Kashmir Great Lakes trek!!! The green meadows, snowy mountains, turquoise lakes, and the post-trail blues!!

Me and 3 trek buddies plunged into this adventure along with an amazing team of 15 in the first wk of Aug. The trek started from Sonamarg, a popular tourist destination in Kashmir. After a scenic 4 hrs drive from Srinagar, we stayed at Gagangir, a little ahead of Sonmarag. A good sleep & we welcomed a clear bright morning the next day.

With a heavy breakfast and a day backpack, we started our trek at Shitkadi. It was a gradual ascent for the first couple of hours. Sonamarg is seen from the top, surrounded by snowy mountains and the Thajiwas glacier was visible then. It was a moderate hike through zigzagging trails which soon entered a beautiful forest of Maple and Pine trees. The trail ended in an open flat field and that was our first stop, the Tabletop. Being a defense sensitive area there was an army check post scrutinizing our ID cards. The setting of meadows with horses, sheep and mountain goats grazing around, the glacier waters flowing close by is a set taken for endless wallpaper moments!

Resting sometime for lunch and a refreshing Kashmiri Khawa, we headed to Nichnai pass, the destination for the day. It was a long and difficult trek, but everyone made it to the campsite safely. The tents put up in open meadows with streams nearby, pitch dark starry nights, helped us to experience a different mood of nature.

The trail to Vishansar and Kishansar lakes came next, the colour of the lakes depends on the time of the day and the clouds in the sky. Interestingly, there are no algae formations in these lakes, Trout fish being the only form of life found there. Our guide said that fishing is a famous activity here and because of this, their population in the lakes is depleting!

The next part of the trek is from Kishansar lake side to the top of the ridge. You see a pencil thin line traversing through the mountain side, which is your track to follow. The twin lakes’ view lasts till you reach the ridge top called the Gadsar pass (altitude 13,800ft) the highest point on this trek. The descent is straightforward, and when you are in the blue iris area, you are almost at Gadsar, one of the prettiest and most pristine of the lakes on this trek. All details of the trekkers and staff, including original identity cards, are recorded, collected and checked at the Gadsar army camp.

After breakfast we left the Gadsar Camp. Crossing a frozen stream we started ascending on a narrow trail. For an hour the trail was very steep until we traversed the hills, then it became flat, and we were walking through a vast meadow for almost an hour. We can see makeshift stone-mud huts made by Gujjars who lease these meadows for grazing their cattle in these months of the year. Soon after we reached the first lake of Satsar (means Seven lakes), the clouds started to appear from a distance. We quickly moved through a rocky area and reached our campsite before it started raining. It rained all day and the temperature plummeted.

The previous night’s rain was heavy, we started trek early to cross over the Zaj Pass. The trail led us to a boulder area which was very difficult to walk on as they were wet & slippery. The team helped each other on this difficult climb and soon we were on our way to the Zaj Pass. The clouds and fog played hide & seek for some time until we could get a view of the twin lakes of Gangabal and Nandakol. Behind them is the magnificent Mt. Harmukh, as per the local mythology, Shiva resides on its top. Later I read that K2 was discovered on the first expedition to Harmukh, which was so massive that it hid K2 until then. We descended to Gangabal lake and then camped near Nandakol.

And the last day the trek came. We gathered the staff members, the cook, kitchen helpers, horse men and thanked them for their great efforts to make the entire trekking experience a memorable one. The trail had lessons to offer us, and it was not a rosy picture that we had until then. It was a long walk till Naranag through meadows & pines and suddenly the heavy rains that poured down made our trail a very risky & dangerous one to descend. The horses made them slushier, and it was so difficult for us to manoeuvre the path. Many of us slipped and slid in the mud almost to the edge of the gorge, which made the trek time consuming and treacherous. We handheld each other to get thru the difficult path and all of us completed the trail safely! 8 hours away from the last camp site, we hit the fringes of the treeline, pine trees lining the meadows and got to see the first traces of civilization with the presence of fenced log huts, marking the end of this magnificent trek!

No doubt that the Kashmir Great Lakes is one of the most serene trails in India, validating Kashmir’s mythical status as the ‘Paradise on Earth’! Set on a canvas that’s larger than life, every day is postcard-perfect, offering a 360° panorama of wild, rugged mountains, rolling meadows, and mesmerizing turquoise alpine lakes, with snow patches feeding them, a combination in the Greater Himalayas that left me in awe at the beauty of this planet.

But it has not been a bed of roses! The wornout shoes, sore limps, tanned body are all concomitants of the fairy tale! The range of landscape made it a difficult trek spanning over a week with long trekking days, steep ascents, and descents with no easy exit points. Eventhough I have been exposed to high-altitude treks in Ladakh, Bhutan, Uttarakhand and Sikkim I found it tough and taxing to the body and mind! It not only tested me physically and mentally with challenges like rain, cold and very long days of trekking through difficult terrain, but this time I had to deal with post-trail blues as well!

Yes, even I didn’t know about this phenomenon! Everything was well until the last day in Srinagar exploring Dal lake, Mughal gardens and the Sunday market. My mind was brimming with happiness & completing the tough trail probably felt like an incredible accomplishment, I walked a gazillion miles on my own two feet, look at me! now ready for some lavish comforts like sumptuous food, a proper bed, daily showers! Sounds divine! Except that after landing in Bangalore, I felt very low & down, no appetite, no sleep, feeling lonely, didn’t feel like calling, talking to family or meeting friends. I sat holed up in my home for days, feeling that the “real world” was hopelessly materialistic, and I didn’t really fit in it anymore, until my spouse encouraged to restart my routine exercises and took me on a ride to Cubbon Park (my happy place) and a breakfast date! Slowly I’m rebounding, telling myself to be kind, giving myself a chance to go through the emotions and I will be okay!, that post-trail blues weren’t just about missing the experience of the trail, but about missing the version of myself I were while hiking it, that, getting over it meant seeking out other things that brings out our best self. And only I know how to do that! Music and books are my therapy. Finally, the takeaway from these experiences and learnings are the solid friendships, memories, rediscovering self, which would be cherished forever! It was an incredible journey and I’m glad that I chose it to be part of my story!