Warwan Valley Trek

Take the road to the market. Continue past the sub-post office on your left. (The BSNL tower is in the fields on your right). You also go past the sheep husbandry in the village. The road naturally curves to the left arriving just above the Panikhar Nala/Chalong Nala. The river is big and strong.

Walk along the road to the bridge that crosses the river in another 10 minutes. Across the bridge, veer left following the river upstream. The landscape changes immediately. The village of Panikhar is no longer visible. Up ahead is the narrow valley that you have to trek on. The govt is making a dirt track for four-wheelers.

This was a trekking trail earlier so it becomes fairly easy to walk on. 500 meters into the trek, you’ll find the tents of local authorities' check post. Enter your names and details at the check post (very friendly and just a cursory formality) and resume your trek.

The trek climbs very gradually on the four-wheeler dirt track, inching deeper into the valley. The landscape ahead continues to reveal more layers of barren mountains. On your right, the milky white river continues to tumble and froth as it nears the confluence with Suru.

This is the Chalong Nar and continues for the entire day until you reach Denora.

Look on your right as the mountains rise almost like cliffs towering many thousands of feet over you ending in jagged ridges that touch the blue sky. The sky, needless to say, is a blue that you have never seen.

Two and a half hours later, the trail suddenly comes across a stream running down the cliffs on your right. This is your first water source for drinking. After this, there are plenty of clear water streams and there is no necessity to fill your bottles.

Ten minutes later, around a small bend, the trail comes up to a wonderful lush green grassy meadows with streams and brooks running across it. A perfect place for a small break, snacks, and refill, take a ten-minute break here. The locals call it a Doksa ( a meadow).

Further on, the trail continues to climb gradually. Half an hour later, over a bump and another curve, the trail comes across a wide clearing. The first Bakarwal settlements are now visible.

The trail now narrows down to a wide walking track. Continue walking on the trail. Another half-hour later, over a wide curve, you get the first glimpse of the two intersecting valleys up ahead.

Have your lunch at one of these clearings.

In a few minutes, the trail suddenly climbs a mound to the top over a stream that needs to be crossed. Convenient boulders make the stream easy to cross. If the water is high, walk a few metres upstream to cross over. From the stream, in another twenty minutes, a spectacular change of scenery unfolds. It comes at you suddenly, so keep an eye out.

The Chalong Nala suddenly goes quiet. What was a gushing river is now a wide river basin over a flat plain. The river splits, distributes, forks rejoins and does this multiple times over the basin. In between these splits and forks are grassy meadows, each lusher than the other. You have arrived at Denora – the confluence of two rivers. Up ahead, the confluence is visible.

Camping is possible in the grassy knolls of Denora/Sumdo. Take care to select a knoll that has a slightly higher ground. As you reach the campsite, you get to hear the first sounds of Marmot.

In the evenings, water levels rise. The same grassy basin exists here – with the added advantage of having gained an extra hour of trek time. Denora is on the basin that faces the valley to the right of the confluence. You don’t see this campsite until you round the bend to face the valley on your right.

Camp here for the day. Avoid crossing the streams to Kalapari. In the evenings, the streams are fuller and laden with more glacier-fed water.

Denora/Sumdo is a dreamy campsite. Getting the opportunity to spend time here is a gift that needs to be cherished.

Interesting Fact: Denora comes from the local name of Denoda or Do Nala, signifying the delta with the confluence of two rivers. These trails were used on the trade route to Ladakh a long time ago.

Start the day by taking off your shoes. Multiple streams need to be crossed to get to the other end of the basin. The direction to take is the valley to the left, sticking to the right of the Nala that rushes down the valley. You can have the crossing done now in the morning as the flow is lesser compared to the previous evening.

A good landmark is the Bakarwal settlements at the bottom of the valley. The trail climbs to the right of the settlement. Be careful of the Shepheard dogs.

Crossing the frigid water of the streams takes time. Though the waters are not very deep, they are icy. After every crossing, you need to give yourself a few minutes to get sensation back in your feet. It takes about half an hour to cross the basin.

