The latest group of trekkers from the Gaumukh Tapovan trek are raving about the stunning mountain views from the trek. 

We’re in the middle of the Gaumukh Tapovan trekking season. And the latest photos show Mt. Shivling and the Bhagirathi Sisters under the brilliant blue skies with a foreground of fiery vegetation. 

This is the only time of the year when you see such vibrant colours in nature, especially en route to Chirbasa and in patches on the way to Tapovan. 

The minimum temperature is dipping to sub-zero levels. “The dew on tents is freezing. Even the Akash Ganga river, which flows through Tapovan is freezing in places,” shares Trek Leader Kaisu Walter. The crisp air and clear weather make this the perfect time to witness stunning views of the Greater Himalayas. 

Four more groups are scheduled to do the Gaumukh Tapovan trek in the coming weeks. 

We’re constantly in touch with our teams on the trek. And we’ll keep sharing all relevant updates with you right here.

Today morning, our entire team at Raithal conducted an intense one-hour Green Sweep at the Raithal village in Uttarakhand. This is the base camp of the Dayara Bugyal trek.

Within an hour, they collected 133 kg of waste from various litter hot-spots--taxi stand, area near the temple, near GMVN (Panchpura)--in Raithal.

Locals from Raithal village, who work as guides and cooks with Indiahikes, enthusiastically participated in this clean-up.

Green Sweeps like these bring a glaring focus on the amount of waste that gets generated even in such remote Himalayan locations of our country.

The number of trekkers wanting to trek DIY-style has significantly increased. This is a heartening shift to witness. It shows that awareness about DIY treks is growing.

“Most trekkers learn about the DIY-style on our treks, where they get a chance to cook on their own, pitch tents, and even navigate during the DIY-day of the trek. Learning these skills on a trek gives them the confidence to venture out on a trek on their own,” Suhas says.

We've also made the process less-daunting for trekkers who are unsure about trekking entirely on their own.

“You needn’t do the DIY trek all on your own. You can now opt for a local guide to come along. I feel this option is giving more trekkers the confidence to trek DIY-style,” Suhas adds.

Most DIY trekkers are choosing popular trails--Kuari Pass, Kedarkantha, Gaumukh-Tapovan, and Phulara Ridge--which have a strong Indiahikes presence on them.

60 students from NEXT School travelled all the way from Mumbai to Uttarakhand for an Outdoor Leadership Programme on the Kuari Pass trek with Indiahikes. They started their trek this morning.

These students are between the ages of 11-16 years. This is the second time students from NEXT School are participating in an experiential learning program on a Himalayan trek.

Last time, 73 students from NEXT School participated in a similar program conducted on the Ali Bedni Bugyal trek in November 2022.

“At the end of the Ali Bedni Bugyal trek, we witnessed transformational changes in the students. We observed students becoming more resilient, better able to face challenges and more accustomed to hardships. They developed inner confidence and became mentally stronger,” shares Izzat Yaganagi, Head of Experiential Learning at Indiahikes.

We are expecting a similar impact from the current experiential learning programme too.

We’re noticing more schools stepping out into the Himalayas to participate in such programmes. It shows an incredible shift in how schools in our country are embracing outdoor learning experiences.

Over the weekend, 37 team members from Supreem Pharmaceuticals, a company based in Mysuru, trekked and camped with us at Channarayana Durga. Within a span of 24 hours, they emerged as a stronger team.

“My aim for this trek was to get my team together by rising above petty conflicts and understanding each other better,” shares Aditya Rao, Director of Supreem Pharmaceuticals.

So the 2-day experience was designed with a sharp focus on team building. It nudged the team members of Supreem Pharmaceuticals out of their comfort zones. It created an environment for learning and collaboration.

“Each activity conducted on the trek highlighted the strengths and weaknesses of the teams. It gave a clear indication of the areas we need to work on. We are very happy with how the trek has impacted our team,” Aditya Rao shares after the trek.

The impact of this trek on the team at Supreem Pharmaceuticals was evident.

“The team had an insightful reflection after the trek. They spoke about conquering their fears, they realised the importance of collaborating as a team. It was heartening to see how a short experience left such a deep impact on the team members,” shares Urja Joshi, an Experiential Learning team member, who led the trek.

Till now, travelling back to Shimla from the other side of the Rupin Pass and Buran Ghati treks was not advisable owing to a landslide at Nigulsari in Kinnaur district of Himachal Pradesh. Due to this landslide, people were getting stuck in traffic jam for 2-3 days! But now the road has been repaired, and the traffic is comfortably moving.

“To avoid getting stuck in traffic, our previous groups went till Rupin Pass and Buran Ghati Pass and returned to the start point without crossing over. But now that the traffic has cleared, the current groups are most likely to cross the passes and descend to the other side,” shares Tilak Rawat, Experience Coordinator for the Rupin Pass and Buran Ghati treks.

We are constantly in touch with our teams on the Buran Ghati and Rupin Pass treks. Both groups are likely to cross their respective passes on Sept 30th.

