Valley of Flowers vs. Kalihani Pass Trek
In my long-time career as an outdoor leader, I have observed one particular thing that in this field there are some Adventure programs which are highly overrated for some reasons. So, I will be throwing light on one particular trek, the Valley of Flowers of Uttarakhand that desperately needs a reality check.
The Valley of Flowers has bothered me a lot in several ways but it doesn’t mean people should not visit this place. Of course, people have their own choices but my personal belief is that it doesn’t qualify to be called as a trek. Don’t get me wrong, I have no intention to disrespect its beauty since any place in the mountains has it’s own charm. I am rather penning down my thoughts as an adventure enthusiast.
During the initial stages of my career, I was assigned to lead batches in Valley of Flowers, an overappreciated trek in the state of Uttarakhand. Before going for a new trek I do a lot of research about the whereabouts of the trek, so I was not keen beforehand only because in several articles and blogs apart from being photogenic there was nothing interesting about the Valley of Flowers that could make me excited.
But to my horror, it turned out exactly the way I had expected. I had to spend two months on one slope and worst of all from an adventurist's point of view it almost made me doubt whether I am working in the right field.
Exactly two years later I got a wonderful opportunity to explore the untouched Kalihani Pass trek in Himachal Pradesh. This finally gave me the opportunity to put things into perspective and provide a reality check by clearly distinguishing between a factual adventure and the supposed "adventure" which is nothing but a mere outdoor experience.
Here, I will showcase the ways in which Kalihani Pass Trek deserves to be labeled as the ultimate adventure one should look forward to instead of the Valley of Flowers.