On the other side, take the trail that leads to the Bakarwal huts. Climb the mound to the right and behind their huts. Five minutes later, the climb flattens out to large grassy meadows with flowers everywhere. Looking back, the entire basin of Denora comes into view. The panorama is so wide that it takes a complete swivel of the head to capture the entire scene. The trail from the meadow climbs slightly up to get to another flower-decked clearing. If you are in season (July/Aug), the slopes on your right are carpeted with wild pink flowers of Himalayan Bistorts.

Half an hour later, the trail climbs out of the mound to reveal the first views of Kalapari meadows. Lovely clear brooks run through meadows making it an ideal place to camp.

Behind again, is the junction of two valleys. Large glaciers dominate the junction of the valley to the right. Hanging Ice walls hang almost to the bottom of the mountain. The setting is mammoth and large scale. Waterfalls are on the other side of the river that falls thousands of feet making the setting complete.

You can go for a short acclimatization walk in the evening post your lunch.

The view of the Kalapari top and the glacier in front, from the rock of the meadows you camped in, is superb. Look behind the rock at the towering, glacier-topped mountains that overlook the setting. The climb to the top takes you about an hour.

The trail from the rocks evens out. Ten minutes later from the top, look for the first surprise of the day. A large green lake, dotted with chunks of snow and ice comes into view. In front, to the right, a large blackish glacier feeds the lake. Target reaching the glacial lake during the early evening. The spectacular colours that the lake reflects make you grateful to be present in such a majestic setting.

Treat Kalapari as a short rest day, an advanced camp for the pass crossing the next day. The pass is on the valley to the right above the gravelly mound. It is not visible from your campsite.

Interesting Fact: The name of the campsite is derived from the mountains surrounding this. The black rocks which are towering around are the reason for the name of this campsite of Kalapari/Kalapadi translating to Black Mountain.

On what is going to be the longest day of your trek, you must start early. A 5 am start is ideal.

Though there are sections of snow on the day’s trek, no special equipment is required. The snow crossings are not difficult to manage if you have a trekking pole in hand. Follow the trail that heads out of your campsite to the moraines up ahead. The trail snakes through moraines and is visible.

Half an hour later, the trail tops the moraines at a large rock, below which a voluminous clear stream flows. You reach the glacial lake which you would have visited the previous evening.

The trail starts around the lake, getting to a large snow patch. The trail is filled with moraines and loose rocks. You need to be nimble and fast to cross the section before the sun takes its precedence. Watch out for loose rocks which might come down the landslide-prone section.

Descend this section to the moraine patch to the blackish glacier below. The glacier is hard ice with enough debris as it gives you a firm footing.

The glacier is long, about a kilometre wide. Continue walking until you get to its other edge, half an hour later. Towards its end, walk around some crevasses to climb moraines on your right. Do not mistake this for the bracken glacier which would come later after you cross the Lomvilad Pass. Note: The Bracken glacier is locally known as the Kaintal glacier.

The trail through the moraines heads towards the open end of the valley. Again, about forty minutes later, get on to another icy glacier, this time, descending from the mountain face on your right. Walking on the moraines gets you directly below the Kalapari peak.

Cross the glacier, veering slightly to the right, to see the trail climb to a narrow opening in the valley that leads to the pass. Climb the small section of a snow patch and get onto the ridge that takes you to the pass.

The moment you get on the ridge, the view all around changes. You get a commanding view of streams that run down to your right and of lakes that form below. On your right are the flanks of Kalapari. The ridge climbs quickly. In about 20 minutes, it tops the pass. The pass is marked by cairns, stones painted in red with Urdu letters and a few pieces of cloth tied around these cairns. The pass is at 14,495 feet. The view on the other side of the pass is spectacular.

Large snowfields lead out from the pass. They are gently sloping and easy to walk on. Get on to the snowfield in front, keeping a general direction towards the valley opening towards your right. It takes about half an hour to get there.

