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In the Lap of Himalayas - A 5-Day Trek to Nafran Valley, Kashmir

I, along with my daughter completed a 5-day trek to Nafran Valley in Kashmir last week. We hiked through some grand and beautiful scenery, including forests with tall trees, lush green meadows with streams, rocky terrain, and mountains filled with loose boulders. We walked about 45 kilometers and gained 4500 feet in elevation in the 5 days. We started at an altitude of 8000 feet and reached the summit at 12,500 feet (was supposed to be 14000 feet, more on this later) with a view of the beautiful Harnag lake. This is a photologue of this trek. Except for the Milky Way pictures, all pictures were shot with a phone camera.

I will first write a couple of posts on the plan, choosing the trek, preparation for the trek, and reaching the base camp, and then write individual posts on each day of the trek. Skip to the topic of interest using the links below.

Index:

The plan, choosing the trek, and preparation
Travel to base camp, daily routine and my thoughts on India Hikes
Day #1 - Aru village to Aram Pathri
Day #1 - Continued...
Day #2 - Aram Pathri to Nafran Valley
Day #3 - Nafran valley to Harnag Lake and back to Nafran Valley
Day #3 - Continued...
Day #4 - Nafran valley to Aram Pathri, and setting up the camp
Day #5 - Aram Pathri to Aru village
Sightseeing in Srinagar, return home, and conclusion

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The Plan:

A trek in the Himalayas has been on my wish list for a long time. Way back in 2019, I signed up for the Kashmir Great Lakes trek (also known as KGL) with a few friends. However, this trek was called off due to COVID. After this, I used to think of doing a trek, but the plan never materialized.

This year, my daughter finished college and I thought of doing a small road trip with her. As we were discussing options for the road trip, we thought why not do a trek in the Himalayas? A trek would be much more adventurous than a road trip.

Choosing the Trek:

I started looking for options. Following were the criteria I had in mind to choose the trek.

• Duration: 5 to 7 days
• Difficulty level: Has to be a moderate to difficult trek to make it more interesting
• Road less traveled: A trek that is not very famous, and thus will be less crowded. This ruled out KGL which is a very crowded trek
• Diversity in terrain: A trek that takes through various terrains like forests, meadows, lakes, and rocky mountains

The first step was to choose the trekking company to go with. There were many options like Trek The Himalayas, India Hikes, YHAI, etc. A friend who had done a trek with India Hikes in Himachal, highly recommended them. I also read several good reviews about India Hikes in the internet and decided to go with them.

I shortlisted the following treks.

• Bodpathri trek
• Nafran valley trek
• Brahma valley trek

Of the three, Nafran Valley had the most diverse terrain (it covered forests, meadows, lakes and rocky terrain), was rated moderate to difficult and was 7 days long. So, I finalized the Nafran Valley trek and registered for the September 2nd to 8th slot.

Details of the Nafran Valley trek can be found in the below link.

https://indiahikes.com/nafran-valley...an-valley-trek

Preparation for the Trek:

Once the trek was finalized and I registered for the trek, the next was to prepare for the trek. There were several parts to this preparation. India Hikes helped us with lots of guidelines and information through emails in preparing for the trek.

Travel Plans:
India Hikes recommended that we arrive a day or two earlier in Srinagar and rest well before beginning the trek. And they also recommended that we book our return flights with a buffer day. So, I booked my onward and return flight tickets on 31st August and 10th September.

Things to pack:
There were several things that needed to be bought and packed for the trek. This included trekking pants, shoes, winter clothes, toiletries, backpacks, etc. India Hikes provided a detailed checklist of items that need to be packed for the trek. They also rented various trekking gear like backpacks, shoes, trekking poles, head torches, tiffin boxes, mugs etc. I rented backpacks, trekking poles, and rain jackets from India Hikes and carried everything else. The below picture shows the detailed list of things to pack.



