Marvel Adventure–feel the excitation

SAR PASS TREK ---
THE UNTOUCHED BEAUTY OF HIMACHAL

Trek Cost :

₹ 7,500 + 5% GST (Kasol to Barshaini)

ABOUT THIS TREK

Grade : Easy

Region : Himachal Pradesh

Altitude : 4223 m

Trek Distance : 30 Km

Trek Days : 6 Days

Best Season : May to October

Nearest Railway : Kalka

Nearest Airport : Bhuntar

The perfect beginners trek in the Himachal is the Sar Pass trek. The Sar Pass is lied in the Parvati Valley of the Kullu district of the Himachal Pradesh. The Sar means in the local language is Lake. On the trail of Tila Lotni to Biskeri Ridge, the trekkers have to pass by a small Lake, hence it is named after this. Touching at the altitude of 4220m/13,800ft Sar Pass offers verdant views of heavenly landscapes. This trek ensures all type of experiences like kinds of terrain, forests, meadows, little hamlets and snow blankets. The trek starts from the backpackers paradise Kasol. It is 5 days trek from Kasol to Barshaini, excluding your arrival and departure days. Sar Pass is trek with Pass perfect for the beginners with abundant beauty. The wide and narrow meadows will give you a amazing trek experience.

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WHY YOU SHOULD DO THIS TREK

Visit Mini-Israel

The Garhan village on the first day of trek is famous with Israeli touch in India. It is about 200 years old beautiful small village hidden inside the Himalayas.

Changing Scene

The trek don’t give you any chance to get boar. The scene, nature and flora continuously changes with the altitude gain. You can experience Turbulent Parvati river, gorgeous waterfalls, dense forest to barren meadow ad obviously snow capped mountains.

Experience glittering Snow

Observe the confluence of the the passes on this trek only. The confluence of Hampta, Rohtang and Spiti-Lahaul is unbelievable for your eyes.

Mostly Easy trail

The most trail in this trek are risk free and very beginner friendly. This is the perfect choice for the trekkers who doesn’t have any experience of Himalayan trek. And also this is a trek through which you can introduce your child a himalayan trek.

ITINERARY

DAY 1 | Arrive Kasol Base camp

Reach Kasol Base camp before afternoon, finish all registration procedure and participate on acclimatization walk. Overnight stay at the Kasol Base camp/Homestay.
Meals: Evening tea & snacks, dinner.
Stay: Camp/homestay.
Altitude : 5183 ft.

DAY 2 | Trek to Garhan

After breakfast start your trek to Garhan village camp. It is a 9kms trek, around 5/6 hrs. Overnight stay at tents in Garhan.
Meals: tea & breakfast, Lunch, evening tea & snacks, dinner.
Stay: Camp
Altitude : 7,700 ft

DAY 3 | Trek Garhan to Min Thach

Today will be a bit challenging ascent for few hours. Reach the camp after a trek of 6 kms, 5/6 hrs. Overnight stay at tents on Min Thach.
Meals: tea & breakfast, lunch, evening tea & snacks, dinner.
Altitude: 11,100 ft.

DAY 4 | Trek Min Thach to Nagaru

Today there are few steep ascent starts with moderate ascent but a short trek day. 4 kms, 4/5 hrs. Overnight stay at tents in Nagaru.
Meals: tea & breakfast, lunch, evening tea & snacks, dinner.
Altitude: 12,700 ft.

DAY 5 | Trek Nagaru to Sar Pass to Biskeri Thach

We will start early in the morning for hard snow path and to get a very rare view of sunrise from the pass. Overnight stay at Biskeri Thach tents.
Meals: tea & breakfast, lunch, evening tea & snacks, dinner.
Stay: Camp
Altitude: 13,800 ft.

DAY 6 | Trek Biskeri Thach to Barshaini, Drive to Kasol

On the last day of Hike enjoy pine forest, majestic mountains and velvet grass land. Trek down to Barshaini, 6 kms, 4/5 hrs. Your trip ends here. Drive from Barshaini to Kasol or any other desired place.
Meals: Tea & breakfast
Stay: No

HOW TO REACH THE TREK BASE KASOL

The trek start from the well known spot Kasol, in the Parvati Valley of Himachal Pradesh. Kasol is just 30 kms away from Bhuntar. Yo can reach Bhuntar by air. Buntar has a airport. Fly from Delhi or Chandigarh to Bhuntar. Or you can take overnight bus from Dehli/Chandigarh, 10-12 hrs journey. There are regular bus service from Delhi and Chandigarh. From Bhuntar reaching Kasol is very easy. You can take bus for Kasol, there are frequent bus service for Kasol. Otherwise you can take shared cab will cost around 100-150. Or if you want to book a cab you can have a pleasant journey. Try to reach Kasol by 12-2PM.

