Day 1(Thur, 20th Oct): And The Journey Begins...
Trekking is a new found passion of mine and I'm finding it equally thrilling and amazing as my motorcycle adventures. Many a times during my motorcycle trips where I have come across a beautiful mountain view, I've always felt this sudden desire to climb it. To stand at the top of its peak, to experience the spectacular views it would offer and to know how it feels to be up there. And this desire of mine was fulfilled earlier this year in April, when I did my first solo trek to Prashar Lake. After completing Prashar Lake trek, I realized that I'm capable of doing much bigger treks. And, when my Ladakh trip got cancelled which I planned for September, I decided to go for the Shikari Devi(Hunter Goddess) trek. Shikari Devi temple lies in the Shikari Devi wildlife sanctuary in Himachal Pradesh. It is situated at the top of the hill and is surrounded by thick oak and coniferous forests. At 11,000 feet from sea level, it is said to be the highest peak in the entire Mandi district and known as the 'Crown of Mandi'. This place can be approached from Janjehli or Karsog valley. Janjehli is the base for Shikari Devi trek, it is about 100 kms from Sunder Nagar. The trek distance from Janjehli to Shikari Devi temple is 16 kms, half of which goes through thick forests of oak, spruce and pine trees and takes about 3.5-5 hours. For those who want to go by car or motorcycle, there's a jeepable road from Janjehli to the temple. Vast green pastures, amazing panoramic views and breathtaking scenic beauty, sunrise and sunsets makes it a treat for nature lovers. The temple is open from April till mid November.
It's the only roofless temple in the entire north India. there have been several attempts in the past to construct a roof for the temple but they were all failed. As per locals, the goddess simply wouldn't allow it to happen. This place receives lots of snow during winters. Although the entire region around this temple gets covered with several feet of snow, it has been observed that the area inside the temple remains snow-free. Hunting is banned in India, but before it was banned, the hunters(shikaris), before going to the forest for hunt used to visit the temple and pray to the goddess for success in their hunt. I was really fascinated about this place, so decided to do the trek on my 31st birthday.
Left home @ 1:30 am, destination for the day was Janjehli village(starting point of trek), a little over 500 kms from my home. I was expecting to reach before 5:00 pm. It started to get cold after Narela, I was shivering by the time I reached Panipat and desperately felt the need of a sweater. Took it out of my backpack, wore it and had tea with biscuits at a roadside dhaba near by. This was enough to warm me up and I was soon back on the road. The next tea stop was at Ambala, a much needed one after being battered by the cold. I was desperately waiting for the sun to come out, it finally came near Kiratpur and soon it was all bright and warm. So stopped there for a while to bask under the sun. You always feel so relieved and comfy when you spend some time under the sun after being hit by cold. But then you shouldn't spend too much time in the sun especially when you haven't had night's sleep and have been riding continuously since night, as it starts to get too comfy, laziness kicks in and you feel like dozing off. And that's exactly what happened, my eyes started shutting down. I knew this was bad as I had a couple of scary instances in the past where I ended up taking short naps while riding and lost control over the bike but somehow prevented myself from getting injured. So I washed my eyes thoroughly with plenty of water to get rid of this sleepiness and continued towards my destination.
Gurudwara Majnu ka Tilla, NH1
Near Karnal
Tea Break @Ambala
I was feeling hungry as the only solid meal I had was at dinner last night, roughly 13 hours ago. So stopped at a dhaba near Sunder Nagar and had a yummy parantha with milk tea for breakfast. The ride from Sunder Nagar to Janjehli is a pleasure ride, not many vehicles ply on this route. Till Baagi, I rode beside the beautiful Sunder Nagar lake and few kms post Baagi, the traffic got reduced to just a few vehicles every few minutes. Weather was nice and warm, the route was beautiful, I was really enjoying the ride and in no hurry to reach the destination. Time was about 4:00 pm when I reached Pandav Shila, just 3 kms before Janjehli. It's got this huge rock, which was placed here by Bhim, when Pandavs visited this place during their exile. Locals claim that this massive rock can be moved by just two fingers, well, that didn't happen in my case. But I was able to move it a bit with both hands. Finally @4:30 pm found a room in hotel Sandhya just a km before Janjehli. Its a nice hotel, rooms are clean, service is good and the staff is very friendly. Went outside on a village stroll, met few locals, had a chit chat with them and enquired about the trek route. They mentioned the shortcut from Bhulla which goes through the jungle but advised not to take it as I'll be trekking alone and I can easily get lost. Time was 5:30 pm and it started to get dark, so decided to head back to the hotel. People sleep very early in villages and all the shops shut around 7:00 pm. Bought couple of pack of chips, some local chocolates and a sprite pet bottle from the shop outside the hotel. Came back to my room, had a much needed hot water bath, it really felt rejuvenating and relaxing after a long and tiring 15 hour ride, had dinner around 7:00 pm, then finally dozed off.
A blissful ride beside Sunder Nagar Lake
Some temple @Chail Chowk
Pandav Shila, 3 kms before Janjehli...this massive rock was placed here by Bhim, when Pandavs visited this place during their exile. If you go by the locals, it can be moved by just two fingers, well that didnt happen in my case or may be I wasn't doing it right...but I was able to move it a bit with both hands.
