Our first Himalayan Trek : Har ki Dun, Uttarakhand
After cancelling booked Himalayan treks for 3 times, I finally was ready with my filled backpack at the fourth time, making my dream of himalayan trek come true. This trek was special to me in the sense it was the first trek with my husband and we where extremely excited for what was awaiting us!
When did we go on this unforgettable trip? May 25th to May 31st, 2019
What to pack?
Given that the end of May or start of June is Summer, it is fairly warmer in the day time but the cold temperatures at the night time can come as a surprise especially if you are coming from the planar parts of the country like south India.
1. What about the water during the trek?
carry two water bottles which are handy. you can buy D-link to hang your bottles from the bag so that it is handy to drink water while on the way. Keep one kerchief to filter water because most of the times you take water from the streams and there will be mud particles in it. also, the water will be very cold during day time as well. TTH luckily provides with hot water during morning Tea times and dinner time. so carry a thermos flask if you want to keep warm water through the night as the water bottles tend to get very cold inside the tents.
What to carry for cold during June?
Fleece jacket, bomb jacket, waterproof gloves: esp the days where you stay at your second campsite from where you do the summit on 3rd day. as the height is almost@ its pretty cold from the evenings through the nights until the sun comes out. Keep a bomb jacket and fleece jacket for evenings, nights and mornings.
What to carry for rains?
get simple plastic rain pants, raincoat from decathlon. get a bag cover to protect your backpack. Get a pair of waterproof gloves as the temperature falls down if it rains during the day time.
The kind of shoes?
i saw a lot of people trekking in their sneakers ( NIKE, NEW BALANCE, SKETCHERS etc) are a few brands which i saw. Even though Har Ki Dun is fairly established trail, you will be walking alot on loosely held small rocks. its always best to carry proper trek shoes ( from decathlon as they are very reliable). otherwise there are good chance that you are going to hurt your knee or ankle due to the stress.
What kind of socks?
Its a must buy to get blister-free socks!! Due to continuous sweat and walk, your feet will get blisters on the 2nd or 3rd day. Buy blister-free socks ( 3pairs) and wear them alternatively.
last minute shopping at Dehradun ? BE CAREFUL !!
There are no facilities near the dehradun railway station even to buy protein bars nor any trek gears. there is only one Decathlon in Dehradun which is like 7km from the railway station. As i did not visit it personally, i cannot comment on the collection there. Its a better thing to wrap up all the shopping before you arrive at dehradun. The last point where you can rent few stuff is from our start point Sankri which is 220km from Dehradun. For obvious reasons it would be a little expensive.
Instead rent from TTH :
We rented a fleece jacket, rain jacket, trekking poles from TTH. Even though it was a last minute request, the guy Rohan helped us arrange all of it in time and we cant thank him enough !
Hydration pack !! To stay hydrated, use ORS packs or hydration packs in on of the bottles and drink the same during the whole trek. Drink as much water as pissible and dont hesistate to stop the people to go ahead and pee more ! :D Staying hydrated is very important to stay energetic.
What to carry for snacks?
Carry more carbs and fats like til laddus, dry fruits, protein bars etc. avoid too much of chocolates with sugars.
WHy book with TTH?
Their amazing crew : i ahve trekked with many other famous tour companies but the service provided by TTH was unmatchable ! The crew was very welcoming on the first day itself. they did a demonstration of how to use sleeping bags, CPR process. Our trek guide Manu was knoledgable on the flora nad fauna around the area and was enthusiastically answered our endless questions
As we where 22 people, 4 crew memebers where assigned. They made sure the group doesnt get scattered along the way. The best part was, there would always be one person at the end of the whole group to make sure nobody is left out ! Often times during the treks, people who remain at the end push themselves to catch up with the group and in the process they run out of breath resulting in accidents. the TTH team did an extraordinarily good job at this !
Their food !! : Lot of effort goes into getting the raw materials on the mountains, cooking well to retain the taste and serve it hot. They provided us with desserts like gajar ka halwa, wheat payasam, jamuns, jalebis, and samosas, chole bature, popcorn, potato bhajjis, gobi manchurian
Most exciting part, the trek !!!
