Sunny Side Up At Valley of Flowers. No Rainfall or Landslides.

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Sunny Side Up At Valley of Flowers. No Rainfall or Landslides.

Category News

By Karishma Jayapaul

2017-08-18

We have had a lot of anxious trekkers ask us about the landslide situation in Uttarakhand and Himachal. We bring you good news from the Valley of flowers in Uttarakhand which has seen no rainfall last week. Trek Leader Imroz says, “We didn’t have a single drop of rain. It was bright and sunny throughout the trek. We had clear views and the trekkers enjoyed the great weather.”

Those of you who want to visit Badrinath after the trek can do so now. The road to Badrinath has been opened for tourists since the rains have gone down.

No rainfall at Prashar Lake and Nag Tibba

Surprisingly, both our treks that were held up because of landslides had no rainfall this week. The Prashar Lake trek had clear views since there was no rainfall or mist. Trek Leader Mahi says, “We had some old trek mates trek with us again which made the trek an even better experience. It is always nice to meet old friends.”

In fact, we have noticed that many trekkers like repeating our weekend treks in different seasons. Many think it’s like doing a new trek altogether!

On our other weekend trek, Nag Tibba, we didn’t see any rains either. The trek went on smoothly. It did remain misty for most part of the trek though.

Shining bright at Hampta Pass

The Hampta Pass trek had the sun shining bright too. But there was always a cool wind blowing to balance it out. Trek Leader Yash says, “We had no rains this time. And the views were clear right from the beginning of the trek. I’ve done this trek six times now but I still can’t get enough of it!”

Sandakphu: Darjeeling turmoil not affecting treks so far

We know that the unrest in Darjeeling has been a concern for those going on the Sandakphu trek starting this October. We agree that the situation in Darjeeling is best avoided. But as of now, this political unrest does not interrupt our trek in anyway.

According to our current Itinerary we pick up the trekkers from the New Jalpaiguri (NJP) railway station and go straight to Jaubari.

On our way down from Sepi we have the option of either crossing Darjeeling or bypassing it completely to reach NJP. We will choose the latter option.

That being said we still cannot predict the situation in the upcoming days. If the unrest poses a possible threat to trekkers then we might have to take a call at the last minute. Darjeeling is about 25 km away from Jaubari. So if the turmoil persists we might have to change the itinerary.

However, this will not affect your flight ticket bookings. The Sandakphu trek will be shifted to the Dzongri Top Trek. This is the worst case scenario, and yet the backup plan is a spectacular one.

The following will be the itinerary for the Dzongri Top trek –

Day 1: 6-8 hours drive from NJP to Yuksom. Transport from NJP will be arranged at 9.30 am.

Day 2: Yuksom (5,643 ft) to Bhakim/Sachen (8,654 ft)

Day 3: Bhakim (8,654 ft) to Tshoka (9,701 ft)

Day 4: Tshoka (9,701 ft) to Dzongri (13,024 ft) via Phedang (12,083 ft)

Day 5: Dzongri (13,024 ft) to Dzongri top (13,778 ft) and back to Tshoka

Day 6: Tshoka (9,701 ft) to Yuksom (5,643 ft)

Day 7: Yuksom (5,643 ft) to NJP  

Tarsar Marsar season end  

The trekkers from the 12th August batch are on their way to Srinagar from Aru. They will reach Srinagar before 8 pm tonight.

Sandhya, co-founder of Indiahikes, who initially set off to do the Tarsar Marsar trek, will also be returning to Srinagar today. We hear she went to explore the Bismai trek in Kashmir, around 22 km from Aru. We haven’t heard from her yet. Hopefully, she has discovered another gem in Kashmir!

On another note, Chandrakanth from our Tech Team, left for his first Himalayan trek to Tarsar Marsar this morning. We are all excited for all the new things he is going to experience on one of the most beautiful treks in India. We wish him good luck!  

Kashmir Great Lakes – safe touchdown and clear weather  

Trekkers from the 11th August batch have reached Srinagar. Trek Leader Anuja says they had clear weather for most part of the trek. Although it rained heavily at the Vishnusar campsite where they utilised the buffer day.

The trekkers from the 12th August batch will be coming down to Srinagar tomorrow evening. We are bracing ourselves for photos of the breathtaking Kishansar and Vishnusar!

Last batch of Pin Bhaba

Our last batch of Pin Bhaba Pass trek will be trekking from Mangrungse (13,674 ft) to Mudh (12,283 ft) today. This is a long trek, about 16.29 km.  

The trekkers are expected to be in network area on Sunday, 20th August as they reach Manali around 7 pm.

More green than green – Bhrigu Lake

Our Trek Coordinator Varun Balakrishnan just came back from the Bhrigu Lake trek this week. He was all praises for the trek. “The green you see in these photos is nothing compared to how green it looked to my naked eye!” exclaims Varun.

The views on the Bhrigu Lake trek have become much clearer. It doesn’t get very misty. Although, you must be prepared for sudden bouts of rain and do what Varun did – run right inside the dining tent for shelter!

New Temperature charts on Upcoming treks

We have temperature charts indicating the temperature at each campsite for every trek. Our content manager, Sneha Rao painstakingly made these charts for trekkers to know the temperatures they are likely to experience at any particular time of the year.

We also have a scale indicating how many layers of clothing should suffice you for that particular campsite. This solves all your packing woes! Remember, in the words of Alfred Wainwright, “There’s no such thing as bad weather, only unsuitable clothing!”

FAQs now answered

We have also updated the FAQs for each trek. We have studied all the questions that are most common to each trek to make sure we answer every query we think you might have. Utilise this page thoroughly for any questions you might have. You are likely to find your answers in here.

Indiahikes online store now open for home delivery

Our online store has gone live this week. You can now buy trek gears online here. The payment for the products can be made online which will then be delivered right at your doorstep! I think we made quite a few things easier for you this week.  

We are still working on the delivery at the base camp and will get it fixed shortly.

This week has been a complete roller coaster for us. But I think we made it through the ride without falling sick. We would like to know what else you want to know about in our updates. Please write to me at karishma@indiahikes.in with any comments, suggestions or queries that you might have.

Have a great week!

Karishma Jayapaul

About the author

Karishma Jayapaul was an assistant content manager at Indiahikes. A journalist by profession, she loves to write about real life experiences. Her love for fitness and writing made her join the Indiahikes content team. Baking is her first love, while in her free time she plays the piano.