Fitness:

This was by far the most important part of the trek preparation. Right from the day I registered, I got several emails and WhatsApp messages stressing the importance of fitness and how to prepare for the hike. Depending on the difficulty level of a trek, India Hikes sets fitness targets. For the Nafran Valley trek, which had a difficult level of Moderate to Difficult, participants were supposed to be able to run 5 kilometers under 32 minutes consistently.



Later they relaxed this a little and made the time less than 35 minutes. For participants who are not able to run, they provide alternate targets like cycling, stair climbing or walking etc. Apart from running, they also recommended some strength training to be able to handle the climbs, carrying the backpacks etc. We were supposed to upload the screen shot of at least 3 runs under the specified time limit and also a month's training summary. And India Hikes would then give us fitness approval. We were allowed to join the trek only after this fitness approval.

I and my daughter started training the first week of July. We did 3 runs a week, a couple of strength training sessions, and one hill climb with a loaded backpack. I was a triathlete a few years back and had retired from endurance sports due to a plantar fasciitis injury. I restarted running for this trek and my injury came back. However, I managed the pain using rest days and some physiotherapy and continued my training. When I started running, I could only do a 5km run in 42 minutes. By 2nd week of August, I cut this time to 36 minutes, well under the 40-minute limit set for people aged 40 and above. My daughter too was able to achieve the target pace of 35 minutes and both of us got our fitness approvals from India Hikes by the 15th of August. The below pictures show the screenshot of a run and my July summary.





Note: The last week of July is empty due to the monsoon drive I did with my Bangalore TBHP friends.

Another requirement for the trek was a medical certificate. India Hikes provides a template with which one can get a medical fitness certificate from a doctor. They also have their own medical team that can issue a fitness after filling out a questionnaire. We had to send a video of us walking normally which they used to assess our gait and general level of fitness. If everything checked out, they issued a fitness certificate without the need for an online meeting. If a participant had any health issues or were on some medication, they made an online meeting and issued the certificate after a thorough evaluation of the health status.

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Travel to Srinagar and the Base Camp:

We were supposed to travel to Srinagar on August 31st and reach the base camp in Aru on 2nd September with a day's rest in Srinagar. However, my daughter's graduation ceremony which was scheduled for 2nd week of September got rescheduled to 1st September. Not to miss this once-a-lifetime event, I rescheduled the flight to Srinagar leaving home on the evening of 1st September and reaching Srinagar early morning on 2nd September, and immediately taking a cab to the base camp.

This resulted in loss of sleep one whole night which severely affected my trek on the first day.

We reached Aru, the base camp near Pahalgam at 2:30 PM on 2nd September. India Hikes had arranged a homestay for the participants to stay the night. In the evening we collected all the rental gear and had a debriefing session where the trek leader and the guides explained to us the itinerary and dos and don'ts for the trek.

We then packed our backpacks for the trek and called it a day. As we were trekking into places with zero light pollution, I wanted to capture a few Milkyway pictures. I carried my DSLR and tripod for this. I also carried a small portable solar panel to charge the batteries. As the camera and tripod added a lot of weight, we opted for an offloading kit bag which will be carried by the mules along the other camping equipment. I put the tripod and some other stuff we would not need during the walk and carried the DSLR and solar panels in the backpack.

A few pictures from this journey from home to basecamp.

Coffee and cake in Delhi airport in the middle of the night.


First glimpse of the mountain ranges as the flight neared Srinagar.


We got this GT for our travel from Srinagar to Aru.


Had some tasty milksweets on the way to basecamp.


As we neared Pahalgam, we drove along this tributary of river Jhelum.




Indiahikes basecamp. This is the basecamp for both the Nafran Valley and Tarsar and Marsar treks.


We rented backpacks, trekking poles and rain coats at the office.


Introduction and debriefing session in the evening.


The cozy room at the homestay.


Everything packed and ready.


Before I move on to the main trek, I would like to first write about our routine for the next 5 days and also my overall experience and about India Hikes.