Day 1 : Dehradun to Sankri ride
The ride was in a TT. Driving through the open valley on one side and high mountains on the other side it is here that i first saw the snow capped mountains far amidst the gaps of bigger mountains and the journey became more intrigued of what we had in store further !
Unlike very hot Dehradun, sankri was very cold! I had to wear my thermals and bomb jacket even inside the room that was provided by TTH. it was a clean place and scenic as well !!
Day 2: Sankri to Taluka drive 11 km & Taluka to pavani Gharat trek 14km
Trail type: mostly flat and a long walk, with tens of ups and downs on the way. The ground is mostly firm.
The trail was mostly of small and firm rocks. Trek opened up walking through the fields slowly turning into thick forests like that of western ghats. After resting for a while at a fairly large flat area patched with fresh green grass which was also our first maggie point. The thing about Har ki dun is, as its a well known trek you will find a good number of breka points where you can have tea, lemon juice, maggie, sandwitch, packed snacks etc. walking through the forest we landed up at an open valley with a river flowing by its side. The mountains where covered by huge pin forests and boulders. at intervals, you could also see the traces of old land slides. getting through a straneous first day we reached at our first camp side Pavani Gharat. The food for dinner is served inside a huge dinner tent and its amazing how the kitchen crew manages to wash all the utensils in such a cold water which we weren't even willing to wash our faces and feet with !!
Day 2: Pavani Gharat to Kalkattiyadhar 7 to 8 km
Trail type: mostly steep at frequent intervals, very steep at few places.
Waking up to cold climate at 6 am with thermals, jackets, gloves on we slowly get down to single layer of cloth by 8 a.m by the time we finish our morning rituals and breakfast. There is no way we can take bath as the water is very cold so be prepared for no bath for complete 5 days :D. We started the trek with HAR HAR MAHADEV ghoshans and we walked the whole day along the river on one side opening into valley and high montains on the other side. we reached around 5 p.m and dead tired thanks to the long walk. After tea time me and my husband mostly roamed around the place and crashed to our bed after dinner at 9 p.m. Best thing of trek is we are really in the present. you don't think of work, your future, past nothing matters. Its just so present and so blissful ! As we opted for one mule, our daily ritual before going to bed would be set the next day's clothes, socks, raincoats and snacks in the day pack and the remaining stuff to the mule. I would make a request to all of you here to carry light, travel light and mule is also an animal so please limit your load on the poor thing !
Day 3: Kalkatiyadhar to harkidhun peak & back to kalkatiyadhar
Trail type: Starts with gaining altitude on an uphill, some ups and downs, one place where we had to cross the snow. Steep at few places. mostly long walk.
we started very early today around 6.30 am everybody where on the field finishing their Breakfast and ready to leave. The trail started with some uphill and as we walked about 1km we reached a point which opened up into a closed valley with the views of snow capped mountains. Walking another 2 kms through some steep parts, we ended up seeing a new set of mountains which had this very long and thin waterfall through huge mountains which was such a dreamy view ! Today's walk few so endless and hopeless of it ending! At a point if felt like we started descending and every downhill would be hating because this means we have to climb more to gain our altitude towards the summit !
Finally around 11.30 am after a strenous long walk the mystery unfolded interms of pine trees around us. With one final steep uphill which we walked through the streams, we came to a view just below the summit which snow mountains, pine trees, freezing river and sunshine in the clear blue sky!
The summit unfolded with 6 mountains, swargarohini, har ki dun ( which translates to Har meaning Shiva, dun meaning valley i.e valley of Lord shiva). The peak has a shiv ling and a small cute temple around which people where chilling.
The valley had there beautiful bunch of pink flowers for which the girls where going frenzy and taking picture with the flowers in their head and ears!
Team lead Manoj enlightened us with the fact that in the mountains at this altitude, the weather can change unexpectedly. Given that today's weather was fairly sunny we aimed to reach peak by 11 a.m till when the weather might be clean. We did reach by 11.30 am ! By 1.30 p.m after the lunch, we started walking back to the same camp through the same way. As we where celebrating that its just the climbing down now, hating the uphills on the way. It was almost around 4.30 p.m that we reached down and also the clouds formed above us and started drizzling. We where extremely lucky in the sense we never really encountered rain while on the trek in the last 3 days. The day was wrapped up after a small talk by our trek lead Manoj about CPR.
