Rupin Pass Trek - Part 4

Trek Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4

Upper Waterfall campsite belonged to another world. It was below minus 10 degrees here. Everywhere we could see there was snow. It took some effort just to change clothes and settle in our tents. We were finding it ridiculous to come out and have lunch. Few things are mandatory on a trek and that includes not skipping a meal.

On way to summit, a view of our Upper Waterfall campsite

In the evening we settled in the master tent for another briefing. Next morning we had to wake up as early as 4 and start for the summit attempt before 5. A lot of co-ordination would go into ensuring this. We were briefed and released for early sleep in about an hour. The night went quickly and everyone was awake in the morning darkness at 4.

The extra-ordinary Upper Waterfall campsite

We packed our meals, had a quick breakfast and started at 5. The first climb was steep and tricky. We were almost overhead our campsite at one point of time. After an hour the slope flattened and we walked leisurely. Rupin Pass was visible not although it was still far. We walked flat for another hour before the summit climb began. At 15279ft, the final climb for Rupin Pass is not only difficult but also the lack of oxygen means breathing gets harder.

Group photo before the final climb @ Upper Waterfall

I had taken a full tablet of Diamox before we started and I believed that saved me. For those having a history of AMS this is most recommended. The last one hour to summit was vertical climb. We were exhausted midway but a few who had reached the top were encouraging us to climb for the view. Finally we stepped on the top and the view opened for the other side.

Final climb to summit @ Rupin Pass

While I have done summits before, this was truly special given the hard work it took to reach here over 5 days. We took group photographs, cherished our accomplishment of being the second group of the season that had reached this far, and then started our 9km long downward journey to Ronti Gad campsite. It would take us another 8 hours to finally arrive at our last camp.

The official summit pick @ 15279ft

Ronti Gad is the greenest of the beautiful campsites we stayed in. We were most relieved and happy here after completing the trek without any injury or delay. Next day we started walking towards Sangla and civilisation. A small village called Sangla Kanda was our stopover. Vehicles were arranged to drop us back to Shimla.