FINEST TIME TO EXPERIENCE

The Sar Pass in Himachal is doable in two season. The summer season i.e April to June is the peak season. Most of the trail is filled with snow, makes it a beautiful climb to a snow mountain pass. Greeneries start arriving at lower campsites. Weather remains Mostly clear but a bit cloudy in the afternoon. Less chance to experience rainfall. Temperature ranges between 15-20° at day time & 10-15° at night. May experience windy weather. In the autumn season i.e late September to October, snow melts down. Very less amount of snow remains on higher altitude. More green in September & early October, and changes to dry grasses of saffron color and dry vegetation. After Wash off by rain sky & weather gets more clear with unobstructed views of the mountain. Very less chance to have rainfall. Temperature ranges between 10-15° at day time & 0-5° at night.

HOW DIFFICULT IS THIS TREK

This trek in himachal is mostly encaved with easy trails with few parts as moderate steep uphill climb. The Sar Pass is not like any other high altitude pass like Bali Pass, Goecha La, it is far enough easy and risk free made this trek a beginners trek. But a beginners with over-weight and unfit body will surely find it difficult. There is no issue that you are a beginner, but please bring a minimum fitness level. Do jogging at least 4 kms in 30 minutes regular for one month before coming for any trek. The highest altitude of this is 4220m / 13,800 ft, so there are not a big chance to have AMS on the trek if you follow our acclimatization guidelines given by our Guide or Trek Leader. Overall this trek is Easy to Moderate class. But this doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take this trek as lightly, be prepare and then come. Lots of beginners already did it with out any difficulty or injuries. But this doesn’t minimize its adventure level. There are so many places and open campsites will give you raw thrill of Himalayan adventure.

TREK INCLUSIONS

TREK EXCLUSIONS

WHAT TO CARRY ON SAR PASS TREK

Like all other treks bring all the trek gears and personal hiking gears. But the first thing you need to carry on every trek is a bit fitness and endurance. So before attempting a trek always do some Cardio and other endurance exercises to build your exercise. And in the list of hiking gears includes Rucksack, Waterproof Trekking shoes, warm layers of Jackets, Thermal Inners, Woolen and sun caps, Sunscreen(SPF 40) and toiletries, good quality water bottle, multiple pair of socks, light weight rain poncho or jacket, warm gloves, a day pack Headlamps with extra cells, sunglasses etc. If you are checking for this trek we believe you are a pro trekker, so you know better what to bring on a trek as of previous experience. At last if you have any queries or its confusing what to carry, please feel free to contact us. Don’t overweight your backpack, otherwise trek will seem to be very difficult. Carry clothings according to you but wisely.

IS THIS TREK SAFE FOR YOUR CHILDREN

The Sar Pass trek route is like just made for your children. Any minor above 14 years of age can do this trek happily. Our certified mountaineers team with their medical kit will be there for you 24 hrs till the end of the trek. So there are no question on your child’s safety. Your kid you find treks a new activity to get refreshment. The trails are not very much challenging so it will not bother your child. The trek distances are the another factor i.e. there are only one hard and long day on this trek. And also only one day you might encounter with snow. The Sar Pass season don’t go extream weather conditions also, so make it perfect for your child.

Frequently Asked Questions

Acclimatisation is the most important part of high altitude trek. Acclimatisation is the process where your body start getting cope up with mountain weather & atmosphere that is different from your hometown. This change of environment may affect your normal performance in that environmental conditions. So you need to be well acclimatise to safely do the trek. Not every time depend on the high altitude medicines to avoid AMS, go for natural acclimatisation. Otherwise your body will depend permanently on the medicines whenever you go to the high altitude. The natural acclimatisation is more powerful than medicines. We need to accept the himalayas as it is challenging. It is not that himalayas are unbeatable, but requires to follow rules and systematic approch. How do human body actually acclimatise to the high altitude? In the high altitude the air pressure gets lower so the density. That is why the molecules spreads out in more space and get apart from each other. This affects lower oxygen consume per breath. Our body reacts with that change and starts to take more breath that is hypoxia. We often called it breathlessness in laymen term. Then body try to take more breath to reduce the level of carbon dioxide in our blood. This results increase pH of blood, making our blood more alkaline and body starts urinate more for exerting of bicarbonates. On the other side the body starts to produce more hemoglobin count which are the oxygen carriers in our blood. This thickens our bloods and now our heart need to pump more to throw the blood in the distant organs hence the blood pressure gets higher. This indicates slight high pressure and pulse rate is normal in high altitude areas. There are three golden rules to acclimatisation in the field of mountaineering is –
1. Climb high sleep low
2. Ascend slowly, take your time. And do not over exert.
3. Hydrate & hydrate yourself more & more.

