Kuppar Bugyal Trek 
 

One of the best kept secrets hiding in the interiors of Shimla district are the endless expanses of a mixture of moist Deodar forest, mixed coniferous forests (like Spruce, Pine, Silver, Fir), moist temperate Deciduous forest, low level blue pine forest & Birch Rhododendron Scrub forest. A majority of this forest cover is still preserved in the valley of forests also known as Pabbar Valley where "Kuppar bugyal" resides. The most of the wildlife is found in the higher reaches of catchment area. The main wildlife species found here are Brown Ghoral, Black Bear, Himalayan Brown Bear and wide variety of Monal Pheasant species. However it is strange that with so much abundance of flora and fauna there is no established National Park, Bio-reserve of any sort in this area which explains how conveniently land mafia has been able to encroach the land by cutting down the forests.

 

Exploring the trekking possibilities in Pabbar Valley of Himachal Pradesh was something I was very keen of doing for some time. Sharing my enthusiasm of venturing the valley and exploring some new pastoral lands conducive for easy and enjoyable treks over a longer weekend period was my cousin brother from Shimla, Kunal. In our previous meeting we had discussed of trekking to the top most part of a peak where a part of the forest has been cleared for grazing. The peak is known by a name “Kuppar top” and is at an altitude of over 3200 meters. My journey started from Delhi from where I boarded a bus to Shimla and reached Shimla early in the morning. Being short on time, I coordinated with Kunal and we boarded a local bus going to Rohru from Shimla bus stand till Khada Pathar. The condition of Shimla Rohru road at this present moment is a nightmare and is one of the biggest reasons for tourists avoiding coming to this area. The best mode of travel here is either a local bus or a SUV. After a nonstop bus ride of over 500 kms (Delhi to Khada Pathar), we reached Khada Pathar at 12 noon. After a quick lunch, we started off with our trek after giving our additional bags at a safe custody of a local friend of my cousin from that area. The thought of camping at Kuppar was abandoned after we got an update from a Forest Officer that camping has been temporarily disallowed owing to frequent sighting of Himalayan Brown bear at the Bughyal side. We only had the second half of the day and we did not want to waste the time sitting idle.

For those looking for a comfortable accommodation in Khada Pathar for the night, HPTC offers one of their flagship hotels, “Giri Ganga Resort” next to the road going to Jubbal-Hathkoti in the vicinity of local markets of Khada Pathar. Online reservation for a room can be done on their website http://hptdc.gov.in/custsw/viewuser8_hot.asp?dest=080

Alternatively you can find accommodations in PWD and Forest rest houses here as well, subject to availability.

We decided to start our trek from Khada Pathar itself, hiking via the narrow non metalled road going till Giri Ganga, 6 kms ahead. The purpose of doing this was to enjoy the scenic forest cover that blankets Kuppar region and to make the trek more fun by increasing its distance from 3 km to 9 km, one way. From Giri Ganga Resort we walked for another 100 meters on khada Pathar – Hathkoti road till there was a small road turning towards right side up the hill. This is the road which leads all the way till Giri Ganga. For those who are in a hurry can drive all the way till Giri Ganga and commence their trek from that point. Keep in mind you must carry with you water, energy snacks, a torch, rain-coat or poncho. There are no provisions available after you move out of Khada Pathar so carry all the essentials you may need till the duration of this trek.

As we entered the diversion of the road leading us to Giri Ganga I could help not notice the similarity of the trail in comparison with Hatu Peak trail in Narkanda, H.P. As we walked towards the interiors of the Kuppar valley I recalled the simple joys derived when you experience the cold refreshing breeze blowing on your face, constantly adulating form of natural white noise masking the trivial distractions of the mind towards material pursuits. I always come back to such places for the sheer liberation from the rat race life has become, even if that would be for a week, a day or less. And with that belief we pursued towards our destination where very few tourists have been to. Kunal being a sturdy "pahadi boy" was eager in reaching Kuppar in record time. For he was practically sprinting and I had to struggle to keep up with him. All my arguments about enjoying the trek by doing it at a constant pace vent in vain for he was hell bend in doing it fast so that we return back before dark. As we were hiking along the road, one could see the Kuppar top and its Bughyal clearly visible in the background. There were patches of snow as well in the Bughyal area of Kuppar and it made us more excited in reaching the top as soon as possible. Three km into the hike, we observed there were series of sharp hairpin bends, which meant we should have ideally saved time by climbing up the mountain instead of following the road. That way we would have saved couple of km at least. My advice to people planning to trek this trail is to climb the hill after you complete first 2 km of the trek, you will save time. Throughout the duration of our trek we could find no signs on the trail defining the route to Kuppar or even Giri Ganga trail. Hopefully with more people venturing to Kuppar, the local administration may take this in their priority.

