Mount Friendship Peak (5272 m) trek report
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The mighty Dhauladhar meeting with Pir Panjal mountain range
We two friends climbed Mount Friendship Peak in alpine style. Our journey began from 1550 meters and ended at 5272 meters. The name of this peak is Mount Friendship, which is situated at the confluence of Dauladhar and Pir Panjal mountain range. The location of Mount friendship is in Kullu District, Solang valley, Himachal Pradesh, North India. Friendship peak altitude is 5272 meter and coordinates are 32.3960° N, 77.1030° E.
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The Epic Solang valley
We started this trek from October 26th and finished it on October 27th 2018. For 2 days we had loaded with about 40 kg heavy rucksack which we had to picked up for 25 km While going a long way, The summit was covered with blessings of Himalaya and sun rays.
Enroute to Summit camp
Friday 26th October 2018 (Day 01)
On the first day, we reached Manali (2000m) from Bir (1550m), where one night we spent in Dharamsala of Manali. Next day before leaving to Solang we did small shopping for the trek. On the afternoon of October 26, we reached Solang Valley (2450m). Here we met an old friend named Roshan Lal. Roshan provided some gears for summit. Such as climbing rope, snow shoes, gaiters and ice-axe etc.
The Mesmerising view of Dhauladhar mountain range
Together with all the accessories and food supply, we had a total weight of 40kg of our both rucksacks. 20 km Per sack.
The next morning after breakfast we left Solang. Roshan dropped us Dhundhi, from where our track started. The altitude of the Dhundhi is 2300 meters above sea level. At 10:30 in the morning, we started our trek towards our first camp.
It was difficult to climb with a heavy bag but still we reached Nuaali for 2 hours continuously without any break. Nuaali's height is 2700 meters. From here, the dangerous steep climb towards "Lady Leg camp" starts, which usually takes 2 hours to climb, but the training done for the last several days came in handy and we climb about 700 meters in just 30 minutes.
There was another team sitting on Lady Leg, who would summit two days later. We went ahead by saying the best of luck to both climbers. Today our target is the Summit Camp of Friendship Peak. The sun was strong and the air was very cold. Hiking on the climb did not cause much trouble, but heavy backpack crushed the shoulders perfectly.
Before the evening, we reached the summit camp where the altitude was 4400 meters. Immediately we pitched tent and after a while we made hot tea. On the first day we trekked 8.6 km with the ascent of 1700 meters. The night was very cold, the temperature was -10 degree at 9 o'clock.
In the backdrop of our tent you can see the Mount Friendship peak
Summit Day, Saturday 27th October 2018
We woke up at 3:15 in the morning and after all the preparations we left the camp at 4:34am. Today's goal is to reach Solang after summit the Friendship Peak.
The tiny me in front of my Love
For 2 hours, we kept wandering in the debris area. Snow began as soon as debris ended, which was with us till the summit. Now we were wearing crampons on snow shoes and slowly started moving towards the summit. We reached the shoulder of peak in 3 hours. So far, the sun's rays came out, but the temperature was rising rather than decreasing. Temperatures was -9.2 degree at 8 in the morning.
Summit effort
The altitude was gradually increasing and the depth of snow was also increasing. Finally, we reached the summit at 10:30 in the morning, avoiding all the crevasses. More than 100 peaks were visible from the summit and all was higher than 6000 meters.
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Chasing the crevasses
The Mount Friendship Summit
The altitude of the Friendship Peak is 5272 meters and the summit is 4 km away from the camp. Hanuman Tibba, Shitidhar, Mukar Beh, Shikhar Beh, Manali Peak, Deo Tibba, Indrasan, Rohtang Pass, Gehpan Goh and many other countless mountain peaks were visible from here.
The Himalayan tales
Winter has come in the Himalayas and I have done my last summit of the season before covering the Himalayas in the snow. Well, I do not know anything yet, if I feel I can go somewhere else.
I hope this effort will get attention of adventures. Best wishes from Himalaya.
Love Nature,
Love Himalaya
So.. there're no Blizzards or Avalanche yet? what a perfect time to complete the mission. anyway Mountain Man @himalayanwomb!, why is the peak called Mount Friendship? BTW.. I'm here to tell you before you enjoy the winter at the mountain that I have featured you again.. you know where? check this post if you don't believe me.. I ate too much mango salsa today
Entry to The Pay it Forward Curation Contest : Week 30
I beat your comment. I'm Speedy Gonzales! :-)
LOL... I know you like tortilas.. that's why to can have that full speed of comments! Blame on the steemmonsters battle.. it's hard to leave the battle field
I have a few cards but never played it. :-P
do you want to try @trincowski? join us in team possible.. find @davemccoy, My Coach!