Our expert justified few ways to acclimatise naturally are discussed below-
At first check your itinerary. Trekking is not a game in hurry. You need time to complete. It is not anything you achieve but enjoyed. This is a sport that is away from any competition. Any trek should not be judge by time & distance. Do not over exert yourself, don’t go beyond your limits. Fix your itinerary comfortably. Do not try to cover more distance and altitude gain in one day to minimize the trekking days and cost. On the very initial days approach slowly even you are fit enough to trek faster. Take more time to gain altitude. This allows your body enough time to adjust with the atmosphere. Always bring a well hydrated body in the Himalayas and keep hydrated yourself on the trek days. Drink 3-4 liters of water every day on trek, and consume enough tea, soup, dal and other liquid includes in your meals. Do not consume any type of alcohol drinks 2/3 days before you start the trek, and also don’t on the trek. We do not allow any trekker to consume alcohol on the trek, if found he/she will be sent back then and there. We do not also advise to consume any hard drinks, too much coffee is also not good. ORS and other energy/glucose tablets are best on the trek. After arriving on trek base, trekkers may feel cold weather. But do not cover yourself fully with all of the woolen cap, muffler, neck warmer and all. Let your body to sense the atmosphere change with the sense organs. It will help in natural acclimatisation. Allow your skin to feel the cold. your ears to sense the pressure change. Keep that open while gaining altitude, unless there is a blizzard or bad weather condition. Don’t be a show off man, don’t show unnecessary bravery. Keep your body protect from cold weather. Protect your body from cold wind, cover your head at night & bad weather, cover your neck, tonsils and body tip like fingers, toes etc. Get proper sleep at night. It doesn’t mean that you should sleep at day time or in the afternoon as soon as you reach the campsite. Sleeping is important on every trek to get refresh and rest for next day trek. If you find difficulty in sleep bring immediate notice to the trek leader or guide. As you reach the trek base try to keep yourself dry, do not loose the body heat. Do not skip your soup in the evening. The garlic soup & other helps in blood circulation, keeps your body warm. You remain active on the high altitude. After reaching campsite everybody gets tired, this is normal. But do not get into your sleeping bag & take a nap. This will not help you to get acclimatise. Have some rest for a while, then explore the nearby places, go for the acclimatisation walk. You need to follow the golden rule ‘climb high sleep low’. Climb a bit higher in acclimatisation walk and get back to the campsite. You can indulge yourself in games, or can go for photography. Eat proper meals throughout the day, but lite. Not so much spicy foods, consume easy to digest foods more.
Trekking is a adventure sports, you need to bring a sportsman sprit and fitness on any trek. There is a big worry in many trekkers that how much they need to be fit for a trek. The himalayas are full of steep uphill, rough terrain, walking in the snow all these can be very challenging for trekkers specially for beginners. We will discuss here how to get fit for any trek with a complete training guide. Trek to uphill mountain is not in our daily routine so it is simple that we will find it tough to climb uphill. And with a backpack it seems very challenging. But only a month of regular exercise can make you fit for the trek. Cardio exercise is the best for pre trek exercise. Do some cardio exercise like jogging, swimming, cycling, jumping jacks etc will help you to build your endurance. Don’t forget to do some leg exercise like squats, lunges, stair climbing etc to build stamina of your legs. Now we made a routine exercise for you –
1. Cardiovascular endurance : On your trek you will constantly gaining altitude with your backpack in low oxygen atmosphere. Your heart will do more effort in this condition. So you need to go through cardio exercise at least for one month regularly to counter this constant uphill climb comfortably, infact you will find it bit easier. Jogging for 4 kms in 30 minutes is your first target for this. Start with slower jog and continue to fill the target.
2. Leg exercise : After one week of jogging add some leg exercise like squats and lunges to your routine. This exercises will build stamina of your leg that will help you on steep uphill climb. Start with 10 squats and 10 lunges of 2 set in first week. Then increase to 3 sets. Try to fulfil your target to do 3 sets of 15 each before the trek.
3. Strengthening the core : For strengthening your core body plank and hip raise are best. Do plank for 20 seconds for first three days and then start increasing by 10 seconds till 60.
Along with that do 10 hip raises 2 sets, and increase for 3 sets of 15 each. That should be the goal. So, get ready for your next adventure, make yourself fit enough to do the adventure activities.

