Lots of trekkers write to us about what kind of material to wear while trekking, especially while trekking in the Himalayas. 

The debate always comes down to cotton versus dri-fit material, whereas a few other materials like linen and merino wool get a few mentions. 

So what is the best material to wear while trekking?

So, What Clothing Material is Best For Trekking and Hiking?

In October 2024, we surveyed trek leaders and our Indiahikes Trekking Club members, asking participants about their preference for the material. The goal was to understand what trekkers and trek leaders are choosing and why.

Our trek leaders, who trek day in and day out for months together overwhelmingly voted in favour of dri-fit clothing. A near-negligible minority chose cotton. We noticed the same among members of the Indiahikes Trekking Club, who trek regularly in the Himalayas as well as the Western Ghats.

Dri-fit works best in cold, high-altitude regions (like the Himalayas). It wicks away sweat very easily, keeping your skin dry, especially during cold weather conditions.

If wet, dri-fit dries quickly, preventing the fabric from sticking to your skin, which helps lower the risk of hypothermia.

Dri-fit is super lightweight, enabling you to layer easily. Additionally, it doesn't add much bulk to your backpack.

The downside of dri-fit: The challenge one faces with dry-fit is that it holds onto the odour. To overcome this, we recommend carrying a few more T-shirts than you normally would.

Buy the versions of dry-fit t-shirts where you get net or mesh cloth around the armpits which helps with sweat and odour.

Always choose dry-fit clothing with full sleeves. It keeps you from sun tanning. 

Dri-fit T-shirts with full sleeves and a collar are even better. Your neck gets protected too. 

When to Choose Cotton?

Cotton works well in a hotter environment where drying time and weight aren’t concerns. 

Choose cotton clothing if you are going to central India treks like Pench Mowgli, Chhattisgarh Jungle Trek, Narmada Backwaters Trek, and Odisha Debrigarh Sanctuary Trek among a few others.

Linen is a great choice as a placement to cotton. It is lighter and dries faster, but is more expensive. 

There is a lot of conversation around Merino wool of late. It’s a bit of a paradox though. According to our survey, not many people have heard of merino wool. But the few who have used it, swear by it. 

Why merino wool? Or what trekkers like about merino wool?

It doesn’t smell no matter how much you sweat. 

They especially swear by Merino wool socks since they can use them for days and they won’t smell. 

It does a good job of wicking sweat away. 

They prefer merino wool in winter because it keeps you warmer than dry fit

They believe it to be more sustainable because it is 100% biodegradable. 

However, most of them find it too expensive to buy. 

Watch this video on merino wool to know all about it- 

For any trek in cold regions, we recommend going to the dri-fit. Even in hot weather, dri-fit wicks sweat better. But if you prefer cotton, it’s better to use it only in hot regions and not in cold regions. 

If you have any questions, drop them in the comments below. We’ll get back to you.

What is the Best Clothing Material for Trekking and Hiking?

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Himalayan treks are notorious for the risks that they pose. These risks kept people from trekking in the Himalayas for a long time. It’s still what scares many people. 

But honestly, these are risks that can be dealt with. We ask all our trekkers to take it very seriously! All you need is 

There are multiple risks on a Himalayan trek. But I’m picking four of the biggest risks we see on our treks. I’ll tell you what could go wrong and how to avoid it. I want you to note this down: If you are on a trek with Indiahikes, we will empower you through information so you prepare well for your trek.

Terrain

If you’re unfamiliar with the terrain, it can pose a considerable risk. I’m going to share some thoughts by our founder, Arjun Majumdar, on this - 

“When I was much younger and I would trek, snow sections would terrify me a lot. There would be snow on a slope and we would have to traverse that on a narrow trail. When you step on this section and look down, you realise that with one misstep you could go down a long way. This is very common in the Himalayas. It’s not just snow, it might be a landslide section, loose boulders, scree, an overhang with a river flowing down in the valley.” 

So as a trekker, when you plan a Himalayan trek, get familiar with the terrain. Read about it, speak to people about it, watch videos, and study the terrain on Google Earth. 

Just understanding the terrain will mentally prepare you. You might also require special gear for some sections -- like microspikes for hard snow, gaiters for deep snow, ice axes to cut steps in snow or ice and ropes for river crossings or precarious boulder sections. 

The good part is, if you’re trekking with Indiahikes, we’ll take care of this. Care is one of our core values. So when you are on a trek with Indiahikes, we will take care of you and everything you need for a safe trekking experience. 