No, thanks. I'm not really interested. I've played Magic The Gathering when I was younger and I know how the game works.
It didn't interest me enough to play with real cards, with real people, so a virtual game of the same kind interests me even less.
Lovely and kind @cicisaja is back. like always you are gift for me on steemit. I do not have other words to compliment you. You are the only one who is spreading his blessing towards me.
This peak was virgin (Unclimbed) in early 70's but after that year Japanese and Indian climbing team summit this mountain peak for the very first time and then they got the authority from Indian Mountaineering Foundation to give a suitable name for this peak. They named it "Friendship peak".
Lots of blessings and love from my side, from my mountains.
And PIFC is our friendship peak 😉 I did what I like @himalayanwomb.. I don't have so.much power on Steemit but you're akways created high quality contents and I do hope people who love to adventure would read yours and having a good time on your mountains.
I will try my best to provide adventure stories on this platform. Keep the spirit up @cicisaja, you are inspiring people like me to sustain here.
Yihaaaa... Congratulations on curie picked!! aaahh.. so relieve, feels like a mission accomplished for me @himalayanwomb.. seems like the Lord of Himalayan really grateful for your effort to send the positive energy from the mountain.. so happy for you!!
I think in this case all the credit goes to you @cicisaja. It is a pleasure by getting light from Curie. Thanks again maam.
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No.. it's your adventure and your post.. you should've got the attention from long ago.. but since you got picked now.. all you have to is keep writing the good post😉 don't thanks me.. we're friend!
Friends 🙏
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Beautiful post, @himalayanwomb! That scenery looks so gorgeous and cool... but also cold, and I really can't stand the cold for too long. After all, I live in a country where sun shines almost all year long. I'm not anti-cold but the cold is anti-me. 😂😂😂
PS: @cicisaja featured you in the Pay It Forward Contest and that's how I found you.
Hello @trincowski, thank you for reading the post. No doubt about how gorgeous the Himalaya. Himalaya is so beautiful and that it does not even know about itself.
In next year January I am panning to trek on a frozen river "Zanskar river", the temperature would be there between -25 to -40. Ha ha well said anti-me.
What is the weather right now there?
You're welcome. Right now it's very cold in here:
Nice and pleasant weather. Over here it is around -2 at night.
I'm used to above 20°. 😂😂😂
aha...perfect 20 for our mind and body.
You're very courageous to climb all that way. I remember a hiking excursion for gym class in Cegep and I could barely climb one steep mountain ridge. Those pictures though, makes me think of Caradhras from Lord of the Rings.
The Himalayans, I hear is where you get pink sea salt. Have you even been to the foothills where the salt comes from?
Namaste @binkyprod , First of all I would like to thank you for your visit to my blog and secondly for you nice words in comment section. I was very bad in hiking earlier, you won't believe I completed my very first trek in 14 hours to reach 14 kms, that time I decided that I will never ever go to any trek but now I can not imagine myself without hiking/trekking or mountains.
There is a place near to my house called "Gumma", and that place is famous for its pink Himalayan salt but now days due to un-stabilisation of mountain the agency is not working anymore here. They moved to some other place. But yes I have been visited many places where can get the Himalayan pink sea salt.
May Himalaya bless you. namaste
Thanks.
That's inspirational. To know how you started off. It's motivational.
Wow, just wow @himalayanwomb what a scenery you show us here. Really a perfect summit to say goodbye to your season. How did you prepare mentally for your seasons end, hard goodbye or looking forward to the next season?
Winters has came and heavy snowfall and the season is almost closed for all the high altitude treks but person like me never stop. I will trek in lower Himalayan range, between 3000 meter to 3500 meters. I trained myself on 1550 meter altitude. On alternative days I use to go on long hikes or trail running with average ascent around 2000meters. The Dhauladhar mountain range is my playground.
Thank you @guchtere for your nice words.
Namaste from Himalaya.
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What a wonderful place, each of the photos you show are really splendid. Each one as good as the other, the Dhauladhar mountain range and the enroute to Summit camp is incredibly great. Thanks for sharing this with us. Upvote!
Himalaya itself is a mystery. Whenever someone will go there for very first time, the mountain accept him/her as a family member. That's why this mountain range is different from others.
Thank you @martinmcfly for the good words for afford. May Himalaya bless you full power. Have you been there anytime any chance?.
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Unfortunately I haven't been there, but I hope to go there one day.
Hope for the mountain call. Best wishes
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Lots of love from my side friend. Can't thank you enough for this lovely post and the wonderful visit to the mount friendship peak.
