Marvel Adventure–feel the excitation

PINDARI GLACIER TREK ---
A GLACIER BY THE EDGE OF NANDA DEVI IN KUMAON

Trek Cost :

₹ 12,500 + 5% GST (Kathgodam to Kathgodam)

ABOUT THIS TREK

Grade : Difficult

Region : Uttarakhand

Altitude : 3750 m

Trek Distance : 50 Km

Trek Days : 6 Days

Best Season : May to June & September to October

Nearest Railway : Kathgodam

Nearest Airport : Pantnagar

This is a easily achievable glacier trek thats suit also for beginners & children. Nestled inside the Nanda Devi wildlife sanctuary, abundant of natural beauties, is the source of Pindar river, which meet Alakananda river at Karnaprayag. While negotiating the route you will find it passes through the southern face of Nanda Devi. Experience the spectacular views of Maiktoli, Nandakhat, Panwalidwar, and the grand view of Nanda Devi peaks. This trek on Kumaon region is less crowded & the natural beauty is not spoiled yet. On the trail you will pass through the rhododendron forest, velvety meadows, green valleys, gurgling rivers & glaciers. The starts from Khati village, approximately 110kms from Bageshwar. And will lead you to the highest point at glacier 12100ft. Total length to cover 48kms. But most of the trail is easy hike, and suitable for beginners. The first day of trek to Dwali is a bit longer, but easy. There is no risky zone. From Dwali you can see the route diversion for Kafni glacier.Next day proceed for Phukriya, a short hike. On a clear day witness the glimpses of Nandakhat, Nanda Devi. From Phukriya visit to the glacier and come back. On this day you may find frozen trails on the way. You may spot some wildlife here. If you are lucky, you can capture himalayan Ibex, deers here.

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WHY YOU SHOULD DO THIS TREK

Glimpses Of Kumaon Himalayas

Dense inside the Nanda Devi wildlife sanctuary, experience the less crowded undisturbed trail of Pindari Glacier. The majestic views of Nandakhat, Nandakot, Nanda Devi, Maiktoli, Panwali Dwar, Baljuri, Changuch will leave you spell bound. Capturing the snow capped peaks is a lifetime memorable experience.

The Experience Of Glacier

This is a unique trek on which you can achieve a glacier through a comparatively easy trail than other treks of Uttarakhand. Soak in the beauty of a glacier. Experience how a river forms what you have read in books only.

A Less Crowded Trail

This trek in the Kumaon Himalayas is still remained unspoiled. Till date it is not so much popular trek like Kedarkantha, Gaumukh Tapovan trek, this is why you can enjoy a clam nature and a true himalayan wilderness experience. You can spot many bird on the trail, and also wildlife on higher camps like himalayan Ibex and deers.

ITINERARY

DAY 1 | Arrive to Khati Village

8/9 hrs drive from Kathgodam/Rishikesh Pickup from Kathgodam railway station and drive to Khati village. You will be received by our trek leader. Briefing & medical checkup will be there by evening.
Altitude: 6400ft
Stay: Homestay/Camp
Meals: Evening tea & snacks, Dinner.

DAY 2 | Khati Village to Dwali camp, 12kms, 6/7hrs Trek

On the first day trek route is bit long, so start early after breakfast. Take your pack lunch. Follow your guide further. Mostly easy ascending trail.
Altitude: 8900ft
Stay: Camp
Meals: Tea & breakfast, pack lunch, evening tea & snacks, dinner.

DAY 3 | Dwali to Phukria camp, 6kms, 4/5hrs Trek

Short distance today. Have breakfast and start. Easy day hike. Hot lunch at the campsite. Mandatory participation on evening acclimatization walk.
Altitude: 9900ft
Stay: Camp
Meals: tea & breakfast, hot lunch, evening tea & snacks, dinner.

DAY 4 | Phukria to Pindari Glacier 0 point & back to dwali camp, 15kms, 8/9 hrs Trek

A bit moderate treking day. We will start very early to the glacier. Excursion day, not need to carry all stuffs. Take pack Lunch. Get back to the same camp by evening.
Altitude: 12100ft
Stay: Camp
Meals: tea & breakfast, pack lunch, evening tea & snacks, dinner.

DAY 5 | Dwali camp to Khati Village, 12kms, 5/6 hrs Trek

Descend via same route to khati village.
Altitude: 6400ft
Stay: Camp
Meals: tea & breakfast, pack lunch, evening tea & snacks, dinner.

DAY 6 | Khati Village to Kathgodam/Rishikesh, 8/9hrs drive.

