To the Jalori Pass!!!!

After a day of rest, to recover from the ride over the Rhotang and back, we headed back down the Kullu Valley to Aut (pronounced "out") to take the road over the Jalori Pass and into the Kinnaur Valley. We filled up with petrol about 10kms outside of Aut and we had told the pump man, when he asked, that we were going over the Jalori Pass. When we got to Aut we took the turn off the road and we saw that there was a bit of rubble at the entrance to the bridge, but it wasn't a problem for motorbikes (this shows the mentality that we have developed riding in India - bikes can go where they want, it's 4 wheelers that are restricted to roads :) and we rode on by. We stopped on the other side to read the sign about the Great Himalaya National Park (and to check we were on the right road) and then we continued on.

There was a great big rock in the road, but there was a place for bikes to slip by...no alarm bells are going off at this point, but we are on a paved road. Not even 50 meters farther the road is covered with dirt...it's a bit slippy, but nothing we can't handle. Still no alarm bells. A says continue on a bit more to see how it pans out (I am in the lead). Another 20 meters and I feel the bike slogging and then the Enfield stalls (it likes to do that at the most inopportune times, the beast!!!! :). I feel the bike sinking and I immediately call back to A and say "stay where you are!! I am sinking!!!!". A quickly props the Pulsar up on the sidestand and comes to help...I am demanding (yes, A will tell you that much :) rocks or a branch to prop the bike up. The tail pipe is going under and I am tearing my heavy bag off the back to lighten the bike as much as possible...I did mention that we had just filled the tank, so I have nearly 15 liters of petrol on board, too.



We did not panic. Honestly. I knew we were going to get out of this. A got me a rock and I put it under the tailpipe and I cleared the quicksand, for that is what it was, out of the pipe and I started clearing the sandy mud from the back area to keep the pipe clear. I knew that if we got the water away then the sand would solidify so I got A working with me to create drainage channels to pull the water away. I also started digging out the front wheel and building a small path of rocks as a little path to get it moving to the right and the more solid surface. Then we started on the back wheel and started digging out the rear wheel, all the while keeping our drainage channels open (they quickly filled with silt and needed to be constantly cleared). Oh...and it started to rain at one point....it was not looking good, but I knew we would make it out, even if no one came along to help - they were waving from the rod on the other side of the river, one guy even parked his jeep and watched for awhile!



As all this mad digging was going on we were sinking in the silt as well, so we had to remember frequently to pull out boots out before we also got stuck. Both of us ended up falling on out butts at one time or another as we tried to pull a foot out and tipped ourselves over :) I demanded my foot back more than once from that sucking mud!!!! While we were digging the rear out we hit bottom - we found the road! We knew then that the bike would sink no further. So we dug out enough so that we could pull the Enfield up onto its center stand and we could both dig and not have to watch for the bike tipping over. We dug and dug, moving a ton of mud and water and finally, at least an hour later, it was time to see if the bike would start so I could ride it out of the hole. So I hopped on the Enfield and gave it a few kicks and lo and behold it coughed to life...and shot the remaining silt out the pipe along with a bunch of black soot. Woohoo!!!

So I gently rode it out and on to the firmer surface on the right side, closer to the river and then A and I started to turn the bike around....and the bike started sinking again!!!! We had it perpendicular to the river and on a higher sand section so A was getting really worried because we were farther above the road and the bike could sink more...I was confident that it would be ok as the water was lower because the sand was higher. So we madly started digging drainage channels again. A was getting really tired and her hands were not cooperating, so she grabbed a rock to help - we had been digging with just our bare hands up to this point - there was no shovel; or wood or anything around and most of the rocks were too big to dig with. We got three good channels going and the bike was now on a lot more solid ground. We dug around the wheels and the started to drag/lift the bike around to face back the way we came. We dug and lifted and with a supreme effort (as the Enfield is a bit of a hulking beast) we got the bike lifted onto the surface of the sand and it wasn't sinking! That is what good drainage gave us :)

We rolled it forward and I climbed aboard and kicked it to life. A and discussed the best line to get it out and I opened the throttle and let it rip - speed will help it float over the sand. It was a slippery ride but I made it back to the pavement and parked the bike. A and I gave each other a high five and a big hug - we had escaped!!!! Well, we still had to get the Pulsar out of there. So we went back and collected my luggage and out coats and helmets and I went back for the Pulsar (remember, I have longer outrigger legs :). We got it turned around and then I did the same thing - kicked it to life, dropped it in gear and opened the throttle to rip it back across the sand. It was very skittish and it felt like I was surfing with the back end all over the place, but I knew the front wanted to stay upright so I just steered it straight and soon we had both bikes safe on solid ground. All this effort took us HOURS. We don't know exactly how long as no one looked when we started and the watches were too muddy by the end of it...at least 3 hours of hard labor!

Here is the hole we dug ourselves out of the first time and you can see the tire track from the second hole on the right side.


We were tired, we had aching arms and we were starved!!!!



So we gently rode up to the main road and headed towards Mandi and the dhaba that we had stopped at on the way up to Manali (they have good parathas and masala chai :). Then we rode into Mandi, totally knackered, and found a lovely place to stay.

Not a half hour after we had gotten settled we heard a thundering from outside...a huge group of Enfields had pulled in!


We were starving, so we left them to it and ordered a great dinner of dal and rice and we had a beer to celebrate our triumph over the challenges of the mountains... and then we went to bed :). The day had been so exciting, however, that neither of us slept well because we were just buzzing. The next morning we were up early and got on our way to McLeod Ganj - a nice place for a rest :) We popped in to see Rana, he said the bike was ok and we went across the road for a cup of tea and then continued on the lovely mountain roads - we were amped and the bikes were running great! We arrived in McLeod Ganj and found a place to stay and we have been taking it easy. All that is left is the ride back to Delhi and the flight home.