Dayara Bugyal Summer Camp

Adventure & Camping In The Himalayas For 10-14 Year Olds

Dayara Bugyal is our best trek for children between 10 - 14. Demanding just the right amount of effort from children, it takes them through a variety of sceneries. Lovely oak and maple forests in the first section, endless alpine meadows in the next, and high summits surrounding them at the top. These mountains capture their imaginations with their rich history and mythology.

Coming to the meadows, we have a soft corner for the meadows on this trek. They are almost crafted to perfection. "The meadows are so perfectly landscaped, that there isn't a single rock or tree out of place. With the royal views of the Gangotri mountain range in the backdrop, the rewards are massively disproportionate compared to the effort you put in," shares Sandhya UC, co-founder and COO at Indiahikes.

Registering for the summer camp trek: Registering for a summer camp trek is slightly different from other treks. We are working on making the process easier for you; meanwhile, refer to these steps.

Dayara Bugyal is our best trek for children between 10 - 14. Demanding just the right amount of effort from children, it takes them through a variety of sceneries. Lovely oak and maple forests in the first section, endless alpine meadows in the next, and high summits surrounding them at the top. These mountains capture their imaginations with their rich history and mythology.

Coming to the meadows, we have a soft corner for the meadows on this trek. They are almost crafted to perfection. "The meadows are so perfectly landscaped, that there isn't a single rock or tree out of place. With the royal views of the Gangotri mountain range in the backdrop, the rewards are massively disproportionate compared to the effort you put in," shares Sandhya UC, co-founder and COO at Indiahikes.

Registering for the summer camp trek: Registering for a summer camp trek is slightly different from other treks. We are working on making the process easier for you; meanwhile, refer to these steps.

Complete Information on the Dayara Bugyal Summer Camp

We have always wanted trekkers to be well-informed before they go on a Himalayan trek. Knowledge is the difference between a safe trek and a dangerous one. It’s also the difference between a wholesome experience and a superficial experience.

Use this section to learn about the Dayara Bugyal trek. It has in-depth information about each day of the trek, what to expect, and how you need to prepare for it. Many years of expertise have gone into this content. Trekkers find that extremely useful.

What Children Learn

Our summer camps are a mix of fun, adventure and learning. Through the course of the trek and the program design, children learn the basics of trekking, camping and wilderness survival. 

  • Building a shelter out of bare minimum resources
  • First aid skills through mock drills
  • Navigation skills using maps and GPS tools
  • Skills to identify and set up campsites in the outdoors
  • Cooking in the wild
  • Learning to cross streams 

Given that children are in the heart of some of the richest biodiversity in our country, they learn first-hand about forests, plants, birdlife, animals and all natural elements around them. 

  • See and feel the rich biodiversity of Himalayan forests  
  • Learn about birdlife and animals endemic to the region
  • Learn about the stars and the Milky Way by experiencing it in real-life
  • Nature journaling 
  • Experiencing the forest  
  • Witness big Himalayan ranges at close quarters and learn the stories associated with them

At Indiahikes, we are very conscious about how we trek and how we treat the outdoors. There’s a certain spirit of trekking we believe in — a minimal and sustainable way of trekking. These are imparted by our Green Trails initiative, which inevitably has a big impact on children.

  • Learn a minimal way of living by exploring lifestyles in remote villages in the foothills
  • Clean trekking trails and leave mountains better
  • Understand the importance of saving natural resources
  • Learn the basics of waste management — segregating and composting waste
  • Understand how to make composting toilets in the outdoors

Finally, the program design imparts priceless personal behaviours and skills among children. Within a week of our trekking summer camp we see remarkable changes in children. Children start displaying life skills that usually take years to develop. 

  • Gain life-long confidence after climbing to a high mountain summit 
  • Get accustomed to hardships
  • Build resilience through overcoming difficulties
  • Learn how to work collaboratively with a team 
  • Learn to own and share responsibilities 
  • Understand how to deal with healthy conflicts and resolve them 
  • Learn interpersonal communication skills

How We Keep Children Safe

Indiahikes Safety Mechanism

Indiahikes stands for safety.  Indiahikes is the largest and the safest trekking organization in India.  Over the past few years, we have had over 8000 students from schools across the country with us on treks.

