This trip was done in the month of April, I went to Bir because there was going to be a trail and road running event in which I had to volunteer. After a 12-hour bus journey from Delhi, I reach Bir which is located at an altitude of 1350 meters. Bir is located in the Kangra district of the state of Himachal Pradesh in North India and this place is famous for paragliding all over the world. Professional paraglider pilots from India and abroad come and refine their skills.
Our running team gave me and one of my companions the task of marking the trail, for which we asked for time to leave after 2 days. 2 days later because it was raining here. So the weather forecast proved to be absolutely correct and after two days the rain stopped, I and my companion set out for Katara to mark the route. Today we will do the marking till my favorite peak Hanumangarh. I hope that if the weather is clear at the top, we will get a 360 degree view.
After saying “we will meet again” to the Buddhist monasteries of Bir, we start walking uphill from the paragliding landing site along the stream and soon reach the base of Bari village from where the main trail of the route begins. The first 2 kms are exhausting for us, the sun is scorching and on top of that there is the climb. After 3 kms there is an open area where we rest for 10 minutes.
Looking down from here we can see Bir, Chautada, Bhattu and other villages, the view is so spectacular that it feels like the sky has come down to earth. Although the rhododendron season is over but I get to see a few rhododendron flowers in the season before it leaves. Here in this region chutney, jam and juice are made from rhododendron flowers.
After 3.5 km we enter the forest where there is a shepherd, he is shouting at his animals and the dog guarding the sheep and goats first barks at us on seeing us and then comes to us wagging its tail in a friendly manner. We also caress its head and move ahead. Hanumangarh Peak is located 8 km from Bir and till now we have covered a distance of 5 km.
For the last 2.5 km we are walking almost above the tree line and now we can see our destination in front, Hanumangarh Peak is shining like a king above the trees. On looking around, the views of the Dhauladhar mountain range are visible, thermals are being formed due to sunlight and due to this the views are not clear. Due to hazy views, the visibility of Dhauladhar is a little low. Despite this, we manage to see some snow-covered mountains.
We started our journey at 8 am and at 3 pm we are standing at our destination, Hanumangarh Peak is 3080 meters high and in clear weather the 360 degree view from here is worth seeing. There is a statue of Hindu God Hanuman installed here which the local people worship with true faith. It is also believed that every wish made with a true heart is fulfilled and when people's wishes are fulfilled then in return people offer trishul here.
After staying here for about an hour we start descending, we have to descend towards Chhaina Pass which is 6 km from here. While descending we see the villages of Chota Bhangal Valley, the main ones among which are Badagram, Kothi Kohad village and the Uhal river flowing till Barot. It is evening and there are clouds in the sky too, so the sun and shade are playing hide and seek. Sometimes the sun is falling on the village and sometimes on the fields.
On the way there is a shepherd's tent which would be in the forest with its animals. Further ahead we find a female horse who is feeding milk to her baby horse, after drinking milk the baby horse is having a lot of fun and is happy. It is a pleasant experience to see the terraced fields of Chota Bhangal. We reach Chhena Pass by 6 o'clock and from here we take a lift in a car and reach Billing. So on this side we end our 14 km long journey. I hope you liked this journey.
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 canon 77d (55-250mm) and edited on laptop lightroom app, post thumbnail created in adobe photoshop.
My posts cannot be reshared or posted on any other platform by anyone without my permission.