A long drive from Rishikesh. Mountains arrive slowly, then all at once.
I
Planning
Booked through a fixed-departure operator. A week off work. Two months of staircases and squats.
✦ India · April 2025 ✦
Pangarchulla Trek
A summit at fifteen thousand feet
7 daysGarhwal HimalayaA group of strangers, by the end of it not strangers at all
Begin
✦ Quick facts ✦
A summit, and the long quiet on either side of it.
- Country
- India
- Region
- Garhwal Himalaya
- Dates
- April 2025
- Duration
- 7 days
- Companion
- A group of strangers, by the end of it not strangers at all
- Weather
- -8 – 12 °C · snow at altitude
- Best season
- March – April · September – October
- Cost
- ₹18,000 fixed-departure
- Pace
- Slow and steady, then suddenly very steep
- Best memory
- First light on Nanda Devi from the summit ridge.
✦ Chapter zero ✦
Before the journey
The plans, the assumptions, and the small preparations that travel never quite asks you to keep.
II
Expectations
A hard trek. A view worth the work. Some humility, probably.
III
Research
Read every Indiahikes blog twice, and a quiet conversation with someone who had done it before.
IV
Preparation
Layers. Microspikes. A head torch with new batteries. A small bag of mixed dry fruit that I would later cherish.
Charting the route…
Chapter by chapter
Day by day
The trip as it happened, in order — chapters of field notes, with photographs, pull quotes and a ledger at the end of each day.
Chapter One · Approach
Day 01
— 12 April 2025 —
Day 1
Drive to Joshimath
~ ~ ~
Chapter Two · The forest
Day 02
— 13 April 2025 —
Day 2
Joshimath to Dhak to Gulling
Oak and rhododendron. A camp in a meadow. Tea, and more tea.
~ ~ ~
Chapter Three · Above the tree line
Day 03
— 14 April 2025 —
Day 3
Gulling to Khullara
The forest ends. The peaks announce themselves.
~ ~ ~
Chapter Four · A short, important day
Day 04
— 15 April 2025 —
Day 4
Acclimatisation walk
A small hill above camp. Lessons in breathing.
~ ~ ~
Chapter Five · The long night
Day 05
— 16 April 2025 —
Day 5
Summit day
Wake at one. Walk in head-torch light for four hours. Top out at first light. Nanda Devi, suddenly, in the dawn.
The mountain does not care that you came. That is the point.
~ ~ ~
Chapter Six · Down
Day 06
— 17 April 2025 —
Day 6
Descent to Dhak
Knees, mostly. And a quiet pride.
~ ~ ~
Chapter Seven · Home
Day 07
— 18 April 2025 —
Day 7
Drive back to Rishikesh
A long drive. A long sleep. A small change that did not announce itself for weeks.
~ ~ ~
✦ Moments to remember ✦
Small things, remembered.
The funny incidents, the unexpected kindnesses, the things a trip keeps even after the photographs have been filed away.
01
A cup of tea at four a.m.
The cook handed each of us a steel cup before we set off. It was the warmest thing in the world.
02
The last hundred metres
Steep. Loose. Quiet. Then suddenly, the top.
Photography
Photographs from Pangarchulla Trek
A selection from the road — captured slowly, edited even slower.
✦ Route map ✦
The trip, drawn out.
Charting the route…
✦ A small guide ✦
Where to stay, eat & look.
The short list of places and tips that made this journey easier — kept honest, not exhaustive.
Best season
Spring (March – April)
Snow at the top, clear views.
Autumn (September – October)
Clearest skies of the year.
✦ Highlights ✦
The bits that stayed.
01
Summit ridge at dawn
The Himalaya at first light. Nothing in particular to say.
02
A camp at Khullara
A meadow at thirteen thousand feet that you do not want to leave.
Final reflection
What the mountain gave back
A trek is mostly a long argument with yourself, settled by the mountain in the end.
I came back tired, a little proud, and quieter than I had left.
~ ~ ~