On your right, a large lake, almost frozen, is in your view. You might see large chunks of ice melting giving you a reality of global warming.

Thousands of feet below is a greyish moraine-filled glacier. On opposite mountains are greenish grasslands, though sparse and mostly snow-laden. Stick to the leftmost flank of the valley and begin your descent. Watch out for the crevasses in between this glacier walk.

Within half an hour you get to a ledge with an astounding view. To your right are huge mountain flanks. Out of the flanks emerges a wide glacier that tumbles to the bottom in a greyish, crevasse-filled mass. It is a sight that most trekkers have never seen.

From the ledge, the trail descends steeply to the glacier in a series of switchbacks in fifteen minutes. Step onto the icy glacier, and avoid the crevasse in front by walking around it to the left. This is the magnificent Bracken glacier.

The clearing with the grass bed is a perfect setting to have lunch and be stunned by the view of the Bracken glacier. Ensure you fill your water bottles near the melting waters of the glacier to your right before you descend to the Bracken glacier. There is no clean water source until you reach the campsite.

Descend to the almost flat Bracken glacier from here. The descent to the glacier is a tricky one. You need to navigate through very loose moraine and rocks. It is almost like navigating through a landslide section. Being nimble here is extremely important to balance yourself and be swift to descend. One small slip and you would be injured to a bad extent.

The glacier is rock-hard ice with hundreds of channels of rivulets running over it. Moraines on the surface make it easy to walk on.

Continue walking on the glacier for a kilometre or so downstream until the icy surfaces give way to the bouldery moraines. Deviate to the left flank of the moraines and continue to descend through the rock. At this stage, you will be able to see the Kaintal valley below.

The valley initially is a rocky basin followed by grasslands. The grasslands are your camping ground target of the day. The descent through the rocky moraines is hard on your legs and knees. The trail is barely perceptible. Keep a generally downward direction and you are likely to bump into the barely visible trail now and then. You might even have to hop between crevasses and jump on a few boulders to cross this section.

Note: Navigating through a glacier can change every year. A glacier is a moving river of ice, continually being fed from the top and sides while melting at the bottom. All the time it is moving downhill and can retreat. The rocks which have been exposed can get extremely smooth and difficult to climb. The route can keep changing over time. Have the direction of sticking towards the left flank when exiting the glacier.

It takes over two hours to descend through the moraines to get to the edge of the glacier and a faint upper grassy area. It is another hour of descent through very rough moraines before you get to the basin of the river that emerges from the bottom of the glacier. You will go through a couple of bluish-green lakes and one fierce stream crossing.

The trail is still not easy as you need to cover more moraines and boulders. It is easily another hour before you get to your ground target of flat grassy meadows of the initial Kaintal grasslands. The grasslands come in large patches. The trail is now more regular. Continue walking on the trail keeping the river always to your right.

It has been one of the longest and hard days of trekking. The Kaintal meadows are a just reward for the day’s trek. The beauty of the meadows is worth the price of the long descent through the moraines.

The walk after the pass crossing is a delight and gives you a rewarding feeling after the long previous day. Covering long distances doesn’t take long from now on.

From Kaintal, take the trail that hugs the side of the river. Walk past a few Gujjar huts on your left. Within minutes, you’ll get to a clear stream to hop over. There are plenty of such streams along the trek to Humpet. There isn’t a necessity to fill water at the camps.

Beyond the stream, the trail opens up to a wide river basin. All around the basin are wide, lush, green meadows. Approximately 2 km long, it takes about a half-hour to cover the distance end to end. (You’ll of course stop now and then just to take in the beauty)

The grassland is filled with horses grazing in the wild – a sight that is a treat for the eyes. Beyond the grassland, a small stream needs to be hopped over. Right after the stream, get on to the trail that climbs the grassy hump in front.

