I returned from Leh in June, did not eat or sleep for five days. When you vomit continuously, the belief of aliens on earth increases. The faces of my companions covered with vomit look more like zombies than humans. After spending a few weeks at home in July, I set out again in search of adventure, like every time, this time also I headed towards Himachal and that too alone. Alone means solo traveler.
Nobody has given me this title, rather I have captured this title myself. One day I took an oath by putting my hand on the Facebook app and since then I became a "solo traveler". Earlier I used to think that "solo means completely alone, no guide, no porter and no companion"....but later I came to know the new definition that solo traveler means even in a group of 50 people you are solo.
After Faridabad, I ran away to escape the scorching heat of Delhi and stopped directly at Manali. At the bus stand, I was always welcomed by the cheap hotel owners, Shilajit and saffron sellers. Sometimes I felt that they were making fun of my weak body. The next two days it rained heavily. I hid in Nasogi village. The rain would start every morning and fall by the evening. From Nasogi, the road to Khanpari Tibba also goes via Lama Dug. When I get a call from the mountains, I will go there and beyond that to Bada Bhangal.
By now, I should have visited Bhrigu Lake. The plan is that I will first go to Solang Nala, from there I will take Sonu along and then I will leave with the necessary things. After two days, the weather cleared and I reached Solang at 11:30 in the morning. It was 1 o'clock by the time we had breakfast etc. My friend was late, so we stayed here today and made a plan B to leave tomorrow. For an afternoon walk, I left Solang on foot till '14 Mod'. '14 Mod' is 3 km ahead of Gulaba check post. From here the road goes ahead to Lahaul-Spiti's gate 'Rohtang Pass' and a trail located on the right side goes to the courtyard of Bhrigu Lake.
The height here is 3008 meters and the view is amazing, at this trail point you will see Hanumantibba as soon as you turn your neck, then Tentu Pass, Ladakhi, Kullu Peak, Friendship Peak and Patalsu ahead of Muker Bah, Khanpari Tibba on the left, Manali, Anjani Mahadev, Rohtang and Madhi view is complimentary.
The next day we were ready with packed lunch, the third friend dropped both of us by car to Gulaba check post from where the further path was on foot. While walking I shared the real blueprint with him that "Sonu bhai today we will go to Bhrigu Lake and today itself we will come back to Solang via Vashishtha temple", he did not say much except "No problem bhai ji, let's go". While walking I shared the rest of the information “Our route starts from Gulaba which will go straight to the lake, from there we will descend to Vashisht, then we will reach Barua village via Nehru Kund, and at the end we will go to Anjani Mahadev and finish the journey in Solang”. Sonu was looking at me as if he wanted to say “Such a long way?, Has any insect bitten you in the backside?”.
The way is very long for one day, both of us were blinking our eyes repeatedly. He was looking at me and I was looking at him, swallowing our saliva we picked up speed from the 14th turn. There are mainly two ways to reach Bhrigu Lake, the first one is from Vashisht temple and the second one is from 14th turn (Gulaba). I have heard that Bhrigu lake is so far from Vashisht temple that a person reaches there only in the next birth, sometimes people become old on the way. If we reach the lake on time then it is fine otherwise most of the people lose their way on Bhrigu due to fog.
So far we have met 2 big groups, the first group consists of a couple with a local guide, the second group consists of 7 people, carrying their heavy bags has become a personal challenge for everyone and the third group, which would be more appropriate to call a crowd, was of indiahikes agency which had about 40 people. There were boys like cactus and girls like aloe vera in the group and everyone was clicking 10 selfies after walking 10 steps. We put in all our efforts to overtake everyone.
The tents at ‘Rauli Kholi’ were telling that the crowd was going to stay here, Sonu told that “there is a local shop here which provides accommodation and food”. This was good information which will be very useful for solo tourists. I will keep giving such information friends, just don’t let your love for me diminish.
After ‘Rauli Kholi’ almost the entire route was covered with snow on which there was no time to slow down. Walking fast, we soon enter the famous fog here. Inspired by 'Tracker Peter', I am walking in a T-shirt and shorts, due to which my legs are shivering like a cheap selfie stick. We lose our way in the fog but after tireless efforts, we reach the lake. On our way back from the lake, we meet four boys from Palchan. We start from Gulaba at 9:27 in the morning and reach Bhrigu Lake at 1 in the afternoon. The walking distance from '14 Mod' to Bhrigu Lake is 8 km. In which there is a total elevation gain of about 1250 meters.
The height of Bhrigu Lake is mostly mentioned as 4300 meters on online platforms, but according to my data, the height of the lake is 4182 meters. It is said that "Rishi Bhrigu used to do penance near the lake, due to which the locals worship it as a holy lake". It is also said that "this lake never freezes completely". I had seen on a map that there is a mountain pass here which can be crossed to go towards Hamta valley. “The mountains visible in the distance are very close”, he says and takes off his shoes. Sonu tells me to take off my shoes at the open roof temple and I do the same.
The lake is still almost half frozen and looks mysterious amidst the fog. Without wasting much time, we start walking towards Vasishtha temple. Now there is a descent so we are not walking but running. In one and a half hours we reach Mori Dug (2885 meters) and after eating the parathas we had brought with us, we start running back. It takes us only 35 minutes to reach Vasishtha temple from Mori Dug. By now all the honey in the body has been used up, 21 km. distance has been covered till here, we still have to walk 11 km. more.
After Nehru Kund, Barua crosses, now it is 5 o'clock in the evening and fatigue has started showing its effect on both of us. Sonu goes straight to Solang from Barua while I leave from here for Anjani Mahadev and at 6:15 in the evening reach the camp site where Sonu welcomes me with tea and thus the journey to Bhrigu lake ends in one day.
Total 39 km in 8:15 hours. The trek is of 2584 meters with elevation gain.
Disclaimer: This post is originally written in Hindi and I have used Google Translator to tranlate the Hindi text in English. All the photos have been clicked by me from GoPro Hero 4 and edited in Lightroom/photoshop.