We drove 350 km from Gurugram to Chail at 2,250 metres. Pine forests so thick the sunlight comes through in columns. Three dogs who had never smelled mountain air before. And Captain became a completely different dog at altitude — calm, quiet, present. Two full minutes of stillness at the world's highest cricket ground.
The little details that stay with you
A few recorded details from this journey, kept close to the original account and the moments the traveller chose to share.
We drove 350 km from Gurugram to Chail at 2,250 metres. Pine forests so thick the sunlight comes through in columns. Three dogs who had never smelled mountain air before. And Captain became a completely different dog at altitude — calm, quiet, present. Two full minutes of stillness at the world's highest cricket ground.
Mountain drives need early starts. We left before 6 AM — before the Delhi traffic, before the Chandigarh bypass jam, before the sun got high enough to make the car warm and the dogs restless. The early start meant we hit the mountain section in the late morning when the road is at its clearest and the light through the pine forests is extraordinary.
We stopped near Solan on the NH5 for breakfast before beginning the mountain section. This is the last proper highway stop before the road narrows to single lane. Feed the dogs here. Fill the car with fuel here. Use the clean restrooms here. After Solan, the road begins its serious climb and stops become improvised or nonexistent.
The 14 km from Kandaghat to Chail is why this trip requires a Rubicon. Single lane. Sheer pine forest on one side. Valley drop on the other. Three hairpin bends where you can see the road you were on twenty minutes ago, 400 metres below. The Rubicon handled it without complaint. The dogs handled it better than expected — all three were calm and upright, watching the forest.
The moment Kimchi smelled mountain air for the first time at Solan, she stood completely still for thirty seconds and just inhaled. Seven months old and her whole face changed.
— Solan, NH5, 9:30 AM
Chail does not announce itself. There is no dramatic moment where the mountains appear and you gasp. The road simply climbs — through Chandigarh, through Solan, through Kandaghat — and then the air changes. Pine replaces dust. The temperature drops. And somewhere on the switchbacks above Chail village, your dogs put their heads out of the window and you watch them inhale something they have never inhaled before.
We drove to Chail in March, just before the apple blossoms peak. The Rubicon earned its name on the final stretch — 14 km of single-lane mountain road from Kandaghat, forest on one side, valley on the other, three dogs remarkably calm in the back. Apple (The Golden Retriever) slept through the switchbacks. Captain watched the road like a co-pilot. Kimchi was seven months old and this was her first mountain trip.
At 2,250 metres, Chail is cooler than Shimla and a fraction of the crowd. The Chail Cricket Ground — the highest in the world — sits in a clearing surrounded by deodar trees. The sky is so close it feels like the match is played inside a cloud.
Captain stood at the edge of the Chail Cricket Ground, looked across the valley, and became someone else entirely. Altitude does things to dramatic Nawabs.
🗺 Journey Timeline
🐾 Meet the travellers
Apple (The Golden Retriever) in the mountains is Apple (The Golden Retriever) at her absolute best. She slows down further than usual. She investigates things with a thoroughness that only altitude seems to unlock. Three hours in a pine sunlight patch. The full catalogue of mountain smells. Complete peace.
The mountains transformed him. Two full minutes of complete stillness at the edge of Chail Cricket Ground at 2,444 metres, staring at the valley. The forest trail walked with zero drama, maximum curiosity. We brought a dramatic Nawab to Chail and came back with something closer to a monk.
First mountain trip at seven months. Everything was the most extraordinary thing that had ever happened. The Solan smell. The switchbacks. The pine needle floor. The pine cones she tried to eat. The cricket pitch she sprinted across twice. Seven months old and already fully a mountain dog.
📸 Photo Gallery
Chail is 350 km from Gurugram and worth every kilometre of switchbacks. We came back with three dogs who had smelled pine forest for the first time, stood at 2,444 metres, and walked trails that no city dog should take for granted. Captain was calm for three days after returning. We think Chail fixed something in him. We will definitely go back.
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