We have all the safety equipment you need to tackle any difficult terrain. All you need to do is learn about the terrain and then focus on Point 3, which I’ll get to in a bit.

This photo is from Pangarchulla Trek. Photo by Jothiranjan

Weather

The weather in the Himalayas could be your best mate or your worst enemy. The toughest part is that it’s almost completely unpredictable. Our co-founder, Sandhya UC, who has been trekking in the Himalayas for over 15 years now shares some insight here - 

“The weather actually defines whether your trek is going to be easy or difficult. Even an easy trek like Dayara Bugyal can become very dangerous in the middle of a thunderstorm. If there’s lightning in such an open meadow, it has the potential to take lives. Similarly, if there’s a sudden bout of dense mist, you can get utterly lost -- whether you’re in a forest or an open setting.

But it’s not just the danger that weather poses. It could also lead to an incomplete trek. We’ve had so many experiences where we’ve had to turn around in the middle of heavy snow or rain. Or sometimes, even if you go ahead and complete a trek in bad weather, the experience might turn sour. When we once went to the Kashmir Great Lakes, we trekked through rain for 6 whole days. It was cloudy and grey. We saw none of the colours and grandeur of Kashmir. So the weather really has the potential to change your trek altogether.”

The wisest thing to do to ensure good weather is to time your trek correctly. This is the most crucial part.

Every trek has a very specific window during which it is open (for many 15,000+ ft treks, this window lasts only a few months in a year). We open dates only going by the seasons, weather patterns, and the best time to do the treks. 

I’ve already shared a ready-reckoner table of the best treks to do throughout the year earlier with you. If you missed that you’ll find it here

Having said that, always carry rainwear with you -- summer, winter, autumn. It could rain any time, and your rainwear is your mandatory partner on a Himalayan trek.

This picture is from Kedartal Trek. The unpredictable weather brought snowstorms. Photo by Sushma Honnappa

Altitude

On a high-altitude trek, altitude sickness is another big risk. I’d like to start by sharing what the head of our Learning & Development team, Lakshmi Selvakumaran, has observed. She says & I quote - 

“On any given trek, we see at least 2-3 cases of mild Acute Mountain Sickness. These symptoms are usually headaches or lack of sleep. They are usually managed quickly and efficiently by our Trek Leaders. 

There are, however, some serious cases that require turning around from the trek. And we see these cases around once every week” 

Altitude sickness is one of the most underestimated and less understood risks of high-altitude trekking. And this lack of understanding is usually what takes lives.

If you’re trekking with Indiahikes, you don’t have to worry. Our Trek Leaders are repeatedly trained on handling altitude sickness, and they are equipped with extensive high-altitude medical kits and oxygen cylinders. They rarely have to use them though, because they are trained to treat the mildest symptoms and nip it in the bud, which they always do. 

If you are trekking on your own, however, it’s imperative that you know about treating altitude sickness. You will find relevant information here.

For now, let’s move on to the next risk. 

Trekker's Behaviour

This might seem a bit surprising, but often, under-prepared trekkers are the biggest risk to themselves. Underprepared in terms of fitness, trekking gear, and knowledge about the trek. The head of our Learning & Development team, Lakshmi Selvakumaran observes:

“Not being fit slows trekkers down. It doesn’t allow them to maintain the required mountain timings. They reach the next camp late and don’t have enough time to acclimatise. On the other hand, if they have no knowledge about high altitude, they might wave off a headache as dehydration, not thinking about it as altitude sickness. 

They draw a lot of attention and care from the Trek Leaders and guides, leaving the other trekkers unattended. Not only do they pose a risk to themselves, but they pose a risk to the entire team.”

Why do you think I am informing you about the risks of Himalayan treks?

We have always said and believed that a knowledgeable trekker is a safe trekker. And our vision is to ensure every trekker going into the Himalayas is well-informed. 

While there are many other risks on Himalayan treks, they usually tend to fall under one of these categories. And they differ from trek to trek. 

At Indiahikes, we’ve been documenting the terrain, weather, altitude sickness and trekker behaviour for over a decade and we’ve been able to master the art of tackling each of these risks. 

We work with a vision to solve the problems of the trekking world. With all the information, resources, and technology, we try & make trekking an accessible & minimalist sport.

I’d say it’s still a work in progress, as we’re constantly defining the future of trekking, but if you’re trekking with Indiahikes, or using our information, consider yourself well-informed, well-prepared and safe on a trek. 

