Bali Pass and Bamsarukhal

Detailed Itinerary

Day 01: Dehradun – Sankri
Drive – 200kms, 8hrs
Arrive at Sankri Village, meet our host at Meraki Triangle, Homestay. If time permits you can explore this beautiful village or just walk around Sankri. Sankri is 200 kms from Dehradun.

Day 02: Sankri – Taluka – Chillud Gaad/Seema
Drive: 12kms | Trek: 12-13kms
There is a 12kms jeepable road connecting Sankri with Taluka.

The trail goes through dense forest of chestnut, walnut and chinars. Taluka village is situated at an altitude of 2,410mts above sea level. The trekking route from Taluka to Seema stays on the right side of Supin River. You’ll need to cross wooden bridges over streams and do occasional climbs which doesn’t last for long.

While trekking you will encounter couple of alternative routes that leads to different villages of that region. After 9kms of trekking you will see a beautiful village with unique wooden houses on the left side of the river, Gangad Village. It takes another 1-2 hours from this point to reach Chillud Gaad OR Seema depending upon the camping ground availability and weather we will choose a campsite.

Day 03: Chillud Gaad/Seema – Debshu Bugyal – Rainbasera
Trek – 10kms
Start off early for a long day of trekking. Follow the trail on right after walking past Seema. Do not take the bridge over Supin River on left, that route leads to Har ki Doon Valley. After gradually climbing for 2hours Debshu  Bugyal comes into view. Dev Thatch is a beautiful meadow 2kms in length but not that wide. It is a delight to walk on this meadow mainly because the route turns out demanding from the end of Dev Thatch meadow.

After crossing Dev Thatch you will have to cross couple of wooden bridges over the gushing Ruinsara Gad. Ruinsara forest area is rich in vegetation but it keeps on receding as you climb up. After crossing the river and further incline of couple of kilometres we will reach the camping grounds of Rainbasera.

Day 04: Rainbasera – Ruinsara Tal
Trek – 8kms
RuinsaraTalisoneofthemost scenic lakesofGarhwalHimalayasoverlookingloftyHimalayanpeaks. Surrounded bybirchtrees, RuinsaraTal (3630mts)makesaperfectcampsitebut this region is exposed to cold winds. The lake is surrounded by bhojpatra trees which adds to the lake’s beauty. The trek to Ruinsara Tal from Rainbasera is a pleasant walk and not tiring.

Day 05: Ruinsara Tal – Bali Pass Base Camp
Cross the bridge near Ruinsara Tal and climb to reach Thanga meadow. Swargarohini group of peaks look staggering from this region as you climb on its opposite side of the mountain. While reaching Odari won’t take much time but reaching Bali Pass Advance Base Camp will involve a long walk on the sharp ridge exposed to crevasse area and lofty peaks on either side. Traversing snow will also be required while reach base camp. You can also trek to advanced base camp if well fit and acclimatized.

Day 06: Bali Pass Base Camp – Bali Pass – Damini Forest Camping Ground
Trek – 14kms
Start at around 4 am so as to reach Bali Pass before any sudden weather change. This is the toughest day of the Bali Pass Trek and it requires assistance of technical gears like crampons and rope. Watch out for crevasses after crossing Advance base camp. Widespread and steep snowfields will take you Bali Pass (4950mts). Trek down towards the yamunotri side. There is one steep and tricky descent involved while reach Damini camping ground.

Day 07: Damini Forest Camping Ground – Yamunotri – Janki Chatti
Trek – 10kms | Drive – 12kms
Trek down from Damini to the sacred Yamunotri temple, one of the Char Dham of Uttarakhand and source of the holy Yamuna River. After visiting the temple,trek down to JankiChatti.

Day 08: Rest Day / Buffer Day at Kharsali
Today we visit Kharsali Village to see the ancient temple of Shani Dev, rare architecture of decades old houses and newly made Someshwar Devta Temple. This will be a leisure day / Buffer Day in the itinerary. By evening we drive back to Hanuman Chatti.

Day 09: Kharsali – Sunapuli Top
Trek –8kms
Following the trail toward the temporary shelters on the village outskirts we climb onwards to Sunapuli Top. We can can further to reach a suitable campsite near a water stream.