Day 4: Kalkathiyadhar to Pavani Gharat :
Trailtype: same as day 2 with 1km extra through the village of Olsa.
As coming down is much easier than climbing up, it also takes relatively less time to come down. We ascended pretty quickly into the village of Olsa that stands cascading on the mountain side with the view of huge valleys on the oppposite of it. Here we learnt about the local village, met the locals and had a small chat. We also got to know that the villagers celebrate the month of "" where they have to take bath everyday. We clicked pictures of the temple of "" and started walking down.
A sense of accomplishment crept in me and my husband that we are almost at the end of our first himalyan trek and a sense of relief that we finished it with no major setbacks !
Day 5 : Pavani Gharat to base camp Taluka
Trail : Same as Day 1
Upon reaching Taluka we had the valedictory function where we got opportunity to express our experiences individually and also receive our certificates ! As usual, an awesome dinner was served with kofta, egg curry, paranthas,rice nad curry topped with pickles!
Day 6: Sankri to Dehradun TT travel
We where at Dehradun by 3 p.m and extremely hot. Hated the transition from cold to such hot weather !We bid an emotional good bye to the mountains to get back to the crunch ! Our first himalayan trek has left us hungry to see lot more of the mountains !
Extra tips: If you are here in May end or start of June, you can also go to Rishikesh which is 40 km from Dehradun for white river rafting and bungee jumping. You can watch ganga aarti in rishikesh and also check out Haridwar further 60 k.m from Rishikesh. Plan to leave to dehradun airport from Rishikesh as it is nearer to airport than dehradun itself. Do consider some amount of traffic as well so better to keep a buffer of 2 hrs before checkin.
Don't panic! : Due to altitude change, some people might have nausea , some blood in their noses which is very common. Keep yourself hydrated with good amount of fluids and you are good to go ! :)
"DO NOT LEAVE TRASH IN THE MOUNTAINS. PICK YOUR TRASH AND DUMP IT AT DESIGNATED AREA PUT UP BY THE TTH TEAM AT EVERY CAMPSITE !!"
~ Looking forward to do alot more treks !!
When did we go on this unforgettable trip? May 25th to May 31st, 2019
What to pack?
Given that the end of May or start of June is Summer, it is fairly warmer in the day time but the cold temperatures at the night time can come as a surprise especially if you are coming from the planar parts of the country like south India.
1. What about the water during the trek?
carry two water bottles which are handy. you can buy D-link to hang your bottles from the bag so that it is handy to drink water while on the way. Keep one kerchief to filter water because most of the times you take water from the streams and there will be mud particles in it. also, the water will be very cold during day time as well. TTH luckily provides with hot water during morning Tea times and dinner time. so carry a thermos flask if you want to keep warm water through the night as the water bottles tend to get very cold inside the tents.
What to carry for cold during June?
Fleece jacket, bomb jacket, waterproof gloves: esp the days where you stay at your second campsite from where you do the summit on 3rd day. as the height is almost@ its pretty cold from the evenings through the nights until the sun comes out. Keep a bomb jacket and fleece jacket for evenings, nights and mornings.
What to carry for rains?
get simple plastic rain pants, raincoat from decathlon. get a bag cover to protect your backpack. Get a pair of waterproof gloves as the temperature falls down if it rains during the day time.
The kind of shoes?
i saw a lot of people trekking in their sneakers ( NIKE, NEW BALANCE, SKETCHERS etc) are a few brands which i saw. Even though Har Ki Dun is fairly established trail, you will be walking alot on loosely held small rocks. its always best to carry proper trek shoes ( from decathlon as they are very reliable). otherwise there are good chance that you are going to hurt your knee or ankle due to the stress.
What kind of socks?
Its a must buy to get blister-free socks!! Due to continuous sweat and walk, your feet will get blisters on the 2nd or 3rd day. Buy blister-free socks ( 3pairs) and wear them alternatively.
last minute shopping at Dehradun ? BE CAREFUL !!