The Daily Routine:

Every night before we hit bed, the trek lead gave us the timing for the next day. He used to give timings like 6-7-8, or 7-8-9. When he says 6-7-8, this means black tea is served at 6:00 AM, breakfast at 7:00 AM and we start walking at 8:00 AM. On days when we had shorter distances to walk, we used to unpitch the tents before breakfast. After breakfast, we packed our tiffin boxes with lunch and snacks. Depending on the length of trek, we either had our lunch during the trek or after reaching the next campsite. Once we start our trek, the support staff dismantle the camp, load everything on mules and horses, and start for the next campsite. They usually overtake us halfway through the trek. When we reach the next campsite, we usually find the utility tents like kitchen, dining, rest room etc. to be already pitched and ready. On days with shorter distances, we used to pitch our own tents on arrival. On longer days, the support staff pitched our tents too and we just crashed into the tents after the cooldown session.

Every day, the trek lead also recorded our blood oxygen saturation and heart rate during breakfast and dinner. This was to know if anyone was suffering from severe AMS. Thankfully, none of the participants in our group suffered from any severe symptoms. The usual symptoms like mild headache and lack of sleep existed on the first day, but all of us were totally fine from the 2nd day onwards.

About India Hikes and Trek Experience:

There were two parts to this experience - the pre-trek experience, and the on-trek experience.

Pre-Trek Experience 7/10:
An experience coordinator handled all the pre-trek requirements like sending emails with details of how to prepare for the trek, updating on the trek status, permits, etc. I would rate this experience a 7/10. Though we got all the general information mail like how to prepare for fitness, what to pack etc., there were several times the questions I had went unanswered. In the beginning, I had some doubts about the fitness approval process and I communicated through WhatsApp and also through email, but did not get any response to my queries.

On-Trek Experience 10/10:

I would rate the on-trek experience a 10/10. The trek lead and the guides were just awesome. They were very knowledgeable about the terrain, took great care of all the trekkers, helped us during tougher sections, and never let anyone fall back. They had a good strategy of one guide leading the trek, the trek leader in the middle who went back and forth making sure everyone was fine, and one guide as a sweeper who was always with the last member of the trek. None of us felt left behind throughout the trek. One of the days, during a descent through some steep boulder section, my daughter hit her feet on a rock and injured her thumb. One of the guides Mr. Asif gave her his shoes which were a little bigger to avoid pressure on the thumb, and another guide took her backpack for the last couple of kilometers of the walk to reach our camp.

One of the evenings, our trek lead Mr. Varun taught us about DIY trekking, stuff to carry when trekking alone, how to choose the place to camp etc. He also about evacuation techniques if any of the trekkers were injured.

I should also mention about the support staff. They were super fit. We trekkers had to just walk from one campsite to another. But the support staff had to pack up the camp after we left, overtake us, reach the next campsite and set up the camp, prepare food for the group, and repeat this every day.

An army marches on its stomach! They served excellent food throughout the trek. We had simple, easy-to-digest, yet tasty food like rotis and sabji, rice and dal. They made great desserts for dinner every day like custard, kheer, carrot halwa, and gulab jamuns. They even made pasta and noodles for snacks on some days. Daytime snacks for the treks used to be laddus made of ragi or peanuts which provided lots of energy. On the last day, when we started our walk at 6:30 AM, they made puris and chole masala and veg rolls for snacks. They should have started work at 3:00 AM to have made all this food.

Two factors that India Hikes gave a lot of importance to were fitness and sustainability. Right from the day I registered for the trek, I got several emails and messages stressing the importance of fitness. They shared several videos on the importance of fitness, how to train for a trek etc. They also provided a detailed training plan (though I used my own schedule) to prepare for the trek.

On sustainability, they took care that they did not leave anything behind that would degrade the environment. They gave a small bag that could be tied to the waist and encouraged the trekkers to collect any plastic waste left behind by other trekkers. When we reached base camp, they had dust bins to segregate all the collected waste. They took back this collected waste and made proper waste disposal.