We've listed four of the biggest risks we see on our treks. We have always believed that a knowledgeable trekker is a safe trekker. And our vision is to ensure every trekker going into the Himalayas is well-informed.

4 Biggest Risks While Trekking The Himalayas

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We are looking for chaperones aged 25–40 for our summer camps this year. Perhaps you could be one of them. I believe it will be a very rewarding experience. I’ll explain in a bit.

But first, if you wish to be a chaperone, you must be a resident of either Mumbai or Bangalore (or willing to travel from either of these cities). You help safely bring our summer camp participants from Bangalore / Mumbai airports to Dehradun airport. Afterwards, you accompany them on the summer camp, help the Indiahikes team facilitate the programme, and bring the children back to Mumbai/Bangalore.

Indiahikes will bear the cost of the entire programme, including your airfare. 

Now, let me tell you why this will be very rewarding

We started trekking summer camps for children in the Himalayas only last year. It was a carefully designed programme to inculcate a sense of adventure, teach children camping skills, and help them form a deep connection with nature.

In these nine days, we wanted them to pick up soft skills like taking responsibility, teamwork, and empathy.

Of course, the trek in itself would give them a sense of confidence, resilience, and the ability to withstand hardship.

The summer camp was an unprecedented experience. Each of the 300 children who came for the programme was deeply impacted. The parents wrote to us in disbelief. They could not imagine that their children would be impacted so much.

"Huge love and hugs to the CEO Arjun sir and Sandhya mam for forming such a great organisation..... You are not only organising treks but you are changing lives of we adults and our kids ❤️❤️❤️❤️ Indeed....as the motto of India Hikes says "Everyone must Trek" 100%with you on this, 🙏🙏" said Rashmi Sarkar, Mother of Neev Sarkar, Age 12, Dayara Bugyal Summer camp.

"The summer trekking program by Indiahikes is an amazingly great initiative to help children understand and appreciate nature better through experiential learning. We are regular trekkers with the Indiahikes and absolutely admire and appreciate the commitment of Indiahikes. Our daughter enjoyed the whole trekking to Deoriatal Chandrashila specifically curated for the children. The process starting from the registration with regular communication and group discussion for first time parents, updates during the actual trekking period and till the time we picked up daughter back at the airport was very smooth. And of course the biggest takeaway from the whole experience was to observe actual difference in the child itself. Thank you Indiahikes. You absolutely rock," said Padmini Nanjundaswamy, Mother of Aditi Gopal, Age 12, Deoriatal Chandrashila Summer Camp.

Moreover, our team members, leaders, and even volunteers who went for the programme were deeply impacted. 

“I wanted to learn leadership skills and I wanted to learn how to lead teams in the outdoors. When I got to know that I had to handle 30 children, I was nervous. But as trek went by, the children brought out a completely different side of me. They have so much to say, they have no filters, they say what they mean. It brought out a completely different personality in me. I really enjoyed being with them throughout the summer camp," says Netra Sadhale, who was part of our last year's summer camp. 

This year, we have increased our strength to 540 children. Unfortunately, despite the high demand, we cannot take more children for this programme. Already, most of the slots for the summer camp have been filled.

If you decide to be a chaperone in this programme, you will not only be helping us, but you will also find it an extremely rewarding experience.

Bring children from Bangalore / Mumbai to Dehradun airport, ensuring their safety and comfort. (Note: The Indiahikes team will not be accompanying you during this leg of the travel. You are solely responsible for the children’s until the Dehradun airport)

Conduct regular head counts of the children in the airport, on the flight, and Dehradun when exiting the airport. The children will be between 10 to 14 years old.

Join the Indiahikes team at Dehradun airport and travel to Rishikesh with the children.

Help the Indiahikes team settle the children at the Rishikesh accommodation. Participate in the pre-trek briefing and monitoring of the children.

Accompany the children during the road travel to the basecamp of the summer camp. Ensuring their safety, meals and stoppages are conducted in time.

At the programme, take on the responsibilities of monitoring the children and facilitating their experiences along with Indiahikes team members.

Throughout the trek, you are a caring guide and warden to the children. 

We will book your flight ticket from Mumbai/Bangalore to Dehradun airport and back 

We will take care of your complete transit costs from Dehradun airport to Rishikesh, to the base camp, and back to the Dehradun airport.

