Summary:
We spent 10 days in the pristine Tirthan Valley and camped for five days
inside the Great Himalayan National Park. The whole experience was like
a dream; an enchanted forest where Himalayan Monals and Koklass
Pheasants were flying all around, mammals were roaming freely and the
early morning calls of the Western Tragopan kept casting a spell on us.
Travel Dates: 05 May 2016 – 16 May 2016
Location Covered:
Tirthan Valley:- Gushaini, Rolla, Shilt, Chhordwari, Shojha, Jalori Pass, Chaini Kothi, Nadar
Interstate Travel: http://hptdc.gov.in/bus.htm
Delhi – Aut (Manali): By Road, HPTDC Bus
Aut (Manali) – Delhi: By Road, HPTDC Bus
Accommodation:
Trishla Lodge: Right next to the Tirthan River, this lodge offers decent
rooms with attached bath and running hot water. The only downside is
that it is not a home stay, so the homely touch is missing.
Phone: +91 94 187 038 20, +91 94 181 49 155
Khem Bharti’s Guest House: A welcoming family and excellent food!!!
Do ask for desi ghee and the homemade fruit Jam. The rooms are simple,
clean and the attached bath is equipped with a 24hrs hot running water
supply.
http://www.troutvalley.co.in/
Sunshine Adventures: We planned our trip with
support from the team at Sunshine Adventures. Apart from the online
research we carried out, Ankit pitched in with excellent local know how
and added some key locations to the itinerary.
Once we reached Gushaini, Panki stepped in and flawlessly coordinated
our day to day activities. For the trek, he handpicked an excellent
support team for us:
1. Dhaniram: A local villager and an instinctive tracker of the Western
Tragopan. Having countless years of experience leading teams from around
the globe, he is indispensable in the search for the Western Tragopan.
2. Pratap: A young villager; will surely emerge as a great bird guide one day.
3. Dilip: A wonderful chef. We can never forget the sumptuous dishes that he prepared for us.
4. Puran and Inder: These two young boys were the backbone of the entire
team. They did everything from setting up the campsite, helping Dilip
with cooking and other miscellaneous camp work. Moreover, they kept us
entertained with some hilarious jokes and their innocent interpretation
of the city life.
www.sunshineadventure.com
Phone: +91 94 181 02 083, +91 94 18 204 666
email: sunhimalaya@gmail.com
05 May 2016: Day 1 (Noida – Delhi – Gushaini)
Driving to Gushaini was not an option for us as we did not want to tire
ourselves out even before commencing the trek. Hence we decided to take
an overnight bus. From reliability, safety and security perceptive, we
opted for the government run HPTDC Bus service.
We reached Himachal Bhawan just in time to board the evening bus to Aut.
The rest of the journey was uneventful and we mostly slept during the
night.
06 May 2016: Day 2 (Gushaini)
Panki gave us a call at 0400 Hrs, explained us where to get down and
shared the phone number of the taxi driver who would pick us up from
Aut. The pick-up was smooth and we reached Gushaini at around 0700 Hrs.
Panki welcomed us at the Trishla Lodge and showed us around.
The plan for the day was just to relax and do a bit of birding around
the village. During breakfast, we discussed the itinerary and the trek
route in detail with Panki.
The next few hours were spent relaxing on the lodge’s veranda observing
the territorial war between the Plumbeous Water Redstart, White-capped
Redstart and the Grey Wagtail. A Crested Kingfisher was also very active
in the area.
In the afternoon, we hiked to a nearby waterfall and spotted several
birds like the Yellow-billed Blue Magpie, Grey Treepie, Large-billed
Crow, Black Bulbul, Streaked Laughingthrush, Chestnut-crowned
Laughingthrush, Oriental White-eye, Blue Whistling Thrush, Little
Forktail, Grey Bushchat, Blue-capped Rock Thrush, Black-throated Tit,
Grey-hooded Warbler, Verditer Flycatcher, Russet Sparrow and Rock
Bunting.
