Kugti Trek - Short itinerary
Day - 00: Pick up point- Pathankot. Then Pathankot to Bharmour. It is roughly a 7-8 hours journey by car.
Day - 01: Bharmour - Hadsar - Kugti. Catch a cab from Bharmour to Hadsar, roughly 20 km. From Hadsar a 6kms trek to Kugti.
Day - 02: Kugti - Duggi. It is a 7 km trek through the Kugti village, along the Budhil river stream. More ascending through green meadows and pine forests.
Day - 03: Duggi - Alyas. The campgrounds on both sides of the pass is called Alyas, locally known as Layesh. It is a 6km exciting trek crossing streams and waterfalls, to reach the campground.
Day - 04: Alyas - Kugti pass - Kodlu Alyas. A 12 km trek, totally dependent on the terrain and weather conditions.
Day - 05: Alyas base camp - Jovrung - Udaipur. Base camp to Jovrung village is an 8 km trek. A 45 km journey in a cab from there to Udaipur.
Day - 06: Udaipur - Keylong - Manali. After visiting Keylong temples, traveling to Manali via Rohtang pass.
Kugti Trek - Detailed itinerary
Day - 00: On arrival, Pathankot meets our representative and drive straight to visit local sightseeing. After lunch, we’ll move towards Bharmour via Chamba. After reaching Bharmour, check in to the hotel. In the evening, join the Aarti at 84 ancient Chaurasi temples. An overnight stay at the hotel in Bharmour.
Day - 01:
- Travel distance - 20 km, Trek distance - 6 km.
- Gradient: Normal
- Humidity: Normal
- Temperature: 25 -27-degree celsius.
After breakfast early in the morning, we will travel to Hadsar via car for about 20 km. This is a narrow bumpy track with uneven surfaced road bumps. It is then a twisted trek involving several ascents and descents to the Kugti village and we will reach a small station Dhanaul, which is 6 km from Hadsar. After a pit stop at Dhanaul, we continue to trek along the banks of the Budhil river. The trail goes up and down through dense forests, streams and rare views of flock, and after another half an hour we reach the bed of Budhil River, encroaching a total distance of 5 km from Dhanaul. This bed of the river marks the half-way point of your trek. Hereafter, the journey opens to a wider valley with dense pine forests on either side. The trail sharply bends to give away the picturesque Kugti village hidden in the oversetting of the pine trees. You can either fix up a room for yourself or use the ground to set up camps.
Day - 02:
- Kugti to Duggi via Kelang temple a 7 km easy walk.
- Gradient: Gradual
- Humidity: Normal
- Temperature: 15 – 20-degree celsius
Starting from Kugti, we cross the village over bridges constructed on streams, along the Budhil river. After a large stream indicating the last house of the village, we bid goodbye and engage in a sharp climb immediately. The trail hereafter splits into two - one going higher, and one going lower. Sticking to the one going higher, we are suddenly on top of a colorful plateau apple and peach orchards. The trail leads to the meeting of two rivers opening us up to another scenic view, the Kelang temple. Valleys on one side and cliffs with steep lowering to the Budhil river on the other side, the trail continues with Budhil still flowing not many feet below you, we walk through fragrant gushy meadows, and grassy embankments and reach the camping ground. With gigantic mountains as a 360-degree view, streams and waterfalls squeezing its way through the valley, this camping ground is surrounded by the grandness of nature, called the Gaddi Goth - place where shepherds get their flock for grazing, makes for an exquisite postcard setting.