The view from the top of the hump is spectacular. The trail to Humpet is always an alternative between a wide river basin, usually, a meadow, or the trail climbs to a grass hump. If the hump looks too high, take the trail that skirts around the hump on the edge of the river. You end up looking back at the magnificent view and the adventures the team went through the previous day.

Two hours later, approximately 6 km, the trail again drags down to another lovely grassy river basin. This one is especially marked by square rocks that lie on its grassy surface. Almost every large boulder is chiselled like a square. This is the square rocks meadows- a good spot for a short break.

Climbing another hump brings you to a set of Gujjar huts on top. On the other side of the mountain, look for the pass opening of the Bobban Gully trail. This is the alternate, direct trail from Denora. The route is shorter but more strenuous. Horses, too, can’t take this trail. There are close to 7 entry points to the Warwan Valley from different passes of the Kashmir and Kishtwar regions.

Getting down from the hump brings you to the large Sar grasslands. Sar is usually the grassland where you camp if you’ve descended the Bobban Gully route.

Sidenote:  There are 7-8 streams to cross, usually at the end of every grassland. Most of these streams are easy to hop over. Two of these streams, however,  require you to take off your shoes and wade across. The water though, is never more than knee-deep, usually lower.

Continue on the Sar grassland as the trail takes a wide curve to the right in a northerly direction. The Bracken glacier finally goes out of view. After the long Sar grassland, the basins become shorter and more gravelly. Towards the north, the intersection of two valleys in the distance comes into view. Humpet is at bottom of the intersection on the left. It takes another two hours of crossing three other basins and skirting around the edge of humps to finally round the last edge to get to Humpet.

The view changes completely at Humpet. On the opposite bank of the river is Thangkam, a small Gujjar/Bakarwal settlement. The trail takes a sharp curve to again face West. In the East are the snow-capped barren mountains of Ladakh. On the West are the lush green snow-capped mountains of Kashmir.

Humpet is a many-layered grassland. Climb one of the ledges where there is also a clear stream flowing down. Camp on the ledge to get a commanding view of Thangkam, the wide Kaintal river basin, and the lovely grasslands of Humpet.

Spend the evening climbing the mound, just above the campsite. You will witness the sight of Marmots running around and going inside the burrows. This is known for Marmot spotting.

The day’s trek is dramatically different from the day earlier. From the Humpet, the trek descends two valleys to the meticulous grasslands and the supremely beautiful village of Sukhnai.

Take the trail that heads out of Humpet towards the end of the valley in a westerly direction. The trail initially climbs the mounds behind Humpet, before topping at a ridge. From this ridge, you have clear views of Gujjar huts on your left and the valley below. It is a narrow valley with the Kaintal Nala rushing down in gorges at the very bottom. Silver birch trees come into view.

Get down as the trail leads to the first treeline of silver birch trees. The trail rounds a curve to hang precariously over a very steep edge of the valley that heads to the bottom directly. There are multiple trails. Take the topmost trail, which is relatively safer. Take confident steps, and skirt the tricky zone, which is not long. Continue to descend until you get to a small waterfall on your left. This is a good spot to fill water. The descent down the valley is rapid. It takes about an hour and a half to get to the end of the valley. Coniferous trees hang overhead along with the wonderland of the silver birch section.

At the junction of the valley, a clearer river from the valley on the right joins the Kaintal Nala to form a bigger river. This bigger river now flows south, down the valley on your left. There is a small clearing at the end of the valley. Army outposts used to exist here. Now, it is an overgrown clearing which is called Police kotha. Look up to the other side of the valley to spot the trail that leads to Sheshnag and the Amarnath Yatra.

At this junction, you have entered the true Warwan Valley and Kashmir. Also, for the first time, the trail gets into the South direction (to Inshan), the true direction of Warwan valley. Continue on the trail as it begins its descent down the valley. The valley is still very narrow, with only occasional small clearings. Most times, the trail hugs the edge of the valley overlooking the river. There are times, for brief moments, the trail hangs directly over small landslides that lead to the river. Looking down can seem a risky proposition. Take confident steps to clear this tricky section.