07 May 2016: Day 3 (Trek: Gushaini (1500 m) – Rolla (2100 m))
Panki picked us up at around 0900 Hrs and we proceeded to his warehouse
where we loaded all the trekking equipment and supplies. Dilip also
joined us and we drove to the start point of the trek where we met the
rest of the team members: Dhaniram, Pratap, Puran and Inder.
We commenced our trek at around 1000 Hrs and spotted several birds on
the way to Rolla. As it was nesting time, almost all birds were spotted
in pairs, around the nesting sites and it was fascinating to observe the
way the birds distributed duties between them. Territorial behavior was
at its height. Birds like the Green-backed Tit, Whiskered Yuhina, Great
Barbet, Ultramarine Flycatcher etc were very common. A pair of
Grey-winged Blackbird was observed furiously protecting their nest site.
A lone Rufous-bellied Niltava and a Fire-breasted Flowerpecker was also
spotted from close quarters.
A flock of Speckled Wood Pigeon was spotted soon after the Park Check post and after that, Brown Dipper’s became very common.
We reached our campsite at Rolla at around 1500 Hrs and spent the
rest of the time sitting next to the Tirthan River observing Brown
Dippers feeding the young ones. Dilip in the meantime prepared some desi
tadka Macaroni for all of us. During the course of the evening, we also
got some really close views of gorals.
For dinner, Dilip served a delicious meal complete with Soup, dal,
roti, subji, chawal and seviyan kheer. We also relished on lingri ka
achaar that Dilip had brought along with him for the trek.
Before calling it a day, we all spent some quality time around the camp fire sharing experiences.
08 May 2016: Day 4 (Trek: Rolla (2100 m) – Shilt (3100 m) – Chhordwari – Shilt)
We woke up at 0400 Hrs and were ready by 0500 Hrs. After a leisurely
breakfast and packing up the camp site, we commenced our march for Shilt
at 0800 Hrs. The climb was steep, and we managed to reach Shilt in 4
hrs only to find Dilip, Dhaniram, Puran and Inder already setting up the
campsite and preparing lunch. These guys had beaten us on the climb by a
good 1 hour carrying 30 kg rucksacks. We tried to console ourselves by
explaining to the team that we were birding on the way and the crew
accepted our excuse with a big laugh. Anyways, birding en-route was good
and some of the birds spotted were the Himalayan Woodpecker, Coal Tit,
Bar-tailed Treecreeper and a mixed flock of Swifts.
While Dilip was preparing lunch, we did a bit of birding around the
campsite and were rewarded with a great sighting of the White-throated
Tit along with other birds like the Ashy-throated Warbler, Lemon-rumped
Warbler, Blyth’s Leaf Warbler, Slaty-blue Flycatcher, and Pink-browed
Rosefinch among others.
After lunch, Dhaniram wanted to go out and scout for the Western
Tragopan; as we did not want to miss any opportunity, we tagged along
with him. Within 10 minutes of hiking, we heard the Western Tragopan
call from an extremely close range, so close that we could literally
feel it.
We could not believe our luck and quickly got ourselves into the crawl
position and hoping to get closer, crawled for almost 10 meters, but
then suddenly, everything fell silent and the bird just vanished into
thin air. We did not even notice the movement of the bamboo, but the
bird was gone; and we quickly realized how difficult it was going to be
to spot this secretive bird.
In hindsight, this was the best opportunity we had of spotting this
bird. It was 1500 hrs, the bird did not know that intruders were in its
territory and had put down its guard. Still, the bird dodged us.
Dhaniram explained that the Western Tragopan sensing danger freezes;
gets low on the ground and kind of merges with the surrounding. It does
not run/fly and that is why it is very difficult to pinpoint its
location.
Anyways, we moved on and closer to Chhordwari, a Himalayan Black Bear
was spotted. Other notable birds sighted were the Spotted Nutcracker and
a Bar-throated Siva. Koklass Pheasant and Himalayan Monals were plenty
and were flying around the whole place.
We returned to Shilt by sunset and had a wonderful dinner next to the campfire before calling it a day.
