Nominations for Indiahikes October 2024 Photo Contest

We often talk about autumn being a festival of colours, and hands down, the best time to get mountain views. These nominations will tell you why. 

Much to our pleasure, we spent the month looking at a few of the most colourful landscapes. While some transported us to the heart of the Himalayas, some took us to the far east, where autumn shades filled the landscapes with golden hues. 

Going through over 500 photos was a delight. Yet, choosing the best 10 was the hardest task for us! Here are the Top 10 Nominations!

Our judge will pick the Winner and Runner-up from these entries. 
Other than that, we also have a Trekkers' Choice award! Your votes will decide the winner of this award.

You can vote only once, so look at all the entries before you vote. You’ll find a form where you can vote at the end of the nominations.

Here are the Top 10 photos from our October 2024 Photo Contest

1. Goechala - Pratik Mankar

Trekking to Goechala in this season is a photographer's dream. The trail is a riot of colours from the first day to the last. Here’s a photo of the Prek Chu River surrounded by fiery reds, golden yellows, and deep oranges. We loved this photo especially because of the framing, the well-framed leading lines and the natural colours retained in the processing.

2. Gaumukh Tapovan - Abhinaba Chakraborty

On the Gaumukh Tapovan trek, you don’t just see the best views of Mt Shivling. You see Mt Shivling right from the base to its summit. We receive a lot of photos of Mt Shivling, but this one has our heart. The photographer has captured the mountain in its most dramatic setting: the sun rays falling on the tip of Shivling.

3. Goechala - Soudipan Maity

One of the biggest highlights of the Goechala trek is the sunrise from Viewpoint 1: the alpenglow on the Kanchenjunga Range. It is a sight that will stay etched in your mind. Soudipan has captured the most stunning moment of the trek very beautifully.

4. Everest Base Camp - Kumar Pratyush

We have a saying at Indiahikes about the EBC trek: “You sign up for the trek because of EBC, but you love the trek because of Gokyo Ri!” The Gokyo-ri route takes you to the most pristine lakes of the Everest region, which you do not see on the classic EBC route. It’s what trekkers fall in love with, like this lake here: the Cholatse Lake. We love this picture of a trekker having his “wow” moment.

5. Gaumukh tapovan - Sangharsh Lohakare

Most of us don’t realise it, but trekking in the Indian Himalayas gives us some of the rarest opportunities, like camping at the base of a 6,000 m summit. It’s a privilege very few in the world can boast of. This is why we loved this shot, which captures early morning camping life at the base of Mt Shivling. Mt Meru, another 6,000 m peak casually looks on from the background.

6. Rupin Pass - Vineeth V Rao

The Lower Waterfall Campsite has some of the most magical night views. Not only does a sky full of stars light up the night, but the 1,500 ft Rupin Waterfall glistens in the night light right outside your tent. “We got swayed away by the moonlit, star-studded night at the base of the Rupin Waterfalls” describes Vineeth.

7. Deoriatal Chandrashila - Mandar Deshmukh

Deoriatal-Chandrashila Trek is a trek to see birds. It is one of the Best Himalayan treks for Bird Watching. For us at Indiahikes, Monals, the state bird of Uttarakhand, are prettier than peacocks, with their unreal colours. Yet, they are rare to find, and even rarer to capture. Which is why this picture by Mandar has made it to our list of nominations.

8. Goechala - Rutvik Hegde

We rarely receive photos of the landscapes from this part of the Goechala trek. This is the view from Dzongri. As you ascend towards Dzongri, the vegetation transitions to alpine meadows. These meadows are characterized by short grasses and wildflowers. We wish there was a little more light in this photograph, but we liked it for the location of the shot.

9. Gaumukh Tapovan - Nandita Satpati

Here’s another mesmerising photo of Mt Shivling. It’s undoubtedly one of the most beautiful-looking mountains in our country. We love how the photographer has captured the subtle details in this photo. The crescent moon adds to the charm!

10. Gaumukh Tapovan - Abhinaba Chakraborty

Blue sheep (bharals) are extremely shy animals native to the high Himalayas. While most of us sight these quiet herbivores from afar, especially as they wander about on mountain tops, we rarely get to see them at such proximity, and better yet, capture them on camera. That is why we loved this picture by Abhinaba.

We thoroughly enjoyed looking at every photo we received. 

Vote for your favourite entry in the form below: 

Now that we have selected the Top 10 entries, it is your chance to vote for your favourite. Use the form below to cast your vote. You can vote only once.

We will announce the winners on November 30, 2024. Stay tuned!