When the mountain is just a few kms away from you, you don't need any mountain call, you just have to wear shoes and leave. I did something similar, but it is a different matter that my companions saw me wearing shoes and they also planned to go with me. So we three companions set out to conquer Hanumangarh Peak once again. By the way, let me tell you that this 3080 meter high mountain is my favorite mountain and this is because it can be summited anytime.
The trail race organized here has been completed, a Himachali runner completed the 19 km race in which there was an elevation gain of 1750 meters in just 02:36 minutes. Meaning his performance was very fast. Anyway, the race is over and it is time to give some time to the mountains, talk to the mountains. As we started moving towards Hanumangarh Peak, we came to know that one of our companions also has a dog who will accompany us on the trek.
We start from the Bir landing site and move forward, soon we leave the asphalt road after the first km and enter a pine forest. It is sunny, there are paragliders flying above our heads, Buddhist prayer flags flying against the blue sky, pine leaves making us slip under our feet and the Dhauladhar mountain range visible ahead is buried under the winter snow as if it does not want to rise in the summers.
We are crossing Bari village, there are two big water tanks here which supply water to the village. We stop for a while, drink water and move forward again after seeing the surrounding scenery. After 4 km we reach a place on the mountain where there is a mud and stone hut in which about 15-20 goat kids are locked, some lambs have come out of the broken gate and are roaming around the hut. Actually this hut belongs to shepherds who have gone to some corner of the mountain with their goats and sheep to feed grass to the animals.
Moving forward from here we enter a dense forest, the Dhauladhar mountain range is visible from the windows of this forest. While climbing the hill, the three of us are enjoying the views that come in between. After one and a half km the forest becomes less and an open field is visible in the distance, walking on the rocky path is making us more tired. And when we look back, we are getting energy by seeing the amazing view of the Kangra valley.
After climbing the entire 8 km long hill, we are finally standing at the top of Hanumangarh Peak. Standing at 3080 meters, we take a good look at the 360 degree view visible from here and want to capture this beautiful view in our eyes. There is a roofless temple here in which the idol of Hindu God Hanuman is installed, whose color is orange. There are some flags on the top of the temple and we can see Chota Bhangal, Kangra valley below.
The views are not so clear due to clouds, there are dark clouds in the sky due to which the sun has disappeared and we have got relief from sweating. In clear weather, I have seen Nohru Pass, Jalsu Pass, Langha Kinauri, Thamsar Pass and Sari Pass here. There are many lakes in these snowy mountains, which I have dreamed of visiting for a very long time.
Hanumangarh peak used to work as a watchtower for the kings in old times, the king situated here keeps an eye on the intruders coming from Mandi and catches and punishes them. After staying at the top for about an hour, the three of us start descending and reach Billing in the next 3 hours and from there take a taxi for the hotel. So this was another journey to reach Hanumangarh Peak. I have summited this mountain 3 times this season.
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 POCO F1 android smartphone and edited in Lightroom/photoshop.