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The journey starts from Manali, which is a popular tourist destination in Himachal Pradesh. The first day of the trip is reserved for the trekkers to make their way to Manali, where you will check into a hotel and go sightseeing in nearby places. Rest well to prepare for the climb that starts the following day. Today you will see the popular attractions in Manali like the Hadimba Devi Temple & Vaishist Kund. You can also roam around the Manali Market and shop for souvenirs. Breathe in the fresh mountain air and introduce each other. Document collection and other important procedures for the trek will be done today. While your body acclimatizes, you will receive a short briefing where you will be updated with the schedule of the upcoming days and some basic do’s and don’ts in the mountains, and how to maintain the sanctity of the mountains by disposing of the wastes responsibly. We are a crusader of the Green Trails Initiative and so we take littering in campsites and the mountains very seriously.
After a healthy and refreshing breakfast, we will head out on our expedition. The trek starts from Dhundi (21 km away) and it is a 40 minutes drive from Manali. From Dhundi we will trek along the beautiful Solang Valley by the banks of the Beas River to reach our campsite in Bakarthach. Dhundi is a small mountain settlement and the last village in the Solang Valley, a short drive away from Manali. This is the place where the Beas River meets its first tributary after coming out from the Beas Kund. The drive to Dhundi is surrounded by lush greenery and once we reach the village, we will start our trek towards Bakarthach, our first camping spot. On a clear day, you may even see paragliders flying above the valley on your drive to Dhundi. Today is a relatively easy trek with a gradual incline and an hour into the trek and you will begin to see the views of snow-clad mountains. The trek is not very long, about 3 km and within 4 hours you will reach the Bakarthach campsite. After ascending for about an hour and a half, you will hit some plains and gradual descends, making the walk pleasant and easy. Soon after 10 minutes, you will come across big boulders and a rocky path and the ascent becomes steeper. Walking for another hour, you will arrive at a clearing, where you can rest for a while. From here, it is an uphill climb through dense forest covers and as you climb upwards, the treeline slowly fades, and crossing a few steep descents you will reach your campsite at Bakarthach. The Bakarthach Campsite is part of a meadow so you will see a lot of greenery around with glaciers and moraines surrounding the meadow. This spot is also popular pastureland and you can spot shepherds herding their livestock in the meadows during the summer months. We will pitch our tents in this serene spot and enjoy a hot lunch at the campsite. Bakarthach sometimes receives strong winds and so camps need to be pitched with caution at a stable site, with boulder cover. In the evening you can take small acclimatization walks around the campsite, so that your body can easily accept what is coming next in the following days. Post dinner, retire in your tents for the night.
Lady Leg, also popularly known as ABC campsite, is an Advanced Base Camp at an altitude of 3900 meters. The trek to Lady leg is quite strenuous so we will start early in the morning to reach the campsite by afternoon. As you move towards the campsite, the ascend becomes increasingly steeper and you will have to walk over moraine patches to reach the campsite. There will be scree along the path and while you may need to catch your breath once in a while, do not miss the mesmerizing views around you. Lady Leg is a very unique-shaped campsite. The shape of the campsite resembles a leg which is how it derived its name. While the distance to the campsite is not much, the climb up is very steep but there’s enough visual stimulation of sky-touching mountain peaks to motivate you on your climb. After a continuous climb for about 5 hrs, you can expect to reach the Lady Leg campsite by lunchtime. From the campsite, you can see stunning views of Deo Tibba, Dhauladhar Range, and Indrasan peak as well. To make sure the journey goes safely and smoothly our mountaineering certified experts will give you some knowledge about the technical aspects of trekking that are needed to make the summit. Today you will learn some mountaineering techniques that will be necessary when you make your climb towards the upward patches of the peak and during the summit attempt. The day ends with a delicious meal and you retire in the tents to rest and recuperate for the upcoming summit attempt.
