Goecha La trek - Looking for info

Hi, Welcome to IndiaMike, I just returned from Goecha La on 16th of this month. In my opinion, just forget Goecha La in December . You can proceed upto Dzongri with good clothing, as Mr. Srinivas commented on your itinerary, he traveled upto Dzongri over snow at that time. When I was in Zemathang, temperature was damn -7 degree C on thermometer, add wind chill factor to it which will feel near to -10 degree C .

Supratim: OK good ... so you completed till Goecha la ? ... how was it for you? did you post report with pics? .... which thread? missed seeing details of that -KS
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Thanks for the prompt Kc! Yes did go through your excellent blog and the other posts/threads in this forum as well. ( Btw really appreciate your tremendous spirit and you are quite an inspiration as many would vouchsafe in this forum! Been forwarding your link to some people who I think will begin to see things in a different light! So kudos to you! )

Coming to the trek part I understand it will be very cold but is the terrain non navigable ? From what I could gather by talking to couple of trekking agents there, the green lake glacier trek is non trekkable but Goechla is still possible with usual disclaimers of weather permitting. I live down south so I am guessing we could hire those things in Yuksom ? ( The group constitutes only Indians btw ).

@Roy : Thanks for the reply Roy! Yup did go through your experiences as well. And I understand it will be cold, the question is will it impossible to trudge through? And well you know and lose out on the amazing scenery. The months for the trek is given sep-dec ( am assuming dec is inclusive ) and also we are going at the starting of december...fitness wise we are in our twenties and pretty ok. So that is not exactly a concern.

Also we plan to do this trek and also have a go at the white water rafting on a expedition. Again couldn't find reliable info on this on the net. Has anyone here done the white water rafting in Sikkim ? I cant seem to open a new thread. One of the agents I contacted said it would be about 6k (?!! )/head for a 3D/2N expedition down Teesta and Rangeet. Needless to say I thought this was way too steep. So any comparable figures?
Gracias much in advance!

mersault: if you group is in the 20s and well covered for cold .. there should be no problem. The trek trail, by itself, is not difficult and so should be OK; except when there is a thin layer of "invisible" ice patch on the trail ... so would recommend carrying walking poles for that. I remember there was a shop in Yuksom hiring out jacket, gloves and other stuff for cold. Thanks for appreciative words on blog, Good Luck on trek!
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@Mr. Srinivas

Yes sir, I've successfully completed the trek, but till Goecha La view point not exactly the pass. Some constrains have been issued there for not crossing the pass, so guides and porters are going only upto the view point.

Here is the thread: Goecha La Trek Completed Successfully

Here is the blog: http://goechala.blogspot.com

@mersault

I will not discourage you in any case. Be prepared very very well with high quality equipments. Take good Guide and take required number of Porters and Yaks. Taking more Porters ensures more manual help. Be very realistic when taking on spot decisions. You might face fresh snowfall and snow covered terrain which will require good pair of shoes. Don't hesitate to return back in case of any bad situation. If you are safe, mountains will always remain there as it is for you.

Happy trekking.

Thanks KC and Roy! I will apprise the others,see what they have to say and then take the final decision. Thanks for the help

I did the Goecha La trek end of April great time to do it since the rhododendrons are blooming. Weather was good in the morning cloudy/light snow fluries in the afternoons. See link for pics, its a really nice trek.

http://www.micahimages.com/Sikkim/Sikkim.htm

Is it a good idea to trek Goecha La around mid June?

My guess would be rainy and cloudy that time of year monsoon hits the northeast section of the Himalayas first, but you never know with the weather, you could also have great weather.

can anybody help me by giving the valuable experience of trek through yuksum to gorcha la...................

also i want to know the quarries below----

1) any permission required for the trek?

2) who r the guides on this route & their contact?

3) will be the route open for trek on Nov' 10th of this year?

5) how much snow should we get?

6) somebody say that the 1st view point is not Goecha la, the pass comes after crossing 1st & 2nd viewpoint?

Even i look forward to answers to your query, my plans are also to do Kanchenjunga base camp trek.

Yes. He is right