There are no facilities near the dehradun railway station even to buy protein bars nor any trek gears. there is only one Decathlon in Dehradun which is like 7km from the railway station. As i did not visit it personally, i cannot comment on the collection there. Its a better thing to wrap up all the shopping before you arrive at dehradun. The last point where you can rent few stuff is from our start point Sankri which is 220km from Dehradun. For obvious reasons it would be a little expensive.
Instead rent from TTH :
We rented a fleece jacket, rain jacket, trekking poles from TTH. Even though it was a last minute request, the guy Rohan helped us arrange all of it in time and we cant thank him enough !
Hydration pack !! To stay hydrated, use ORS packs or hydration packs in on of the bottles and drink the same during the whole trek. Drink as much water as pissible and dont hesistate to stop the people to go ahead and pee more ! :D Staying hydrated is very important to stay energetic.
What to carry for snacks?
Carry more carbs and fats like til laddus, dry fruits, protein bars etc. avoid too much of chocolates with sugars.
WHy book with TTH?
Their amazing crew : i ahve trekked with many other famous tour companies but the service provided by TTH was unmatchable ! The crew was very welcoming on the first day itself. they did a demonstration of how to use sleeping bags, CPR process. Our trek guide Manu was knoledgable on the flora nad fauna around the area and was enthusiastically answered our endless questions
As we where 22 people, 4 crew memebers where assigned. They made sure the group doesnt get scattered along the way. The best part was, there would always be one person at the end of the whole group to make sure nobody is left out ! Often times during the treks, people who remain at the end push themselves to catch up with the group and in the process they run out of breath resulting in accidents. the TTH team did an extraordinarily good job at this !
Their food !! : Lot of effort goes into getting the raw materials on the mountains, cooking well to retain the taste and serve it hot. They provided us with desserts like gajar ka halwa, wheat payasam, jamuns, jalebis, and samosas, chole bature, popcorn, potato bhajjis, gobi manchurian
Most exciting part, the trek !!!
Day 1 : Dehradun to Sankri ride
The ride was in a TT. Driving through the open valley on one side and high mountains on the other side it is here that i first saw the snow capped mountains far amidst the gaps of bigger mountains and the journey became more intrigued of what we had in store further !
Unlike very hot Dehradun, sankri was very cold! I had to wear my thermals and bomb jacket even inside the room that was provided by TTH. it was a clean place and scenic as well !!
 |
| Look from the backside of our stay at Sankri ! It was a bliss to watch sky full of stars from the balcony at the night time ! |
Day 2: Sankri to Taluka drive 11 km & Taluka to pavani Gharat trek 14km
Trail type: mostly flat and a long walk, with tens of ups and downs on the way. The ground is mostly firm.
The trail was mostly of small and firm rocks. Trek opened up walking through the fields slowly turning into thick forests like that of western ghats. After resting for a while at a fairly large flat area patched with fresh green grass which was also our first maggie point. The thing about Har ki dun is, as its a well known trek you will find a good number of breka points where you can have tea, lemon juice, maggie, sandwitch, packed snacks etc. walking through the forest we landed up at an open valley with a river flowing by its side. The mountains where covered by huge pin forests and boulders. at intervals, you could also see the traces of old land slides. getting through a straneous first day we reached at our first camp side Pavani Gharat. The food for dinner is served inside a huge dinner tent and its amazing how the kitchen crew manages to wash all the utensils in such a cold water which we weren't even willing to wash our faces and feet with !!
Day 2: Pavani Gharat to Kalkattiyadhar 7 to 8 km
Trail type: mostly steep at frequent intervals, very steep at few places.
Waking up to cold climate at 6 am with thermals, jackets, gloves on we slowly get down to single layer of cloth by 8 a.m by the time we finish our morning rituals and breakfast. There is no way we can take bath as the water is very cold so be prepared for no bath for complete 5 days :D. We started the trek with HAR HAR MAHADEV ghoshans and we walked the whole day along the river on one side opening into valley and high montains on the other side. we reached around 5 p.m and dead tired thanks to the long walk. After tea time me and my husband mostly roamed around the place and crashed to our bed after dinner at 9 p.m. Best thing of trek is we are really in the present. you don't think of work, your future, past nothing matters. Its just so present and so blissful ! As we opted for one mule, our daily ritual before going to bed would be set the next day's clothes, socks, raincoats and snacks in the day pack and the remaining stuff to the mule. I would make a request to all of you here to carry light, travel light and mule is also an animal so please limit your load on the poor thing !
