Is trekking equipment available in Joshimath or Auli?

CHAITHANYA

Hi,

We will start our trekking to Kuari Pass (Curzon's trail) from Auli near Joshimath in Uttaranchal, in the last week of May (26-28).

So we are looking for trekking equipment that can be hired from one of these two places.

Generally, is trekking equipment like sleeping bags, tents, mats, etc available in these places Joshimath/Auli? or do we need to hire the equipment from Delhi and carry them all along?

Our trip starts on 23 May. We are running out of time in our arrangements. Please give your suggestions.

amarshah

Well i cannot be 100% sure about this, when i was there in Feb at Joshimath enroute to Auli. Opp the slope climb to the ropeway there is a hotel called "Marwardi Hotel" the owner is Raju. Opp this hotel on the building first floor is a guide shop (red painted door). I could not visit him as he was shut but was told he can arrange everything for necessary treks.

You can try to get Raju's number and give him a call for further clarifications. Auli has two resorts only. I was in Clifftop, they did not have any material for hire for sure!

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Cheers

Amar

Year 2008 Trips - http://amards14.googlepages.com/

nyraghu

For both these, you could contact Ajay Bhatt, Himalayan Snow Runner, Near Ropeway Road, Joshimath 246443, Uttarakhand; Phone: (01389) 222252 (office), (01389) 222687 (home), 9412082247 (mobile); Email: ajaybhatt at india dot com, himalayansnowrunner at yahoo dot co dot in

I used Ajay Bhatt's services only once, on a trek from Auli to Nijmula across the Kuari Pass; he was recommended by the staff at the GMVN Hotel in Joshimath. He arranged a guide and a cook, and a tent and mules for the trek. I found that he didn't know much about the area. However, I had done some homework before the trip, and the muleteer he had arranged to come with us knew the area very well, so there was no problem eventually. YMMV.

Raghu.

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CHAITHANYA

Thanks a lot Raghu for your information.

Also, can you please suggest the best way to carry out this Kuari Pass trek in terms of exact itinerary we have to follow?

(1)Currently, our plan is to start at Auli on 26th morning, trek up to Chitrakanta on that day and stay there for night.

(2)Next morning on 27th, we will start from Chitrakanta to trek into the Kuari Pass and after coming back from the Pass, we will stay for the night at Gail Garh, which is the base of the Pass.

(3)On 28th, we will trek from Gail Garh to Tapovan, from where we will drive to Joshimath.

We hope that this plan distributes the entire trekking time equally between two days and leaves little of it for the third day. Please suggest if you think there is any better way of doing this and if there are any important considerations that we have not taken care of.

nyraghu

Chaithanya, sorry for the delayed reply. As far as I understand your plan is something along these lines:

Day 1: Joshimath (1890m, 6201 ft) - 16 km road - Auli GMVN (2519m, 8264 ft) - 4 km - Gorson Bugiyal (3658m, 12001 ft) - 8 km - Chitrakantha (3506m, 11503 ft)

Day 2: Chitrakantha - 15 km - Kuari Pass (4268m, 14003 ft) - 5 km - Gailgarh (3658m, 12001 ft)

Day 3: Gailgarh - 18 km - Tapovan (1829m, 6001 ft) - 15 km road - Joshimath.

The heights and distances are to the best of my knowledge, and may be off a bit here and there. Here are some remarks, which I hope help.

Day1: When I did the trek, we spent the night on Gorson Bugiyal, which meant that within a span of a few hours our altitude nearly doubled from 6201 ft to 12001 ft. I had a bad headache that night because of the sudden elevation, and couldn't sleep much. However, spending the night in Gorson is worth it, because the location (near the Padiyar Devta Temple) is beautiful, and at sunrise and sunset you get beautiful views of mountains. Another reason I spent the first night in Gorson is that we didn't want to walk 12 kms to Chitrakanta on the first day itself.

Day 2: You are walking nearly 20 km, and spending the night at 12001 ft. I would find it a bit hard, but YMMV.

Day 3: Another long haul downhill to Tapovan.

I don't know your constraints, but this is what I would do:

Day 1: Joshimath - 16 km road - Auli GMVN - 4 km - Gorson Bugiyal.

Day 2: Gorson Bugiyal - 8 km - Chitrakantha

Day 3: Chitrakantha - 10 km - Gailgarh

Day 4: Gailgarh - 5 km - Kuari Pass - 7 km - Khullara

Day 5: Khullara - 16 km - Tapovan - 15 km road - Joshimath

I tend to walk slowly, so this schedule may be too leisurely for you. There is some more info in the thread Kuari Pass: request for help, and a few photographs at http://www.retrotexts.net/photos/kuari-pass/, which you may find useful.

Raghu.

CHAITHANYA

Thanks Raghu for your suggestion. We are now working on improving our schedule. Even we felt that it can be very tiring given the sudden altitude changes and long trekking distances.

Thanks Amarshah for your information.

I have heard that the 2 resorts that are there in Auli are expensive. If you remember, can you please give a rough figure about how much it was for one room for a night stay?

Are there any less expensive hotels to stay in in Auli? We are 6 adults and looking for hotels which charge less than 1000 for a room for a night stay.

amarshah

Of the two Clifftop is expensive, we had a package with them when we went which included Ski lessons and food etc.

You can opt for GMVNL resort at Auli. You can check their website for rates and booking info. http://www.gvnl.com

Another option is to stay at Joshimath and catch the first Cable up to Auli tower 9 and trek from there to Gorson Top. The first cable is 9am or 9:30am from Joshimath !

Cheers

Dilliwala

Chaithanya,
GMVN Auli is very reasonable, specially the dorm-beds at Rs. 200 each. Each dorm (cabin) has 4 bunk-beds - a bit tight for 4 people and baggage maybe, so what you cud do is hire 2 cabins and put 3 people in each. You'll pay 800 + 800 for the night. You cud also just pay per bed and save 400 bucks, but then there's a chance of 2 more unknown people sharing one cabin with you.

CHAITHANYA

But our trekking equipment provider in Joshimath has told us that there is some repair work going on in GMVN hotel at Auli and it is at present closed for customers. So he is pressing for taking rooms in Joshimath saying that he will arrange them.

But we want to stay at Auli for the night (we will need to, later on our return from Kuari Pass trek, stay at Joshimath- so want to avoid stay at the same place twice). So please tell me if there are any camping sites in Auli where we can put up our tents for the night.

Dilliwala

Ah, maybe that's why no booking status for Auli displays on GMVN's website. And rigt now only the old TRH at Joshimath can be booked.
Tell you what, call the main (new) TRH at Joshimath at 01389-222226. They will be able to tell you what's open and what's not.
Other than that I guess you can pitch your tents, there's some flat open ground near the ropeway upper terminal.

goodfriend

dear chaitanya

i wish you to have a great trek, i wish to do the same trek in the first week of oct, since you are going there before me, i request you to kindly note down all the contact no.s of the guides, cooks and equipment provider, and also find out if oct first week is the rite time to do the trek??? your reply will be appriciated.

all the best for the trek

rgds

goodfriend from mumbai

Dilliwala

Here's a trip-report from the third week of Oct last year.

goodfriend

thank you dear dilliwala

cheers

nyraghu

Thanks, Shunty, for the pointer. I'll check this operator out for future travels in the Chamoli area. (I hope to go towards Dibrugheta some time.) Yes, as you say, good homework goes a long way.

Raghu.