race and plan the way ahead. I am a little worried as the sky is getting covered with dark clouds.
Today we did a 5 km hike in which there was a total elevation gain of 1000 meters. It took us 5 hours and now in the next 2-3 km we will reach the summit. We spend a lot of time here as everyone is feeling out of energy, the runners give us apples to eat which we happily accept and eat. That's all for today, we will meet in the next post in which you will see the story of how we reached the summit.
[//]:# (!worldmappin 32.33988 lat 77.17238 long Mt. Patalsu Summit (Solang valley to Khobi) Part-01 d3scr)
Disclaimer: This post is originally written in Hindi and I have used Google Translator to translate the Hindi text in English. All the photos have been clicked by me from POCO F1 android smartphone and edited in deskstop software adobe lightroom. Thumbnail created on online website canva