Day 10: Sunapuli Top–Jhandidhar – Dig Odaar – Gudmu Gaad
Trek – 9kms
The climb to Jhandidhar is steep but soon the zig zag trail starts to cross a few false summits which are parts of ridges. We follow the trail to Dig Odaar and trek towards Gudmu Gaad a small waterfall stream. The trail on the other side of the mountain from Kanasar to Darwa Top is visible from the campsite.

Day 11: Gudmu Gaad–Sangasu Pass – Bheem Udar
Trek – 9kms
There are lots of alpine flowers on the ridges. We continue to climb Sangasu Pass and descend to Bheem Udar. It is believed that Bheem Udar was created by Bheem from Mahabharata during their time in the Himalayan region. You will have a clear view of Bingad valley leading towards Bamsarukhal from this campsite.

Day 12: Bheem Udar – Bingad – Bamsaru Tal
Trek: 7kms
Trek downwards from Bheem Udar towards the Bingad Valley. The wide ridge of Bamsarukhal Massif can be clearly seen from Bingad campsite. There are dense bushes of rhododendrons and other vegetation here specially during post monsoon period and that compliments with the view. From Bingad we hike upwards while staying on the right climbing right after crossing the river.

Brahmakamal can be found in plenty on this trail, some even in the bunch of 4-6 knitted together. From Bamsaru Tal you will see a clear view of Banderpunch I & II and its reflection on the lake is a photographers delight. Around the elevated ridges of Bamsaru Tal there are few good camping grounds available, choose one which is nearest to a water source.

For better acclimatization and a stunning sunset view you can climb up to the ridges beyond Bamsaru Tal. While hiking above you will witness diminishing of meadows with boulders and moraines taking over. The Bamsarukhal route will be on the left incline through a gully, follow the moraines on the right edge of the horizon. From here you will see the back side of Gidara Bugyal spreading far out towards the ridges of Uchlad, Surya Top and way back Dayara Bugyal will also look familiar. Below will be the cliff-hanger meadows and ridges following by the forest line reaching out to Chhola Dhuni. Get back to the campsite before it gets dark.

Day 13: Bamsaru Tal – Bamsarukhal – Gidara Bugyal
Trek – 14kms
We start from Bamsarukhal early morning to reach the pass with clear weather. The walk on moraines will get tiring as we venture upwards. Soon the steep climb of BAmsarukhal will come into view when the cairns on the top becomes identifiable. It will maximum around 3hours to reach the top and it will immediately pay off with the views this pass was holding on to. The vast ridges of alpine meadows and sharp ridges are breathtaking and we still will be exposed to one third of what Gidara Bugyal has to offer.

The descent is sharp but still a walkable path considering we have traversed the moraines. Fenkamal are found in abundance on the ridges following the path downwards to Gidara Bugyal. Fenkamal are generally rare and are of high medicinal values. They are often found above 4000mts and this is the place where you will find them the most in comparison with any other trek in Uttarakhand, specially during September.

As we navigate the downhill hike crossing multiple beautiful ridges, Gidara Bugyal gets wider and expands to multiple gorgeous valleys. We pick the best spot to get down for lunch, roam the meadow, take pictures and with a heavy heart continue downwards to camp at the end of Gidara Bugyal. This is the most widespread high altitude meadow of Uttarakhand ranging from 3500mts to 4000mts and one of the least explored trails.

Day 14: Gidara Bugyal – Bhangeli
Trek – 16kms
The reason we camped on the far end of Gidara Bugyal is because we will have a long way to reach Bhangeli Village and traversing Gidara Bugyal itself adds a few good kilometers to the itinerary. During this last day of Chhota Vanvaas we will be literally venturing out into the deep forests of Bhojpatra, Rhododendrons and Deodars while crossing the campsites of Thalotya, Dokrani and Rikoda.

We finally complete the trek by reaching Bhangeli village from where you’ll see the aerial view of Gangotri Highway, Bhagirathi River and Gangnani.

Day 15: Bhangeli – Gangnani – Dehradun
Trek: 1km | Drive: 190kms
Trek 1km down to the roadhead and drive to Gangnani. There is a natural thermal spring at Gangnani and a hot bath there to end the journey will be very much required to comfort our body muscles and for final cleansing during this Chhota Vanvaas. We drive comfortably back to Dehradun after that.