Dayara Bugyal is our best trek for children between 10 - 14 years of age. 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.
“This trek is superbly rewarding at any time of the year. The forests are splendid in spring, the meadows are an unbeatable green in summer, and they turn orange in autumn, with striking mountain views. The snowscape in winter is a world on its own. You can go any time, and you’ll not be let down,” shares Sandhya UC, co-founder of Indiahikes.
On this trek, we have a soft spot for the meadows, which is perfect. "The meadows are so meticulously landscaped that there isn't a single rock or tree out of place." "With the majestic Gangotri mountain range in the background, the rewards are massively disproportionate to the effort you put in," Sandhya says. It's no surprise that it's popular with beginners as well.
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.
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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).
Dayara Bugyal Summer Camp: Parent Reviews
Pradnya Wadkar
Mother of Aditya Wadkar, Age 13 | 18-26 March 2024