We will take care of all your meals and accommodations once you land in Dehradun. 

We will sponsor your trek throughout, ensuring that you and the children have a wonderful time in the mountains. 

The programme is designed based on the curriculum of our experiential learning programmes. Our experiential learning programmes for schools and educational institutions are widely acclaimed in the country.

This is why chaperones will also be awarded a volunteer certificate for the experiential learning programme.

Eligibility criteria to be a chaperone: 

You must have prior work experience (in any field)

Location: We are particularly looking for people in Mumbai and Bangalore. Parents will be dropping off their children at these airports. 

Please note: Even though the programme is a volunteer experience and Indiahikes will bear all your expenses, any last-minute dropout of chaperones is a significant setback to the programme.

Therefore, to confirm your chaperoning, you must pay a refundable deposit of Rs 10,000. This will be refunded within 7 days after you return from the trek. If you cannot make it to the programme, this deposit will not be refunded.

If you think this is something you want to take up, please fill out this application form immediately. 

There will be an interview process, after which we will let you know if you have been shortlisted within 48 hours. 

We are looking for around 20 chaperones. We will close registrations on February 3rd.

You may have further questions about how many children you’ll be handling, which trek you may go on, etc. We have answered all the FAQs below. 

Please reply within 72 hours if you’d like to apply as a chaperone. We will take it forward from there.

How many children will I be handling? 
You could be handling anything between 20-30 children at the airport. We will share a list of all the children with you so you can keep a headcount. At the airport, you will also be assisted by airline staff members. 



Can I select the trek I want to go on? 
Yes and No. You can share your preference, but we need to see which of our slopes needs more.



What is the selection process?
Once you fill out the form, if you’re shortlisted, we will get back to you within 48 hours and schedule an interview. This interview is to get to know you better and understand your background. It will help us understand whether you’re the right candidate for this.



When will I get a confirmation? 
You will get a confirmation within 72 hours after your interview.



Should I book my flight, or will Indiahikes book my flight for me? 
Indiahikes will take care of booking your flight. 

Be a volunteer chaperone: Summer Camp 2024

Join our summer camp groups as a volunteer

Join us as a chaperone for our summer camp

Our co-founder Sandhya UC delivered this speech at a Women’s Day gathering organized by Women’s Web in association with CoWrks. On this Women's Day we're taking a look back at those incredible stories of women in the outdoors.

Last week we received an enthusiastic blog from our trekker Ananya. She is in her 20’s – young, free-spirited and like any other young woman of today. The blog talked about her fantastic journey on one of our treks last winter.

I was mesmerised at how well she wrote. I loved her photography too. She was self-taught as far as I could see.

She had come on the trek alone. She came with the usual apprehensions, mingled with a lot of like-minded trekkers, made friends for a lifetime, and left the trek with a lot of memories.

This is the face of women that I see every day. Normal women doing not-so-normal activities.

I am in a position to see this closely because behind me are some interesting statistics.

To give you a background of Indiahikes: we are India’s largest trekking organisation. We run treks across the Himalayas. More than 15,000 people trek with us every year. This large database throws up some interesting statistics.

32 percent of our trekkers are women. Out of this 32 percent, 80 percent of them are single women who either come alone or with their friends. Some of their friends are other women or men who are either colleagues or friends. In numbers – approximately 3,800 women are travelling solo with us every year.

This number seems to be inching up. In the near future, will it reach 50 percent? I am not sure. But the current numbers are a very good representation in a sport that is considered risky and not for the faint-hearted. Many solo working women now trek and travel regularly to the remotest corner of our country – this seems extraordinary.

Yet, I am not surprised. The reason is trekking is not the usual travelling. It is a lot safer – you get to trek in like-minded groups. You are protected not only by the organisation but also by the group. It is letting women explore a side of themselves that they probably had never done before.

In short, trekking is giving women a space to open up their mind, body and spirit.

Last year, a couple of senior women managers from SAP India trekked to Deoriatal-Chandrashila (12,083 feet). Nothing unusual about it. Now we have got used to groups of single women trekking with us.

At the end of the trek, we usually have a reflection session. Here’s what happened in this group.

The ladies broke down and cried their hearts out. They had discovered they were capable of a lot more than they had imagined. Their body had more capacity, their mind was a lot tougher and their spirit, which they thought was dead in their corporate jobs, was very much alive. The trek had kick-started everything back again. They felt alive again!

