Marvel Adventure–feel the excitation

SUNDERDUNGA VALLEY TREK ---
THE HIDDEN BEAUTY OF KUMAON

Trek Cost :

₹ 16,000 + 5% GST (Kathgodam to Kathgodam)

ABOUT THIS TREK

Grade : Moderate

Region : Uttarakhand

Altitude : 4092 m

Trek Distance : 76 Km

Trek Days : 8 Days

Best Season : May to June & September to October

Nearest Railway : Kathgodam

Nearest Airport : Pantnagar

The beautiful mind blowing Sunderdunga valley a offbeat less popular trek. A less crowded hidden gem of Bagheshwar, Uttarakhand. The local meaning of Sunderdunga is the valley of beautiful stones. A story among the nearby villages comes from the old generation by orally that a man washing blankets in the stream found a very beautiful stone. This trek is near the Pindari & Kafni glacier trek, which is more popular one. The trek starts from Khati village and the trail follows the sunderdunga river till it’s origin. The trek consists of multiple nature show, alpine meadows, old mountain villages, boulder zone & glaciers. The trek offers you the grand view of himalayan peaks Mrigthuni(6856 m), Maiktoli(6803m), Panwalidwar(6663m), Tharkot(6100m). This trek is Paradise of pure nature lovers because this area of Kumaon region is very undisturbed by the civilization till date. No regular teams going on this trek. And one of most picturesque glacier trek in Uttarakhand.

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WHY YOU SHOULD DO THIS TREK

Less crowded offbeat trek

This trek till date is not popular enough other treks. So the trails are calm enough to enjoy the nature. This is a Paradise for nature lovers, wildlife hunting, bird watching.

Mixture of mountain beauties

You are going to experience different kind of mountain geography on this trek. Alpine forest, hidden mountain villages, lush green meadows, bolder zone & glaciers. In one word it is a full pack of beautiful terrain.

Snow clad peaks of great himalayan range

No, you are not going to be hopeless on this trek. There are spectacular mountain peaks turns golden two times a day. Mesmerizing views of Mt. Mrigthuni, Mt. Maiktoli, Mt. Panwalidwar, Mt. Tharkot etc.

ITINERARY

DAY 1 | Kathgodam to Loharkhet drive, 210kms, 8/9 hrs

Early morning pickup from Kathgodam. Have your breakfast & lunch on the way. Reach Loharkhet by evening. Overnight stay at Loharkhet.
Meals: Evening tea snacks, Dinner.
Stay: Hotel/Homestay
Altitude: 1750 mtrs

DAY 2 | Loharkhet to Dhakuri trek, 10kms (5/6 hrs)

After breakfast start your trek for the Dhakuri. Easy to moderate ascend today with view of snow capped peaks goes through the forest of Nanda Devi wildlife Sanctuary.
Meals: Tea & Breakfast, pack lunch, Evening tea & snacks, dinner.
Stay: Camp
Altitude: 2680 mtrs

DAY 3 | Dhakuri To Khati To Jaitoli trek, 15kms (7/8hrs)

Have early morning breakfast & get you pack lunch, long distance for today. Trails with thick forest of Rhododendrons. Khati village on the way. Reach a tiny hamlet jaitoli by evening.
Meals: Tea & breakfast, Pack lunch, Evening tea & snacks, Dinner.
Stay: Camp
Altitude: 2440 mtrs

DAY 4 | Jaitoli to Dhungia Dhaun to Kathalia trek, 13kms (7/8 hrs)

After breakfast start as early as possible and head towards the last camp, Kathalia. Moderate trek through alpine zone. Dhungia Dhaun & kathalia are Shepherd tent area, locals go there to graze their ships & goats. Reach Kathalia before evening.
Meals: tea & breakfast, pack lunch, evening tea & snacks, dinner.
Stay: camp
Altitude: 3200 mtrs

DAY 5 | Kathalia to Maiktoli Top(view point), 7kms (4/5hrs)

After breakfast, excursion to Maiktoli top & Sukharam Cave(if time permits). Take you pack lunch & necessary things, leave your other things at camp. We are going to back at same camp after the excursion.
Meals: tea & breakfast, pack lunch, evening tea & snacks, dinner.
Stay: Camp
Altitude: 4230 mtrs

DAY 6 | Kathalia to Jaitoli back, 13 kms (5/6 hrs)

After breakfast trek back to Jaitoli village via same route. Hot lunch at Jaitoli camp.
Meals: Tea & breakfast, hot lunch, evening tea & snacks, dinner.
Stay: Camp
Altitude: 2440 mtrs

DAY 7 | Jaitoli to Khati back, 8kms, drive back to Loharkhet

Meals: tea & Breakfast, hot lunch, evening tea & snacks, dinner.
Stay: Homestay
Altitude: 1750 mtrs

DAY 8 | Loharkhet to Kathgodam drop

Meals: Tea & Breakfast only
Stay: No

HOW TO REACH THE TREK BASE LOHARKHET

Loharkhet comes under the Kumaon region of Uttarakhand. A hour driver from Bagheshwar & 3.5 hours drive from Almora. Nearest Railway station is Kathgodam. From Kathgodam/Haldwani you can find buses for Bagheshwar. Then you can take shared taxi to Loharkhet. There are few buses running on this route. So the best & easy way to reach Loharkhet is book a cab. From Kathgodam to Loharkhet is 9/10 hrs journey via Bhimtal, Almora. A 8 seater cab will cost you 7000/8000 one way, and a 13 seater tempo traveller will cost you 10000/11000 one way. There are plenty of trains from Delhi/Dehradun to Kathgodam. If you are coming by flight, Pantnagar airpot is the closest or you can come via Dehradun. Pantnagar airport is 35kms from Kathgodam. Its a 45 minutes drive, a hatchback will cost you 800/1000. In addition we arrange pickup & drop cab that is included in the package, to make hassle free trip. So you no need to take headache about pickup & drop cab, we will arrange everything for smooth trek experience.

FINEST TIME TO EXPERIENCE

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. 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. 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. But overall both the season is suitable for this trek.

HOW DIFFICULT IS THIS TREK

This a moderate class trek. We consider distance, number of days, altitude & terrain to decide the difficulty level. This trek is consist of moderate class trail, but not too tough. But requires a good trek preparation & fitness. Do jogging for at least 5 kms before coming for 15 days. We are not scaring you, but a good fitness on the trek minimize the difficulty you find and easy to cover the distance in short time and also any injury/casualties. So this is not a too tough trek.

TREK INCLUSIONS

TREK EXCLUSIONS

WHAT TO CARRY ON SUNDERDUNGA TREK

This 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 us. Don’t overweight your backpack, otherwise trek will seem to be very difficult.

IS THIS TREK SUITABLE FOR BEGINNERS

As we graded this trek moderate, we recommend you to do at least one easy/moderate class trek before choosing this one. This trek will going to test your stamina & endurance as it includes boulder zone. Beginners with at least one trek experience can find this trail a bit easier.

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.