Will I choose India Hikes for my future treks? Absolutely yes.

PS: I am not affiliated to India Hikes in any way. This is purely from my experience taking part in this trek.

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Day 1 - Aru to Aram Patri - 10km, 2500 feet

On September 3rd, we assembled at the India Hikes campus at 7:00 AM. We had our breakfast and packed our lunch. Then we had another debriefing session where the trek lead showed us some basic stuff like how to tie the laces in the trekking shoes (crucial that we don't trip on the laces), how to adjust the height of the trekking poles etc. This was followed by a session of warm up and we started the trek.

We walked about 10 kilometers and gained 2500 feet in elevation. The elevation gain was gradual throughout the trek. The terrain was mostly forests with tall trees. Due to rain the previous day, we had to walk through several sections of slush which was very slippery and we had to be very careful. After this section of forests, we crossed some rocky sections with boulders. Towards the end of the trek, we reached lush green grasslands with streams running on one side. We made several water crossings through makeshift wooden bridges. Some of these were just a couple of logs laid across the streams. We reached our campsite at around 2:30 PM and crashed into our tents. The weather was gloomy the whole day with occasional rains.

We had some snacks and tea at 4:30 PM, and the evening was spent playing games like frisbee. Dinner was served at 7:00 PM and we were in our tents by 8:30 calling it a day.

As I had lost a whole night's sleep the previous night, this day was the toughest for me. I struggled a lot in the last few kilometers and was among the last few to reach camp. This was an important lesson for me - always start a trek well-rested.

A few pictures from Day #1

Medical check in the morning before the start. One of the trek leaders checked blood pressure, oxygen saturation and pulse rate.


A simple breakfast of rava idli, sambar, and boiled egg.


The group having breakfast while the trek lead does a briefing.


We packed our lunch and snacks. Lunch was roti and sabji and for snack, we had a sandwich.


All the backpacks were collected in one place.


Warm-up session before the start of the trek.


Mules were loaded and ready to go.


The team begins the trek. Walking through the streets of Aru village.


At the outskirts of the village. The mountains beckon.


Walking through tall trees.


Walking through trails running on the edge of the slope, with the hill on one side and a gorge with stream on the other.


Walking through lush green grasslands.


We then hit this section with slush. This section was about a kilometer long and was quite tough to cross. Even the mules were slipping in this section.


The shoes were covered with slush.


The mules overtaking us when we were crossing the slushy section


We then crossed some rocky boulder sections.

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Day 1 - Aru to Aram Patri - 10km, 2500 feet... Contd

We came across several streams then.


Stream crossing.


Another stream crossing.


A selfie by a stream.


A picture with some local kids. We came across several shepherd huts on the way. And several kids playing around.


A long exposure of the stream.


The team taking a break. We halted once for snacks and once for having lunch.


We crossed a valley with some beautiful yellow flowers.


First sight of the camp. What a relief it was, after about 6 hours of leaving base camp. I was limping by this time due to the aggravation of my plantar fasciitis injury. But I suffered the most only on the first day and was one of the last to reach the camp. The rest of the days, I was able to finish strong and used to reach the camp site among the first to reach.


The camp was situated on the bank of this beautiful stream. The sight of the stream with the mountains with low clouds was just awesome.


Clicked a couple of long exposure shots of this stream.




Our tent, with the lush green hills and low clouds in the background.


A cow checking out the tent.


Trek lead Varun explaining how they manage waste disposal.


It's play time.


Some frisbee action.


To finish this post on Day #1, the trek statistics.

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Day 2 - Aram Patri to Nafran Valley - 4km, 900 feet

Day #2 started with an overcast sky and mild rains. As we had to walk through 4km of boulders, our trek lead told us that we would not start the trek if the weather did not clear up. We will stay in the same place and proceed the next day. So all of us were eagerly waiting for the sky to clear up. At about 8:00 AM, the clouds cleared up and we saw blue skies and a little later the sun came out. The trek leader immediately decided to start our trek.