This sudden outburst of emotions didn’t surprise me as well.

A trek usually brings about profound changes in a person. It happens in every group that we run.

What is really heartening is to see more and more women experiencing this change. And restarting their lives.

But this change is not just limited to our trekkers.

Let me share stories about some normal women who have done extraordinary things. They are working with us, so I know them well.

Anuja is from Lucknow. Her parents are doctors. In her high school, Anuja discovered that her parents were no longer getting along. They were divorcing. This came as a shock to her. Until that time, she thought everything was perfect in her family.

She passed out of high school, graduated and as soon as she could, moved out. She did few odd jobs and landed in Mumbai. In Mumbai, she picked up photography. She must have been good because she soon started getting assignments with the Times of India, Midday and other publications.

But there was an adventurer’s streak in her. She soon started trekking with us. Like the ladies I have mentioned earlier, she rediscovered her mind, body and spirit. As she got more into trekking, she wanted to work with us. At that time we were not really sure if we could have a full-time photographer/videographer work with us. Because of this, we turned her down.

Anuja was persistent, but so were we, in turning her down.

Meanwhile, she started to trek more in the Himalayas, on her own. This requires some courage. Trekking in the safety of Indiahikes is one thing, but doing it alone is another matter altogether.

Soon she picked one of the tougher treks to do in the Himalayas. The infamous Pin Parvati Pass that rises to 17,500 feet. If that was not enough, she did not do it from start to finish, like a trekker. Instead, she joined a group of shepherds and tagged along with them. I had not heard of anyone doing something like this earlier, leave alone a woman!

She lived the life of a shepherd for 15 days. A single lady in the Himalayas. She lived with them, learnt how to tend to sheep, walked with them. She crossed the pass along with a flock of sheep, completed the trek and did not look back.

When Anuja applied again, she did not want to be a photographer. She applied to be a trek leader!

This was unprecedented. Trek leaders are mostly men. The rigorous profession suits them physically. Here we were faced with this puny, gutsy woman who wanted to be a trek leader.

Today Anuja is one of the rare few women trek leaders in India. There are a few others who took to trek leading after her.

Anuja leading a trekker on the Hampta Pass trek.

But her journey has not been smooth. Twice on her treks, she damaged her left and right knee in freaky accidents. Once she slipped on a cow dung at the end of a trek. At another time she missed a stair in the darkness at our base camp. Both times, her ligaments were damaged badly enough to require surgery.

Last summer, however, she surprised us by volunteering to man a high altitude camp at 14,000 feet surrounded by permanent snow and ice for one month — Bhagwabhasa. These are absolute desolate settings. Temperatures are sub-zero all the time. You live in tents in a cold desert. Nothing but a small patch of land is yours. You are up every day at 3 in the morning getting trekkers ready to trek.

On most days high winds rip through the camp. Blizzards that flatten tents are not uncommon. Snowfall happens anytime. It is a task that not even the men would rise up to do.

Anuja is a living legacy. Through her work, she has inspired countless women to dream of picking up such careers. Our women applications for trek leaders have gone up. On her treks, Anuja is constantly surrounded by our curious trekkers who want to be like her. We get emails every other day telling us about how inspiring Anuja has been in their lives.

While Anuja is inspiring people to go beyond what they are capable of, Lakshmi, on the other hand, is slowly bringing about a transformation in the mountains.

Lakshmi is an academician. After completing her doctorate in Mechanical Engineering from IISc and KAUST, Saudi Arabia, she worked with the best researchers in the world, travelling around Europe.

But she was hugely motivated to do her part for conserving the environment. She decided to leave her research job and intern with us in our Green Trails project.

Just to give you a backdrop, our Green Trails project is something that we have been doing for over 5 years now. It started with trying to make trekking environmentally sustainable in the mountains – because we knew it was beyond the government to do anything much at that time. We were noticing growth in trekking. We decided we could set future best practices. We were the market leaders, whatever we did would become the practice for everyone. Today our Green Trails project has grown to something much beyond that.

Today we are doing projects in renewable energy and upcycling waste that is generating income for the locals. We have also formed self-help groups making way for model villages. All of this is being done quietly thanks to women like Lakshmi.

Lakshmi joined us as an intern on our Sandakphu trek. The work was something new to her. Yet, she took to it with aplomb. She setup waste management practices that were new and unique to the village. Along with the District Forest Officer, she mobilised efforts to clean up the village.

