Pangarchulla Peak Trek Fixed Departure ex-Haridwar
7 Days / 6 Nights
Haridwar to HaridwarWhat's included?
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Transport 7 Days / 6 Nights Haridwar to HaridwarGuideMealsStayTransportPangarchulla - the chimney peak soars to vision from Lord Curzon Circuit and from Kuari Pass. The Pangarchula peak is located at an altitude of 14700 ft or 4500 mts. It is a treat for mountaineering enthusiasts, the peak offers a perfect test of non-technical climbing skills.
This 7 days trek will take you along the pilgrim vein of Uttarakhand, from Haridwar to Joshimath, where we have our base camp. A little further away, from Dhak village, starts our walking trajectory up the rocky tracks. With ascent, the horizons open up to cliff side villages characterized by terraced farmland and slant roofed houses, moving on to green meadows surrounded by the signature peaks of Garhwal Himalayas.
Some of the notable peaks are Nanda Devi, Chaukhamba, Hati-Ghori, and Barmal among others. Part of the Nanda Devi Sanctuary, the trail to Pangarchulla never loses sight of these celebrated peaks and culminates finally at the summit with a gala of glittering snow views.
Pangarchulla Peak Trek Info
Duration: 7 Days
Trekking Grade: Moderate To Difficult
Max Altitude: 4500 mts
Total Trekking: 44 Kms
Trekkers will be picked from Haridwar at 6:30am in a Tata Sumo or a similar vehicle (cost is included). Arrive at Joshimath approx by 5 pm – (tea, briefing of the trek & dinner).
Next day, by 7 am we will set off for Dhak village after having breakfast at the guest-house. From Dhak the trek will begin. The drive from Joshimath to Dhak of around 40 minutes will introduce you to the mountain kingdom surrounding the town. Enjoy the first sights of Nanda Devi peak during your ride. Collect your refreshments and start the trek from Dhak road-head marking the uphill bent towards the destination. Trek for 1 hour to the first village.
The gradually ascending trail keeps the village on the right and takes a dusty, rocky hike of gradual ascents. Without any major difficulties, we reach Karachi village from where the trail inclines by gushing streams. Feast your senses in the greenery of the farming steps cut across hills and the high mountains towering over from all around.The gradual gaining of altitude here must be supported by thorough hydration, therefore, you must keep filling your bottle at village water points.
Next, you will be reaching Tugasi village, and with that, we cover about 3 km of the whole trek. Tugasi is a picture of a typical high-altitude Garhwali Himalayan village with their wooden houses, storage places, and ranch. You will come across shepherd clans, farmers, and other agrarian people in this village set in the backdrop of mountains. After immersing in the different flavor of life for some time here, we move towards our next stop- the hamlet of Gulling. During the trek, you can get wonderful sights ofDronagiriParvat towards left.
With the turn from Tugasi towards Gulling at 8990 ft, the scenario changes from stark and dusty to green. A thickly forested area kicks in after Gulling and traces of civilization start to blur away. The trek continues through forest cover to the Gulling Top campsite at 9600 ft. across 0.5 km from Gulling village. Along with this stretch, finally, the great mesmerizing snow peaks of Garhwal Himalayas pop their heads changing the whole vista to a heavenly one. Prominent in this dazzling panorama are Dronagiri, HathiParvat, and GhoriParvat. You can see widespread Golden Oak, Birch trees on your sides. After lunch at the campsite, the sun takes a dip and the snow peaks take a golden sheen casting a spell of pure magic—the perfect time to catch a few exquisite shots!
Trek from Dhak village to Tugasi village (2,450m/8050ft) (3.5 km trek)
Trek from Tugasi village to Gulling village (2,750m/9,000ft) (2 km trek)
Gulling village to Gulling top camp site (2,900m/9600ft) (0.5 km Trek)
The next day’s trip is a straight ascent of approx 5 km spanning 4 hours approximately. The destination Camp I is a campsite in the clearing amid coniferous forests of blue pine, oaks, and rhododendron.