After breakfast cab will be there to drop you at Kathgodam. Your trip ends here.
Stay: Camp
Meals: tea & breakfast

HOW TO REACH THE TREK BASE KHATI

Khati is a remote village in the Kumaon region of Uttarakhand. You can take a bus from Kathgodam/Haldwani to Bhardi/Bageshwar on the Almora Bageshwar Munsiyari route. Then take the shared taxi from there to Kahti village. This is very tiring journey & takes more time to reach. The best way to reach Khati is to book a cab from Kathgodam/Haldwani. A 8/9 hrs drive. A 8 seater cab will cost you 7000/8000 one way & a 13 seater tempo traveller will cost you 9000/10000 one way. We arrange your pickup & drop from Kathgodam if you book this trek with us. This make your trip very convenient & smooth. You no need to confuse about the route, our local driver will directly take you to our Homestay at Khati Village where our guide will receive you. Our cab drivers are experience and well aware of the route to Khati village.

FINEST SEASON TO EXPERIENCE THIS TREK

This not a winter trek. The best season for this trek we consider from May to Mid June i.e. summer season & Mid-September to October i.e. Autumn season. Like Har Ki Doon season. The summer season is bit white, because there are few snow patches remained. The total snow not melted yet. Temperature is quite high & comfortable. Mornings are very clear, may experience cloudy afternoon or a few afternoon showers.Temperature lies between 15-25° at day time & 10-15° at night. On the other hand autumn season is more clear with blue sky, but temperature drops down compared to summer. More shrubs and jungle on the trail because of rainy season. No snow left, more green. Temperature liea between 12-20° at day time & 0-10° at night. But overall both the season is suitable for this trek.

HOW DIFFICULT IS THIS TREK

This is a beginner friendly trek and also suitable for childrens above 12 years. As the highest altitude is 12100ft beginners and children with no trek experience can do this trek. The trail from Khati to Dwali camp is a bit long but not tough. The glacier visit day is moderate one but the route is less risky. As the sleeping altitude is lower than highest altitude you can understand there is very less chance to caught by AMS. There is enough trees on the trails makes it more oxygen in the air. So we categorized this trek as a easy to moderate trek like har ki doon. There is no steep & strenuous continuous climb on this trek. But you need a bit fitness to walk 12-15 kms with your ruck sack.

TREK INCLUSIONS

TREK EXCLUSIONS

WHAT TO CARRY ON THIS TREK

The beginner friendly Pindari Glacier trek doesn’t demand a lot from you. But the first thing you need to carry on every trek is a bit fitness and endurance. So before attempting a trek always do some Cardio and other endurance exercises to build your exercise. And obviously few hiking gears like Rucksack, Waterproof Trekking shoes, warm layers of Jackets, Thermal Inners, Woolen and sun caps, Sunscreen(SPF 40) and toiletries, good quality water bottle, multiple pair of socks, light weight rain poncho or jacket, warm gloves, a day pack Headlamps with extra cells, sunglasses etc. At last if you have any queries or its confusing what to carry for you, please feel free to contact Marvel Adventures. Don’t overweight your backpack, otherwise trek will seem to be very difficult.

IS THIS TREK IS FOR BEGINNERS

Yes this is a beginner friendly trek. A beginner with no trek experience can do this trek. As well as suitable for children. A 12 year & above old children with 1 easy trek experience can do this. This is only a 4 day trek with highest altitude 12100ft, which makes it for beginners. The trails are mostly easy ascend without any risk.

Frequently Asked Questions

Acclimatisation is the most important part of high altitude trek. Acclimatisation is the process where your body start getting cope up with mountain weather & atmosphere that is different from your hometown. This change of environment may affect your normal performance in that environmental conditions. So you need to be well acclimatise to safely do the trek. Not every time depend on the high altitude medicines to avoid AMS, go for natural acclimatisation. Otherwise your body will depend permanently on the medicines whenever you go to the high altitude. The natural acclimatisation is more powerful than medicines. We need to accept the himalayas as it is challenging. It is not that himalayas are unbeatable, but requires to follow rules and systematic approch. How do human body actually acclimatise to the high altitude? In the high altitude the air pressure gets lower so the density. That is why the molecules spreads out in more space and get apart from each other. This affects lower oxygen consume per breath. Our body reacts with that change and starts to take more breath that is hypoxia. We often called it breathlessness in laymen term. Then body try to take more breath to reduce the level of carbon dioxide in our blood. This results increase pH of blood, making our blood more alkaline and body starts urinate more for exerting of bicarbonates. On the other side the body starts to produce more hemoglobin count which are the oxygen carriers in our blood. This thickens our bloods and now our heart need to pump more to throw the blood in the distant organs hence the blood pressure gets higher. This indicates slight high pressure and pulse rate is normal in high altitude areas. There are three golden rules to acclimatisation in the field of mountaineering is –
1. Climb high sleep low
2. Ascend slowly, take your time. And do not over exert.
3. Hydrate & hydrate yourself more & more.

