Kalihani Pass

Kalihani Pass — The Forgotten Crossover into Bara Bhangal

Kalihani Pass at 15,748 ft (4,800 m) is one of the least-trodden technical crossovers in the Indian Himalayas — a nine-day, double-pass walk that begins on the well-known meadows of Solang above Manali, crosses the main Pir Panjal axis at the Kalihani col, descends into the isolated Ravi-source village of Bara Bhangal, and exits over a second 15,150 ft pass (Thamsar) to the Kangra valley at Bir. There is no road in or out of Bara Bhangal — the village's 250 Gaddi inhabitants reach the rest of India only on foot or by occasional helicopter — and the only way to traverse this corridor is the same way Gaddi pastoralists have done it for at least three centuries: with a backpack, a tent, and a willingness to commit to a route that has no escape options once you are past the Manali Peak ridge.

Why this trek is unique

Most Himachali treks happen on one side of the Pir Panjal or the other. Kalihani is one of the very few that takes you across the range — and it does it twice in a single trek, with two technical passes and a full day in a roadless village in between. The ecological transition is striking: the Solang side is wet, forested, and monsoon-fed; the Bara Bhangal basin is a high alpine bowl drained by the infant Ravi river; and the Thamsar descent into Kangra drops you into the tea-and-deodar belt that is the cultural heartland of the Gaddi people. Few Indian treks pack this much geographical range into nine days.

The Manali approach

The trek begins at Solang Nala (8,400 ft) — a familiar staging point for Friendship Peak, Beas Kund, and Hampta Pass — and works north-west into a side valley that most trekkers ignore. Days 1 to 5 climb steadily through Dhundi, Bakkar Thach, Lama Dugh, Riyali Thach, and Kalihani Base Camp, crossing through pine and birch forest, alpine meadows, and finally onto windswept moraine at 15,000 ft. The route is well-worn by Gaddi shepherds moving sheep between Bara Bhangal and the Kullu summer pastures but sees fewer than 200 trekkers a year — a rounding error compared to the 50,000 who do Hampta Pass each season.

The pass crossing

Day 6 is summit day. We wake at 1 AM and start a 750 ft snow climb under headlamp, reaching the col by 6:30-7:00 AM. The final 100 metres is a 50° snow ramp where we deploy fixed ropes and trekkers ascend with jumars and harnesses. From the pass the entire upper Kullu valley sweeps south behind you while the Bara Bhangal basin and the sharp pyramid of Mukar Beh (19,910 ft) open to the north. The descent is steeper than the ascent — a rappel-and-glissade combination drops 1,500 ft of moraine before the snow ends — and the day ends at Devi ki Marhi camp at 12,500 ft after 14-15 hours on the move. This is the longest single day of any HeyHikers crossover trek.

Bara Bhangal village

Bara Bhangal (8,200 ft) is the centrepiece of the cultural experience. The village sits on a high terrace above the source of the Ravi and is home to roughly 250 Gaddi pastoralists who migrate to lower altitudes (Kangra and Chamba) for the winter and return in May. The houses are stone-and-wood, the school is a single-room primary, and the village helipad is the only state-government infrastructure visible. We spend a full afternoon and evening here, hosted by the Bhangahli family in a homestay, eating traditional Gaddi madra (yoghurt-and-chickpea curry) and siddu (steamed buckwheat dumpling). Conversations with the village elders, many of whom remember when the only outsiders coming here were British forest officials, are the trip's quietest highlight.

The walk-out via Thamsar

Days 8 and 9 reverse the cultural direction — out of the Ravi basin, over Thamsar Pass (15,150 ft), and down into the Kangra valley to Bir. The Thamsar crossing is technically easier than Kalihani (no fixed ropes required) but is a long, sustained ascent. The descent is on a well-graded shepherd path that drops through Plachak, Rajgundha, and Billing — the world-famous paragliding take-off — before reaching the Tibetan colony at Bir. The final drive back to Manali (5 hours via Mandi) closes a roughly 110 km loop that took eight days of walking.

Difficulty and prerequisites

Kalihani is a graded difficult trek — we only enrol trekkers who have completed at least one trek above 14,000 ft (Hampta Pass, Rupin Pass, Goecha La, Buran Ghati, etc.) and can demonstrate cardiovascular fitness equivalent to running 8 km in 50 minutes. The trek requires basic technical skills (rope work, ice axe arrest, crampon use) which we cover in two Day-3 and Day-4 briefings on snow patches above camp. Anyone with a history of pulmonary issues, untreated hypertension, or knee instability should not attempt this trek — the cumulative descent on Day 9 is 10,000 ft.

Best season and weather

Kalihani has a narrow window: July to mid-September. June still has too much unstable snow on both passes; mid-September onwards the weather window closes as the first winter storms arrive on the Pir Panjal. The Solang side gets monsoon rain (we hike in raincoats for several days); the Bara Bhangal basin sits in a partial rain shadow and stays drier. Daytime temperatures range from 12°C in the lower forests to -8°C at Kalihani Base Camp. We track weather windows carefully via satellite communicator and may delay the pass crossing by 24 hours if conditions warrant.

Cultural and historical context

The Kalihani-Bara Bhangal-Thamsar route was a working Gaddi migration corridor for at least three centuries. Sheep, goats, wool, and ghee moved between the Kullu summer pastures and the Kangra winter villages along this path twice a year. The ritual stops at Devi ki Marhi (the goddess shrine before the pass) and the small Hanuman temple at Bara Bhangal are part of an unbroken pastoral religious tradition. Walking this trail is the closest most outsiders will come to the rhythm of a Gaddi year.

Reach Manali by overnight Volvo from Delhi or by air to Bhuntar. The trek begins from Solang (30 min from Manali) and ends 9 days later at Bir, from where we drive back to Manali (5 hours via Mandi) or onward to Pathankot for departure.

Cancellations must be requested in writing.

- More than 30 days before the trek start date: 90% refund. - 21–30 days before: 50% refund. - 11–20 days before: 25% refund. - 10 days or fewer: no refund, but you may transfer your slot to another trekker or to any future batch within 12 months at no extra charge.

Refunds are processed to the original payment method within 7-10 working days. Trip cancellations triggered by us (weather, force majeure, government restrictions) are refunded in full or moved to an alternate batch at your option.