Starting after breakfast with packed lunch from Camp I, we make our way skirting the forest lands towards the Peak and some 40 minutes into the trail, the scenery changes from tree covered shadowy trails to open meadows. When you reach Khullara top in another 1 hour, you follow Lord Curzon trail towards Kuari Pass.
From Khullara top you can see 3 trails heading out, the right going to Tali downwards, left uphill trail goes to Pangarchulla, left downhill to Kuari Pass. We will take the route to Kuari Pass. Keep trudging on the Lord Curzon trail for 20 min and open Gelgad meadows will come into sight. This is another spot to capture the mighty Himalayan peaks like Chaukhamba, Neelkantha etc. Keep walking for another 20 minutes into the trail and you will encounter the famous broken bridge. Here you can find one water point if luckily it is not frozen. Take a few deep breaths and get ready for steep ascent until Kuari Pass.
Watch out for the Pangarchulla on the left as you arrive closer to it. Some of the prominent peaks visible are Chaukhamba, Mt. Kamet, and Neelkantha, Mana, Devban, HatiParvat, Garud, Trishul, Dronagiri. Have your lunch on the wonderful pass and return back to Camp I.
On this big day, we start early in the morning at the crack of dawn and set off on fresh snow for the summit hike. It is necessary to be equipped with at least 2 liters of water as there are no water sources from here. Multiple steep climbing points on the way make this stretch laborious. The trail will be same till Lord Curzon trail and you will reach here in 1 and half hour, same as the previous day.
After the ridge walk, level snow grounds spread ahead giving you a scope to catch your breath. For this region and further up, your group may require cutting through the thick carpet of snow manually—an exhaustive task assigned to the one who leads. In May, June the snow usually melts leaving behind a carpet of boulders.
Your trek leader will get you all set for rope up. You will be given a choice to continue or stop here. From the base of Pangarchulla Main Peak, once again comes a steep ridge climb. At about a distance of 100 meters, the knife ridge begins. The knife-edge cut in the middle of the ridge should be avoided as you step. Expect high squalling wind with currents. We expect to reach the summit by 10 am, at the most. Any more delays are not allowed because the snow begins to melt, making the reverse trail slippery.
At the summit point, you will come face to face with the Garhwal snow peaks in all their glory, especially Nanda Ghunti on left, chaukhamba on right, which will come to fore for the first time with all the detailed ridge lines revealed. The top is marked by a small temple. From the summit, one gets a 360-degree view of the Garhwal Himalayas, with Nanda Ghunti, Trishuli, Chang Bang, Dronagiri, GarudParvat, Lampak 1,2, Hathi, Gauri, Mana, Kamet on the right and Neelkanth, Chaukhamba, Kedardome etc. on the left side. After spending 15-20 minutes we will descend and have lunch at the base.
On the way down from Camp-I, one by one the snow peaks will pop out of view and the same old village trails will remind you of the end of the journey. From Dhak, a car ride into the dusk will take you back to life at the Joshimath guest-house.
Departure from Joshimath, you cab will be waiting at 6 in the morning. Bidding adieu to the gaze of the hills, you will descend down to civilization reaching Haridwar by 6 in the evening in time for your overnight journey back.
Note: Important Things to Carry during trekking
For more information, you can contact our travel advisor on Email/Call/WhatsApp
Why we prefer private and small groups? We love to trek in smaller private groups as we believe that it gives the best ambience to experience the Himalayan spirituality, serenity, solitude and rawness. Small groups are also eco friendly, less noisy, safe, friendly, easy to manage and more caring towards each other. Most importantly, private groups are more focused towards their objective which is enjoy being in the nature. We specialize in arranging customized private groups catering to the specific needs.
Seeded in 2003, eUttaranchal is a travel company specializing in Char Dham Helicopter Tours and Trekking across Uttarakhand. We are registered as an Adventure Tour Operator with Uttarakhand Tourism. We are also one of the most followed pages of Uttarakhand on social media.