Consider today as an active acclimatization day where you will learn about the concept of load ferry. Load Ferry is a concept adopted for better acclimatization especially when there is an altitude gain. Essentially, the concept of load ferry surmises to ‘climb high and sleep low’ which means you will work at a higher elevation during the day and sleep at a lower elevation to help your body acclimatize. Today you will collect the equipment, your backpacks, and ration and carry them to Camp 1. Camp 1 is situated at an altitude of 4,800 meters and you will descend back to the Lady Leg Campsite at 3,900 meters by nightfall. As you move towards Camp 1 the terrain becomes more rugged and you leave behind the greenery into snow and ice. The slopes are pretty steep and slippery towards the base camp and as you go higher, the snow becomes thicker and thicker. Today’s trek will not only help you acclimatize but you will also get used to walking in snow boots. From the base camp, you will get to see bigger peaks like Hanuman Tibba, Priyadarshini, Indrasan, and Deo Tibba. After spending some time at Camp 1 to adapt to high altitudes, you will descend back to Lady leg campsite and stay the night in your tents.
Today’s day is scheduled solely for acclimatization. We will start towards Camp 1 once again and once we reach there, we will spend the day resting and getting used to the higher altitude and also receive some technical training for the summit climb ahead. We will trek to Camp 1 following the same path as yesterday, albeit it’s a little more comfortable today as we have already lightened some of our weight by transferring most of the things to Camp 1 the previous day, and by now you are also used to walking in your snow boots. The summit climb is pretty challenging which makes Friendship Peak Expedition a difficult grade trek and to prepare you for the expedition our team of professional and certified mountaineers will educate you with some technical knowledge and also conduct a technical training session to introduce you to the equipment and teach you the basics of using an ice-axe, using the harness and roping up to be able to face the arduous mountain climb. The final trek to the summit is a difficult one so your body should have as much rest as possible. Drink a lot of water to stay hydrated and sleep through the late afternoon hours and recuperate your body for the summit climb post-midnight.
This is the most-awaited day as you attempt the summit. This is also the most challenging day of your trekking but also the most rewarding. After giving your body ample time to adapt to the high-altitude conditions and getting adequate rest, we will push towards the summit at around 2 am. Put your gear on and get ready to embark on a phenomenal adventure! Today you will walk the longest and trekking during the night also adds to the challenge. Head torches are a must in today’s trek. This will be a grueling climb ahead so prepare yourself mentally. The initial part of the climb for the first half-hour is quite manageable and it includes walking over flat snow. About 40 minutes into the climb and it becomes increasingly difficult. Random ice-boulders jut out from the snow beds here and there increasing the difficulty of the climb. You have to maneuver around these boulders repeatedly which can tire you out very quickly unless you have a great deal of physical fitness. It becomes even more difficult when the snow recedes and the rugged rocks are exposed. Tread along the rocky terrain with crampons and snow boots on is a whole other level of challenge. After about 3 hours of navigating through this difficult terrain, you will hit some smooth slopes. While the slopes may be a little easier on the feet than the exposed rocks but they are in no way less challenging as you have to move onward on a steep incline. You will also need to use the technical skills that you learned here. Always keep the ice axe at your disposal, it will be necessary for this part of the slope. We will try to reach the summit by 9 - 10 am. Magnificent views of Deo Tibba, Hanuman Tibba, Indrasan, etc, await you. The peak view from the top is unlike any other. You get complete unobstructed views of the Himalayan peaks in their snow-ensconced beauty. Celebrate your accomplishment on conquering such a difficult summit but be careful as the summit isn’t too wide. Admire and soak in the glorious views for some time, before we begin our descent to Lady Leg. The descent can be quite tricky as the ice begins to melt and it's harder to get a grip on the melting ice. Expect to reach Lady Leg campsite by 5 pm. We will set up our tents here again and after a delicious dinner, you will head into your camps marking the end of the day.
The final day of the trip and the last leg of the trek where you descend to Dhundi and head back to Manali marking the end of an epic journey. Retrace the steps down from Lady Leg to Bakarthach and Dhundi village. We will start early in the morning so that we can reach a lower altitude as quickly as possible. The trek down takes about 4 hours and it will take about an hour to drive back to Manali. Expect to reach Manali by 3 pm and you will have your lunch on the way. The time taken to reach Manali may vary depending on the traffic and road conditions. If you are planning to travel out of Manali on the same day, we recommend booking late-night tickets to account for any potential delay.
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