Trip to Kareri Lake

Last week on 13th April 2022 , I and my friend Sunita joined an adventure group to go for a trekking to 'Kareri Lake' in Himachal Pradesh , India .

Sunita brought her 6 years old son also along . So we three packed our bags and reached the Chandigarh bus stand . The group consisted of 6 people from Chattisgarh and 6 from Punjab including us. The journey started at 11 pm with three cheers , hip hip hurray and 'Bole so nihaal' shouts . Getting to know new people and singing along was so cheerful . After having dinner at a dhaba on the way , it was a non stop journey and early in the morning we reached 'Kareri village' . It's around 10 kilometre from the famous place Dharamsala in Himachal Pradesh.

Early morning at Kareri was giving us chilled waves so everybody opened his bag and wore jacket . The beauty of that small village having population of less than 500 people was speaking for itself . The hot masala tea at Mohinder cafe freshened us up and during the next two hours we all got ready to start our trek . Everybody felt famished . Pet me choohe kood rahe the and we craved for prefixed breakfast menu of alu paranthas . Alas ! The paranthas didn't turn up tasty at all and we had to satisfy ourselves with bread butter and tea .

We travelled another 3 kilometre on the wheels and reached the point where the trek was to start .

"Shaka laka laka la ......Hoo Haa Hoo Haa"

Well this was the Chattisgarh team's mantra which was energising everyone . Thanks Vivek , Manish , Jyoti , Puja , Aman for this mantra .

Trek started from here

It was a 10-11 kilometre trek from this point which we covered in six hours enjoying the chilled water spots , snow spots and the maggi points on the way . I can still feel those chills when I and my newly made friend Arihant cheered each other in the water and clicked pictures . Even Sunita's son Danish was so excited playing with stones in the water .

At around 4:30 pm we reached 'Kareri lake' and the beauty of that place just can't be described here in words . The lake surrounded by snow clad mountains , giving high profile reflections of clouds , snow and the Mahadev temple proved how Nature was in deep synchronization with the divine power . It felt blessed to be at that place at it was difficult to move one's eyes off . My heart just didn't want to leave that place rather I wanted time to stand still .

But soon it got dark and the hills started sending glacial winds . Angrej Sir , Sandeep Sir and Soham arranged a bonfire which was difficult to manage because of wet woodlogs and strong icy wind streams. The gushing sounds of river flowing deep down was becoming scarier .

Everyone quickly had dal chawal in the dinner (in the flashlights of phones ) to quickly dive into the tents . We glided into our sleeping bags to get a comfort sleep but noone had actually come prepared for that 2 degree temperature at night . Inspite of rubbing my hands and legs constantly I kept shivering whole night .

"Shaka laka laka la ......Hoo Haa Hoo Haa"

Well this 'Hoo Haa Hoo Haa' was what i did whole night in my sleeping bag praying for the sun to rise as early as possible.

It was a wonderful trek the memories of which will always remain in our hearts . I must say that travelling with friends is a therapy which everyone must keep practicing .

Here I share few pics :