Patalsu Peak Day Trek.
Have you ever been to Manali and wished there were places you could go to for a day so there aren’t always people around you. Rohtang and Solang are the only places that comes to your mind but those are also filled with tourist.
Here is one of the Hike/Short Trek you can do in a day !
Peak Name – Patalsu Peak
Height – 14000+ Feet (4200 Mtrs)
Difficulty Level – Moderate
When to Go there – Anytime between April and June is good.
The Start
Start your trek early in the day about 5:30 am, drive about to Solang Nalla (Point between Old Solang Village and Solang Valley). Pack your bags with Water and other essentials, after one point there is no water available.
Once you start your trek and cross the Beas river on the wooden makeshift bridges, you will see a trail leading uphill. Walk along the trail till you reach the Solang Village. This village which is now getting modernised after the not so recent fire that gutted almost half of the village. More concrete and stable structures are now replacing the traditional wooden houses.
The trail takes you through the village and leads you to the open mountain trail, the village is the last inhabited area in the trek (fill up your water or pick up a stick if you haven’t got a trekking pole).
Once you have crossed the Village and walk uphill, the view of the majestic Friendship peak is breathtaking early in the morning and you get a fair idea of the climb, the tree-lines are more visible now and you can estimate your first break point.
A good breakpoint would be the treeline, by this time you would have hiked for about an hour and would need to get some energy back. Take a good 5-10 minutes break and start again to the top.
As you enter the Forest, the climb gets a little steep and you might get a glimpse of some good bird life in the area. The view for the friendship peak and other peaks would still be spell bounding. The peaks of Seven Sisters and Hanuman Tibba should be very much visible right next to the friendship peak.
The Forest would end in another 20-30 mins of hike and you would see a wide open grassland, quite picturesque. One the best camping areas uphill (but we are on a day hike, Remember!)
Once you cross this grassland you will be welcomed by a herd or Goat/Buffalos. There are lots of Shepherds, who lives uphill and roam these areas with hundreds of Goats and a little less number of Buffalos.
(Shepherds – People hired by local community to Feed/Take care of their herd, they are paid monthly/annually by these community members )
The grasslands ends again and another line of forest starts, the climb becomes a little more steep and if you are going in the April-June months, you would probably encounter some snow by this time.
This is probably the last jungle that you would encounter and you should be in under 2 hours of your timeline by now.
The Middle
The steep jungle climb ends and you are now facing an enchanting view and a tough climb ahead. The tree lines are gone and all you see is more grassland and the while snowcapped peak ahead of you.
Congratulations – You have made it till here, you are at about 11000+ feet now and the view are more breath taking.
Take a break here, get your energy back (take some energy bars, hydrate yourself)
Start your climb again, there are no set route to climb it but it is always advisable to take the ridge line and walk along. Take your Camera out as for the next one+ hour you will probably see some amazing views ( Friendship peak, hanuman Tibba, Deo Tibba, Dauladhar Range and Yes how can we forget Solang Valley and Manali at a distance)
The climb is moderate again with mostly grasslands.
Another half and hour of climb would give you these view.
The climb from where the grassland ends and snow starts get a little tough than what you have been through till now. It a steep climb and by now you would be around 13000+ feet, so the oxygen level would have gone down a little and would be a little difficult to be on the same pace as earlier.
Stay clear of the ice for now and walk along the ridge while taking small breaks to catch your breath. Bring your goggles out, there would be some much of snow reflection up there.
As you advance to the top, ice would be now in abundance and the only way would be to walk through it. There would still be some patches here and there, reach those patches first and then take your breaks. You would now be somewhere around 4+ hours on your hike.
The best way to hike along the ice is to walk across it or diagonally sticking your side of the boots on the ice. The climb is again steep and would take about 30-40 mins to reach to the top.
If you are not a frequent hiker/mountaineer, the thoughts of giving up and returning to the base can flock your mind.
Keep going strong for another 30 minutes and you would now be at the very top of Patalsu Peak. The view around is breathtaking, the view of the snowcapped mountains all around would be something else.
Height now – 14000+ Ft or 4200 meters.
Total time to reach the top would be around 5ish hours if you are an average walker.
Time to reach back to the starting point of Solang Nalla should be again around 3ish hours.
Total Trek time – 9ish hours.
PATALSU PEAK – CHECK
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