Phulara Ridge trekkers are witnessing a brilliant blooming phase on the trek right now. The trail is filled with blooming wildflowers and mushrooms.

“I’ve never seen this many mushrooms in my life in a single trek!” exclaims Assistant Trek Leader Panchami, who has been on the trek twice since the beginning of September.

This blooming season is likely to last for a week more. After that, the landscape will start flaunting the autumn colours.

“I have been on the Phulara Ridge trek in April. At that time, I saw many flowers blooming, especially in the Pushtara meadows. But there weren’t as many as these! This magnificent scale of blooming is expected post-monsoon, for a brief period. We expected this. It is the reason why we called this trek ‘phulara’,” shares Suhas Saya, Head of DIY Trekking at Indiahikes, who explored and coined the name of this trek.

The trek is also changing colours as days go by. The weather is becoming clearer. 

In the coming weeks, trekkers will witness the sharpest views of Hanuman Top, Sarutal Top, DKD, Bandarpoonch, Kalanag, Swargarohini, Hata Peak, Ranglana, Devkyara Valley, Lekha Top, Vijay Top, Kedarkantha from the Phulara Ridge.

In this latest video, Urja Joshi, who started her journey as a Trek Leader with Indiahikes, shares how working here has impacted her life. 

“Working with Indiahikes made me realise how good it feels to be cared for. It showed me the impact of a nurturing environment. It has made me more caring, not just towards my trekkers, but everyone around me,” Urja shares, while talking about the various experiences she has been through while working with Indiahikes. 

Urja is presently working towards growing our Experiential Learning division by collaborating with various educational institutions that want their students to learn from the world of outdoors. 

Working at Indiahikes can be extremely rewarding. At Indiahikes everyone is committed to the vision of the organisation. Here responsibilities are high, work is busy. People love what they do.

If you would like to know more about working with Indiahikes you can check out more details here: https://indiahikes.com/careers

Earlier this month, our team took on a mission to transport a staggering 400 kg of waste from Srinagar to Dehradun. The decision to transport the waste was born out of necessity, as our team was unable to locate a proper waste management service in Srinagar.

The operation was not without its difficulties. This waste—collected over various treks that happened in the Kashmir region—had begun to rot and emit a foul odour, making it a formidable task.

However, handing it over to the local waste management units was not an option. 

“The units in Srinagar either shredded non-recyclable waste and mixed it with soil or resorted to burning, with no transparent waste disposal process in place,” shares Sharwari Brahme, who is leading the Green Trails Initiative at Indiahikes.

Unwilling to compromise on responsible waste disposal, our team took matters into their own hands.

After two arduous days of travel, the waste finally arrived in Dehradun last week. There, it was entrusted to Waste Warriors, an organization dedicated to sustainable waste management.

But this entire experience has given us a lot to ponder about the realities and challenges of waste management.

“More than 25 staff and two vehicles were involved in this movement. We were forced to do it this time because we couldn’t find a responsible waste disposal system in Jammu and Kashmir. We are hoping that things will improve by next year,” comments Ravi Ranjan, Operations Manager at Indiahikes.

Last week, our team conducted a comprehensive 4-day safety and Green Trails training for all guides at Jiskun, the start point of the Rupin Pass trek.

The training focussed on covering technical skills, medical techniques, and also Green Trails.

“The technical sessions covered essential techniques like making knots, Tyrolean Traverse, and rappelling. In medical, we covered evacuation, and stretcher-making with the help of ropes. We also covered cold injuries, hypothermia, snake bites,  wound management and a whole range of other injuries that could happen during a trek apart from HAPE, HACE, and AMS.

During the Green Trails training, we dove deep into the G6 practices and how they impact a trek,” shares Trek Leader Ashish Sukhadare, who conducted this training along with Ankit, our Green Trails Intern.

The impact of this training is already evident among the eight guides.

“These trainings help in reducing the knowledge gap between Trek Leaders and Guides when it comes to handling emergencies or Green Trails on a trek. Now, even our guides are confident about stepping up and effectively handling an emergency on a trek. This makes trekking safer,” Ashish adds.

Our team is now at the tail end of designing the wall and desk calendars. Soon after that’s done, we will send out the calendars for printing.

Like every year, this year too, we were flooded with entries for the calendar photos.

“Curiously, we received quite a few photos from Kashmir. Till last year, we mostly had Kashmir Great Lakes and Tarsar Marsar treks running in this region. But this year, we also had the Bodpathri Lakes, Nafran Valley, Tulian Lake, Warwan Valley, Pir Panjal Lakes treks running in Kashmir. So this time, you’ll see some terrific pictures from these new treks blooming in our country,” shares Swathi Chatrapathy, Chief Editor at Indiahikes, who is in the thick of the calendar-making process right now.

As this is a Limited Edition calendar, we are planning to print only 1500 copies of wall calendars and 1000 copies of desk calendars. We are expecting the calendars to sell out within a few weeks of opening the pre-order.

Expect the Pre-Order to be open by early next week. We will post an update about it right here.

