Kuari Pass Trek , Auli and More

Details

Altitude - 12516 ft, Group size - 3, Operator - Himalaya Shelter

Love for mountains and winters meant that it was time for another Himalayan trek. Last year it was Kedarkantha, this year its Kuari Pass.

It was tough to choose between Brahmatal trek and Kuari Pass trek. It purely depends on what is your primary motive of doing the trek. To see fresh snow? To do a challenging climb that will test your limits? Or to get to view the tallest mountains of the country? Last year at Kedarkantha, i got to see plenty of snow and thus was not my priority anymore. I wanted to see the tallest mountains in India. My cousin (who is in this industry and also accompanied me on this trek) convinced me to do the Kuari Pass. This trek, with a maximum altitude of 12516 ft offers you the best views of Mt Nanda Devi, Mt Dunagiri etc, Mt Kamet etc, which are amongst the tallest peaks of India.

Ideally, Kuari Pass in not a peak winter trek. The best time to the do this trek is either March-April or autumn. In winters the trail has too much of snow with harsh cold/winds making the otherwise easy-moderate trek a moderate one.

The base camp for this trek is a remote village called 'Dhak' . Dhak is at an hour's drive from a town named Joshimath, which in itself is about 10 hrs drive away from Rishikesh. Joshimath is popular for its proximity to the ski destination of India, Auli and also as a popular stop over place enroute to dham yatra of Badrinath.

Day 1 - The drive from Rishikesh to Joshimath/Dhak is about 265 kms. The bonus of this trek is that the route from Rishikesh to Joshimath allows you to see 4 of the 5 prayags (Devprayag, Rudraprayag , Karnaprayag and Nandaprayag) that eventually form the holy river 'Ganga'. You either see Alaknanda or Ganga flowing alongside the road for most of the journey.

While most agencies plan to cover the 265 odd km drive from Rishikesh to Joshimath/Dhak on Day 1 , we planned to end day 1 at Karnaprayag as my flight was to reach only by 11 am and the drive to Joshimath would have gone too long into the night. However, we could not even reach Karnaprayag by sunset as we (me and 2 of my cousins) left the airport post 1 pm. Thanks to my cousin who worked at Himalaya Shelter, doing this trip with a familiar operator meant that the itinerary was flexible. We stayed overnight at Rudraprayag instead of Karnaprayag.

Day 2 - We left Rudrapayag early so as to make up for the lost distance on Day 1. The idea was to reach Dhak and stay overnight but enroute we got an update that Kuari Pass trail and its campsites had lots of snow and the trek might not be possible beyond even half point. This was a big dampner to our spirits. We quickly discussed and decided to go to Auli for overnight stay instead of Joshimath/ Dhak. This was so that we could at least see Auli and then possibly leave for Brahmatal trek instead (local guides indicated Brahmatal trek trail was open ).

We reached Auli around 1 pm and had lunch at GMVN (A Government of Uttarakhand Enterprise). The lunch house offered stunning views.

We checked into our hotel (Himalyan Eco Lodge) and then left for some activities that Auli is famous for. We decided to skip skiing and opted for the chairlift ride instead. The ride locks you onto a chair and zips you across the rope at a considerable height. It was an amazing experience and offers great views of Mt Nandadevi (the Tallest mountain in India). A blanket of snow covers the land as far as eyes can see. The cost of the ride is Rs 500/person.

After exploring the slopes of Auli for a while we headed back to the hotel and spent the night.It was getting super cold, with the temperature expected to dip to -4 degrees that night. Meanwhile we got assurance from our guide from Joshimath that Kuari pass trek can be done to a decent extend (although not in entirety).

We were on for it.

Day 3 - After breakfast we left by vehicle from Auli and reached the base village called Tugasi (slightly beyond Dhak) around 12 pm. We offloaded all of our luggages, inventories, ration etc and were ready to undertake the actual part of the trek - by foot.

The views from Tugasi itself was amazing. Mt Dunagiri (a massive 23000 + feet) makes its presence felt straight away.

The beauty of Kuari pass trek is that it offers views of the tallest mountains from Day 1, unlike many other treks where the tallest peaks are visible only during a short stretch.

Our plan was to do a 3 km trek till a campsite called Gulling and camp there overnight. The trek trail to Gulling takes you through a mix of steep and gentle slopes and is free of snow/ice for most of the part. We stop for tea at a small tea house at Upper Tugasi. This is the last place that offers a tea point or any other pukka settlement. The locals are mostly occupied with agriculture, rearing sheep/goats/mules etc. We meet a couple of doggos here and from my experience on the last trek, i knew that the doggos will be our companions for rest of the trek. Most welcome :)

Walking further, we cross an ingeniously designed flour mill which harvests the energy of a flowing water stream to run a grinding stone. Makes one marvel at the effectiveness and simplicity of the creation. After looking at it for a while, we sip water from the stream that feeds the mill (it is advised not to drink water from streams below the mill as the water may not be clean) and proceed further.

Its around 3 pm by the time we reach Gulling campsite. There was not much space free of snow/ice/stones to pitch our tent but we managed to find one.

The view from Gulling campsite too was spectacular. Especially the night view that offered stunning view of a star studded sky with snow clad mountain in the foreground.

