An offbeat location, this is but a beautiful destination. This is located at Shimla. It takes 6 hours from Shimla to Buran Ghati. The place is a fairytale-like with amazing pine forests and beautiful landscapes. It has one of the most thrilling pass crosses among the treks. The place is known for its pine forest, silver birch forests, and beautiful wooden houses that are linked together. There’s no doubt that Buran Ghati trek is a hidden gem.
Buran Ghati Trek
It is an 8-day long trekking, which is one of the most different trekking experience you ever had. The Buran Ghati trek encompasses a diversity of landscapes- farmlands, orchards, meadows, streams, thick forest and ice-capped mountains. The trekking begins from Guide and crosses through Janglik, Dayara, Litham, Chandranahan Lake, Dhunda, Buran Ghati and Barua Village. Trekkers need to climb down a wall, to be more specific a snow wall at 15,000 feet followed by 5 big snow slides. The Buran Ghati trek is moderate to difficult in nature.
Trek Highlights
- The trek is an opportunity to enjoy and savor the beauty of many tiny hamlets and streams.
- It is also a chance to explore Shimla
- The Buran Ghati trek covers mountains, meadows, streams, and villages along with ice-capped mountains
- The fairy tale view of oak, silver birch and pine forests.
- Hydel project of Jaypee Group at Karcham
- The camping site include Dayara meadows, one of the best in country
- Ice wall decent and six long snow slides
- View of beautiful wooden farmhouses
- Fruit, primarily apple Orchards
Key Facts About Trek
- Location: Himachal Pradesh
- Starting from: Shimla
- Temperature: 13 to 18 degree Celsius in the morning; 0 to 7 degree Celsius at night
- Trekking Distance: 37-kilometers
- Maximum altitude: 15000 feet
- Difficulty Level: Moderate
- Nearest Airport: Jubbarhatti
- Nearest Railway Station: Shimla
- Accommodation Type: Camping
- Food: Nutritious food suitable for trekking
- Best time to visit: Mid-June to early October
- Duration: 8 Days and 7 nights
Itinerary
Day -1: Getting to the Diude Base Camp
Altitude: 9,200 ft
One will have to start from Shimla as early as 6 in the morning. It takes a 6 hours’ drive to reach Buran Ghati. The vehicles from Shimla would take you to the base camp which is at Janglik. While driving from Rohru to Diude you will come across the Pabbar River. Lookout for the four-sided wheat fields beside the river and lovely Himachali homes. You will have to move further through these dirt tracks to reach Tonglu. At Tonglu, You’ll have to cross the Pabbar River. It takes only a short walk from Diude to Janglik.
Day- 2: Trek from Diude/Janglik to Dayara
Altitude: 9,200 ft to 11,075 ft
Time took: 5 hours
Trek gradient: Moderate.
Climb out of Diude and you will come across farmlands with beautifully carved wooden houses. Walking further for 15 minutes from here you will leave Diude. There then comes a ledge giving you a spectacular view of Tonglu village, this is the perfect place for rest. You will then be entering an oak and pine forest.
About an hour later the path will be surrounded by trees marking an entrance to the beautiful pine and oak forest, Dayara is a beautiful meadow, considered to be one of the best campsites. You will be camping at Dayara.
Day- 3: Trek from Dayara to Litham
Altitude: 11,000 ft to 11,737 ft
Time took: 3 hours
Trek gradient: Easy.
On this particular day, you will begin by climbing up for around 15 minutes which is accompanied by the crossing of a stream. Further climb through the mid of pine forests and meadows and there comes a moderate descend through silver birch forests. As you already have the water from Dayara it will not be required to refill the water. You can find many streams along the path.
Once you cross the stream and you trek out of the forest you can view the ice-capped mountains of the Dhauladhar range and Gunas Pass. Further climbing you will enter a Silver birch forest. Sliding moderately down across the forest runs us to an additional recurrent stream in the bend of the mountain. Stay overnight at Litham campsite.
Day- 4: Excursion to Chandranahan Lake
Altitude: 11,737 ft to 13,900 ft and back
Time took: 6-7 hours
Trek gradient: Difficult.