Lakshmi made posters in Hindi and Nepali that directed people on how to segregate waste. Her posters are still a bit of a hoot with us because she used Google to translate into Nepali. But her message reached people where it mattered. When her internship ended, Jaubari was a model village in waste management.

Looking at her capabilities we asked Lakshmi to join us full-time. She took our offer and is now heading our Green Trails effort across 3 geographies in India.

Considering the remoteness of our locations and the far distances between our treks it is astounding to see the strides she has made. Even as I speak to you, around 25 village women will gather tomorrow morning in the hills of Uttarakhand to make attractive pillows. For every pillow they make, they earn Rs 50. In an hour they can make 3 pillows. In probably 4-5 fun-filled hours, they earn as much as the men.

Women of village Wan, pose gleefully with their self-made upcycled pillows. Picture by Green Trails Fellow Anagha

These pillows are special. These pillows are stuffed with shredded waste plastic, old tents, and ragged clothes. While on the inside it is waste getting upcycled, on the outside, they look extremely attractive. When trekkers buy it, they buy it for the lovely cushions they are.

The colourful upcycled pillows. Picture Credits: Karthik Maddineni

People imagine that it is easy to do that. It isn’t. First, waste plastic is painstakingly picked up on our mountain slopes. It is done in extreme weathers of snow and low temperatures. Most of the picked waste may have been lying around for years. Our trekking teams pick up the trash while they are on a trek. Group after group pick up trash all through the year.

This trash is stuffed in sacks and brought down to our base camp. At the base camp, our teams sit on these piles of garbage and segregate the recyclables from non-recyclables. This is an almost inhuman and back-breaking job. Our team has to dive through filthy garbage, often maggot infested.

Shredded plastics are inserted inside a pillow cover by a Green Trails Intern.

After we have segregated the waste, we clean them up and make them ready for upcycling. The clean waste is manually shredded into fine strips for stuffing into pillow covers. As you can see, to make one pillow, it takes a lot of physical labour. The villagers themselves realise the required hard work. As a result, they now collect their trash and bring it to us for segregation. The villages around our treks that didn’t look very clean now have a different look.

Lakshmi is the force behind this. Working remotely and sometimes hands-on, she has been able to galvanise a team across the length and breadth of Himalayas to carry out such difficult tasks. She has been able to get reluctant villagers to leave aside their inhibitions and care for their surroundings. She has been able to motivate our team of trek leaders to go beyond their tasks.

At one end our teams are bringing down tons of waste from the mountains. Last year it was 11 tons. On the other hand, there are research fellows who are thinking of ways of harnessing natural resources such as wind, rain and water.

These trek leaders move from one village to another building dustbins and conducting awareness drives on efficient waste management practices. It is not easy but there has been a distinct change in the villages. All of this with Lakshmi at the centre holding the reins.

It is incredible to see what someone as young as she can achieve. She is just like us. But she has never let her gender come in the line of work. When she works in the mountains she is hands down running up and down our mountain slope. She sleeps when she can. She eats what is available or sometimes not at all.

She constantly works and every day I see there is a difference. At times she despairs but she never gives up. The mountains in our country, especially around trekking zones, are witnessing a change. Villages in these remote corners are waking up to a cleaner, greener surrounding. They are utilizing their resources to make productive things out of waste. Thousands of trekkers are coming back from treks as responsible citizens, spreading the message of Green Trails even further.

Lakshmi is a reminder of what women can do if they let go of their gender.

The quiet revolution that is happening in our mountains has started to inspire many women like Lakshmi. People from around the world now want to participate in these projects.

Women like Ananya, Anuja and Lakshmi are the faces of new women that I see today.

What I notice is that none of them is the type that you see in newspapers. If you met them you would not even glance at them. They may not even come across as articulate. Yet, they are making big differences in their own ways.

In my journey at Indiahikes, I have the privilege to hear these stories from women every other day. It is perhaps the nature of work that we do.

You may think that these changes that I notice are one-off cases. They are not. I am backed by statistics. 32 percent of our trekkers are women. 80 percent of them are single women. It is hard to shake off these numbers. There is a definite change that is happening in our country.

1. If you’d like to listen to Sandhya’s TedX Talk on her journey in entrepreneurship, head over to this page – How I Climbed The Mountain Of Entrepreneurship

2. If you’d like to follow Anuja and Lakshmi on Instagram, follow these links – Anuja on Instagram, Lakshmi on Instagram.