As this was going to be a short trek, one of our guides showed us how to unpitch the tent. We then did a DIY unpitching and packing of the tents. We then had our breakfast, packed our lunch and snacks and set out.

We first climbed a hill covered with grass and boulders. The next part was a steep section with boulders, followed by another flat grassland, followed by another steep section with boulders. At the end of this second steep boulder section, we reached Nafran Valley, a lush grassland in a valley surrounded by high mountains on both sides. On one side was a glacier (it was totally dry this time of the year though).

There was a stream running beside the campsite. When we reached the campsite, there was another team already camped there. This team was a day ahead of us and was supposed to have reached the next campsite. But due to bad weather, they could not reach the next campsite and returned to the same place.

We reached the campsite quite early by noon. The guide then showed us how to pitch our tents and we did a DIY pitching of tents. After this, we had our lunch and took a small nap.

In the evening, our trek lead gave us a lecture about how to do a DIY trek, things to carry in a DIY trek, demonstrated how to light a fire with a flint, and demonstrated how evacuation can be done if someone is injured or suffers from severe AMS, hypothermia, etc.

They were carrying an evacuation kit with a stretcher, ropes, etc. The trek lead showed us how to make a stretcher with just a rope and how to carry the injured in this rope-based stretcher. This was a very informative session and all of us learned a lot from this session.

We then had dinner and called it a day. As the next day was going to be a long walk, the trek lead told us that we would start the trek at 8:00 AM.

On Day #2 at Nafran Valley, the sky was crystal clear, and a million stars shone bright in the night sky with the grand view of the Milky Way. I decided to shoot a timelapse. I set up the DSLR at 8:30 PM, with the trek lead's tent in the foreground. I kept the head torch in red light mode at a distance facing up so that it lighted the tent very mildly. This lighting was not visible to the naked eye but brilliantly lighted the tent in the 20-second long exposure. One thing that I did not expect was the dew. After just 30 minutes the camera lens was covered in dew and about 3:30 hours worth of exposures were wasted. I had about 50 exposures using which I made one composite picture of the Milky Way and a very short timelapse. Another lesson learned - bring the dew heater on a Kashmir trek!

A few pictures from Day #2

The guide demonstrating how to unpitch a tent.


A small timelapse of unpitching the tent.

https://youtu.be/PTb1sTQw8kU

The team sets out for the day. We first had to climb this hill which was a mix of grass and boulders.




We reached a point on this hill from where we saw our campsite. It was a beautiful view of the green meadows with that stream running alongside. The picture does not do justice to the view. This was a deep valley, at least 250 to 300 feet deep, but the picture shows this flat.


We spent quite some time enjoying the view and taking a few selfies.




After this, we hit the first boulder section. It was very tricky walking through the boulders. We had to look out for loose boulders and place our feet on solid ones. Progress was slow in this section (and the next).




We then reached a small level ground where we rested for a while.


The view of the boulder section we crossed.


We then reached a flat lush green grassland.




After this, we had to climb this second boulder section. This section was steeper than the first.




When we hit the top of this steep boulder section, we came to this breathtaking view of Nafran Valley!




The guide then demonstrated how to pitch a tent, and we did a DIY pitching of our tents.

https://youtu.be/bkyC_dTtVnY

The tent pitched and our stuff moved into the tent.




Our trek lead Mr. Varun demonstrating how to make a stretcher using a rope and carry the injured.






Karaoke time. One of the guides from the other team that had already pitched camp at Nafran Valley entertained the group with some Karaoke melodies. He was very good.


Camping under the heavens! This picture of the Milky Way is an integration of 50 pictures of 20-second exposure each. The 50 pictures were stacked using a program called Sequator and processed in LightRoom.


A small timelapse of the Milkyway]


To finish this post on Day #2, the trek statistics. The actual distance is only 4km. The tracker shows 5.19km due to some glitch in GPS in one location.