We have had no untoward incident on these programs. This is because of our robust Risk Assessment and Management System that rests on the 3 pillars of our three pillars - people, processes and equipment.  And we constantly work on them.

Our Trek Leaders are certified mountaineers with a Basic Mountaineering Course or Advanced Mountaineering Course. Trek Leaders assigned to lead student treks are Wilderness First Responders (WFR) and NOLS certified.  We have constant refresher courses and specialized training for them year-round - towards building capacity to handle any risks. 

Apart from the Trek Leaders we have technical guides, trek guides, program facilitators and assistants who accompany all team members of the Outdoor Leadership Program. All of them are trained to handle emergency mountain situations.

Read more about how we keep your students safe here .

Ultimately, even an expert team such as ours cannot keep all students safe unless they follow stringent safety processes. 

There is a process for preparing team members, a process to monitor their health 3 times a day, a process for management of accidents, a process for managing altitude sickness, and a process for evacuation. There are processes for even trekking and a separate process for difficult sections. Any potential risk is nipped in the bud.

Our extensive trek experience matters here. The trekking trails are not new to us. These trekking trails have been nurtured and developed by us for many years. We have our own base camps on these trails. 

From the time the program starts till it ends, safety of all team members is our responsibility.

Indiahikes is extremely meticulous in the safety processes we follow for risk assessment and management. We draw up a Risk Assessment and Management plan before every trek - especially so if it involves children. We prepare a risk assessment and management plan for each project we take with a school. You can download our sample safety plan here.

Most of the modern safety equipment used in the Indian trekking community has been introduced by us. This has fundamentally changed how trekking is done in our country.

In all of our treks, we carry a high-altitude medical kit, an evacuation kit, a technical kit, radio equipment, and oxygen cylinders (pulse oximeters and BP monitors are standard equipment carried by our Trek Leaders, including ropes and carabiners). 

Green Trails

Leaving mountains better than we find them

At Indiahikes, we focus on bringing in new practices that can reduce our impact on the environment.  This is done through constant R&D.  Once these new practices are implemented we focus on achieving the results consistently on all our treks. You will see this as part of our G6 practices. 

Golden 1: Green Sweep - Clean the trail of visible litter.  We have collected more than 1,00,000 kgs of waste since 2016.

Golden 2: Segregation At Source - Segregate all waste collected so that we do not add all this waste to the landfill.  We have diverted 50% of the waste from landfill through segregation

Golden 3: Food Composting - All our kitchen waste is composted into useful humus for the mountain soil.  All food waste is either eaten by mules or composted at source.

Golden 4: Biotoilets - All our human waste is composted at source through our specially designed dry toilet pits. 

Golden 5: Water efficient dispenser  - We have reduced our waste used per trekker by 70% through specially designed water dispenser systems.

Golden 6: Save energy - We use solar panels for our energy use at our campsites.  We are also in the process of redesigning our stove and menu to reduce the amount of gas used on our treks.

Our trekkers are a big part of us keeping our promise to leave the mountains better than we found them. 

  • Indiahikes trekkers do not carry anything that can harm the environment - be it wet wipes, or any packaged food on the trek.  In fact they practice a zero waste trek.
  • Indiahikes trekkers do not buy any packaged food in the dhabas on the trek - they do not take part in feeding the demand for packaged food 
  • Indiahikes trekkers clean the trails of waste using the eco bag as part of the Green Sweep Initiattive 
  • Indiaihikes trekkers carry their own backpack on the trek. They do not offload unless absolutely necessary
  • Indiahikes trekkers do not pee/poop near any water source 
  • Indiahikes trekkers do not stray away from the marked trail

Trekkers who sign up with us pledge to follow these practices.  When you sign up with us, you do too.

Everything you do on a trek creates an impact. The trail you trek on, the water you use, the waste you generate, how you poop, how you cook, what you eat — everything has an impact. The higher the impact, the greater the damage to the environment. 

Yet, when done sustainably, trekking is one of the most environment-friendly sports.

When you trek with Indiahikes, you trek to leave the mountains better than we found them.  This is part of our Green Trails promise.