Approaching Janjehli
Janjehli
Trekking is a new found passion of mine and I'm finding it equally thrilling and amazing as my motorcycle adventures. Many a times during my motorcycle trips where I have come across a beautiful mountain view, I've always felt this sudden desire to climb it. To stand at the top of its peak, to experience the spectacular views it would offer and to know how it feels to be up there. And this desire of mine was fulfilled earlier this year in April, when I did my first solo trek to Prashar Lake. After completing Prashar Lake trek, I realized that I'm capable of doing much bigger treks. And, when my Ladakh trip got cancelled which I planned for September, I decided to go for the Shikari Devi(Hunter Goddess) trek. Shikari Devi temple lies in the Shikari Devi wildlife sanctuary in Himachal Pradesh. It is situated at the top of the hill and is surrounded by thick oak and coniferous forests. At 11,000 feet from sea level, it is said to be the highest peak in the entire Mandi district and known as the 'Crown of Mandi'. This place can be approached from Janjehli or Karsog valley. Janjehli is the base for Shikari Devi trek, it is about 100 kms from Sunder Nagar. The trek distance from Janjehli to Shikari Devi temple is 16 kms, half of which goes through thick forests of oak, spruce and pine trees and takes about 3.5-5 hours. For those who want to go by car or motorcycle, there's a jeepable road from Janjehli to the temple. Vast green pastures, amazing panoramic views and breathtaking scenic beauty, sunrise and sunsets makes it a treat for nature lovers. The temple is open from April till mid November.
It's the only roofless temple in the entire north India. there have been several attempts in the past to construct a roof for the temple but they were all failed. As per locals, the goddess simply wouldn't allow it to happen. This place receives lots of snow during winters. Although the entire region around this temple gets covered with several feet of snow, it has been observed that the area inside the temple remains snow-free. Hunting is banned in India, but before it was banned, the hunters(shikaris), before going to the forest for hunt used to visit the temple and pray to the goddess for success in their hunt. I was really fascinated about this place, so decided to do the trek on my 31st birthday.
Left home @ 1:30 am, destination for the day was Janjehli village(starting point of trek), a little over 500 kms from my home. I was expecting to reach before 5:00 pm. It started to get cold after Narela, I was shivering by the time I reached Panipat and desperately felt the need of a sweater. Took it out of my backpack, wore it and had tea with biscuits at a roadside dhaba near by. This was enough to warm me up and I was soon back on the road. The next tea stop was at Ambala, a much needed one after being battered by the cold. I was desperately waiting for the sun to come out, it finally came near Kiratpur and soon it was all bright and warm. So stopped there for a while to bask under the sun. You always feel so relieved and comfy when you spend some time under the sun after being hit by cold. But then you shouldn't spend too much time in the sun especially when you haven't had night's sleep and have been riding continuously since night, as it starts to get too comfy, laziness kicks in and you feel like dozing off. And that's exactly what happened, my eyes started shutting down. I knew this was bad as I had a couple of scary instances in the past where I ended up taking short naps while riding and lost control over the bike but somehow prevented myself from getting injured. So I washed my eyes thoroughly with plenty of water to get rid of this sleepiness and continued towards my destination.
Gurudwara Majnu ka Tilla, NH1
Near Karnal
Tea Break @Ambala
I was feeling hungry as the only solid meal I had was at dinner last night, roughly 13 hours ago. So stopped at a dhaba near Sunder Nagar and had a yummy parantha with milk tea for breakfast. The ride from Sunder Nagar to Janjehli is a pleasure ride, not many vehicles ply on this route. Till Baagi, I rode beside the beautiful Sunder Nagar lake and few kms post Baagi, the traffic got reduced to just a few vehicles every few minutes. Weather was nice and warm, the route was beautiful, I was really enjoying the ride and in no hurry to reach the destination. Time was about 4:00 pm when I reached Pandav Shila, just 3 kms before Janjehli. It's got this huge rock, which was placed here by Bhim, when Pandavs visited this place during their exile. Locals claim that this massive rock can be moved by just two fingers, well, that didn't happen in my case. But I was able to move it a bit with both hands. Finally @4:30 pm found a room in hotel Sandhya just a km before Janjehli. Its a nice hotel, rooms are clean, service is good and the staff is very friendly. Went outside on a village stroll, met few locals, had a chit chat with them and enquired about the trek route. They mentioned the shortcut from Bhulla which goes through the jungle but advised not to take it as I'll be trekking alone and I can easily get lost. Time was 5:30 pm and it started to get dark, so decided to head back to the hotel. People sleep very early in villages and all the shops shut around 7:00 pm. Bought couple of pack of chips, some local chocolates and a sprite pet bottle from the shop outside the hotel. Came back to my room, had a much needed hot water bath, it really felt rejuvenating and relaxing after a long and tiring 15 hour ride, had dinner around 7:00 pm, then finally dozed off.
A blissful ride beside Sunder Nagar Lake
Some temple @Chail Chowk
Pandav Shila, 3 kms before Janjehli...this massive rock was placed here by Bhim, when Pandavs visited this place during their exile. If you go by the locals, it can be moved by just two fingers, well that didnt happen in my case or may be I wasn't doing it right...but I was able to move it a bit with both hands.
Approaching Janjehli
Janjehli
