Page Type:
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Route |
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Route Type:
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Hiking |
Season:
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Summer |
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Time Required:
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A few days |
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Difficulty:
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Intermediate |
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Overview
Beas Kund is a very popular trek in the state of Himachal Pradesh in India. It is a trek in the Kullu Valley of Himachal Pradesh. Beas Kund is the lake from where river Beas originates, and is considered to be the holy lake where Rishi Vyas used to take his bath.Manali is a beautiful hill station, popular amongst all types of people. It is at an approximate height of 6200 feet. This town is also the home of DMAS (Directorate of Mountain and Allied Sports), where I did my Basic Course in Mountaineering. This is the only institute in India, apart from Nehru Institute of Mountaineering (NIM), which is situated in Uttarkashi, and the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute (HMI) , Darjeeling.
Beas Kund is generally a base camp for scaling the nearby peaks like Ladakhi, Friendship and Kshitidhar, all being above 5000 meters in height. Also, beyond Beas Kund lies the base camp for Mt Hanuman Tibba, which is a relatively technical peak. Also, from Dhundi, peaks such as Indrasen and Deo Tibba are visible.
Getting There
The normal route to go to Beas Kund is:For Within India:
Reach Kullu (either by air/road/rail) - Manali - Solang Naalah - Dhundi - Bakharthach - Beas Kund.
From outside India:
Fly to Delhi, then follow the regular route to go to Solang Nalaah.
From Manali, a bus takes you to Solang Naala, which is at an approximate height of 8000 feet. Solang Naalah serves as a base camp for this particular trek. Solang Nalaah to Dhundi is almost an 8 km trek, with an altitude gain of around 1000 feet. Camp 1 is generally set up at Dhundi. After a night at Dhundi, hikers can hike up to Bakharthach and set up camp there or can go and come back from Beas Kund in a day.
Bakharthach is at an approximate height of 10,800 feet above sea level, and Beas Kund is at a height of 11,500 feet. If the hike is done in a day, it might prove a bit exhaustive to some people. There is a steep climb just after an hour after one leaves his Dhundi Campsite.
Patalsu Base Camp is in a different direction that Beas Kund. One needs to come back from Beas Kund Dhundi to Solang Naalah, from where the trek starts. One need to cross the Beas river in order to trek up to the base camp of Patalsu Peak. It is a fairly easy trek, approximately 6 km in length.
Route Description
Solang Naalah, which is situated approximately 13 kms from Manali, serves as a base camp for this trek.Solang Naalah to Dhundi - An 8 km trek, with an altitude gain of 1000 feet, approximately.
Dhundi to Beas Kund - Almost a height gain of 2500 feet, out of which, one section is relatively steep, and is almost snow covered towards the end of May, when I hiked this route.
Essential Gear
If one is not going with some pre-arranged hike program, the essential gear needed is pretty much the same as what one would need at ay high altitude trek.- Backpack, preferably with rain cover
- Tent
- Sleeping Bag and Pad
- Warn Inners (Liners)
- Gloves, preferably with Liners
- Woolen Cap and Socks
- Necessary Food for almost a week and stove
- Water, although snow cold be melted for water
- Mid-level hiking shoes, preferably waterproof.