There are plenty of streams to hop over on the descent so water is never really a problem. Two hours into the descent, spot the wooden bridge over the river that crosses over to the Sheshnag trail. If you are early in the season, this will be a snow bridge. Only once the snow bridge has melted, do the shepherds put up the wooden bridge that you see later in the season.

Warning: If the bridge is broken or not in place, then it gets difficult to cross to the other side of the river. You might have to climb a few hillocks and then reach Sukhnai village where a more permanent bridge is there to cross over. This might make you use a buffer day if this happens.

The clearing before the bridge is a good spot to take a brief rest before continuing on the trek. Cross the bridge and turn left heading downstream. You are still in a southerly direction but now on the true right of the river. The trail is more distinguished and broader, an indication that it is more frequently used.

Within ten minutes of the bridge, the trail runs into a larger stream from a waterfall that needs to be crossed. If the water is high, you’ll perhaps need to take off your boots to cross over. The trail rises and falls after the stream. In about half an hour, the trail again gets into a zone of overhangs that leads directly into the river. Watch out for the rockfall zone and cross this swiftly. As earlier, confident steps should see you through the tricky patch in ten minutes. 

Beyond the overhangs, you get the first views of the mound of Sukhnai in the distance. It is a lovely view of pristine grasslands that is now a mound in the centre of the valley. It is still a long distance away but serves as a useful beacon. In another half hour, the trail drops down to the river suddenly. At the bottom is a small grassy clearing right beside the river. Stop at the clearing for lunch- which almost looks like an ideal picnic spot.

After lunch, continue to descend towards the mound of Sukhnai. The trail now opens up to a wider valley with lovely grasslands to view on the other side. Along the way, spot the streams that tumble down the grasslands, besides coniferous trees. Gujjar huts make the setting too perfect even for pictures. It takes another two hours to finally get to the mound of Sukhnai. The grassy mound is extremely pretty with horses grazing peacefully on it.

The trail veers to the right of the mound, sticking to the bottom and finally emerging at the farmlands of Sukhnai ten minutes later.

This part of the trek is startlingly beautiful, with fences on the border of the trail, with neat farmlands below. Flowers grow abundantly on either side of the trail. The trail climbs a small mound to reveal the first houses of pretty Sukhnai a little distance away. Below on your right, look for the bridge that crosses the river to lead to settlements on the other side. The setting is extremely beautiful.

Look for the camping ground upstream. There are plenty of spaces to camp. The ground that the village uses to graze their cows or where kids play cricket can be a good space. You have a running stream as well.

During the evening or on the buffer day, spend the time exploring the village. Topping the hut reveals for the first time the entire village of Sukhnai below you. It is startling to see a closely packed village settled in such a picturesque setting- almost like the Gaul village of Asterix.

Getting down to Sukhnai, many bylanes take you deep inside the village. Avoid getting into them. Take the uppermost trail of Sukhnai and climb out of the village, past some houses and shops, to the stream that borders Sukhnai on its southern edge.

Stay close to Sukhnai- you can replenish supplies, buy tidbits or even chat with locals. There is also a phone booth in Sukhnai where you can make calls. The army also used to have an outpost at Sukhnai. The vast pastures of Sukhnai are almost dream-like. The rest of the day can be spent just loitering about and clicking photographs.

If you need more privacy, head further down the trail to the Inshan trail, crossing the stream over a wooden bridge. You can camp anywhere as the grasslands on your right, but look for a running stream for your water source.

The trail beyond Sukhnai gets extremely picturesque. You are in a valley, with vast tracks of grasslands, farms and pastures on either side. The Marwah river slices the valley on the left as it meanders its way towards the Chenab.

The valley is populated by villages every 5-6 km. The villages themselves are extremely pretty, almost from another era. The trail is now more frequented by villagers moving from one village to another. Step onto the trail as early in the morning as possible. If you have camped near Sukhnai, there are two streams to cross one after the other. On one of them, if the streams are water-laden, you’ll perhaps need to take off your shoes.