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Day 3 - Nafran Valley to Harnag Lake to Nafran Valley - 12km, about 1600 feet

This was the toughest day in the trek. We faced the steepest of the climbs and boulder sections. The summit today was at about 12500 feet. The last section to reach the summit was a vertical cliff with steep rocks. There was a small section where the path was just about three feet wide and we could only squeeze through this section in a single file.

The plan was to trek to Harnag Lake, and pitch camp about a couple of kilometers after Harnag Lake. The next day was summit day where we were supposed to hit 14000 feet. However, the weather had other plans. Due to heavy rains the previous day the steep rocky section was slippery and the mules could not climb this section. The guides and mule handlers even removed all the loads off the mules and tried letting them cross this section. Still, the mules failed due to the metal horseshoes slipping on wet rock. At last, the trek lead had to take the call to return to Nafran Valley. The mules were sent back to Nafran Valley, and the trekkers proceeded to Harnag Lake. We spent a lot of time around the lake enjoying the grand views and then returned back to Nafran Valley.

The first couple of kilometers were a walk through a trail on the slope of the hill beyond Nafran Valley. After this, we hit the first steep boulder section, which was followed by a small flat ridge. After this, we descended a little and hit the next boulder section. This section was almost 700 feet high and we made this elevation gain in just a couple of kilometers. At the top of this section, we were rewarded with a beautiful view of Harnag Lake. One side was the deep rocky valley that we just passed and the other side was the Harnag Lake fed by streams formed from glaciers. Neither words nor pictures can describe the grandness of the view.

We then descended another slope to reach Harnag Lake. We spent a couple of hours walking around the lake and soaking in the scenery and taking lots of pictures. After this we had our lunch and made our way back to Nafran Valley. Climbing down that boulder section was tougher than climbing up. At the end of the trek, our legs were literally jelly! Thankfully, the support team had reached Nafran Valley well ahead of us and had pitched our tents too. They also made rich creamy pasta for snacks that day, which made all the tiredness go away.

This day too, the sky was crystal clear and I clicked a small timelapse and a picture of the Milky Way, and then called it a day.

A few pictures from Day #3

Nafran Valley in the morning.


The trek begins for the day.


The first couple of kilometers was easy.




Then we hit this moderately steep boulder section.




Catching our breaths after this first climb.


Then we hit this second steep section.




We took a break halfway to let the mules that were coming down. This was another group that had camped near Harnag lake and could not proceed to the next summit due to bad weather.




Climbing the narrow ledge.






View of the valley we climbed. The floor of the valley is at least 600 feet below.


View of Harnag Lake from the summit. The lake was some 300 to 400 feet below.


A selfie with daughter with Harnag Lake in the background.


The team at the summit. That poster was meant to be used the next day at the summit at 14000 feet. As we could not go there, we just used it at 12500 feet

[graaja]

Day 3 - Nafran Valley to Harnag Lake to Nafran Valley - 12km, about 1600 feet... Contd

Going down towards Harnag Lake.




Stream crossing.


This herd of sheep was coming the opposite way to cross the stream.




A shepherd family traveling with the sheep.




A panorama of the lake surrounded by mountains and green grassland.


A view of Harnag Lake and the streams that feed the lake.


Another panorama of the lake with the glacier and the streams feeding the lake.


The ground was filled with these small beautiful yellow flowers.


Snacking on dates and roasted channa.


Climbing down that steep slope on the way back.




See the ant-like trekkers climbing down the slope.


A shot of the Milky Way.


A small timelapse of the clouds moving below the Milky Way.


Finishing this post on Day 3 with the trek statistics.

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Day 4 - Nafran Valley to Aram Pathri - 4km, 900 feet elevation loss

As it was just a 4-kilometer walk to Aram Pathri, we left Nafran Valley a little late by 9:00 AM. The walk back to Aram Pathri was uneventful and relatively easy compared to the previous day. We reached Aram Pathri in about 2 hours. As we missed the big summit that day, the trek lead decided to take the team on another trek on a steep hill in Aram Pathri. But my daughter and I decided to take it easy that day. I wanted to see how the support team pitched the camp. So, we both stayed back as the rest of the team left for that steep hill trek.