Day - 03:
- Dugi to Alyas on feet for approximately 8 km
- Gradient: Gradual to steep
- Humidity: Normal
- Temperature: 5 – 10-degree celsius
The trek begins to get a little tricky from here onwards. It is a long day of hiking in high altitudes. As we are in the course of the trek, the Budhil river starts to fall beyond and below us, and even further, the Duggi valley opens up its beauty to us. The trail will require us to jump and skip over streams and big logs, crossing bridges and entering a greater extension of the forest. Following this hush path of greenery, one can find a rather rocky overhang below the trail. This is known as the Duggi cave. The cave opens up to the eastern end of the valley and the trail overlooks another v-shaped intersection of two high ridges. Climbing down the trail, it opens to two bounds which is a flat ground surrounded by huge mountains on 3 sides protecting it from other elements, and the Budhil slowly flowing, narrowly in very low vicinity. After surpassing the first mound covered with glassy green carpets and clear streams, we reach a much flatter surface known as the Alyas camp, which is most suitable to set up camps.
Day - 04:
- Alyas to Kodlu Alyas trek for 12 km via Kugti pass
- Gradient: Steep
- Humidity: Normal
- Temperature( in day) : 5 – 10 degree celsius
The trekking trail is the longest and hardest to see so far. There are 4 stages, first being climbing to the top of a moraine. Second is climbing across another moraine to reach the snowfields. The third stage is to get on the snowfield to reach the Kugti pass base as early as possible. It is ideal to reach the base early because as time ticks, there can be rainfall, heavy snow winds, and other unpredictable weather conditions. The fourth stage is to climb through the boulders to reach the top of the Kugti pass over a section of a moraine. Usually, a visible track in the snow leads us upwards, pretty navigating. Generally, it is considered best to follow the hoof prints of flocks as they invariably pick the safest route through these snowy patches. Roughly 1 km before the pass is a very straining, steep, over loose rocks and snow, nearly 16,000 feet high, the air is thin and every step is a difficult one. Experience in high altitude climbing comes in handy in these situations.
Upon reaching the top, it is a very congested surface barely enough for 4 trekkers to stand at a time. The view bears tall surrounding mountains, white peaks of the Himalayan Range, a glimpse of the Manimahesh Kailash. On top of the pass is a small shrine of the Goddess of the Kugti pass, Marala Devi and is symbolized by trinkets, bells, and colorful cloth. The journey downwards to Alyas and Lahaul is the toughest, with so little space that there is no room for two feet to be kept together. The trail is often wet, or dusty and loose which makes it very hard to negotiate. Trekking 1 km almost takes about an hour in this tedious terrain. After a long day of hiking, we reached back to Alyas camp for a night of relaxation.
Day - 05:
- Alyas - Jovrung - Keylong on feet for 8 km
- Jovrung to Keylong by vehicle for 40 km
- Gradient : Steep & Normal
- Temperature( in day) : 5 – 10 degree celsius
Alyas - Jobrung is an 8 km trekking trail that heads to cross a ridge then goes down to the Rashil stream. Following the right bank of the stream, the path descends to a beautifully situated village called Jovrung, the first habitation on the Lahaul side, overlooking the Chandra-Bhaga River. Later the trail crosses the river by a valley bridge and reaches Shamsha on the Kilad - Manali highway. Later we commute to Udaipur by road.
Day - 06: Udaipur - Keylong - Manali
After visiting the main temple of Mirkla Mata at Udaipur, we will travel to Keylong, the district headquarters of Lahaul. After crossing Kelong we will be further commuting to Manali via Rohtang pass. On spending some time in the pass, we safeguard our memories, thank mother nature for a beautiful getaway, and go our paths.
How to reach?
The nearest town to McLeodganj is Dharamshala. You can reach Dharamshala from Delhi.
By Road: You can take a bus from Delhi. Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation operates buses to Dharamshala from Delhi. Many private operators also have buses on this route to reach Pathankot.
By Train: The nearest railway station is at Pathankot. Almost all trains on the route to Jammu have to make a stopover at this station, from where cabs and buses can be hired to reach Dharamshala/McLeodganj.
By Air: The nearest airport is the Gaggal airport (21 km). Few carriers like Air India and SpiceJet operate flights that take around one hour and fifteen minutes to half a hrs from Delhi. You can take a cab from here to Pathankot.