Day 3: Kalkatiyadhar to harkidhun peak & back to kalkatiyadhar
Trail type: Starts with gaining altitude on an uphill, some ups and downs, one place where we had to cross the snow. Steep at few places. mostly long walk.
we started very early today around 6.30 am everybody where on the field finishing their Breakfast and ready to leave. The trail started with some uphill and as we walked about 1km we reached a point which opened up into a closed valley with the views of snow capped mountains. Walking another 2 kms through some steep parts, we ended up seeing a new set of mountains which had this very long and thin waterfall through huge mountains which was such a dreamy view ! Today's walk few so endless and hopeless of it ending! At a point if felt like we started descending and every downhill would be hating because this means we have to climb more to gain our altitude towards the summit !
Finally around 11.30 am after a strenous long walk the mystery unfolded interms of pine trees around us. With one final steep uphill which we walked through the streams, we came to a view just below the summit which snow mountains, pine trees, freezing river and sunshine in the clear blue sky!
The summit unfolded with 6 mountains, swargarohini, har ki dun ( which translates to Har meaning Shiva, dun meaning valley i.e valley of Lord shiva). The peak has a shiv ling and a small cute temple around which people where chilling.
The valley had there beautiful bunch of pink flowers for which the girls where going frenzy and taking picture with the flowers in their head and ears!
Team lead Manoj enlightened us with the fact that in the mountains at this altitude, the weather can change unexpectedly. Given that today's weather was fairly sunny we aimed to reach peak by 11 a.m till when the weather might be clean. We did reach by 11.30 am ! By 1.30 p.m after the lunch, we started walking back to the same camp through the same way. As we where celebrating that its just the climbing down now, hating the uphills on the way. It was almost around 4.30 p.m that we reached down and also the clouds formed above us and started drizzling. We where extremely lucky in the sense we never really encountered rain while on the trek in the last 3 days. The day was wrapped up after a small talk by our trek lead Manoj about CPR.
Day 4: Kalkathiyadhar to Pavani Gharat :
Trailtype: same as day 2 with 1km extra through the village of Olsa.
As coming down is much easier than climbing up, it also takes relatively less time to come down. We ascended pretty quickly into the village of Olsa that stands cascading on the mountain side with the view of huge valleys on the oppposite of it. Here we learnt about the local village, met the locals and had a small chat. We also got to know that the villagers celebrate the month of "" where they have to take bath everyday. We clicked pictures of the temple of "" and started walking down.
A sense of accomplishment crept in me and my husband that we are almost at the end of our first himalyan trek and a sense of relief that we finished it with no major setbacks !
Day 5 : Pavani Gharat to base camp Taluka
Trail : Same as Day 1
Upon reaching Taluka we had the valedictory function where we got opportunity to express our experiences individually and also receive our certificates ! As usual, an awesome dinner was served with kofta, egg curry, paranthas,rice nad curry topped with pickles!
Day 6: Sankri to Dehradun TT travel
We where at Dehradun by 3 p.m and extremely hot. Hated the transition from cold to such hot weather !We bid an emotional good bye to the mountains to get back to the crunch ! Our first himalayan trek has left us hungry to see lot more of the mountains !
Extra tips: If you are here in May end or start of June, you can also go to Rishikesh which is 40 km from Dehradun for white river rafting and bungee jumping. You can watch ganga aarti in rishikesh and also check out Haridwar further 60 k.m from Rishikesh. Plan to leave to dehradun airport from Rishikesh as it is nearer to airport than dehradun itself. Do consider some amount of traffic as well so better to keep a buffer of 2 hrs before checkin.
Don't panic! : Due to altitude change, some people might have nausea , some blood in their noses which is very common. Keep yourself hydrated with good amount of fluids and you are good to go ! :)
"DO NOT LEAVE TRASH IN THE MOUNTAINS. PICK YOUR TRASH AND DUMP IT AT DESIGNATED AREA PUT UP BY THE TTH TEAM AT EVERY CAMPSITE !!"
~ Looking forward to do alot more treks !!
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