Though we returned the same way we came, the scenery and views were quite different this time as we saw the landscape we left behind the past three days. And as the last two days were just descent through moderate slopes, we were able to take it slow and soak in and enjoy the views. I will let the pictures do the talking for this day.

Packing lunch and snacks for the day.


Scenes from the walk back to Aram Pathri.






A relaxed selfie.


Back at Aram Pathri.


The mules arrive with the load.


Unloading the mules.




These kids from a local shepherd's hut helped the team with unpacking.


Horses and mules are left to graze on the grass after unpacking.


The kitchen tent is being pitched.






Gas cylinders unloaded. They use anywhere from 3 to 5 cylinders for a trek based on the number of days and group size. For this trek, they used 3 cylinders.


Kitchen utensils unpacked.


Water is collected from the stream for cooking and drinking.


This cute kid was frolicking around.




The dining tent is being pitched.






Bio toilet tents are being pitched.






Tents for the trekkers are being pitched. My daughter and I pitched our tent. The team finished pitching the camp in just 2 hours.


Trek statistics for the day.


Overall, this was the most relaxing day in the whole trek. We walked just a couple of hours and rested the whole day.

[graaja]

Day 5 - Aram Pathri to Aru Village - 12 kilometers and 2500 feet descent

This was the last day of the trek. As many wanted to catch flights in the evening, our trek lead decided to start early by 6:30 AM, and reach Aru by 10:30 AM. This was another uneventful day. We walked 12 kilometers while losing 2000 feet in elevation. Except for that slippery slushy section, it was an easy hike back to base. Again, I will let the pictures do the talking.

Golden sky in the morning.


A picture with the trek lead and the guides. From left - guide Gohar, trek lead Varun, my daughter, yours truly, guide Asif, guide Aslam.


A group picture of the entire team.


A shepherd's shack in Aram Pathri. The guide told us that one part of this shack is used to house livestock and people live in the other part.


Walking by the stream.


Crossing a stream.


Another stream.


Another shepherd's shack with the lady and a couple of kids.


Another stream crossing. This stream was shallow during our onward trip and we easily crossed it. But during our return, the water flow in the stream had increased and water was almost waist deep. So, the guides had to throw rocks into the stream and create some stepping stones and also use a fallen tree stump to cross.


Walking through boulders.


A shepherd's tent with a herd of sheep grazing.


Crossing a big tree that had fallen across the trail. This tree was not there during our onward walk.


Hitting the grasslands. Getting nearer to the base camp.


A long exposure of a stream.


First glimpse of Aru.


At the outskirts of Aru. Getting there.


Entering the streets of Aru.


Back at base camp. We spent an hour returning the rented gear, collecting our bags from the cloakroom, and transferring everything to these bags. We then said our byes to all our fellow trekkers, the trek lead, and the guides and started our journey back to Srinagar.


To finish this post on Day #5, the trek statistics is below. The actual distance was 12km. I had paused the workout when we had stopped to regroup at the outskirts of the village and forgot to turn it back on for the rest of the walk to the base camp.


Below is a short compilation of several short video clips I shot during the trek.

https://youtu.be/KHxE5BYhO2g

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Srinagar Sightseeing, Return Back Home, and Conclusion

As our trek was cut short by a day, we reached Srinagar on 7th September evening. Our return flight was on the 10th. So we had a couple of days to kill in Srinagar.

On the 8th, we went to Ahdoos for a Wazwan lunch followed by a walnut brownie with ice cream and black coffee at Ahdoos bakery. We then strolled around in the Sunday market.








On the 9th, we went for an early morning Shikra ride to the floating market. A few pictures from this ride.






