As the Milam valley road was closed we decided to explore the Ralam side-valley. At the end of this valley (30km) is the hamlet of Ralam 3500m which is inhabited only during summer. Once the snow clears mid May people return back home. We left Lilam (1750m) at 12pm and crossed the river to the Buin school from where the path enters the forest and climbs up along the river.
Across the river the cobbled path climbs up steeply to lower 1850m and upper 2150m Pathu, picturesque small hamlets with a nice temple in between. From here a steep ascent continues along the rocky barren South facing slope and turns around a first big ridge 2350m where the path gradually climbs through a beautiful big forest along the North facing slope.
At 2400m you cross the river of the side valley and another major climb starts along a barren rocky slope till you cross a 2nd major ridge at a temple 2650m. From here the cobbled path descends through a large beautiful forest till you hit the Ralam valley stream near a rest house cum dhaba at 2280m where we pitched up at 6pm. As luck would have it the dhaba owner had just returned today and made yummy parottas and sabji for us.
The next morning we rose by 6am, had 4 maggies and 4 eggs to energize for the day and were joined by two shepherds and some 100 big mountain goats carrying supplies for Ralam village before the annual return of the villagers mid May. After the guesthouse the trail crosses a bridge to the left side of river. From here the path ascends medium steeply across rocks, boulders and landslides along slope of valley just above the stream.
One hour after into the journey one crosses a large snowbridge across the left slope, a few hundreds meter long. The gradual slope, snow partly covered by goat poop, molten footsteps of the goats make the surface rough and easy to cross. Drone! I shouted to Neil to capture the herd of sheep crossing the snow section.
After this the trail continues on the left (upstream) side of the valley intermittent across soil, grass, rocks and frequent snowbridges which are still resisting the onset of the summer. At some places the main valley river dives underneath and appears again from under these snow fields.
After a very large snow section and left turn of the river the trail climbs up on the left side avoiding the deeper cut valley below. The trail now runs through meadows intersparces with regular smaller but steeper snow bridges above side streams. Finally before the right turn of the valley we encounter a deserted hamlet 3650m and a yet unmanned ITBP checkpost.
The valley now turns right and a side valley joins on the left. Here we need to cross a steep snow bridge in the side valley after which the trail climbs out again steeply. 2km further we encounter a small deserted hamlet where houses are still partly covered in snow. Another 500m beyond we finally reach Ralam, a larger picturesque settlement of some 20 stone houses. All homes have been locked and roofs are covered with tarps and bushes to protect from the snow. On May 13 Ralam was still deserted, it would take another week for the people to return.
I found a nice new bungalow at the base of the village which was unlocked. Gathered firewood, fetched water from the village fountain and settled down with magnificent views on surrounding snow covered peaks while cooking some tasty maggie at the end of a tiring day of crossing nearly 20 inclined snow sections. Enjoyed the campfire and views till 9pm while doing some blogging and shortlisting of photos.
Settled down in a small room for the night but woke up around 1:45am due to cold. Quickly wrapped myself inside my bivy which seemed to trap the body heat and repel the cold. Next morning frozen side streams bore testimony of the cold night temperatures at 3650m during May.
Raised up by 6am and returned back down the Ralam valley to meet up with Neil who stayed behind at the ITBP checkpost not feeling safe to traverse the large snowbridge across the side valley. He had settled in a small house in the nearby hamlet and had covered himself with sheep rugs to manage the cold that night.
We both continued the downstream journey around 8am traversing the same sloping snow sections along the trail high above the valley before descending into the valley where several huge snowbridges covered the entire stream and valley. On the way we met two shepherds and their herds carrying supplies to Ralam and a few others grazing the valley further downstream.
We hit the guesthouse near the bridge around 1pm, less than half the time it took us to climb up to Ralam. After hot chai and egg maggie we pushed continued the descend targetting to reach Pathon by evening. Along the way we met a group of American students on a 30 day hiking / training program by NOLS. Speedhiking mostly downhill we reached the dhaba near Buinee by 6:30pm. Most of today was rainy / drizzling and chill. Looking forward to a warmer night at 1750m altitude today.
3 thoughts on “Trans Himalayas 2019 – Ralam Valley, May 12-14”
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Any particular reason why milam valley was closed? Wanting to do nanda devi east which is accessable through milam.
Land slide. Road was closed
It was closed due to a road landslide as per what I heard