My Trekking Experience to Triund & Snowline (McLeod Ganj, Dharamshala)

In 2014, when I first time visited McLeod Ganj along with two of my friends, I couldn’t complete the Triund Trek and had to return back from around 2.5 km trek due to lack of time. On that day, I have decided that one day I will come back and complete this trek.

Almost after 10 years, I decided to complete this long time due trek, Solo. After reaching Dharamshala at around 8:30 am (on a bus from Delhi) on 11.05.24, I travelled to McLeod Ganj on a local bus (lucky to find it). After some searching, find out a hotel (for one hour) to freshen up. Reached the Triund Trek starting point, Gallu Devi Temple in a cab at around 10:45 am. The idea was to reach Triund and if time, energy and weather permits, trek further to Snowline and camp there for a night.

I started the Triund Trek at 10:55 am. The distance between Gallu Devi Temple and Triund is around 8 km while the distance between Triund and Snowline is around 4-5 km (though it is far more challenging). An average healthy person will take around 3-5 hours to reach Triund and around 3-4 hours to reach Snowline (if weather permits). After completing roughly around 60% of the trek to Triund, it started raining heavily and continued for around one and half hours. I had taken my raincoat anticipating this, but my shoes were not waterproof. Also, I didn’t want to risk trekking during rain as the trek became more slippery.

I reached the Triund around 2 pm and was really tired. Also, the weather was not that good and it was drizzling unremittingly. Then I overheard a guy who was talking about going to the snowline. They were a group of 4 friends and had already booked the tent in Triund. They just wanted to go to Snowline and then return back. I spoke with him and decided to go with them. They have a local guide with them. Though, from Gallu Devi to Triund is a well defined track and can be done alone (also you will find many fellow trekkers), from Triund to Snowline trek is not that well defined, has many narrow passages and is mostly secluded. I started with them from Triund at around 2:30 pm but within 1 hour lost them as I was really tired and moving very slowly. Faced many tricky situations, lost track 2-3 times and had a fear that I would lost the track completely and would be trapped nowhere at night. There was also the possibility of Bear and Snow Leopard encounter. Somehow, my senses worked well on time and I reached Snowline around 4:30 pm. The view was totally worth it!

Played cricket with local people and some trekkers with a different ball (made from some cloth so that it can't travel far), slept in a night tent and trekked back to Triund in the morning (around 7:50 am). Was in a tricky situation while trekking back as well as I was pursuing a wrong trail (Used by locals for shortcut. Never follow that. You can easily get lost and trapped nowhere in a dense forest). After reaching Triund, within 10 minutes it started raining heavily (with ola) and the whole land was covered by 5-7 cm thick snow. It continued for almost 90 minutes. When it finally passed, the view was mesmerizing.

While trekking downwards, the whole trek was covered with thick snow. It was a lifetime experience. I also completed 41k steps in a single day (12.05.24) , a new personal record. Met some great people including Ramesh Nair Sir during the trek! Will come back again, and hopefully earlier next time!!

One must do this amazing Trek at least "Once in a Lifetime!!"

#lifetimeexperience #trekking #mountaintrekking #triund #snowline #solotrekking #solotravel #solotraveler

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