Pin Bhaba Pass Trek

The Pin Bhaba Pass crossing begins with a drive from Kaza into the Pin Valley, a side valley of Spiti protected in part as a national park and known for its distinctly stark, multicoloured terrain and small, scattered Buddhist villages. Mudh, the last motorable village in the valley, sits amid barley fields and scattered willow groves that provide a surprising splash of green against the surrounding bare, eroded hills, and the village serves as the traditional starting point for this crossing toward Kinnaur's Bhaba valley on the far side of the range. A short walk through Mudh's fields and lanes in the afternoon offers a relaxed introduction to Pin Valley's particular character, distinct from both the greener Kullu-Kinnaur belt and the starker high desert further into Spiti proper, and villagers here, accustomed to a modest trickle of trekkers each season, are typically welcoming toward the small groups passing through en route to Bhaba valley. Guides use the evening to explain the specific demands of this route, noting how Pin Bhaba differs meaningfully from both the more commonly referenced Pin Parvati Pass, which crosses in an entirely different direction toward Kullu, and the separate Bhaba Pass route accessed from other approach valleys, since all three passes share overlapping names but lead through genuinely distinct terrain. Evening in Mudh, with the valley's characteristic layered rock formations catching the day's last light, offers a memorable, unhurried start to the crossing ahead. A simple dinner shared with local hosts sets a relaxed, welcoming tone before the days of genuine wilderness travel that follow.

Leaving Mudh's fields behind, the trail follows the Pin river upstream into increasingly wild terrain, the valley's characteristic layered, multicoloured rock formations rising steeply on both sides as the last scattered willow trees give way entirely to high-desert scrub. The path stays close to the river for much of the day, its water a distinctive milky grey-green from glacial sediment carried down from the peaks at the valley's head, and several informal crossings test balance without posing serious difficulty this early in the trek. Wildlife here reflects the Pin Valley National Park's protected status, and the group has genuine chances of spotting blue sheep on the surrounding slopes, along with the occasional ibex in the more rugged side valleys, species that have benefited from the relatively low human disturbance in this specific protected corridor. Bara Boudh Thach, the day's camp, sits on a grassy shelf beside the river, used seasonally by local shepherds moving flocks toward the higher pastures that the trek will continue climbing toward over the coming days. The setting here already feels considerably more remote than Mudh, with the valley narrowing and the peaks at its head becoming increasingly prominent against the skyline. Evening temperatures drop noticeably compared to the village below, and the guide team uses the relatively early camp arrival to brief the group on the coming days' steady altitude gain toward Pin Bhaba Pass base camp. The sound of the river running close to camp provides a constant, soothing backdrop through the evening, a welcome contrast to the stark silence that will define the higher camps still to come.