Walk on the trail taking in the pastures on the way. In the distance on the other side of the river is the pretty village of Rekenwas.

Keep to the right of the river until you get to a wooden bridge over the Marwah river, in about an hour. On the other side of the bridge is the Rekenwas village, perched on top of a hillside.

Across a fallen top on the other side of the bridge is a shorter trail to the village. Take the trail and cut through the farms around Rekenwas to get to the village in another ten minutes. The village is interesting as it is pretty. The moment you step foot into the village, the sweet smell of the pines, of the wooden houses gets to you. The villagers are curious. They may come out of their homes to see an ‘outsider’. Spend ten minutes chatting with them and continue on your way. From the centre of the village, take the upper trail out of the village to get on to the main trail towards Inshan.

From Rekenwas, the trail enters another good section of the trek. The ferns and pastures open up in grand colours all around. Vast tracks of land on either side, unblemished as far as the eye can see, stare at you. The trail gently descends. Ten minutes outside the village, two barn houses close to Gumbar village come into view. A small patch of coniferous trees lies beyond the houses. From your spot on the trail, the setting is as perfect as it can be.

Keep to the trail as it gets closer to the barn houses. Villagers on horses are common, almost like how people use scooters in the cities. After a while, it isn’t surprising to find horsemen galloping towards a village raising a cloud of dust behind them! Almost like an incredulous scene from a movie.

Getting closer to the barns gets you to another barn house on your right. Soon after the barn, the trail splits. Take the trail to the right, avoiding the trail to the left that heads towards Gumbar.

Looking back on the trail at the pretty barn house will remind you of a fairytale countryside that you would have imagined but never been to.

The trail climbs a small mound before descending towards Margi, a village still some distance away. On your left, spot the roofs of some houses in Gumbar village.

Continue on your trail for the next half hour until you get to a barn made of reddish wood. The trail curves around the barn get to its end,  and turns right again, along a stone wall that gets to a wooden bridge over a stream. The setting around the stream is very picturesque, though the water is not too good for drinking. You are just outside Margi village. Cross the wooden bridge, and continue on the trail for two-three minutes until you get to another stream. The water is clean and safe for drinking.

Across the stream, the trail bifurcates.  The trail ahead gets into Margi village. On your right, at a right angle is the trail towards a wooden bridge over the Marwah river. Don’t take the trail to Margi, but cross over the Marwah river. Turn left and in a short climbing burst, get on the main trail directly opposite Margi on the other side of the river.

Continue on the trail with Marwah on your left and Margi slowly getting out of the view on your left. The trail takes a wide curve towards the right, getting into view of the village of Basmina for the first time.

The village, however, is much further away. Again, vast lands of unbroken green pastures line the heart of the Warwan valley. Rolling hills with carpeted grasslands rise from either end of the valley. Pines dot the hills with their upper fingers. Every fold of the mountain has a shiny, glistening stream running down to meet the ever-growing Marwah.

It takes close to an hour to get to Basmina village. A clear stream fences the village on one side. Cross the wooden bridge to enter the village. The village is much bigger with shops, people and a lot more houses. Runoffs from the stream channels through the village, as they supply water to the houses. The villagers, ever curious, will stop you to ask you questions about your trek. The roads have now reached Basmina village and you can now choose to end your trek here.

Drive to Srinagar from here.
Expect to reach Srinagar by late at night. The drive from Basmina to Srinagar is rough – there is no road in most places. However, even with the bumpy journey, you will enjoy the beauty of the settings. Watch out for the Margan Pass, it connects Warwan Valley to Anantnag.  It is extremely picturesque! 

No charges will be levied by Indiahikes for this buffer day as it is in-built into the itinerary. However, the cost of staying after leaving the village of Inshan will have to be borne by the trekkers. The team will reach Srinagar latest by 8-9 pm on the 9th day.

Buffer day will be used either before or after the pass-crossing.