The Kashmir Great Lakes Trek

Description

Duration: – 8 Days and 7 Nights
Difficulty level: – Moderate to Difficult
Age: – 14 years +

Day wise Itinerary

Day 1 – 
Srinagar to Sonamarg Altitude: 2,730 m
Time taken: 3 hours’ drive
Drive from Srinagar to the base camp at Shitkadi, Sonamarg. While driving you will get the best highlight of the Kashmir landscape. The drive winds through villages, farmlands and the road between two mountain ranges. You will be driving beside the shimmering and ever-flowing Sindh River. On the way, you can stop to enjoy the views of these mountains and pastures. You will spend the night camping at Shitkadi that is surrounded by a luring mountain peak. The reason to spend the night at Shitkadi is for acclimatization. Team Introduction and pre trek briefing by our Trip Leader.
Overnight at Shitkadi (Meals included:- Eve Tea and Dinner)

Day 2 – 
Sonamarg to Nichnai Altitude: 2,730m to 3,505 m
Time taken: 6.5 hours, 9 km This is the first day you will be taking your backpack and start ascending towards the next campsite. It is a gradual ascend. Your first stop will be at Table Top, a beautiful plateau that is surrounded by jungle but opens wide towards the Thajwas Mountian Range. This gives a fascinating wide look of the entire Sonamarg area and its mountain range. You will be able to see the famous Amarnath Peak from here. Post this, you will trek towards Nichnai. You will be trekking beside the river canal that goes down, and after a patch of jungle, the trail opens up and gives way to tall mountains. There is a river crossing too, a small stream that cuts this valley. Your trek leader and guides will help you cross the stream. The view becomes more and more breath-taking as you trek further towards the campsite. The trail has rocky patches as well and is dotted with maple, birch, and pine trees.
Overnight at Nichnai (Meals included:-Breakfast, Lunch, Eve Tea and Dinner)

Day 3 – 
Nichnai to Vishansar Valley Altitude: 3,505m to 3,650 m
Time: 5.5 hours, 13 km
The gradient of this day is moderate with long hours of walk. After breakfast, you will be given packed lunch to enjoy a quick break on our way to the next campsite. We will be taking our first rest spot at Nichnai Pass. The pass is after the river stream. Just before the top, crossing the ridgeline you will see the beautiful valley down that you just traversed. There is a steady ascent towards the pass, don’t forget to take regular water breaks, keeping your feet firm and pace steady. The pass has a steep and rocky descend towards the beautiful valley down. The meadow below is dotted with wildflowers. You will be walking in this quiet and serene meadow with joy and delight. In the surroundings, you will see a long stretch of mountains to both left and right sides of you. Towards the right, the mountain range is rugged, to your right the mountain line in contrast is snow-peaked. After walking for a couple of kilometers you will cross the river and reach our campsite. The campsite is beside the river streams that originate at breathtaking Vishansar Lake. In the river, you will see a wide range of trout fish which are very much famous here. However, fishing id forbidden here. Overnight at Vishansar (Meals included:- Breakfast, Lunch, Eve Tea and Dinner)

Day 4 –
Vishansar Valley to Gadsar Altitude: 3,650m to 3,810m via 4,200m Gadsar Pass
Time taken: 6 hours, 14 km
This day is the longest and toughest day of the trek. The gradient is moderate to difficult. On this day, you will cross over the highest altitude of the trek that is Gadsar Pass standing tall at 4,200m. Your trek leader will guide you and start the trek early in the morning. The first and the best attraction of the trek will be visible within an hour of your trek. Behold the two gorgeous lakes cosily and calmly adjacent to each other: Vishansar and Kishansa Lakes. The lakes are famous for their blue water and abundant trout fish. You will see trout fish swimming around. The fish are of different colours. Both these lakes have a religious significance and they drain into the Kishanganga River that meanders through Gurez valley. After the lakes, starts the ardent steep ascend to Gadsar Pass. It has a narrow and sharp trail. Ascend carefully and steadily. It takes around 2 hours to reach the top of the pass. Most of the breath-taking pictures that you see of Kashmir Great Lakes Trek are shot from this pass. Time to click some pictures for your insta. From the pass it is a steep and a bit long descend. Place your steps carefully. The descend
then finishes and merges into a long lush meadow called Gadsar Meadow. The meadow is wavy breathtakingly placed between the two mountain stretches. It has lush grass and varied colourful flowers and herbs. The meadow is the most colourful of this trek. Shortly afterward, you will see on your left a soothing blue-coloured lake – Gadsar Lake. As this lake is almost in the middle of this trek, this lake is least visited and explored and is one of the best alpine lakes that you will see on the trek. Legends say the water and fish from the Gadsar Lake have healing powers. The campsite is just a small walk from the lake. Overnight at Gadsar (Meals included:- Breakfast, Lunch, Eve Tea and Dinner)

