Sunrise to Sunset: Chasing Light in the Valley of Adventure (Solang valley, INDIA)

It is October 2024, the rains in the Himalayas start from June and last till September, due to the monsoon that ended a few days ago, the vegetation is looking so beautiful as it never looks before. Although the flowers have not bloomed these days, but nature is waiting for the winter snowfall with outstretched hands. I like the post monsoon season very much because the mountains standing far away are clearly visible. The temperature in Solang Valley is 20 degrees during the day, while at night it is 6 degrees, which is very cold.

Solang Valley is located in Himachal Pradesh and its height is 2450 meters. Solang is famous in India as adventure valley. When tourists do not find snow in Manali in winter, then all the tourists turn to Solang Valley. Ski competitions are also organized here in winter, in which Indian skiers participate enthusiastically. In winters, about 5-6 feet of snow falls here, the reason for so much snowfall is the two mountain ranges present here.

The Solang Valley is crossed by the Beas River and goes towards Punjab, the holy Beas River comes from the Beas Lake which is located at the confluence of the Pir Panjal and Dhauladhar mountain ranges. And in these mountain ranges are located some mountains of 6000 meters height which I am covering in today's post. The reason for my visit to Solang is the trail running event organized here in which I have to volunteer and also do the recce of the route and some other work.

Manali is located 600 km from Delhi, the bus takes 14 hours to reach Manali. By an overnight journey, I reach Solang Valley directly which is only 14 km from Manali. Here I stay in a room in 'Hotel Adventure Valley'. Yesterday I went to Kothi Top and today I have to go to Bakkarthach which is located above the Dhundhi Bridge. Bakkarthach is not that far from Solang, it is only 9 kms from Solang by foot.

I had come to Goshal for some personal work with my camera, here at 6 am when I saw the glimpses of sunrise on the horizon, I was surprised to see the scene. The supernatural, beautiful and golden view is pulling the soul present in my body towards it. I can only look at these golden mountains with emotion. And when I woke up, I took out the camera from the bag and planned to capture this amazing scene, but the camera is never able to show such magical scenes as they are.

The 2 twin peaks situated on top of Anjani Mahadev are shining as if the mountains were waiting for the sunrise. From Goshal, when I move towards Solang on foot, I witness the Jogini waterfall below Bhrigu. On the way, I pass through Barua village. It takes me one and a half hour to reach Solang. I have breakfast in Solang and spend some time with my friends. I think that there is no use of going to Bakkarthach right now because the sun will be strong and the photos will not come out well because I do not have an ND filter for the lens.

So I have lunch in Solang and at around 3 pm I start walking from Solang towards Dhundi which is 6 km from Solang. This is a paved road which goes straight to Lahaul valley through Atal tunnel from where it divides into different routes. In about one and a half hours I reach Dhundi bridge which is at an altitude of 2800 meters. I sit here for a while and think that the mountains visible above the tree line are really supernatural.

After a little brainstorming I start deciding the further route. I reach Palchani Nala, from here I want to see the high mountain Diyo Tibba (6001 meters) but I am not able to see it because there are clouds in the sky. Standing here I admire the king of this valley, Hanumantibba. From behind the clouds, I can see this 5982 meter high mountain making its presence felt. There is a hanging glacier on top of Seven Sisters which I have been watching for years and it never falls down.

By now the sun has gone out of the reach of this valley, now only the shadow of the departing rays of the sun is left in this valley. The yellow light is dancing over the valley like a lover of the mountains. The sunlight filtering through the clouds is giving a golden feeling at some places and pink at others. Looking back, I can see Mount Patalsu Peak shining, this 4250 meter high peak always stands like a guard over Solang village.

There is a shepherd's camp on the mountain in front where goats and sheep are grazing, while a group of horses is seen coming from the base camp of Friendship Peak, carrying camping material on them and going to Solang Valley. The eyes are not satisfied with the miraculous views but we cannot stay here for long because at such a height the man-eating animals become active. So I also start descending with the group of horses going back.

I come with the horses till Dhundi and then leave the road and come on a footpath. In about an hour and a quarter I reach Solang Hotel where while drinking hot tea and looking at the photos of the camera I think that why the camera is not able to do justice to the scenes of nature? Why the camera is not able to show what our eyes show? Do you have an answer to this?

Disclaimer: This post is originally written in Hindi and I have used Google Translator to translate the Hindi text in English. All the photos have been clicked by me from canon 77D (55-250mm) and edited in lightroom, post thumbnail created in adobe photoshop.

[//]:# (!worldmappin 32.31314 lat 77.16353 long Sunrise to Sunset: Chasing Light in the Valley of Adventure (Solang valley, INDIA) d3scr)