The Expedition of Mount CB13 in Spiti Valley

The Chandra Bhaga 13 (CB13) expedition is one of the lifetime experiences for the mountaineers. Its majestic view of famous Dhaka Glacier, Chandratal Lake and Kunzum Range is not hidden from anyone. This high peak with an elevation of 6264 m is located near cold dessert of Lahaul-Spiti Valley in Himachal Pradesh. As the peak is known for its beauty it is also well known for its challenging trekking expedition. The rough and steep terrain requires prior experience and sound knowledge of mountaineering techniques.

From plain rocky surface, steep high rock climbing, icy glaciers and snow ridge the trail passes many spellbinding landscapes. This trail will become a memorable to you as the trail passes famous Dhaka Glacier. This glacier holds the mystery of 1968 crash that happened on south of Dhaka Glacier. Here an Indian army plane carrying 98 soldiers crashed and all soldiers including the pilot died. The aircraft ruins are still there but astonishingly the black box could never be found since then and the mystery of crash was never solved. This expedition is more favourable if done in summer as the winters are pretty harsh here so the better months are May to September.

This trip starts from Manali, a beautiful hill station and a famous gateway to many majestic expeditions of North-East Himachal. It is a 13 hours drive from Delhi and can be reached through flight it till Kullu and further by road till Manali. It has beautiful rich Himalayan culture and incomparable scenic beauty. You should visit this place in and around as it preserves the heritage in wood carvings on age old temples like Hidimba Devi, old Himalayan houses in Old Manali, and deep forests surrounded by high snow covered mountains. After a day or two you can restart the journey and head towards Batal village, from where the trek starts.

A remote area of Lahaul Spiti district resides where you will hardly be any local population but you’ll meet the decades old Chacha-Chachi Dhaba. They are famous as they sell tea and food at Batal from years and only they had satellite phone in this non reachable area. There will be an overnight stay in Batal where we’ll setup our own camps and we’ll stay for one more day here to get acclimatize to the altitude which is very important. The famous Chandratal Lake, also known as Moon Lake is quite near to this place so you can go and see that too. It is known for its tranquillity and mesmerizing surroundings and one can see Mt CB 13 clearly from the Lake.

Next day the on foot journey of the expedition starts early from Batal as the trek to base camp is tiring and time consuming. Here you’ll pass the spectacular valley along with Chandra river and the high mountains in surrounding. The trail won’t be easy at many place but the major obstacle will be an glacier water stream crossing known as Pagal Nala. It is said pagal (mad) because the water level increases abruptly here. Therefore people prefer to cross it early morning as there is less madness in water. After walking for 6-8 hrs there is the base camp of CB13 which will be our stoppage for the coming days. The briefing, the acclimatization and the tool check has to be done here as after this there will be no looking back except for any natural calamity. From here the trek will now be difficult to walk as the temperature is less and the loose rock trail has to pass. The initial days will be passed with training and mapping the route then going further in trail and setting up next camp site. This will continue while setting up the camp site no. 2 where the trekkers go further mark the route or set the rope anchors and come back to last camp. One has to keep a check on weather as unfavourable conditions will call off the expedition.

The last day trek to summit will start post mid night around 2-3 am to reach and come back on time. The first few meters will be followed on moraine which will be an icy path and after this the trail goes tougher as one will ascends on icy slopes and steep rock path. You’ll also be crossing the tragic glacier where you’ll witness the ruins of air craft. Further, climb over the high ridge which will lead towards the summit if weather will be favourable. The view from this summit is simply magical where you can see Chandratal Lake right there, then there will be Chandra River, and boundless beauty of Kunzum Range.

After the successful Chandra Bhaga 13 expedition, the group will descend back to the base camp for the overnight stay and then the following days will be en-routing back to Batal and then another day back to Manali.