Over the last few years, I have done a trek in the Himalayas every time I have travelled to India. Kheerganga in 2017, Kedarkantha in 2018, Markha Valley in 2019 and a solo day trip to Kuari Pass in 2021. But, the 2022 Gidara Bugyal trek was special, as Kavya joined Kasturi and me this time. It was Kavya’s first trek in the Himalayas and at a high altitude.
I initially thought of just doing one post, but by the time I was done with this post, it was already 1100+ words, and we had not even reached base camp. So, this is the first post about planning and training for this trek. In the second post, I will share the details about the trek.
Choosing a High Altitude Trek
The plan was to arrive in India for Diwali (October 24), spend a week at my hometown in Ahmednagar, Maharashtra and then head out for a 7-8 day family trek. Ideally, a trek with a maximum altitude of 5000 m and a total distance of 40 km or less.
India Hikes does an excellent job of documenting all the treks, and I was familiar with their website based on my past trips. So that’s where I started researching potential treks for the end of October/early November. I put together a spreadsheet summarizing key information about some of the top autumn treks in India.
Feel free to download the list from here.
I had heard about Goechala in Sikkim, which was at the top of my list. But it is typically done earlier in the season and was too long (70+ km) for us. Next on the list was Buran Ghati in Himachal Pradesh, but as I reached out to Suhas Saya at India Hikes, he mentioned that November is too late for this trek, and he recommended treks in Uttarakhand.
As I went through other options, I liked Gidara Bugyal in Uttarakhand. It is a relatively new moderate-difficult trek that goes above 4000 m with a total trek distance of fewer than 30 km.
DIY vs. Private Guided vs. Group Guided Trek
We looked into all the different options for doing the Gidara Bugyal trek. Our preferred approach for any trip in Canada is DIY, so it was the first option. With a GPX file, following the trail won’t be a problem, but the logistics part would be challenging.
Kasturi and I typically carry about 50-55 lbs (23-25 kg) for a three-day backcountry camping trip in Canada. We would take a 3-person tent, sleeping bags & pads, food, stove, canister, etc. But our packs would be much heavier for a DIY Gidara Bugyal trek, and we were not physically ready for it as a family.
The second aspect was the altitude. Kasturi and I had been up to 5000 m during our Markha Valley Trek, but it was Kavya’s first high-altitude trek. If something were to go wrong, more support in the form of a local guide/porter would be helpful.
Finally, a DIY trek in Uttarakhand is not feasible when you need a permit. The Uttarakhand Forest department forces you to work with a local guiding company to get the permit for a multi-day trek. In addition, the local guiding company requires you to hire a guide/porter. Our friend, Aloke Surin, had done this trek with a local guide in 2019, and he has shared his experience here.
Initially, a few other friends planned to join us on this hike. So a private guided trek for our group would have been a good option. Suhas Saya at India Hikes was very helpful and shared local contacts for the Gidara Bugyal trek. So I made a couple of calls and got all the details. However, by mid-October, others dropped off, and it was just me, Kasturi and Kavya who were still interested in the trek.
Kavya preferred to trek with a bigger group rather than just three of us. So, finally, I called India Hikes and talked to Debadrita, who was very helpful. She was candid about the conditions on the mountain and the possibility of our group not making it to the summit. Dayara Bugyal trek at a lower elevation would be a safer option, but we decided to continue with Gidara Bugyal. So, on October 20, we signed up on the India Hikes website for the trek starting on October 30.
Training for Gidara Bugyal Trek
About three months before we left for India, we knew we would do a trek in the Himalayas. Even though we didn’t know which trek we would do, it was important to start training.
As a family, we decided to do Grouse Grind at least once a week. It is a short 2.5 km hike with 800 m (2625 feet) of elevation gain, a steep trail and would make for excellent training. The best part is that we could do this hike on a weekday after work. We would hike up and then take the gondola down.
Most times, it would be just us, but sometimes other friends would join us on the hike. Before we left for India, Kavya did this hike nine times; her best time was 1 hour and 13 minutes.
We also made a backcountry camping trip to Brandywine Meadows. It was an 8 km round trip with close to 600 m (~1970 feet) vertical. I had done the Brandywine Mountain hike in September, so I was familiar with the trail.
We got much better weather in October and had some beautiful views. Typically, we have not camped as a family in late fall, so it was a good trip to test our layering system and the gear.
For my training, I have been following the 24-week mountaineering training plan since 2020 and did a shorter version of it before the trip. Over the weekend, I would do some long hikes and was fortunate to go on some 25-30 km day trips with friends.
Finally, two weeks before we left for India, I did Muscular Endurance hikes on Grouse Grind. I would carry a 50-55 lb (23-25 kg) pack and slowly make my way up the trail.
Kasturi had a skiing accident a few years back and has a high-grade ACL/MCL tear. Besides the Grouse Grind hike, she did some strength and mobility workouts at home. Kavya participated in cross-country running at her school twice a week, and I believed she was ready for the trek. The only unknown was the altitude for which we couldn’t train in Vancouver.
On October 22, we left for India and arrived just in time for Diwali. It took a couple of days to get over the jetlag. In the final week before the trek, while I was in my hometown Ahmednagar, I mainly did some easy walks and Yoga workouts.
Finally, on October 29, we drove to Pune, flew to Delhi, and then to Dehradun. We took a cab to Mussoorie and stayed there overnight. The next day, we would be picked up by the India Hikes team and head to Bhangeli for the Gidara Bugyal trek.
Resources:
Gidara Bugyal Trek – India Hikes | Aloke Surin Trip Report
Popular Autumn Treks in India – India Hikes
Weather: Yr.No | India Meteorological Department
Disclosure: The links I have shared in the post and under the Resources section are not Affiliate Links.
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Hi Shashi, great reading Part 1 of your Gidara Bugyal trek. Please make a small correction : you mention that I did the trek in 2020. Not so, it was 2019! Thanks and Cheers!
Thank you, Aloke. I have made the changes.
Hello Shashi, hope you are doing great, very informative blog. I have one request, can you please share the gpx map of this trek.
Thank you and all the best for the upcoming adventures.
Ankit – I will email it to you. For some reason, I cannot upload the file here.