Indrahar Pass Trek

Setting out from the small square in McLeod Ganj, the trail to Triund climbs past guesthouses and Tibetan prayer-flag-strung rooftops before entering forest just beyond the last chai stall on the outskirts of town. The initial gradient is gentle, and the path merges after twenty minutes or so with the route climbing from Dharamkot, passing close to the small, reed-fringed Dal Lake tucked into a fold of the hillside, a favourite stop for local monks and a scatter of grazing horses. Beyond the lake, the forest deepens into oak and horse-chestnut, and a short detour leads to the whitewashed shrine of Gallu Devi, considered the guardian deity of this stretch of the Dhauladhar and a customary stop for blessings before the climb proper begins. From here the trail steepens noticeably, switchbacking through increasingly open rhododendron cover, and the views back over McLeod Ganj and the wooded slopes around the Dalai Lama's residence at Tsuglagkhang grow more expansive with every turn. A handful of small tea houses punctuate the route at roughly hourly intervals, each a useful marker of progress as much as a place to rest, and their owners often share informal updates on conditions higher up, useful information this early in a trek that will eventually reach a genuine mountain pass. The final hour climbs through a band of stunted, wind-bent trees before opening abruptly onto Triund's broad grassy ridge, where the full sweep of the Dhauladhar appears at close range for the first time, a wall of grey rock and hanging snowfields that will occupy the group's full attention for the next three days. Camp is set up on the ridge's flatter western end, away from the day-tripper crowds that often gather near the main viewpoint, and the evening briefing focuses on acclimatisation and the technical notes for the days ahead, since this is only the first, gentlest stage of a considerably more demanding route.

The short distance from Triund to Lahesh Cave belies how much the terrain changes in just a few hours of walking. Leaving the grassy ridge, the trail crosses a stretch of coarse alpine turf before tackling a long, punishing slope of loose scree and grass tussocks that gains height relentlessly with almost no level ground to recover on. Streams here are seasonal, often reduced to a trickle by late summer, so bottles are topped up wherever water is found rather than assuming the next source will be reliable. Marmots are a near-constant presence on this stretch, their sharp alarm whistles echoing across the slope whenever the group draws close, and their burrows riddle the hillside just off the main trail. As the gradient eases slightly near the top, the view opens dramatically backward over Triund and, beyond it, the entire Kangra valley receding into a blue haze toward the plains, a perspective considerably wider than anything seen the previous day. Lahesh Cave itself is not a true cave but a large, overhanging rock slab that has sheltered shepherds and trekkers for generations, its underside blackened by decades of cooking fires, and it provides just enough cover for a handful of tents to pitch in its lee, protected from the worst of any overnight wind or sudden hail. The setting is stark: bare rock, sparse cushion plants, and, directly ahead, the final rocky approach to Indrahar Pass rising in clear silhouette against the sky. Afternoons here often bring a build-up of cloud around the high peaks, and the guide watches this closely, since it offers the best indication of what conditions might look like for the pass crossing at first light tomorrow. Dinner is eaten early and warmly wrapped, and most trekkers report a noticeably harder time settling into sleep at this altitude, a normal response the guide checks in on before lights-out.