The Kashmir Great Lakes Trek: A tribute to the senses!

The trek was planned over two hot cups of coffee in a picturesque coffee shop in Visakhapatnam. We initially wanted to go for the ‘Valley of Flowers’ trek and then we saw these pictures on Google! There was no doubt anymore, we were doing the Kashmir Great Lakes Trek!

The Kashmir Great Lakes Trek Planning

We decided to take the guided tour package offered by Thrillophillia. It had a couple of options, but we went for the one which covered all transportation, so basically they take care of everything once we touch down in Srinagar, and drop us back at Srinagar after the trek, in time for our flights…pretty awesome right?!

Dates for the Trek: 14th August – 20th August (Sunday through Saturday)

Flights: Early morning flight from Visakhapatnam to Srinagar (Via Delhi) on the 14th. The return flight was booked on the 22nd from Srinagar.

The idea was to finish the trek on 20th and tour Srinagar for a couple of days and also relax and recuperate in the beautiful hotel we booked.

A journey of self-discovery

All Himalayan treks are havens for soul searching and self-discovery. The Kashmir Great Lakes Trek is no exception!

The entire trek had patches of long walks through flowery meadows of all colors imaginable!

These walks are extremely calming and we’re constantly accompanied by a soothing stream or a magnificent lake and lofty Mountains (Duh!) which made our silly problems in real life look puny in comparison.

We had to ascend steep mountains, cross rocky boulder patches, walk along streams and meadows, cross valleys and Passes, and all these scenic and varied landscapes just blend into a beautiful tapestry that is a treat to all the senses!

The day-to-day Itinerary

For a complete day-to-day itinerary, click on show more

August 14th

The pickup was waiting for us by the time we reached Srinagar. We were dropped off at Sonmarg, our first camping site. Needless to say, the journey to Sonmarg was beautiful, filled with scenic visuals, green meadows, and a pleasant temperature.

Due to a slight drizzle, we were given accommodations in a guest house rather than tents 🥰 (beyond Naranag, it’s not possible to have any other kind of accommodations but tents)

Along with the four of us, Thrillophillia booked 25 other people for the trek, and our Local Contact was a company called ‘Himalayan Daredevils’

The way these bookings work is, that Thrillophillia first makes our bookings and then finds a local guide and sends the group with them. Thrillophilia takes its cut and gives the remaining to the guides for their expenses and facilitation.

Once everybody reached the guest house, we were briefed on the trek itinerary, and the Dos and Don’ts.

We were also given a chance to offload our bags to the mules, so we can carry only the essentials in our daypacks.

We were served snacks and chai (black coffee for me! they were very generous:D)

After the briefing we had a quick dinner and slept off, anticipating a long day tomorrow!

August 15th

The sky was overcast with clouds, but we decided to make a move quickly to avoid the rain. But just as we made our way out it started raining very heavily! That set us back by an hour, and we were finally off to our first ascent!

We had to ascend from 7800ft (Sonmarg) to Nichnai Lake, which was at 11500ft. It was easy to a moderate trek of 11 kilometers and took us around seven to nine hours to get to the tents.

August 16th & 17th

This is considered to be the trickiest part of the trek, with a very steep ascent and a long & tedious Boulder patch.

But, luck wasn’t on our side and it rained heavily! we had to take a buffer day, meaning we stayed back at our camps and called it a day. The whole schedule shifted by a day, so the trek will now end on a Sunday and not on Saturday. A bunch of stood to lose flights and hotel bookings!

But something magical happened the next day, we got an amazingly clear sky and that prompted us to cover the distance of 2 days in one day.

So, on the 17th we covered 26 kilometers in eight hours, which was nothing short of a miracle!

And that brought our schedule back on track!

We crossed Nichnai Pass and were blown by the beautiful Vishansar and Kishansar lakes. We then went on to cross the Gadsar pass, which was the highest point on the trek at 13750ft. But, the view was killer and it was totally worth it!

The Gadsar pass had a view of the two lakes lying in the valley, and the view was breathtaking.

August 18th

The trek was mostly meadows with a little ascent here and there, but it was mostly easy. We trekked for 9 kilometers and it took us around seven hours to get to Satsar which was our campsite for the night.

We camped along the calm and serene Satsar lake and reveled in the stunning visuals that the starry night offered.

August 19th

We had to cross the Zaj Pass at 13000ft to get to the Gangbal and Nandakhol lake, which was our campsite. We had to trek for 11 kilometers and it took around 6 hours to get to our camping sites.

A steaming cup of coffee with lush green meadows and elegant horses just lazily grazing around, it felt like a scene straight out of a movie!

August 20th

It was the last day of the trek, and the morale was still high. We made a quick descent from 11500ft to 7450ft in about 6 hours and covered a distance of 15 kilometers.

The post-trek Srinagar tour

After a fulfilling trek, we got back to Srinagar and checked into our hotel. It was a decent 3-star hotel, with a beautiful room and a not-so-good view! We visited the places listed below, and we had a good time here. Mostly recuperating and recharging in our hotel, with walks along the Dal Lake ghats now and then. It was sultry and the best time to roam around is after sunset!