Chandranahan Lake is one beautiful place. It is a glacial pool that is constantly nourished by ice-capped mountains that border it. One will have to cross the stream which you g=had previously found just before crossing the Litham campsite. Further, move upwards following Shepherd’s track and you can see the point at which the stream emerges. After about one hour and a half, we will reach the mouth of a waterfall, a place marked with beautiful stone landmarks. IT becomes difficult to reach the lake at this particular point. At the time of June, the place is covered with snow and makes it difficult to walk on. Feeding the lake is tiny waterfalls on all the sides. Trekkers can spend some quality time here before we head back to Litham, which is a steep climb. Start at least at early morning so that you can reach Litham by the time of Lunch.
Day- 5: Trek from Litham to Dhunda
Altitude: 11,737 ft to 13,365 ft
Time took: 4-5 hours
Trek gradient: Moderate.
Dhunda is located at 13,300 ft and is a moderate climb. It takes around two hours to ascent to the pass. You will witness The Dhauladhar range emerging out of the track which has the attractive Gunas pass resting on top of the icy rims of the grey mountains.
The whole setting has a monochrome effect. Grey mountains, snow which is a white and green alley of Litham to one of the sides and the cliffs that margin the Rupin valley to the right. Here, at this point, Pabbar takes a sharp ascent. Following the well-marked trail left by the shepherds hike further to Dhunda. Keep left and climb up along the banks till you reach a U shaped valley and you catch the first sight of the Buran Ghati on your left. Climbing further for an hour one will reach Dhunda. The camp is set in an alpine area. You sleep in a lace that is bordered by ice-capped mountains.
Day- 6: Trek from Dhunda to River camp via Buran Ghati
Altitude: 13,365 feet to 15,000 feet
Time took: 9-10 hours
Trek gradient: Difficult.
Pursue the range and jump over the rocks and hike towards the base of the pass. From the base, one will have to ascend further for an hour on snow to the top. The place is located at an altitude of 15,000 feet. The descend could be steep and sharp. It makes it a bit difficult, the trekkers will have to use both ax and rope. The primary aim is to reach the first snowfield that is some 100 meters below the pass. Then comes several other descends which you will have to slowly slide down. By the end of 2 hours, you will reach the last of snow lines. And altitude reduces by some 3550 feet. Further down, you will reach a point with junipers and lovely flower crested shrubs. The view of the valley and ice-capped mountains are breathtaking. Descend further for an hour to reach the stream on the banks of which you can find the huts of farmers. Here is where you will be camping for the day.
Day -7: River Camp to Barua Village and Drive to Shimla
Altitude: 11,800 feet to 6,700 feet
Time is taken for Trek: 6 hours
Trek gradient: Easy
You will be climbing down to Barua Village on this particular day. This place has a diverse vegetation and wildlife. You will be following the way that follows the Barua Khud. Attention shall be taken that you stick to that particular trail which is most used and broadest, to avoid a smooth passage. You can witness high altitude Pines which slowly changes as you descend. Walking down further for around an hour and a half you will reach a stream which has a makeshift bridge made of junipers and mud. Once you cross the stream the vegetation becomes more diverse with an array of different kind of trees. Then you will come across Apple orchards and first signs of civilization which marks the entry to the village of Barua with an arch. The descend becomes more rapid as you approach the center of the village. Within half an hour from here, you will reach the road bridge over Barua Khud. From Barua, a bus would be waiting for you to leave for Shimla. You will be reaching the town within an hour. However, if you wish to spend more time at the village and want to reach the town on your own, you will get plenty of vehicles from there to Karcham, a junction which is 3-kilometers apart. A huge hydro-electric project by the Jaypee group also begins at Karcham. From Karcham one can opt for a vehicle to Sangla, which is 17 km away, or to Reckong Peo which offers more connectivity to Shimla.
Day- 8: Extra Day
Shimla is a beautiful place to be in. The 8th day would be for taking ample rest and for sight-seeing and shop at Shimla. You can book and take a Volvo bus to Delhi from here. This is the day when the tour concludes.