Day 5 – 
Gadsar to Satsar Altitude: 3,810m to 3,600 m
Time taken: 5 hours, 12 km
The gradient of this day is easy to moderate. Only for around one hour is an ascend until the trail opens on the Satsar Meadow. Then the walk turns into an easy walk on lush grass and trail. The trail is a mix of rocky and meadow and with some water-filled grass and land. The landscape of the mountain is mostly rugged and desolate. The valley in total holds seven alpine lakes and we will see going via its one of the lakes. The lake stands beautiful and is a nice resting place for the trekkers. The seven lakes are one of the sources of the famous Wangath River that you will be seeing on the way going towards Srinagar after finishing the trek. Afterward, shortly, we will reach our campsite which is in the vicinity of the river stream. Overnight at Satsar (Meals included:- Breakfast, Lunch, Eve Tea and Dinner)

Day 6 – 
Satsar to Gangabal Altitude: 3,600m to 3,587 m
Time taken:5 hours, 9 km
This day is moderate to difficult and starts with a patch of boulders and rocky terrain. The boulder section will dominate the day, with the hopping from one boulder to another. The trail goes up and reaches the Zajibal Pass. There is a sharp ascend towards the pass for about 3 hours and then an equally long descend. The trail then has a succession of ascends and descends until it goes into Gangabal Valley. On the way comes the biggest of the Satsar Lakes. The lake is bigger and gorgeous. After the ascend, one reaches the highest altitude of the day at the top of the ridge called Zajibal Pass. The pass stands at an altitude of 4000m. However, the best part of this pass and the treat to the eyes is the first look of the view you get of twin lakes of Gangabal Lake – Nundkol and Gangabal Lakes. After the descend from the pass, you will be walking in the narrow meadow and after which there are small ups and downs in the terrain until you reach the twin lakes of the valley. Both the lakes and glacial lakes and get the water from the melting of glacier that hangs on Mount Harmukh. You will be camping beside the Nundkol Lake that has this gorgeous Mount Harmukh in the background. Gangabal Lake is almost 25 minutes from Nundkol Lake. Overnight at Gangabal (Meals included:- Breakfast, Lunch, Eve Tea and Dinner)

Day 7 – 
Gangabal to Naranag Altitude: 3,587m to 2,271 m
Time taken: 6.5 hours, 13 km
This gradient of this day is difficult. You will be leaving in the early morning after breakfast. The trek towards Naranag i.e the endpoint of the trek is first gradual descend and then sharp descend through the jungle.The gradual descend is through the meadow of Trunkhol. This is where you will see the government hut and wavy meadows in the middle of the surrounding mountains. The grass is lush and dotted with yellow flowers. And the land stretches far ahead of you. Take rest at Trunkhol meadow hut. You will see a lot of shepherd houses made of mud and brick. You can stop, if time allows, to sip the local tea here in the mud houses. Post-Trunkhol meadow, the trail immediately goes through the jungle. After walking for half an hour almost you will reach Butsheri Top and it is from here a 3-hour steep descend starts. It is heavy on your knees. Make sure you tie your laces tight and ankle-high, if you have knee caps wear that. The trail isn’t tricky or dangerous but hard on your legs. After descending halfway, you will begin to see the houses below. It further takes a hard descend to reach the end of the trek. At Naranag take some rest and drive to Srinagar. Overnight at Srinagar (Meals included:- Breakfast, Lunch)

Day 8 – 
Buffer Day
For all your travel plans include a buffer day to accommodate bad weather on the trek/political
instability. This depends completely on the circumstances of the trek and the situation in Kashmir. The
buffer day is mandatory to keep in your itinerary.

Package Cost:- Rs 22500/- per person (Ex Srinagar)
Ex Srinagar dates
10^th-17^th July 2023 : 23^rd-30^th  July 2023
06^th-13^th Aug 2023 : 13^th-20^th  Aug 2023
20^th-27^th Aug 2023 : 03^rd-10^th Sep 2023

Package Includes: 
• Pick up and drop – Srinagar to Srinagar
• All Meals as per the Itinerary (Veg & Egg)
• Experienced and English-speaking Trek Leaders
• First aid assistance
• Adventure Mantra Expertise.
• Camp accommodation on all the nights in high-quality tents on a twin-sharing basis. Sleeping bags, sleeping
mattresses, dining tents, and cutlery included.
• Helpers to pitch the tents, wash the dishes, serve the food and assist while on the camp.
• All the necessary mountain medicine includes first aid, oxygen cylinder, etc.
• Passes and Permits.

Package Excludes:
• Any kind of airfare from or upto Srinagar
• Anything not mentioned in the “package includes” list.
• Any kind of food & beverages during travel
• Any kind of personal & medical expenses
• Any porter/ mules’ charges

Add ons: –
Bag pack Offloading charges: In case you want us to carry your backpack, the cost per bag is Rs 2500/ per bag. The maximum weight allowed is 10kg. Please note that only a proper trekking backpack will be allowed to offload. No trolley or suitcase will be allowed to offload. We strictly follow to adequately place the load on our ponies. The maximum weight on each pony will be 40kg as recommended by the Jammu and Kashmir Tourism Department.

We request you to please read the Terms & Conditions carefully before confirming the booking.