Our expert justified few ways to acclimatise naturally are discussed below-
At first check your itinerary. Trekking is not a game in hurry. You need time to complete. It is not anything you achieve but enjoyed. This is a sport that is away from any competition. Any trek should not be judge by time & distance. Do not over exert yourself, don’t go beyond your limits. Fix your itinerary comfortably. Do not try to cover more distance and altitude gain in one day to minimize the trekking days and cost. On the very initial days approach slowly even you are fit enough to trek faster. Take more time to gain altitude. This allows your body enough time to adjust with the atmosphere. Always bring a well hydrated body in the Himalayas and keep hydrated yourself on the trek days. Drink 3-4 liters of water every day on trek, and consume enough tea, soup, dal and other liquid includes in your meals. Do not consume any type of alcohol drinks 2/3 days before you start the trek, and also don’t on the trek. We do not allow any trekker to consume alcohol on the trek, if found he/she will be sent back then and there. We do not also advise to consume any hard drinks, too much coffee is also not good. ORS and other energy/glucose tablets are best on the trek. After arriving on trek base, trekkers may feel cold weather. But do not cover yourself fully with all of the woolen cap, muffler, neck warmer and all. Let your body to sense the atmosphere change with the sense organs. It will help in natural acclimatisation. Allow your skin to feel the cold. your ears to sense the pressure change. Keep that open while gaining altitude, unless there is a blizzard or bad weather condition. Don’t be a show off man, don’t show unnecessary bravery. Keep your body protect from cold weather. Protect your body from cold wind, cover your head at night & bad weather, cover your neck, tonsils and body tip like fingers, toes etc. Get proper sleep at night. It doesn’t mean that you should sleep at day time or in the afternoon as soon as you reach the campsite. Sleeping is important on every trek to get refresh and rest for next day trek. If you find difficulty in sleep bring immediate notice to the trek leader or guide. As you reach the trek base try to keep yourself dry, do not loose the body heat. Do not skip your soup in the evening. The garlic soup & other helps in blood circulation, keeps your body warm. You remain active on the high altitude. After reaching campsite everybody gets tired, this is normal. But do not get into your sleeping bag & take a nap. This will not help you to get acclimatise. Have some rest for a while, then explore the nearby places, go for the acclimatisation walk. You need to follow the golden rule ‘climb high sleep low’. Climb a bit higher in acclimatisation walk and get back to the campsite. You can indulge yourself in games, or can go for photography. Eat proper meals throughout the day, but lite. Not so much spicy foods, consume easy to digest foods more.
Trekking is a adventure sports, you need to bring a sportsman sprit and fitness on any trek. There is a big worry in many trekkers that how much they need to be fit for a trek. The himalayas are full of steep uphill, rough terrain, walking in the snow all these can be very challenging for trekkers specially for beginners. We will discuss here how to get fit for any trek with a complete training guide. Trek to uphill mountain is not in our daily routine so it is simple that we will find it tough to climb uphill. And with a backpack it seems very challenging. But only a month of regular exercise can make you fit for the trek. Cardio exercise is the best for pre trek exercise. Do some cardio exercise like jogging, swimming, cycling, jumping jacks etc will help you to build your endurance. Don’t forget to do some leg exercise like squats, lunges, stair climbing etc to build stamina of your legs. Now we made a routine exercise for you –
1. Cardiovascular endurance : On your trek you will constantly gaining altitude with your backpack in low oxygen atmosphere. Your heart will do more effort in this condition. So you need to go through cardio exercise at least for one month regularly to counter this constant uphill climb comfortably, infact you will find it bit easier. Jogging for 4 kms in 30 minutes is your first target for this. Start with slower jog and continue to fill the target.
2. Leg exercise : After one week of jogging add some leg exercise like squats and lunges to your routine. This exercises will build stamina of your leg that will help you on steep uphill climb. Start with 10 squats and 10 lunges of 2 set in first week. Then increase to 3 sets. Try to fulfil your target to do 3 sets of 15 each before the trek.
3. Strengthening the core : For strengthening your core body plank and hip raise are best. Do plank for 20 seconds for first three days and then start increasing by 10 seconds till 60.
Along with that do 10 hip raises 2 sets, and increase for 3 sets of 15 each. That should be the goal. So, get ready for your next adventure, make yourself fit enough to do the adventure activities.