09 May 2016: Day 5 (Trek: Shilt and around)
The day started at 0400 Hrs and the moment we got out of our tent, we
could not believe our eyes. There was this huge cloud of stars extending
across the sky that we quickly realized was the Milky Way. We had
carefully planned our trip so that we could get to see the best of the
Milky Way. It was a moonless night, clear sky and the Milky Way was at
its full glory. We wanted to capture the moment, but Dhaniram and Pratap
were getting anxious on getting late. We knew that we could capture
Milky Way at a later stage also; hence we quickly hiked to the location
where the Tragopan could be spotted.
These early morning hikes were surely risky as we could not even switch
on our torches lest we disturb the Tragopan. We hiked in pitch darkness
without even the moon to guide us, on narrow forest paths with a deep
valley on one side. Dhaniram and Pratap were great as guides and we
fully trusted them with whatever they told us to do.
The basic idea was to reach to the probable roosting site of the
Tragopan before sunrise and hope that the Tragopan does not sense us. We
waited and waited for hours without even moving a muscle hoping to
catch a glimpse of the bird, but it was not to happen.
On the way back to the campsite, we encountered a lazy Himalayan Pit
Viper and birds like the Himalayan Monal and Koklass Pheasant.
During the course of the day we did a bit of birding around the campsite
and spotted birds like the Bearded Vulture, Himalayan Vulture,
Grey-crested Tit, Brown-flanked Bush Warbler, Greenish Warbler, Rufous
Sibia, Chestnut-bellied Rock Thrush, Olive-backed Pipit and a Collared
Grosbeak.
It started to rain in the afternoon and we were confined to our tents,
but Dilip served us some amazing pakoras and chai that kept our spirits
high whereas Puran and Inder were always looking for ways to keep us
comfortable.
During our morning forest excursion, Dhaniram had stumbled upon
Gucchi (wild mushrooms) so for dinner, Dilip prepared Gucchi ki subji
for all of us.
Dilip explained that Gucchi cannot be cultivated and grows randomly in
the forest. Villagers spend days in the forest to find Gucchi as it can
sell for as high as Rs. 1,500/100 grams. Then Pratap pitched in and
informed us that we were having rakhal chai all these days that was
prepared from the bark of the rakhal tree.
10 May 2016: Day 6 (Trek: Shilt and around)
Dhaniram wanted us to be in the Tragopan area by 0430 Hrs, back
calculating, we woke up at 0300 Hrs and planned to capture the Milky
Way. But it was not to happen; we woke up, came out of the tent and
realized that the entire sky was overcast. Anyways, we started our
usual hike in the dark and waited patiently for two hours hoping to
catch a glimpse of the Western Tragopan. Anjana finally lost her
patience, stood up and started looking for other birds. Soon enough, she
sighted a flock of Fire-capped Tits followed by a Kashmir Flycatcher.
Other birds sighted during the morning were the Yellow-browed Tit,
Common Chiffchaff, Mountain Chiffchaff, Tickell’s Leaf Warbler,
Whistler’s Warbler, White-browed Fulvetta, Hodgson’s Treecreeper,
Dark-sided Flycatcher, Rufous-gorgeted Flycatcher, and Grey-headed
Canary Flycatcher among others.
In the afternoon, we again hiked towards the area of the Western
Tragopan, however, Rishi heard a White-cheeked Nuthatch call from the
opposite direction. As we had never seen this bird before, we let
Dhaniram and Pratap go look for the roosting site of the Tragopan, while
we hiked back in search of the Nuthatch. The call was faint and coming
from far away. After hiking almost 500 m, the call grew stronger and we
detected movement along the tree line. After patiently waiting for some
time, the bird emerged from the tree line and perched on a branch in
front of us, giving us some great views.
In the evening, we spent many hours next to the camp fire, in the
backdrop of the snow covered mountains and immersing in the serenity
around us. We had calmed down by now, were content with what we had seen
in the previous days, the disappointment of having missed the Western
Tragopan was behind us. There was no electricity, no comforts of the mad
world, no phones, and still we were in peace with ourselves. It is then
we realized how close we were to the five elements: Sky, Earth, Fire,
Air and Water. We were living under the mighty sky, sleeping on the
earth, keeping warm sitting next to the fire, herb & mineral infused
water energizing us and the fresh air cleansing us from the inside.