As we negotiated these series of hairpin bends we were welcomed into a forest which has tress over a century old. Tall, green, proud, many of them so magnificent, seemingly so alive giving an impression of conversing with one another with rustling whisper of the white noise of the wind modulating. I shudder with a thought of what will happen to them in coming years when they would most likely perish to fulfil mans greed.

The final hairpin bend got us towards the other side of the hill and we could see the Giri river below gushing through. We were now nearing Giri Ganga and it was only a km away. We covered this part swiftly, eager in reaching Giri Ganga which is a source for river Giri. Giri Ganga has in its vicinity ancient temples dedicated to Lord Shiva and Kali. When we reached here, we could not find the Pujari of the mandir or the caretaker of the area. The place was completely deserted with Kuppar peak visible straight above us and nothing but a dense forest through which we had to find our way through to the Kuppar Bughyal. The altitude reading of Giri Ganga was at 2700 meters. We had another 3 km of trek in front of us. It was already 3 PM and it was getting cloudy. We took a five minutes breather and made our way ahead.

Since there was no defined trail, we had to rely on common-sense and self belief for finding a way through the thick forest. We climbed the first hill and soon disappeared inside the forest cover. We knew we had to climb up and keep our direction towards the left side of the trail at any cost. Any deviation on this and we would be in trouble. We were also made aware by the friend of my cousin that this forest has a healthy population of bears and leopards so we were hoping not to tread their path and pass undetected. Some of my friends called me crazy for unnecessarily risking it in such manner. In any case this was a risk we were willing to take "kuki dar ke age jeet hai".

As we climbed up, we found a tributary of river Giri running below the right side of the hill. We decided to come down the first hill and cross the tributary only to climb the second facing hill. The same was again repeated when we climbed the second hill and we saw another tributary of Giri running down. Coming down the second hill, we crossed the second tributary and climbed the third hill facing us. We calculated that we would now only need to hike straight up this hill and it should hopefully lead us to Kuppar Bughyal. However, the vast never ending expanse of the forest cover kept us tensed about the choice of trail we made. It was later only when Kunal gave a huge cry of relief that I realized that we were on the right trail.



Facing us in front was the first section of small patch of land cleared for grazing. Most of the patch was covered with snow. The path now onwards had regular patches of snow and we again had to go inside the next section of forest cover ahead of us. Another half a km of hike up and we reached a point where there was a substantial amount of land cleared for grazing and towards our left was the entry point of Kuppar Bughyal. At this point it started to rain, which then quickly turned into a hailstorm. We took out our ponchos and took precautions in safeguarding our cameras. By this time the visibility was pretty low with all the cloud cover and the weather quickly turned the tables on us and it started to snow. Experiencing snow in April was a revelation and while enjoying the prospects I was concerned over the lost opportunity of photographing the Bughyal the way I would have liked.

We still had to explore the other side of the Bughyal, some 600 meters in length and climb another 50 meters towards the higher grounds of kuppar. In the background we could see the Kinnaur peaks of Hansbeshan (5420m), Krunshikring (5088m) & Chanshal side of peaks in a distance all obscured in a thick haze of clouds. Taking the altitude reading from the top gave us a reading of 3200 meters. The debate on Kuppar to be 3500 meters as said by the locals was now put to rest. The visibility now was alarmingly low and we decided it was wise to now dash back for khada-Pathar if we do not want to get lost in the woods in the darkness. While making our way back we made use of the information collected of the trail by following down the third hill climbed previously, till we reached the second tributary to river Giri. From there we followed the tributary till it connected to a larger one and accordingly we took a left turn. From there it was a straight hike down till Giri Ganga. So in retrospect following river Giri is the best way of finding your way back. By 7 PM we reached Khada Pathar where my cousin’s friend was waiting for us to pick us up and we proceeded towards his place in a nearby village.