By Some US based friends had shown a desire to trek in the picturesque Mansehra district and I shared the treks that we had done. Most entailed climbing mountains and reaching lakes. However, they indicated their desire to trek Munro trail that straddles Siran and Kaghan valleys with one end resting on the Kund Bungla Rest House sitting on top of Shinkirari at about 7800 feet ASL. The other at Kamal Bund Rest House after traversing about 66 kms, close to Kaghan.
The participants included Naveed Gilani, a veteran trekker, Munir, Imran Bajwa, Syed Haider and Mme Nazneen. The write-up includes views of the participants and some pictures taken by them. Nadeem, who was our guide for treks to Dudipatsar and Maheen lakes undertook the arduous task of providing logistic support. He did an excellent job by deploying horses for this purpose and providing local guidance. We left Islamabad early on 5 June to reach Mansehra and onwards to Shinkiari in hired jeeps. While it was exceptionally hot down country, we experienced outright cold weather as we climbed towards Kund Bungla in mild to moderate rain. We stayed the night in the Facilitation Centre (at Kund Bungla) where the caretaker oriented us with the trek route on a model.
We trekked next morning amid an intermittent drizzle along the ascending ridgeline towards Shaheed Pani. It was raining and we decided to camp about three kms plus of Shaheed Pani at a ‘guli’ at above 10000 feet ASL or 3000 meters. It proved to be challenging as it rained heavily.
We left next morning along the highest point of the trek by climbing a mountain top in front of the Musa ka Musalla’s skyline. We then descended towards our next destination, Nadi Bungla. It is a refurbished Rest House amid a thick crop of trees. We reached there by early afternoon. It is approachable by road from Balakot. The caretaker allowed us to overnight in the Rest House. After waiting for the rain to subside next morning, we left for our final destination, Sharan Forest. For logistics reasons we had omitted the final leg to the Kamal Bund Rest House.
Nadee Bungla RH
The first part of the trek took us through a very scenic valley with freshwater channels. After flipping across the water channels couple of times we then trekked across a mountain to commence the longish climb to the Sharan Forest, a popular tourist resort. It is at a height of 8400 feet or 2500 plus meters. We reached there by late afternoon and camped inside an empty agriculture godown.
Scenic trekking site
Being a weekend, Sharan Forest was teeming with tourists. Next morning we trekked to the Munshi Top located at around 10000 feet or about 3000 meters. It took about two hours to reach the extended meadow, its highest point. It offers breathtaking views of some landmarks of the region, snow covered Pir Punjal Range in Kashmir and even some mountains of Astore District of GB. We then drove down to Paras in the Kaghan Valley, and onwards to
It took us plus of three days to complete the trek that spanned cumulatively 50 plus kms. Despite a couple of rest houses and touristic facilities located along the Trail, the trek requires self-sufficiency in food and camping gear. Local guidance is vital to avoid waste of time and effort. Some of us went grossly wrong on the first day while attempting a downhill short cut and had to retrace their way back. The Facilitation Centre in Kund Bungla offers little support as our experience suggests.
The trek spans known touristic destinations and it can be adjusted to suit one’s preferences. It follows aesthetically pleasing routes that remain mostly within the tree line where water can be accessed. A moderate trek in terms of degree of difficulty
There are other trekking destinations astride the Munro Trail like climbing Musa ka Musalla (it has numerous approaches) or Makra mountain (from Shogran, Kaghan Valley). There are scenic lakes upstream in Naran.
Makra Top (Shogran) seen from Munshi Top (Sharan Forest)