Thank you very much @cave-man for your kind words and feeling. Whether I climb the mountain or not, I keep receiving blessings from the Himalayas and thats why I love mountains. Tons of wishes from Himalaya.
@himalayanwomb that beautiful photos and great adventure so I see you like a lot to travel the mountains I have no words. All the photos I like from the first to the last. but more I like "summit of the friendship of the mountain" God bless you and protect you in all your adventures
Namaste @neymarth11, I appreciate your lovely words. Himalaya bless you.
The mountains in Himalayan range are glorious. Whenever we reach on 5000 meter then the spirits touches us of Lord Himalaya. On the summit it was little emotional movement for me. It was tears in my eyes and I was shaking, I was feeling the best of mountain inside me. Thank you again and take care
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Well you definitely got my attention. Especially with all those beautiful photos. It seems like quite the daunting task. I could feel the negative degree weather as you explained it. I've had to bear similar frigid coldness in Chicago. But I was only waiting for the bus hahaha Still, nothing feels better than a warm cup of tea or a steaming mug of hot chocolate on a cold day like that.
Thank you for sharing your journey! I can only imagine what it would be like to witness such beauty firsthand. You did a great job documenting it.
Stay safe on your future travels and steem on!
Namaste @jocqua, Thank you for paying attention. ha ha well said nothing feels better than a cup of tea or a steaming mug of hot chocolate on a cod day. and one thing we had hot chocolate with us but due to low gas in cylinder we couldn't make it. But after getting down we celebrated our success with one big mug of hot chocolate.
Thanks for your kind words, May Himalaya bless you with full power. Following you now.
Awesome man! I'm in New Zealand right now and a good warm cup of hot chocolate sounds SO good hahaha it's just cold and wet all over Wellington. Not nearly as cold as the Himalayas though. Thanks for the follow! I've hit you back as well. Safe travels and I look forward to running into you in the future. Cheers!
Wow New Zealand, I never been to outside from India but when I saw the cricket stadium on live cricket matches, that feeling kind of fascinating. Good luck mate.
Thanks @himalayanwomb!
Thanks for sharing this incredible adventure. While I was reading and seeing the images, I felt those mountains for a moment. I can not imagine how much fun it has to be. How many days or weeks of training do you have to complete for an adventure of this kind? It shows that you have to have a great resistance. Your photographs are on par with those of Natgeo. Professional and beautiful photographs. I will never be able to visit the place, but thanks to you, to your personal experience, I was able to have a piece of the Himalaya.
Thank you @pluridimensional for you lovely words. Means a lot. Indeed it was really an adventure on high altitude. Actually I did not trained myself on daily basis but I use to go on long hikes and on trail running in lower range of Himalaya. Like just before 2 days of summit I did 26 km hike and run with overall ascent 2700 meters. In a week I do at least 2 long distance vertical climbs.
Yeah the photographs are superb, my trek buddy got a new DSLR that's why we got such images.
I wish you visit Himalaya soon. May Himalaya bless you with positive spirit. Thanks for stopping by dear.
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You did a good physical preparation. I imagine that there is no better inspiration than to reach the top and enjoy the journey. Thank you for responding, and thank you for your wishes. Greetings.
Thanks again, Actually I was preparing myself since 2 weeks for this one and the training was worth. Best wishes from Himalaya.
Yet another exciting and adventurous climb you have there. I remember cicisaja has featured one of your previous posts for the another climb on the pifc contest. She is right, you are posting really good contents. Congratulations!
How often do you travel and climb like this? You mentioned about a friend. Is he your regular buddy when climbing?
@cicisaja is so kind to give space in pifc. Thanks for your wishes @macoolette. May Himalaya bless you full power.
I climb summit 5-6 times in a year and went to trekking in High altitude is more than 30 times. In lower Himalaya I use to go on alternative days.
Yeah she is my regular buddy when I go to climbing. We are climbing together since 1.5 years. She has a good stamina.
I am happy that you found this post good to read.
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5-6 times a year! You must be very strong and healthy to climb that often. I thought there is specific season of the year when climbing can be done. Can you do that all year round?
Yes there is specific season for climbing the peak, and it starts from May to Oct every year. Up to 4500 meter one can start in April and continuous till November end. Peak summit is possible only in summers or winters, this year I have climbed 5 mountain peak, Patalsu Peak, Stok Kangri, Yunam, Hanumang garh, and Friendship peak along with many other 5000 meter mountain passes.
I have been in mountaineering since 2008 and also certified mountaineer with "A" grade, thats why I have a strong base of climbing and stamina.
There are some mountain peaks which can be climbed even in winters but for that you have to arrange good equipment and budget. In winters I use to climb small mountains like 3000 meter to 3500 meter.