3. If you’re inspired by this story and want to work with us: Head over to our careers page. We have lots of positions open. We also have lots of applications coming in. So the sooner you apply, the better.

4. If you ended up here by chance and were actually looking for treks to do: Then head over to our upcoming treks page. You’ll find all our Himalayan treks there.

This is the full text of the speech that Sandhya Chandrasekharayya, partner at Indiahikes, gave for Women's Web. In her talk, she speaks about very real and everyday women achieving incredible feats in the trekking world!

Some Extraordinary Stories Of Ordinary Women In The Mountains

Monsoon and post-monsoon are synonymous with trekking in the Western Ghats. This is when the Western Ghats spring into life. The forest section comes alive. The lush green grasslands beam with tiny wildflowers. The view of rolling green hills takes your breath away.  

Western Ghats are older than the Himalayas! They span from Gujarat to Kerala and are almost 1600 km long. A large chunk of them lies in Maharashtra. This means, no matter what part of Maharashtra you are from, you have a place to trek to. The presence of more than 160 forts adds to this. As a result, there is a strong trekking culture too.

Pune, being one of the popular districts in Maharashtra, is home to the famous hill stations such as Lonavala and Malshej Ghat. This makes it one of the hotspots for treks in Sahyadris. There are numerous treks that are just a couple of hours away. 

There are treks that take you through dense forests. There are vast plateaus to explore. There are forts that are architectural marvels. There are waterfall trails to quench your thirst for adventure. There is a reverse waterfall phenomenon to marvel at!

Here, I’ve curated 10 such best treks near Pune that you must do. So without further delay, let’s dive into the details of these treks.

Starting point of the trek: Donje Gaon
Distance from Pune: 20 km
Best route to get there: https://goo.gl/maps/NSZ2P6MKVaX4ViqS8

Views of the rolling green hills and cloud bed seen from the Sinhgad Fort top. Picture from the Indiahikes archives.

Sinhagad is one of the most significant forts around Pune. The fort, strategically built to provide natural protection, is part of the triumvirate Sinhagad, Rajgad and Torna. It has also been the centre of a number of battles. Unlike many other forts, the fort structure of Sinhagad is still intact and well preserved. Because of this reason, the trek to Sinhagad is one of the most popular treks in this region. 

Sinhagad trek can be divided into two sections. The first part starts from tar road at Donje Gaon and climbs up to a parking lot for two wheelers. The second half of the trek is a steep climb to Sinhagad top. It’s steep but incredibly rewarding.

Starting point of the trek: Velhe village
Distance from Pune: 48 km
Best route to get there: https://goo.gl/maps/ccdty7LacAeAz3aH9

Zunjar Machi as seen from the Dhaalkathi on the Torna Fort trek. Observe the double fortified wall. Picture by Nitesh Kumar.

Torna Fort is the highest hill-fort in the Pune District. Situated at an altitude of 4,603 ft from sea level, it stands out among other forts in the western ghats of Maharashtra. Because of the massive size of the fort, it is also called Prachandagad. This name is derived from Marathi which means Prachanda – massive and gad – a fort.

Torna Fort has a rich history as it was captured by Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in 1646 when he was 16 years old. This is where the core of the Maratha empire was built. It has a great history as it has gone under many rulers.

Trek to the Torna Fort unfolds many exciting things. You trek along the beautiful flower beds, on the top, there are temples, water cisterns, Balekilla, 2 magnificent Machis, Zunjar Machi, and Budhla Machi, and a ridge connecting to Rajgad Fort.

Starting point of the trek: Gunjavane village
Distance from Pune: 62 km
Best route to get there: https://goo.gl/maps/ZRH5KcYgGpeuXgLc9

The Sanjivani Machi of Rajgad Fort. Picture by Nitesh Kumar.

Rajgad trek is the most beautiful trek in Maharashtra. As the name suggests, it is the king of forts. Because of the rich history and mesmerizing architecture of the fort, it stands out among other forts in the Western Ghats.

Rajgad was the capital of the Maratha emperor Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj for 26 years after which he shifted to Raigad. This is one of the reasons why the fort was built so beautifully. Rajgad has witnessed many significant events, including the birth of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj’s son Rajaram I to the death of his queen Saibai.

Pune is one of the hotspots for treks in Maharashtra. This is the only guide you ever need to know about and do the treks near Pune on your own. It includes a gpx file, trail information, difficult sections, how to reach the base and more.

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