As much as i enjoyed the night sky, the night in itself was not too pleasant. Biting cold (could not check exactly but must have been -6/-7 degress for sure) and having to sleep in uncomfortable position inside the sleeping bag meant i could get very little sleep. The next day was meant to be a long one.

Day 4 - During summer/autumn months, when snow cover is less, the Kuari Pass Trek itinerary covers trail from Gulling to Khullara/Tali campsite on one day and then from Khullara/Tali to Kuari Pass and back on the next day. But due to Khullara/Tali site being full of snow, camping there overnight was not possible . And this meant that we had to leave Gulling - cross Khullara - Reach Kuari Pass and return to Gulling on the same day. This would mean a trek of about 18-20 kms through snow and ice.

We wear our gaiters and crampons and leave around 8.30 (not very ideal as we had to cover about 20 kms). The trail after we leave Gulling is beautiful through Rhododendron and Oak trees. While Rhododendron were yet to bloom, the Oak and Pine tress give a beautiful treat to the eyes.

We stop by few water streams to fill up our water bottles (water sources are a bit scarce on this trek) and reach Khullara by 1230 and stop for lunch.

The moment we reach Khullara we understand why camping was not possible. It was full of deep snow.

After having lunch we headed for our next leg. We did not have much time in hand as our guide said we would needed to reach the top by 2 pm in order to return comfortably.

The stretch upward of Khullara was full of snow and ice . Mt Dunagiri seemed closer and bigger than ever. I wanted to take out my camera and click it from a vantage point, but honestly we did not have the time to stop again. Difficulty in finding a firm footing with crampons and less than ideal fitness preparation meant that the pace was very slow. 15-20 mins into the stretch I was stopping for breath after every 50 steps (the camera and lenses made the backpack heavy as well). A moment came when i felt like returning back without reaching the top. Infact I asked the guide if we should proceed or return. He was patient enough with my slow pace and convinced that we should reach the top.

Finally around 2 pm we managed to reach the top. The view from the top was breathtaking. We were standing amidst a panorama of the tallest mountains in India. The silence of the place was shattered by crazy winds.

It was worth all the effort.

Technically this point was not the 'Pass' (pass was another half an hr away and the trail was still with lots of snow) but this point was the highest point of the trek.

The massive Mt Dungariri stood out and offered a stunning back drop.

After clicking pictures of all the major peaks , we started descending around 230 pm and reached back Gulling camp around 530 pm. On the way down my legs felt a lot more strained and my feet slipped on the slopes multiple times. Perhaps because the thrill of having reached the top was over, the mind too was drained and had very little energy left.

The rest of the day got over in blink of an eye.

Day 5 -We left Gulling campsite and returned to Dhak via Tugasi (during summers and autumn, the return trail is via Gorson Bugyal which offers stunning views of Mt Nanda Devi). Unfortunately for us, snow cover meant we could not return via that trail.

To summarize the trek i would say it is an amazing one for the one's who would like to see a panaroma of the highest peaks of India. However i would suggest that this trek be undertaken in early summer (to avoid trail full of ice) or Autumn to avoid uncertainty of the cloudy weather (the next day after we reached the top the weather turned cloudy and the peaks were not visible, was very lucky that way) .

I personally am going to take a break from peak winter treks and do my next trek in Autumn or Summers.

Thanks to Himalaya Shelters and their guide & cooks for offering such a comforting and flexible trek and a big thanks to my companions Venkat and Sreenivasan for coming along.

Last pic of the trek below - Mt Dunagiri (left) and Mt Nanda Devi (right) being the tallest of the lot receive the last rays of the sunset. Truly the bosses of the ranges!

For those interested beyond the trek continue reading below.

Although the trek was over, the trip was not.

We had 3 more days to spare. We decided to head to Chopta and visit the Tungnath temple (said to be this highest Shiva Temple in the world).

The drive from Joshimath to Chopta was beauutiiful to say the least. The road journey earlier from Rishikesh to Joshimath was not great to be honest , as most of the road was under repair leading to dust trail all the way. But this was a stark contrast, through lush green forest. We were also very lucky to spot the Himalayan Monal here.

We reached Chopta around 430 pm and tried to find an accommodation. Chopta is often called as the Switzerland of India. It has lovely meadows overlooking the valley. Chopta is the start point of trek to Tungnath Temple (yes, another trek would be needed). We explored a couple of swiss camps for accommodation (Chopta does not have pukka built accommodation) but did not find any of them value for money at that point.

More over we were not sure how well would a tent protect us from the biting cold. We needed a good cozy night of sleep after all the exertion, so we decided to drive down to a village called as Sari. We found a beautiful place to stay in Cafe Buransh (Buransh meaning Rhododendron). To my amusement ,to reach Cafe Buransh, we had to climb a steep slope for about 1 km. Enough of trekking man!

But the view and tranquility that it offered (which we realized only next day morning upon sunrise) was beautiful. We decided not to go Tungath, rather soak in the tranquility and relax. It was much needed.

We left the place around 12 for Rishikesh.

The remaining two days in Rishikesh was well spent on local sight seeing and rafting.

Soaking in the spirituality at Rishikesh gave us the much needed peace of mind and introspection that we need.

This was my second visit to Rishikesh and i am in love with this town. A visit to Rishikesh exclusively for spiritual retreat in on my to do it.

The trip ended on a peaceful note. As i write this page from Mumbai, i miss the mountains already.

Ciao until next time. Thanks for reading and Happy travelling!