The trail leaves Janglik through the village and enters the forest within 15 minutes,oak, pine, and birch for the next few kilometres. The gradient is steady, the Pabbar is audible below, and the canopy keeps things cool. You find a rhythm early, and the first few hours pass comfortably.

Then, without any warning, the forest ends. One step you are in the trees, and the next, Dayara Thach is in front of you, a vast alpine grassland at 11,000 ft, with snow ridgelines ringing the horizon, horses grazing the upper slopes, and the sky suddenly enormous overhead. In June, wildflowers cover the ground, Himalayan iris, blue poppies, alpine bistorts. In October, the grass turns amber and the ridges go sharp and bright against a deep blue sky. Most people stop walking when they first see it.

Camp is in the meadow. Altitude is 3,400 m, so headaches on the first evening are not unusual. Drink at least 3 litres before sleeping, eat a full dinner even if your appetite has dropped, and layer up before sundown, the meadow loses heat quickly once the sun goes.

Today is one of the shorter walking days of the first half of the trek, and the campsite at the end of it is the reason this route is remembered the way it is.

The trail continues through open meadow before picking up the Chandranahan stream and following it downstream to Litham. There are stream crossings, wet rock sections, and the occasional boulder field along the way, but nothing technically demanding, the terrain today is gentle and unhurried.

Litham is where two valleys converge. The Chandranahan waterfall drops from the snout directly above into the campsite’s sightline, a long white vertical line against grey rock. The Pabbar River runs alongside the tents as a narrow, fast stream, and ridgelines close in on three sides. It looks like a place someone specifically designed to be a perfect campsite.

Rest completely here. Tomorrow is an altitude day and the Chandranahan climb is steep, so eat well, hydrate through the afternoon, and sleep early.

The trail crosses the Chandranahan stream near camp and climbs directly toward the waterfall above. From the base of the falls, the route follows the water the entire way up, first the stream, then the waterfall itself, then the snowfield above it, until the valley tightens into a rocky basin and the lake appears.

Seven glacial pools sit at 4,029 m. The water is grey-blue and almost still, the surrounding ridges close and steep, snow or bare rock depending on the season. Stone cairns line the edges, placed by local communities who have been making this climb for generations with purpose very different from acclimatisation. Local legend identifies this lake as the source of the Pabbar River, the same river you have been following since the drive from Rohru. Whether or not you carry that story with you, the silence at 4,000 m in a closed rocky basin surrounded by snowfields carries its own weight.

This day also serves as your acclimatisation push. You climb to 4,029 m and return to 3,533 m, giving the body the altitude stimulus it needs without the stress of sleeping at height. Don’t rush the descent. Eat a full meal on return, drink 4 litres through the day, and sleep as early as possible.

AMS symptoms to watch for: Persistent headache, nausea or vomiting, dizziness, breathlessness at rest, loss of coordination. Tell your trek leader immediately, do not wait it out alone.

This is the shortest walking day on the trek, but altitude gain is the metric that matters here. The trail follows the Pabbar upstream, which is now a hard, fast-descending stream rather than the calm flow of the lower valley. The valley narrows steadily, the Dhauladhar Range closes in from the south, and after about an hour of climbing through a narrowing gorge, the valley makes a sharp left turn and the Buran Ghati Pass appears directly above you for the first time.

Nalabansh sits at the foot of that wall. The campsite is barren grey rock with snow on three sides and the mountain you are climbing tomorrow visible directly from inside your tent. This is not accidental. Nalabansh is the last camp before the pass, and it is deliberately unromantic, it exists to remove all ambiguity about what comes next.

Check your summit gear this evening: down jacket, balaclava, warm gloves, head torch with fresh batteries, trekking poles, microspikes, and water in an insulated sleeve (exposed bottles freeze at this altitude overnight). Eat a carbohydrate-heavy dinner, lights out by 9 PM, and set your alarm for 3 AM.

The snowfield in front of Nalabansh is grey-blue in the torch beam, your breath is visible in the cold air, and the stars are still out because you are above the weather. This is what 3:30 AM looks like at 4,050 m.

From Nalabansh, the trail immediately begins boulder-hopping in the dark. Within the first hour, boulders give way entirely to snow. This is precisely why you leave before dawn, the snow is firm and consolidated in the cold, which means grip, stability, and safe movement. By mid-morning, that same surface turns wet and unstable. The pre-dawn start is not a dramatic tradition. It is basic safety.

The climb to the pass from Nalabansh takes 3–4 hours. The gradient increases steadily as the trail follows the left bank of the Pabbar upstream, now just snowmelt threading through channels of ice, until it ends at the col. The last section is steep, and this is where all the effort concentrates: breath by breath, step by step, until the ridgeline appears above you.

The pass at 4,572 m is narrow. The Pabbar Valley is behind you, six days of walking laid out in silence below and the Baspa Valley opens ahead. The Dhauladhar and Kinner Kailash ranges stretch across the horizon in both directions. Trekkers who have done Kedarkantha and Hampta Pass routinely say this is the finest panorama they have ever stood in.

Then the descent begins.

In summer (May–June), the Kinnaur side of the pass drops at 60–70 degrees of near-vertical snow face for approximately 400 metres. Your guide team fixes ropes before you clip in, and the technique is straightforward: lean back, trust the rope, and use your feet to control your speed against the snow. The initial section is a controlled rappel, deliberate, measured, and entirely rope-dependent. Then the angle eases, the snow opens up, and the rest of the descent is slides, long, fast traverses across open snowfield. There is nothing else like this on any comparable trek in India.

The altitude drop from the wall to Munirang (River Camp) is approximately 1,000 m. The terrain transitions steadily as you descend, snow to rock, rock to grass, grass to juniper scrub and Munirang sits quiet in a wide valley beside the river, with the Buran wall visible behind you and the Baspa Valley stretching ahead. After the day you’ve had, the stillness here feels completely earned.

In September–October: The snow wall has melted and the descent is over rocky terrain – no rappelling, but technically demanding and hard on the knees. Poles are essential throughout. Both seasons are worth the trek; they simply deliver different versions of the same day.

The last morning was gentle. The trail from Munirang to Barua descends through high pine and juniper, crosses the Barua Khud stream, and arrives at the village road-head having shed most of the remaining altitude quietly and without drama. Signs of cultivation appear before the village itself does, stone terrace walls first, then treetops, then apple orchards, then apricot trees, then the smell of wood smoke from stone houses above.

Barua is architecturally nothing like Janglik. Slate roofs instead of deodar, stone walls instead of timber frames, and more ornate woodwork that is unmistakably Kinnauri. The Baspa River runs below the village, and if the season is right, the orchards are loaded with fruit. Trekkers who finish here consistently describe a particular disorientation, the village looks like it belongs to a completely different world, despite being just one pass and one day’s walk from where they started.

After lunch in Barua, the vehicles take you to Shimla via Karcham and Rampur, 200 km and 7–8 hours depending on road conditions. Expect to arrive late at night, and build in a buffer day from Shimla for any onward travel.