Trying my hand in rowing the Shikra.


In the evening we visited the Sankaracharya temple on a hill and enjoyed the view of Srinagar and Dal Lake from the hill.




After this, we visited the botanical garden.














We then watched the sunset in Dal Lake and had some street food.








On the 10th morning, we took a flight back home and reached home in the evening, bringing an end to this awesome trip.

View of COASTT racing track as our flight approaches Coimbatore.


Conclusion:

Overall, I had a wonderful trip with my daughter and made lots of memories for a lifetime. Following were some of the learnings.

1. I liked the trek organization of India Hikes. Though I have not done any trek with any other trekking company, I would prefer India Hikes for my future treks.
2. Fitness is the most important part of a trek. Though I prepared well for the trek and finished strong all but one of the days, I still felt I could have done better in terms of fitness. As I want to do more of these treks, I have decided to take up running as a sport again. I have to first solve my plantar fasciitis injury and continue with my runs.
3. Though an 8 kilo back pack is not heavy, carrying it for hours gradually tires the shoulder and back. A DIY trek would be tougher as we will have to carry additional weight like tent, sleeping bags, food etc. The backpack would easily weigh north of 15 kilos in a DIY trek. So training for walking with weight on shoulders is very important.
4. Climbing steep hills puts lots of load on the leg muscles. Running is not enough to train these muscles. Strength training as part of the training schedule is a must
5. Start the trek well-rested. Due to an unavoidable situation (my daughter's graduation ceremony falling a day before the trek), I lost a full night's sleep and suffered greatly on the first day of the trek.
6. It was a little difficult to get used to situations like not having a bath for 6 days, using the bio-toilets, etc. But I got used to this after a couple of days and these were not a bother anymore.
7. If I plan to take Asto pictures in these treks, I have to carry the dew heater strip to prevent dewing on the camera lens.

That's all folks I have on this trip. Looking forward to many more treks in the future.

[Kashi053]

Graaja, What a lovely experience. Did you face planter fascitis related issues during trek?

Stunning milkyway pics. Also echo on food, professionalism of Indiahike. I had been to Brahmatal winter hike with them and had similar good experience.

[graaja]

Originally Posted by Kashi053

Graaja, What a lovely experience. Did you face planter fascitis related issues during trek?

Stunning milkyway pics. Also echo on food, professionalism of Indiahike. I had been to Brahmatal winter hike with them and had similar good experience.

Thank you for the kind words.

Yes. The plantar fasciitis was a bother throughout the trek. It was most severe on the first day and I was limping the last couple of kilometers.

But after this, the severity subsided. I used to do some deep tissue massaging of the heel once we hit the camp, and the pain would go away in the evening. I would start the next day's trek painless and fresh. Towards the end of the day, the pain would return, but it was quite mild on all the other days and I finished strong.

As I am planning more treks in the future, I am getting some custom insoles to see if this solves the plantar fasciitis issue. Fingers crossed.

Great to know you did the Brahmatal trek with India Hikes and had a good experience. Will add this trek to my wishlist.

[SnS_12]

Excellent travelogue Sir! I and my wife were in Kashmir as well during the same time 4th to 8th September and we spent two days in Gulmarg followed by two days in Sonmarg. The pictures you have posted of the streams you have crossed and the Lake on top is what my wife was expecting to see as well on this trip but never believed me or our driver that one needs to trek some distance and all these are not accessible in the luxury of a back seat of a car

While your fitness story is legendary on TBHP, unfortunately my wife has scoliosis and has a Titanium rod attached to her spine and I have fear of heights and especially it gets r really bad when I look down or walk down from such heights. So, the best we could do is going to Thajiwas Glacier on horses.








Stopped at a spot next to the Jhelum river on our return journey to Srinagar airport

[RaghavEvoX]

Very nicely written travelogue and great pictures.
See you had a wonderful experience.

I have been waiting to write my to blog on the recent KGL trek I did, and this article has triggered me to pen it down.