5 Reasons Why Indiahikes

We are India’s safest trekking organisation

When we brought out new trails in Indian trekking, safety came with us. Back in 2012, we were the first to introduce microspikes, and two years later, pulse oximeters became standard thanks to us. Nobody does safe treks like Indiahikes. In the mountains, emergencies don't care who you're with – everyone knows that when trouble hits, you look for the yellow tents of Indiahikes.

We are pioneers of treks in India

We are pioneers in trekking. Since 2007, we have brought out treks that have become India's most famous treks: Roopkund, Rupin Pass, Buran Ghati, Kedarkantha, Kashmir Great Lakes, Tarsar Marsar, Brahmatal, Phulara Ridge—the list goes on. In 2023 alone, we brought out five new treks in Indian trekking. We know treks better than anyone. This comes directly from the reason why Indiahikes was born: to bring out trek information and enable trekkers to trek on their own.

We are India’s largest trekking organisation

More than 25,000 people trek with us every year. We are the largest trekking organisation in India. 24% of our trekkers come back to trek with us every year. Over 4,000 students from the top educational institutions trek with us every year. Aside from this, families with children choose to trek with Indiahikes knowing that our treks are the safest. We have taken over 8000 children trekking so far, and the number continues to grow.

Our treks are transformative

We focus on designing transformative experiences. Our trek leaders conduct thought-provoking exercises that help you reflect and contemplate. This impact stays with you for a long time. Trekkers return feeling energised, more confident, or developing abilities to deal with difficulties. Many have changed careers, rethought their core values, become more humble, shown gratitude to others, or started a new fitness journey.

We are India's most sustainable trekking organisation

Since 2012, we have pioneered sustainable practices that have become standard in trekking. Using eco-bags, our trekkers have cleared over 120 tonnes of litter from the mountains. We do not carry packaged foods; instead, we serve freshly made food. We do not light campfires; we carry coal to light angethis to keep you warm. Our bio-toilets not only keep our toilets odour-free but also enrich the soil. When you trek with us, you leave mountains better.

Indiahikes Features

You’re guarded with our trek again philosophy

If you are unable to complete a trek, or if you love a trek, you can repeat it with us anytime. You don’t have to pay us for it. See our thoughts behind this here.

Daily 3-time health checks keep you safe at any altitude

Our thrice-a-day oxi-metre checks keep altitude sickness at bay, never allowing you to reach a point where you need evacuation.

Join any group, they are all women-friendly groups 

With around 30% of our trekkers being women, all women, including those travelling solo are comfortable to join any of our groups.

Request Jain/Vegan-friendly food

Our kitchen teams understand your needs as a vegan (or a Jain). We will take special care of your food, even in the remote Himalayas. 

Be comfortable and sustainable with bio toilets

We have specially designed bio toilets to ensure you have no sight or smell in toilets, at the same time making sure the toilets cause no harm to the fragile ecosystem we trek in.

Fresh, nutritious food at every camp

We’ll admit it. Our love for food surpasses our love for minimalism. Expect freshly cooked, multi-cuisine food at all camps, designed to meet your nutritional requirements and keep your taste buds happy!

Dayara Bugyal Summer Camp: Parent Reviews

Pradnya Wadkar

Mother of Aditya Wadkar, Age 13 | 18-26 March 2024

Your team not only ensured his safety but also provided an enriching experience that he cherishes deeply.
Team IH, my deepest gratitude for the incredible experience you provided my son on his first trek. As a parent, entrusting the safety and well-being of your child in others' hands is a significant lea...Read More
Team IH, my deepest gratitude for the incredible experience you provided my son on his first trek. As a parent, entrusting the safety and well-being of your child in others' hands is a significant lea...Read More
Pradnya Wadkar

Mother of Aditya Wadkar, Age 13 | 18-26 March 2024

Your team not only ensured his safety but also provided an enriching experience that he cherishes deeply.
Team IH, my deepest gratitude for the incredible experience you provided my son on his first trek. As a parent, entrusting the safety and well-being of your child in others' hands is a significant lea...Read More
Team IH, my deepest gratitude for the incredible experience you provided my son on his first trek. As a parent, entrusting the safety and well-being of your child in others' hands is a significant lea...Read More

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