There are three level of fitness we categorise :
Level 1 : It is the minimal fitness with that you just able to finish the trek. You struggle a bit, but not too much to do the challenging section. We find most of the trekkers with this much of fitness.
Level 2 : This is one level up fitness you bring on the trek, that you find the trek not very difficult or moderate but easy. And you can carry your own backpack easily throughout the trek. You don’t feel exhausted at the end of every day trek. You are find yourself still not tired and active after reaching the destination. You enjoy the other activity and enjoy exploring the nearby or involving yourself in some game.
Level 3 : This is the fitness we admire most & the ultimate mountaineer like fitness. The trekkers with this fitness finds trek easy for them and they are still very active after the whole day trek even with their rucksack. Not only that these people are fit enough to tolerate bad weather conditions, contribute in some work like tent pitching & kitchen activity, bringing water from nearby water source. Give a hand if other trekkers are in trouble or in some rescue operation.
Rucksack is a most important equipment on every trek & packing your rucksack is a important task for your trek. On a typical trek you need to carry your own rucksack, and if your rucksack is not comfortable to carry you will eventually start hating your backpack and also the trek. A rucksack need to be perfectly pack that it should be comfortable to carry on your back. It should not hurt you anyhow. The mordern day designed rucksacks are very light weight and have many chambers to pack seprately. A good quality rucksack have well paded for comfortable carrying in waist and shoulder. If you are planning to buy a rucksack, please keep the things in your mind and don’t forget to check the strength of rucksack and other straps.
Before you pack your rucksack go through our basic rule. This will help you to pack easily as a beginner. You just can not do every day packing and unpacking on multiple day of trek. Imagine how irritable and time consuming that will be. The A B C D E rule to pack your rucksack—

A – Accessibility = While packing your rucksack pack in such way that every thing are easily accissible for you. Use the different parts to achieve different things easily. For an example use different chambers for toileteries, different for your dry fruits and snacks, different for clothes, different for small items like gloves, socks, woolen caps etc. Keep the items at top or side pockets that you may need on the way like rain wears, sunglass, sunscreen etc.
B – Balance = Your bag need to be packed in such way that it can stand straight when you leave your backpack alone on a flat surface. The more your backpack is balanced the less it will hurt your shoulder. The weight distribution on both shoulder should be equal in order to comfortable carry.
C – Compression & Compartments = While packing your backpack compress all the cloths and the things that can be compresed. It will give you more space inside your rucksack. But remember don’t do more compress or less, do as much as it needed. Compress till it gives you more space to adjust other things. Now use more compartments or make more compartments by using different colored plastic bags, like for socks and underwear use red color plastic bags, for inner and thermal clother use yellow bag, for woolen cap & gloves use green one. It will not only give you another layer of waterproofing but also help you recognise all the different things. This will also help you to find your stuffs quickly.
D – Dry = Always keep your backpack dry from outside and inside also. Use rain cover from outside. And from inside all of your stuffs should be kept dry, otherwaise it will be more heavier than usual. Wet rucksack is not only heavier but also prone to damage, not good for rucksack maintenance. Use rain cover to protect from get wet.
E – Environment = Make a list of your stuffs that need to be packed inside the rucksack according to the environment of the trek you are going. Keep in mind the weather in that perticular month you choose to trek. Pack your backpack with stuffs you need in that weather conditions.

EXPERT’S ADVISE:
-> Always keep the heavy things in the middle of the rucksack and closer to your back.
-> The medium weight things should be kept in the lower compartments & liteweight items should be kept in top section of your rucksack.
-> Use plastic layer from inside to keep the stuffs dry.
-> Don’t forget to put rain cover from outside in rain and snow.
-> Adjust the shoulder straps to balance weight on both shoulder. Put the waist starps also to get better support and balance.
-> You can use you rucksack as a pillow inside the tent, or can rest your leg on rucksack.
Lots of trekkers are very worried about their accomodation on trek days. Wheather it gonna be comfortable or not, safe or not. Here is the answer. We have the good quality tents and sleeping bags for high altitude treks. Our mattress are very soft and thick to provide a comfortable sleep at night. But you should keep in mind that trekking in wilderness in himalayas are not any four or five star category. This is an adventure trip, if we provide a homely/hotel feeling on your trek, then there will be no adventure left for you. But obviously we will definitely provide a safe and cozy tent for your stay. Our tents are tested in bad weather conditions also. Sleeping bags are very warm to spend nights with a good sleep. And at the trek bases we arrange the best homestay available at the village. Homestays are sanitised and clean from inside. Toilets are well maintained and hygiene.
We go to the each and every trek base we organise and choose our guides on the basis of their experience, behaviour, past record, knowledge, abilities and good personality. They knows all about the routes and reacue & evacuation plans. They know how to handle in bad weather conditions. Our guides are well trained for work in the mountains, knows about the camping gears. They have years of experience in safety methods and protocols on the trek. Our guides are very happy to help and eager to serve you better. They always maintain health and hygiene. They are very friendly and make the more enjoyable for you.