Garhwal & Kumaon: A Trekker's and Visitor's Guide

Guidebook offering walkers a chance to trek in the Garhwal and Kumaon regions of the Himalayas. Almost at the centre of the Himalayan chain culminating in Nanda Devi. Garhwal consists of rugged mountains and valleys; Kumaon is more gentle. Easily accessible, the region includes some of India’s most sacred sites. 30 routes from short and straightforward to very strenuous treks with glaciers and cols to cross at 5000m.

Garhwal and Kumaon divisions, known together as Uttarakhand, are the mountain regions of Uttar Pradesh in India with Nepal in the east, and Tibet in the north. An extension of the southern border of Nepal, drawn in a south-east to north-west direction through Uttar Pradesh, would roughly define the southern boundary of Uttarakhand: Himachal Pradesh is on its west. For geographical purposes the area can be subdivided into five regions: The Terai (plains), Lower hilly region, Upper hilly region, High altitude region, and Upper high altitude region. Uttarakhand is situated almost at the centre of the great Himalayan chain with over 250 peaks above 5500m high culminating with Mt. Nandadevi (7916m), the highest in the region.

It consists of a succession of steep mountain ridges divided from each other by deep glens. The valleys occasionally open out, but usually are narrow and precipitous. A traveller entering Garhwal from Kumaon in the east is at once struck with the more rugged character of the scenery which is in striking contrast to the milder aspect of the Kumaon hills which are more in the shape of a plate.

Garhwal is drained entirely by the Ganga (Ganges), Yamuna and Bhilangna rivers and their affluents. In proper terms, the name Ganga is applied to the river formed at the junction of Alaknanda and Bhagirathi at Devprayag. According to legend, the Ganga descended from heaven at Gangotri as a result of meditation by King Bhagirath for salvation of his ancestors who died there from the curse of a sage for being disturbed from deep meditation. Factually Bhagirathi is Ganga, the holy river. Hindus call Ganga, out of reverence, ‘Ganga Ji’. The word Ji is to add respect, like ‘Mr’. The British, perhaps, could not pronounce Gangaji properly and called it Ganges by which name it is known today by most people. Garhwali and Kumaoni, being very religious people, have suffixed the name ganga, meaning holy, to several other rivers and streams, such as Vishnu Ganga, Dhauli Ganga etc. It is in this context that Alaknanda is also called Gangaji by religious people because it passes through the holy shrine of Badrinath. Kumaon is drained by the Ram Ganga, Gori Ganga and Pinder rivers. The first two rivers drain the eastern and southern flanks of the Nandadevi sanctuary. The Pinder river originates from Pindari glacier, below trails passing at 6100m. Much of the area is forested from the lower hilly to upper hilly region. The main trees are pine, himalayan oak, fern, spruce, deodar, kail and rhododendron.

Climate in Uttarakhand varies a great deal. It ranges from tropical heat to severe cold. In river valleys the day temperature rarely falls below 20°C and often exceeds 32°C in the shade during the summer months. In the winter the valleys are generally shrouded in mist during the night and morning, resulting in intense damp and cold. The climatic conditions of the Bhabar-Ramnagar belt at the foot of the hills are similar to those in the plains. In the south, snow rarely falls below 1500m though in the north it sometimes falls even at 1200m. During the winter months the snow line descends to about 2700m. In July-August it rises to about 5400m. By and large, above 1900m the climate is cool throughout. There are broadly five seasons: spring in March-April, summer in May-June, rainy season July to mid-September, autumn in October-mid-November, and winter from November to February. During May local thunder showers are frequent, often accompanied by heavy hail. These summer showers rarely occur at night and usually last for 15 minutes to an hour. Average rainfall in Uttarakhand would be about 95 to 250cm. It is very heavy during July-August. The pattern of rainfall at the beginning and end of the monsoon is of short duration, with heavy rain once or twice a day. In July-August heavy rain may sometimes continue a whole day and night without much of a break, otherwise it does stop for a few hours every day. In Uttarakhand the rain usually breaks earlier than in the plains, heavy showers apparently of local origin accompanied by northerly and westerly winds. The scouring action of these early showers on the dried up and pulverous soil is very great, and the damage done by erosion, in spite of comparatively less rain, is usually much greater than at any other time of the year. There are landslides, and piles of boulders and dry course-sand washed down from the hillside is brought down by the first showers, blocking roads at several places.

It is a delightful country of unsurpassed beauty with its soaring peaks, glistening glaciers, forested hills, flower-strewn meadows, butterflies, birds, wildlife and the very friendly, simple people. It is full of religious myths, abode of gods, saints and sages. It is one of the remotest, unspoilt and relatively unexplored regions and yet easily accessible.

Four of the most sacred shrines - Yamunotri, Gangotri, Badrinath and Kedarnath - are visited by thousands of pilgrims every day during the season. There came initially only the devout in search of religious salvation and then during British rule came the mountain lovers and adventure seekers. Visitors find peace and tranquillity in the several wilderness trails through dense forest which lead to lush, verdant valleys carpeted with alpine flowers in the season. There is nothing that one cannot discover in Uttarakhand. The devotionally adorned temples with their pinnacles soaring into cosmic blue tend to heighten in mankind an ecstatic sense of complete surrender to the Absolute Being, and the blue-emerald lakes, majestic waterfalls, meandering rivers, undulating meadows, rich thick forest, incredible mountains, and interesting villagers are a glorious combination. Having been closed to explorations and treks for about three decades from the early 1950s, Uttarakhand is gradually opening its doors to adventure lovers.