This is a big update for trekking enthusiasts looking to trek in the Greater Himalayas. Over the weekend, our first group of trekkers started trekking to Gaumukh Tapovan and Kedartal.

“Today was the toughest day of the trek for the Kedartal trekkers. And we've received a happy update that the Kedartal trekkers successfully trekked till Kedartal (15,500 ft) and are back at Bhoj Kharak to camp for the night. They will be back in Gangotri by Sept 22nd,” shares Shefali Joshi, Experience Coordinator for the Kedartal trek.

The Gaumukh Tapovan trekkers are presently trekking from Bhojbasa to Tapovan the highest point of the trek at 14,203 ft. They will be camping at Tapovan tonight and are expected to be back in Gangotri by Sept 21st.

Both treks are running as per schedule.

These two treks mark the beginning of trekking in the Greater Himalayas. These difficult trails become inaccessible during the monsoon and when there’s snow on the trail. It is possible to access these treks only in the summer and autumn seasons, and that too for a narrow window.

We are constantly in touch with our teams on these treks, and we will keep posting all the relevant updates right here.

After a month-long pause, Bhrigu Lake trekkers started their trek from Manali on September 15th when the roads opened. They reached Bhrigu Lake at 14,009 ft yesterday and trekked back to Rola Kholi, where they camped for the night.

“Yesterday, the group experienced good weather while climbing to the high-altitude lake. Today it is raining. But the trek is running as per schedule. Trekkers are now returning from Rola Kholi to Gulaba. They are expected to be back in Manali by this evening,” shares Caroline Mathews, Experience Coordinator for the Bhrigu Lake trek.

As per weather reports, the Manali region will continue to experience rain for the next 3-4 days. We are constantly in touch with our teams in Manali and will keep posting all relevant updates here.

The next group to Bhrigu Lake is scheduled to start on September 22nd.

After a month-long break due to road repairs leading to Manali, the Hampta Pass trek restarted on September 14th with 22 trekkers. Yesterday, this group successfully crossed the challenging Hampta Pass at 14,000 feet and reached Shea Goru on the other side.

Currently, they are trekking from Shea Goru to Chhatru

It has started raining heavily, and the roads to Chandrataal are no longer accessible. So the group will drive back to Manali today, a day earlier than planned.

The September 14th group is expected to reach Manali by this evening.

There are two other groups on the Hampta Pass trail.

The September 15th group is presently stationed at Balu Ka Ghera and the September 16th group is at Jwara. Both groups are waiting for the rain to cease before resuming the trek.

We are constantly in touch with our teams and will keep posting further updates from the Hampta Pass trek right here.

The Gidara Bugyal trail has turned extremely slushy and slippery due to rains. This makes trekking here difficult and risky, even for the most experienced trekkers. As a result, the first group to Gidara Bugyal is now trekking on an extension of the Dayara Bugyal trek. 

They started their trek from Raithal this morning. On this alternate route, trekkers will attempt to go to the far end of Dayara Bugyal, till Bakhariya Top. En route, they will cross Siyari and Surya top. 

Very few trekkers have been to this far-end of the Dayara Bugyal meadow. Trekking to the other end offers a rare opportunity for the trekkers to witness the endless expanse of the Dayara Bugyal. 

For this, the group will begin and end their trek at Raithal. The number of days on their trek itinerary will also remain the same.

A last-minute diversion is operationally quite challenging. All the equipment and manpower now need to move on a different route. But our teams are working around the clock to ensure that trekkers get a seamless trekking experience. 

We’ll receive more updates about this trek in the coming days. We’ll post all the relevant ones right here.

In a remarkable display of resilience and determination, a group of nine seniors successfully completed the Dayara Bugyal trek in Uttarakhand yesterday. This was the first seniors group post monsoon.

On the summit day, the weather was ominously overcast. It was the most challenging day for the group. But through the cold temperatures and windy weather, all the seniors successfully made it to the summit.

“During the summit briefing, I saw their hunger to reach the Dayara Top. They faced challenges but didn’t give up. They took every step with a positive mindset and helped each other,” observes Trek Leader Deepak Danu, who led the team.

The majority of trekkers in this group were over the age of 60. The oldest trekker one being 72 years old.

“Successfully completing a high altitude trek at this age boosted their confidence. Shortly after the trek, most seniors started planning for their next adventure,” shares Deepak.

The trek also deeply touched the trek leader. “It made me emotional. It showed me how age is just a number. Someday I wish to get my mother to trek at high altitude too,” he adds.

We have more groups scheduled for seniors in the coming days. We will keep posting updates from them right here.

We have published the fifth episode of the Deep Dive series. This one's about the Chhattisgarh Jungle Trek.

In this episode, we dive deep into the Chhattisgarh Jungle trek, with the founder of Indiahikes, Arjun Majumdar. Arjun was also responsible for exploring the Chhattisgarh Jungle trek way back in 2019 and putting it on the map for trekkers. From then to now, the trek is only of this kind in our country.

He shares the back story of the exploration and touches upon small nuances of the trek, such as the forests, ankle-deep rivers, pre-historic caves, and culture