Kashmir Great Lakes Trek

Below is the common itinerary followed for this trek. Let me know if this plan could be made better and also mark against each day how difficult the terrain/trek is and average time taken by a person for this trek.

· Day 1 : Reach Sonamarg (8792 ft)

· Day 2: Trek to Nichnai camp(11948 ft) (10 km)

· Day 3: Trek to Vishnusar Camp (12152 ft) 9km. Via Nichnai Pass (13458 ft)

· Day 4: Trek to Gadsar (10777 ft) 10 KM. Via Gadsar Pass (13763 ft)

· Day 5: Trek to Satsar (11860 ft) 12 km.

· Day 6: Trek to Gangabal (11482 ft) 10 km via Zach Pass (13428 ft)

· Day 7: Trek to Naranag village (10km) and reach Sonamarg by car.

1. What made you to take up this trek? im a nature lover & i would love to travel where ever possible to enjoy the greatest landscapes & un touched beauty of nature.

2. How would you describe the landscape and the trek route? Heaven on earth - you could hardly find human traces during the trek. You will always be amongst the meadows throughout this trek which will make you forget the pain of your thighs & shoulders.

3. What are the highlights and lowlights of the trek? highlights are the 7 Lakes and its beauty. Low lights are the safety of individuals to be kept in mind.

4. Do you think anything else could be added to make the trek easier?

5. Which places/days did you receive Mobile connectivity? Also is it Airtel/BSNL or which carrier? You will not recieve n/w coverage before reaching soanmarg. After that BSNL SIM can be used for 2G calls in soanmarg & once you stat your trek from soanmarg there will be nomore n/w.

6. Where did you stay during the trek? Do we need to carry our own tents? Depends on you (self trekking or via local guide), i travelled along with local guide who got his own crew of cook,porters, camping utilities, horse etc.

7. How about food? its recommended to carry your own dry fruits&nuts for energizing yourself while walking. Morning breakfast would be tea/coffee with bread omlet - Lunch would be packed sandwhich&banana, dinner would be roti/omlet & dal/sabji. I prefer carrying snickers 6-7 packets which i can use inbetween meals.

8. What would be the approximate cost for hiring porters and donkeys for this route? around 500-800 per day

9. Do we need to advance book porters? Yes it is, most of the time the slots will be booked.

10. Any car driver/porter contact details.

FAQs –

1. How difficult is this trek? (rate easy, medium, difficult or mixed) Medium-difficult, Even 1st time trekkers can do this trek provided they have the interest in trekking and mountaineering & physically fit.

2. Can we undertake this trek solo? Not the whole trek as solo, normally solo trekkers prefer soanmarg -> Nichnai -> Vishnusar lake or the reverse: Naranag -> Gangabal -> Satsar and return back.

3. How many days are required? 5-7 days for soanmarg to Narang

4. Can children/senior citizens go on this trek? not recommended, during my trek we were accompanied by a group of 7 (4 adults & 3 kids) they faced high altitude sickness and returned back from vishansar lake.

5. What is the best season to do this trek? June - sept

6. Do we need any special equipment (snow shoes, poles etc) to take up this trek? Poles & trekking shoes are must

7. What will be the temperature along this route? Day time: 17°C-20°C; Night time: 3°C-4°C

8. Are there any medical facilities along the route? Nope, Only option is return to the base camp and move to srinagar