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• Uttarakhand

Ronti Saddle Trek:

• Private/customised treks for your own group is open as per your preferred date. TREK FEE will be same for a group of 6 persons i.e. ₹ 19,500 + 5% GST per person (Sutol to Sutol) and will be proportianately lower for 7 persons or more in a private/customised tour.

Ronti Saddle trek, a lesser known but probably should be in your “to experiment” list, if you are an experienced hiker. This Saddle or the depression is a point on a narrow ridge at an altitude of 5200 m/17055 ft and basically on the continuing ridges of two very high mountains, Mt. Trishul and Mt. Nanda Ghunti. Reaching this glaciated saddle will surely be an enthralling journey for trekkers who wish to venture on pristine high mountains trail.

Ronti Saddle trek is a kind of trail in which you will follow a river gorge inside dense forest initially for couple of days. Its not a trek that you will watch panorama of peaks from day 1. Instead, the trail starts from the last motorable village on Nandakini river valley, called Sutol and follows the valley, upstream. As the valley gets narrowed, you will get inside dense forest and bushes along with seasonal undergrowth. Initial two camps are at Latakhopri and Bhujani inside treeline.

From 3rd day of trek, the valley widens out while forking in two branches at a place called Sila Samudra. We will follow the left one along Nandakini. Right one is a glacial moraine valley coming down from Trisul massif. Because of the moraine, the place is called Sila (Rock) Samudra (Sea). Suddenly you will feel yourself cradled in high mountain ridges with views all around. The campsite is on a grassland on the right side of the valley beside a huge boulder. You will reach here before lunch and time to explore the area. Due to its amphitheatre like formation, this place receives late sun rays in the morning and retreats early in the evening. Indeed its a cold place at ~ 3900 m/12800 ft.

From here we quickly get into  the glacier covered with moraines, rocks of different size, some well balanced, some loose. This glacier is around half a kilometre in width and be carefully while negotiating this stretch. Crossing this boulder zone after a short climb you will get back to left bank of Nandakini. Couple of hours of  easy walk you will reach few short stretch of boulders, cutting across. The place is called Dodang, as derived from the strategic campsite placed between Do(two)-dang(boulder). From Dodang we continue along a fine moraine ridge and climb steadily for an hour. Our campsite is on the right of the moraine ridge, in a depression. Homkund is a shallow lake, often dried up in post monsoon. This is a very sacred place, with a small temple of Goddess Nanda Devi. Nanda Devi Raj Jat culminates here in every 12 years. This trail is also the climbing expedition to Trisul and teams setup their base camp around this place.

At Homkund you will feel like at the base of high mountains and surrounded by jugged rocks, boulders, icefall and the peaks. You need to start early from here and its a good climb of 2 hours to reach Ronti Saddle. Weather normally remains clear and good during morning hours. Although the saddle is glaciated but the snow ice condition will vary in summer and post monsoon. In May you will get snow from Homkund while after monsoon the snow melts and you will get icy glacier above Homkund. The last stretch on ice and scree is rather steep.

Once you ascent the saddle,  naturally the vista on the other side opens.  Its a quite contrasting landscape towards north, full of glaciers, moraines, rocky bands and mountains. Peaks comprising outer rim of Nanda Devi sanctuary like Bethartoli I and II, along with Trishul massif on one side and Ronti Peak, Nanda Ghunti dominate the skyline on other side.

Brief Itinerary of the trek:

Day 1: Early morning start from Haridwar and reach Sutol (~ 2300 m/7545 ft) via Rishikesh, Karnaprayag, Nandaprayag and Ghat.  260 Km by car – 12 hours –  Lodge/Homestay accommodation.
Day 2: Trek starts, trek to Lata Khopri (3080 m/10100 ft)- 12 Km – 6/7 hours. Camp.
Day 3: Trek to Bhujani (3550 m/11640 ft) – 8 Km – 4/5 hours. Camp.
Day 4: Trek to Sila Samudra (3900 m/12800 ft) – 5 Km – 2/3 hours. Camp.
Day 5: Trek to Homkund (4620 m/15150 ft) via Dodang – 11 Km – 6/7 hours. Camp.
Day 6: Trek to Ronti Saddle (5200 m/17050 ft)- 2/3 hours – descent to Dodang – 4/5 hours – total 11 Km – Camp.
Day 7 : Trek down to Lata Khopri via Chandaniaghat – 16 Km – 7/8 hours. Camp.
Day 8: Trek back to Sutol – 12 Km – 5/6 hours. Camp.
Day 9: By car reach Haridwar via , and Ghat 250 Km – 9/10 hours.

Season and best time for this trek:

This high altitude trek has two distinct seasons in a calendar year.

1. During Pre Monsoon/Summer: (May & Jun): From early May to late June. Best time during this season is between mid May to Mid June.
2. During Post Monsoon/Autumn (Sep & Oct): From early September to late October. Best time during this season is to complete it between mid September to mid October.

Access to Sutol (trek base):

Based on your request we may arrange a pick up and drop to and fro trek base Sutol. You share the amount among availing trekkers and pay directly to the drive.

The fare is ₹ 7000 for a Tata Sumo/Mahindra Bolero, one way. These cars accommodate 6 to 8 people. TREK FEE doesn’t include transportation cost.

To reach the trek base independently/public transportation check the details in GETTING THERE TAB.

Why treks with HT?