Trekking in India: The Bhrigu Lake Trek Experience

I think everyone reading this will unanimously agree that first love is special. And, so is your first trek. My first trek into the Himalayas was Bhrigu Lake Trek with Bikat Adventures and it will always hold a special place in my heart.

I still remember the day I packed my bag in a haste. I was nervous but more excited. While I was on the bus to Manali, I had all kinds of apprehensions about the trek. What am I getting into? How difficult it is going to be? Is it even worth all the pain? I had butterflies in my stomach, the same way when you are in love.

I fell in love with the trails slowly and then all at once. The moment the trek started from Gulaba, I knew it was leading to something phenomenal. The lush greenery and the salubrious mountain air with huge mountains hovering over us, everything on the trail made me fall in love with the trek and nature. I laid my eyes in the gigantic Hanuman Tibba peak that played peek-a-boo with me throughout the trail.

My trek was as raw and wild as anyone’s first love is. Just like love makes you do things you have never done before, Bhrigu Lake made me cherish small things in life. I had never drunk anything but mineral water. Yet there I was drinking water from the stream and it tasted way better than the bottled water which is claimed to be straight from the Himalayas. The wild mules were grazing around.

With first love comes all the first cherishable experiences. With Bhrigu Lake Trek came my first tryst with snow. I had never seen snow in my life, let alone walk on it. But as soon as we reached Rola Khuli, the landscape turned from lush green to sheer white. We put on our gaiters to help us walk on the hard ice. I was so scared about crossing the mountain with the abyss on one side. One silly mistake and my family would never see me again. But I was being worried about nothing. The other trekkers helped me let go off my fear. By the end of the trek, I was learned and confident. You learn so much from your first relationship that you incorporate those learnings in your every relationship after. The lessons from Bhrigu Lake have helped me immensely in the mountain treks I took after. It is one of the reasons why Bhrigu Lake will always have a special place in my heart.

Rola Khuli was also our first campsite for the day. As the name suggests, it was an open ground with a huge expanse of snow. I wondered how beautiful it would look in the summers when all the snow is melted. Let me tell you, camping under the stars with like-minded strangers is much more fun than a night out in the city. We had simple yet sumptuous dinner in the common tent under the flickering light of the lamp. The sound of crickets in the jungle was our background music for the evening. The food was simple but you could taste the warmth and love with which it was prepared. Frankly, all the fine dining experiences I had had in my life before failed before this homely dinner.

Everything went well on the first day. Then came day two. Just like any relationship has its ups and downs, I too faced storms on Bhrigu Lake Trek. We were on our way to the top when nasty black clouds started hovering over us. The clouds were in their full form to break our spirits. But we were also determined. After all, it is not love if it is weak. With the same notion in our heart, we continued. Neither the clouds, hard ice nor the steep climb discouraged us from getting to the top.

People stalk their crushes on social media, so I did some digging about Bhrigu Lake on the internet and came across some interesting tales. Apparently, the lake was the place where Sage Bhrigu came to meditate after the murder of his wife and children dragged him to depression. He was so devastated that he tried to attempt suicide in the Beas River. But the river goddess saved him and sent him to the top of the mountain. That is the thing about nature. It heals us all. And if it could heal the wise sage such as Bhrigu, there is not a woe in our world nature can’t cure.

After a couple more hours of arduous trekking, we finally reached there. It was an ecstatic moment the first time I laid my eyes on the lake. It was frozen, oval in shape, and blue. I have also heard that the serene lake changes its color every season. If you come here in summers, it is green. I came here in May when it was blue.

That feeling when love makes you feel on top of the world is how the Bhrigu Lake Trek made me feel. It had just been day two of the trek and I was high on adrenaline and quite literally too. Even on the celebrity treks like Roopkund and Rupin, you soar to such great heights on the fifth or sixth day. The alpine lake, for which I and fourteen other people were on the quest, rested in all its glory at the height of 14,000 ft. Goodbyes are hard. As we descended down, it became hard for me to leave the mountains. I didn’t want to leave, but I knew I would come back one day to this place again.

It is true. First love is indeed special. I have come a long way in the world of trekking but I will never forget my maiden experience in the mountains that I was fortunate to have on Bhrigu Lake Trek. Here’s to first experiences and beautiful memories!