The crossing itself
The Pin-Parvati Pass sits at approximately 5,319 metres above sea level, connecting the cold desert of Spiti's Pin Valley on one side to the lush, rain-fed Parvati Valley on the other. Few treks in the Indian Himalayas ask you to cross between two worlds this ecologically unlike each other in a single day. On the Spiti side, the terrain is grey and lunar, loose scree, no tree cover, wind that comes without warning. By the time you descend into Parvati Valley, there are wildflowers and the smell of pine. The contrast is disorienting in a way that is hard to prepare for, because the body is still processing 5,300 metres of altitude while the eyes are receiving entirely different information.