We dreaded going back to the polluted city where there was no clean air
for us to breathe, no clean water for us to drink and where in the name
of development, the entire population is hell-bent destroying this very
delicate balance of nature.
11 May 2016: Day 7 (Trek: Shilt – Gushaini)
We woke up at 0300 Hrs and realized that it was drizzling, but we still
decided to give a last try at spotting the Tragopan. Dhaniram for the
first time was not impressed and advised us not to venture in the forest
during rains, but we persisted and Dhaniram finally gave in.
Dhaniram had found the roosting site the previous evening, but for that
we had to climb a steep 30-45 degree hill. In pitch darkness and rain
beating down on us, the climb was scary and we held on to whatever was
in front of us (bamboo shrubs, tree branches, grass etc). After climbing
around 30% of the hill, it started to rain heavily and we all were
forced to take shelter under a tree. When finally dawn broke, we
realized that we were not even under a tree, but in a small cave. This
is how dark it was.
Anyways, once the rain subsided, we resumed our climb but the hill was
so slippery that we were virtually on our fours. After an excruciating
climb, we finally reached the top. By then, we had made so much of noise
that it was impossible to locate the Tragopan.
After another failed attempt and all beaten down, we returned to our
campsite, happy to be back in one piece. Had a heavy breakfast of aloo
puri with rakhal chai before commencing our trek down to Gushaini. It
was raining intermittently and the path was extremely slippery. Somehow,
we managed to reach Gushaini by around 3 in the evening.
We went straight to Khem Bharti’s Guest House and the first thing we did was to take a bath, followed by an early dinner.
12 May 2016: Day 8 (Shojha and Jalori Pass)
We were still not done, woke up early, had a quick breakfast and drove
to Shojha and Jalori Pass for more birding. The forests around Shojha
have potential, but we could not venture deep as the villagers told us
to be careful because of a leopard that was lurking around.
Jalori Pass was a complete disappointment, commercialized, polluted,
dirty eateries and a degraded forest. There is an extremely easy hike to
a sacred pond, we did it, but it’s best avoided.
Some of the birds spotted were the Western Crowned Warbler, Himalayan
Bluetail, Black-and-yellow Grosbeak, vultures among others. We also saw a
cute little Indian Pika on the way to the pond from Jalori Pass.
13 May 2016: Day 9 (Chaini Kothi)
Panki suggested that we visit Chaini Kothi which is a free-standing 45 m
tall temple/outpost built in the 17 century. Birding was great around
the agricultural fields and we spotted birds like the Black Francolin,
Striated Prinia, Tickell’s Trush, Common Stonechat, and Dark-breasted
Rosefinch among others.
14 May 2016: Day 10 (Nadar)
Today we decided to visit Nadar village in hope of spotting Cheer
pheasants. We woke up early and drove to Pekhri village reaching by 0400
Hrs. Today the sky was clear and we could see the Milky Way and took a
few pictures from Pekhri. While the Milky Way was not as mighty as what
we saw at Shilt, it was still better than having nothing.
We hiked for another one hour to reach the Nadar area. Again, we could
hear the Cheer Pheasants, but could not see them. Other birds spotted
were the Common Kestral, Black-eared Kite, and Variegated Laughingthrush
among others. A Yellow-throated Martin was also spotted at Nadar.
15 May 2016: Day 11 (Gushaini)
Today was a rest day for us and we did not do anything except relaxing
around. Pratap paid us a visit in the evening with two bottles of
wildflower honey that we had requested earlier. We also got our hands on
some Plum Jam that Mrs. Bharti happily gave us.
16 May 2016: Day 12 (Gushaini – Noida)
We had a lazy day today, woke up late, had a filling breakfast, slept some more and then packed up our stuff.
Mr. Bharti dropped us in the evening at Aut from where we took the bus to get back to Delhi.
For a list of birds and mammals spotted during this trip, please check out our
birdlist and
mammal list.
Please feel free to ask us any question that you may have on the locations mentioned on this blog.
Travel safe..