Day Before Yesterday I told you how I couldn't summit Patalsu Peak. @himalayanwomb and I picked up paint and brush and planned to mark the route for runner, and headed to Friendship Peak basecamp. We did route marking of about 17 kilometres and I explored many places on this route.
Friendship peak basecamp gives access to 7 peaks, Hanuman Tibba, Friendship Peak, Shitidhar, Mukar bah, Shikhar bah, Ladakhi and Kullu Peak. And this place is quite famous among climbers and hikers. For this you can go to Dhundhi from Solang Valley by car and from there there are two hiking routes. Either you can go via Beas Lake, but that route will be longer or from Dhundhi you can go through Palchani Nala and walk through the right bank of Beas River to reach 'Lady Leg' which is the shortest route to reach the base camp of Friendship. Peak.
But since we had to do marking as well, our route was Bakkar thach (Meadows) and from there we reached the base camp via Beas Lake and Lady Leg through the boulder zone.
From Dhundhi to Beas Lake
If we climb Lady Leg via Beas Lake then the base camp of Friendship Peak is around 9 kilometres, but if someone goes directly to the base camp from Dhundhi then it will be around 4.5 kilometres.
In the evening I had to attend an office call, so I left my companions behind so that I could reach back to the place we parked car in the morning and attend the call as we were facing network challenge too, But going about 3 kilometers ahead, I suddenly saw the clouds, it seemed as if they were coming from the bottom and suddenly there would be darkness everywhere, and this thought scared me completely.
There was a fight going on in my mind whether I should go ahead or go behind to my group, and in this process, I moved ahead about half a kilometer more. Now from here it is like the dense forest and my fear also increased a lot and without wasting a minute I started running towards my group. I had assumed that where I had left them, they would have come to my side quite a lot and would meet me on the mid way soon but that didn't happen.
I had left them at the base camp of Friendship Peak and I could not see them there as well. For two minutes I felt that they used some other way to go down and then the same thought came to my mind that now I will have to cross that entire path again. If I had gone forward as much as I had come back, I would have reached to the car by now.
As I was unable to see them or anyone on the trail, so I turned on the flash light of my mobile and showed it the direction of the base camp so that someone could meet me, and then that is how I found my group.
The people of the group stopped there because the shepherds offered them tea there and there could be no greater honor than offering tea in such a desolate area of the mountains. Everyone laughed on my situation, and with all this chitchat finally, we reached Dhundhi and I was able to join the office call.
If you are exploring trek for the first time trekking here in Solang with the expert guide could have a great experience. From Dhundhi to Beas lake it is about 9 kilometer. In between there are river, bolder zone, wild flowers, if you come here in summers then you will get to see Hanuman Tibba Peak which is 5980 meters high, , Friendship Peak and light snow at the bottom of the mountains and Beas Lake. If you come during snow fall then you will have to check your gear which will support you to walk in the snow.
Beas Lake
Today's main location that I wanted to tell you about is 'Lady Leg' . I heard a lot about it from runners, as it is a tough segment to climb for runners. The name of the base camp of this peak is a bit odd, why is it named 'Lady Leg', But whatever it is, I enjoyed a lot after reaching here.
lady Leg
After talking to the locals, I understood that if you have less experience of trekking then you should go with a guide. Some locals here shared how many times people get stuck on the trail and it becomes very difficult to find them and take them down to a safe place. Along with this, it is important to have the right gear, along with all the gear, shoes are a very important part of any trekking. If you know that there will be snow then it is necessary to have googles.
Disclaimer - I have originally written this post in Hindi and translated it into English with the help of Google translator. All the photos have been taken from my phone OnePlus.