There are three level of fitness we categorise :
Level 1 : It is the minimal fitness with that you just able to finish the trek. You struggle a bit, but not too much to do the challenging section. We find most of the trekkers with this much of fitness.
Level 2 : This is one level up fitness you bring on the trek, that you find the trek not very difficult or moderate but easy. And you can carry your own backpack easily throughout the trek. You don’t feel exhausted at the end of every day trek. You are find yourself still not tired and active after reaching the destination. You enjoy the other activity and enjoy exploring the nearby or involving yourself in some game.
Level 3 : This is the fitness we admire most & the ultimate mountaineer like fitness. The trekkers with this fitness finds trek easy for them and they are still very active after the whole day trek even with their rucksack. Not only that these people are fit enough to tolerate bad weather conditions, contribute in some work like tent pitching & kitchen activity, bringing water from nearby water source. Give a hand if other trekkers are in trouble or in some rescue operation.
Rucksack is a most important equipment on every trek & packing your rucksack is a important task for your trek. On a typical trek you need to carry your own rucksack, and if your rucksack is not comfortable to carry you will eventually start hating your backpack and also the trek. A rucksack need to be perfectly pack that it should be comfortable to carry on your back. It should not hurt you anyhow. The mordern day designed rucksacks are very light weight and have many chambers to pack seprately. A good quality rucksack have well paded for comfortable carrying in waist and shoulder. If you are planning to buy a rucksack, please keep the things in your mind and don’t forget to check the strength of rucksack and other straps.
Before you pack your rucksack go through our basic rule. This will help you to pack easily as a beginner. You just can not do every day packing and unpacking on multiple day of trek. Imagine how irritable and time consuming that will be. The A B C D E rule to pack your rucksack—

A – Accessibility = While packing your rucksack pack in such way that every thing are easily accissible for you. Use the different parts to achieve different things easily. For an example use different chambers for toileteries, different for your dry fruits and snacks, different for clothes, different for small items like gloves, socks, woolen caps etc. Keep the items at top or side pockets that you may need on the way like rain wears, sunglass, sunscreen etc.
B – Balance = Your bag need to be packed in such way that it can stand straight when you leave your backpack alone on a flat surface. The more your backpack is balanced the less it will hurt your shoulder. The weight distribution on both shoulder should be equal in order to comfortable carry.
C – Compression & Compartments = While packing your backpack compress all the cloths and the things that can be compresed. It will give you more space inside your rucksack. But remember don’t do more compress or less, do as much as it needed. Compress till it gives you more space to adjust other things. Now use more compartments or make more compartments by using different colored plastic bags, like for socks and underwear use red color plastic bags, for inner and thermal clother use yellow bag, for woolen cap & gloves use green one. It will not only give you another layer of waterproofing but also help you recognise all the different things. This will also help you to find your stuffs quickly.
D – Dry = Always keep your backpack dry from outside and inside also. Use rain cover from outside. And from inside all of your stuffs should be kept dry, otherwaise it will be more heavier than usual. Wet rucksack is not only heavier but also prone to damage, not good for rucksack maintenance. Use rain cover to protect from get wet.
E – Environment = Make a list of your stuffs that need to be packed inside the rucksack according to the environment of the trek you are going. Keep in mind the weather in that perticular month you choose to trek. Pack your backpack with stuffs you need in that weather conditions.

EXPERT’S ADVISE:
-> Always keep the heavy things in the middle of the rucksack and closer to your back.
-> The medium weight things should be kept in the lower compartments & liteweight items should be kept in top section of your rucksack.
-> Use plastic layer from inside to keep the stuffs dry.
-> Don’t forget to put rain cover from outside in rain and snow.
-> Adjust the shoulder straps to balance weight on both shoulder. Put the waist starps also to get better support and balance.
-> You can use you rucksack as a pillow inside the tent, or can rest your leg on rucksack.
Lots of trekkers are very worried about their accomodation on trek days. Wheather it gonna be comfortable or not, safe or not. Here is the answer. We have the good quality tents and sleeping bags for high altitude treks. Our mattress are very soft and thick to provide a comfortable sleep at night. But you should keep in mind that trekking in wilderness in himalayas are not any four or five star category. This is an adventure trip, if we provide a homely/hotel feeling on your trek, then there will be no adventure left for you. But obviously we will definitely provide a safe and cozy tent for your stay. Our tents are tested in bad weather conditions also. Sleeping bags are very warm to spend nights with a good sleep. And at the trek bases we arrange the best homestay available at the village. Homestays are sanitised and clean from inside. Toilets are well maintained and hygiene.
We go to the each and every trek base we organise and choose our guides on the basis of their experience, behaviour, past record, knowledge, abilities and good personality. They knows all about the routes and reacue & evacuation plans. They know how to handle in bad weather conditions. Our guides are well trained for work in the mountains, knows about the camping gears. They have years of experience in safety methods and protocols on the trek. Our guides are very happy to help and eager to serve you better. They always maintain health and hygiene. They are very friendly and make the more enjoyable for you.