• 1 Week trek
• Camping
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Kuari Pass Trek on Curzon’s trail:

At present it is unfamiliar to trace old school classy Himalayan trails like Kuari Pass trek on “Curzon’s trail. It is about slowly gaining altitude from one camp to another, crossing valleys to reach Kuari pass and get contrasting views. Kuari Pass on Curzon’s Trail trek is one such less trodden and pristine camping trek. In addition to that, don’t forget that Kuari pass, located centrally in Garhwal Himalayas is one filthily panorama rich trail.

Brief Itinerary for Kuari Pass on Curzon’s Trail:

Day 1: Drive from Rishikesh to Ramni village (~ 2500 m/8200 ft) via Nandaprayag, Ghat route – 240 Km – 10 hours. Camp on the school ground.
Day 2: Trek from Ramni village to Chechna Vinayak Pass (~ 3180 m/10430 ft) and descend to Jhinji village (~ 2100 m/6825 ft) – 9 Km – 5/6 hours. Camp
Day 3: Jhinji to Pana village (~ 2600 m/8530 ft) – 10 Km – 5/6 hours. Camp
Day 4: Pana to Dakwani (~ 3350 m/11000 ft) – 10 Km – 6/7 hour. Camp
Day 5: Dakwani to Kuari Pass (1 hour climb, ~ 3700 m/12150 ft) and then descend to Khullara (~ 3400 m/11150 ft) – 8 Km – 5/6 hours. Camp
Day 6: Trek to Auli via Gurson Bugyal – 8 Km – 4/5 hours – Drive to Joshimath – 1 hour – Lodge accommodation.
Day 7: Drive from Joshimath to Rishikesh – 250 Km – 9/10 hours. Haridwar or Dehradun airport is one hour from Rishikesh.

Note:

• You need to reach Rishikes on Day 1 (by 6 a.m.) or the previous night. Return to Rishikesh/Haridwar on Day 7 evening (by 6 to 7 p.m.). Arrange your tickets for the inward journey and your return from Haridwar accordingly. We can arrange transportation from Haridwar to Ramni and return from Joshimath, but it is not included in the TREK FEE. You pay directly to the driver, sharing equally with the other trekkers.
• To attempt Pangarchulla Peak, you will require one extra day while staying at Khullara Camp, attempting the peak, and returning. This is possible for customised private treks by adding a day, but not in the scope of our usual fixed departure treks.

Why trek Kuari Pass following the “Curzon’s Trail”?

The Old School model:

In this trail you start from an interior village road head, walk through forests, crossing valleys and ridges, ups and downs to camp to next village. This full camping trail has three villages to camp, Ramni, Jhinji and Pana, last two still out of any motor road connectivity. Surrounded by green hills and valleys, occasionally you will get high mountain views as well. This trail certainly gives you a better chance to get an essence of local Pahadi culture, lifestyle and hardship. As you will be trekking inside treeline for a while, so it is easy to understand that you will walk inside varied forests of Rhododendrons, Pines, Maples and Oak. It is a no hurry to reach the top trail while relishing camps.

The contrast:

After crossing the meadows once you reach Kuari Pass ((3850 m/12630 ft) from south side, a different landscape with high mountain panorama unfolds. This is a change what you expect on a trail, where you actually cross a pass and descent to the other side of the range. This is the exploratory and original route taken by British Viceroy George Curzon (Commonly known as Lord Curzon) in the beginning of 20th century and referred to as Kuari Pass on Curzon’s trail.

The shorter variant is the North side of Kuari Pass, Joshimath to Joshimath or commonly referred Winter Kuari Pass trek. After crossing Kuari pass you will descent to Joshimath via Tali Gurson and Auli. The idea here is to cross Kuari pass starting from southern lower valleys of Nandakini basin and to reach the confluence of Alaknanda and Dhauli Ganga valley to the north of the pass. In a nutshell this trail gives you the opportunity to actually cross a pass and descent to the other side of the mountain range and ridges to witness a different vista altogether.

The challenge:

Almost everyday descents and ascents to reach the next campsite makes it strenuous than the shorter version (a.k.a. Winter Kuari pass) or other easy grade treks. However this trail gives fantastic opportunity to acclimatise yourself in the mountains, before leaving tree line. This is a solid choice for you who want to camp in pristine environment and don’t mind to walk some more to test yourself.

The campsites:

In contrast to the shorter version, Curzon’s trail has more variety with respect to camping grounds. You will camp around village, inside pine forests at Tali and on the fringe of the treeline at Dakwani. It would be good to mention here that on Winter Kuari Pass, only 2 camping grounds are allowed. One is Tali Forest camp, and the other one is Gulling.

First three nights we will camp around or off village, with the proximity of water. Here are the campsites of Dakwani and Tali forest camp.

So, Curzon’s trail is undeniably a not to miss trek for you who have already done probably one or two popular routes. Furthermore it is more a natural trail to initiate hiking and camping habit for the beginners. Summing up, it is not a 3/4 days 20 odd kilometre hike to aiming a summit.

Best time to go for Kuari pass trek on Curzon’s trail:

To get the most out of the trail you should trek in following two seasons:

1. Summer: Month of May and June
2. Fall/Autumn: Month of September to November

This trail normally remains closed during mid December to mid April , as deposited snow makes conditions impassable for main logistics and horses.

Peak views from Kuari Pass:

From Kuari Pass the view is one of the best panoramas in the Himalayas. All the peaks in the upper Dhauliganga valley, Badrinath valley and Chaukhamba/Satopanth valley peaks are visible. Hati & Ghora Parvat, Mukut, Rishi, Kamet, Dronagiri, Nilgiri Parvat, Ratavan, Neelkanth, Mana and Chaukhamba are notable peaks. From Tali, Gurson Bugyal and Auli you can see gracious Nanda Devi. Gurson Bugyal considered one of the most beautiful alpine meadows in Garhwal and offers stunning view points of gigantic Himalayan massifs throughout. Auli is revered for its close view of Mt. Nanda Devi and the cable car ride down to Joshimath.

Adding Pangarchulla peak climb:

This is a very good idea if you are a group of trekkers who are planning your customised private trek ( at least 10 members to make it economic). You need an additional day for Pangarchulla summit ~ 4550 m/14925 ft). However this is a strenuous day and you will need to push hard to reach the summit. After reaching Kuari pass, you will descent and camp at Tali. Next day very early morning start for Pangarchulla summit. latest by 3 am. It may take 5/6 hours to climb the peak from the camp and another 4 hrs to return, making it a 10/12 hours long strenuous day. Pangarchulla summit is the highest point of the surrounding area and the views from the peak are captivating along with lower valley views. Next day you can directly descent to Joshimath via Gurson and Auli.

Access to Ramni trek base:

We will arrange a pickup from Rishikesh to Ramni and a return from Joshimath to Rishikesh. This will be shared by the team members on an actual basis and paid directly to the driver. The fare is ₹  7,500 for a Tata Sumo/Mahindra Maxx one way. This can accommodate 6 to 8 people. A Tempo Traveller charges ₹ 12000 (12–14 seats) one way. This is NOT included in the TREK fee.

Here is the road map from Rishikesh and around (Haridwar, Dehradun, etc.) to the basecamp village of Ramni.

To reach the trek base Ramni independently or by public transportation check the details in GETTING THERE TAB.

Why treks with HT?