Kuari Pass Trek

The most traumatic experience of my life

A winter trek for 4 days. “It will be fun,” they said. Little did I know what I was getting into. This is the only trek that made me question my mortality. But the main event is on the last day. Let’s first take a look at the beautiful trekking trail called the Lord Curzon’s trail or Kuari Pass.

Day 1 – Rishikesh to Joshimath.

My companions and I went on this trek with “Tripsaa”. They had arranged a pickup from Rishikesh to Joshimath as part of the package. It’s a 250km ride which took the entire day. We passed through Devprayag and RudraPrayag on the way and the mountainous route was gorgeous. We reached at 8 pm, had food and immediately took rest.

Day 2 – Gulling

We were picked up again and dropped off at the Tugasi Village road. It was about 15km from Joshimath. We started our trek to Gulling campsite. The trek was straight forward and the altitude gain wasn’t challenging. The serenity of the mountains gave us comfort as the entire team reached the Gulling base camp at 2 pm in time for lunch.

Since we reached so early, we walked around the campsite and had fun at the campfire. We did this trek at the end of December. Even though the trek was a winter trek, there hadn’t been snowfall yet, but the cold was at its worst. It got dark by 5 pm and reached negative temperatures in the night. The TSS crew had baked a cake as it was Christmas Eve, making the day memorable.

Day 3 – Khulara campsite

Our toes and fingers were almost frozen when we woke up. Today’s distance was shorter than the previous day, just about 5km. The day’s specialty was the walk through a pine forest. There were traces of snow sporadically, but nothing too enticing. Yet again, we reached the Khulara camp in time for lunch. The cold was getting unbearable by afternoon. At one point, the six of us bundled up in a tent meant for 3 people. We did go off to explore Khulara and was amazed by the beautiful camp. Mt. Dronagiri laid in touching distance and we could see the Pangarchulla Peak from here. Pangarchulla trek was through the same trail and would diverge from this camp. We were a bit jealous seeing the snow on Pangarchulla as we heard there wasn’t any snowfall in the Kuari Pass.

We spent the night trying to capture astral photos. The cold had already reached negative temperature. I still enjoyed the views and the beauty of it all. Little did I know that this camp would eventually become nightmare material.

The cold got so unbearable that night that my body had stopped digestion to keep me warm. The guides said it had gone past -15 Celsius that night and even they hadn’t seen it get it this cold. I threw up in the tent at night and even the vomit froze up. Not even in my wildest imagination did I think that something like this was possible. Anyway, I somehow slept through this experience.

Day 4- Kuari Pass

This was the day of lowest lows and highest highs. After I woke up, things seemed ok. I took a tablet and started the summit push. We had to summit and spend the night again at this camp. 

The entire team got enough of the cold and decided to go to the summit, reach back by lunch and go downhill to Tugasi all in one stretch. It was hardly an impossible task. Thankfully the guides agreed to support us in this change of plans.

Unfortunately for me, I threw up again within 10 minutes of the trek start. The trek leader even asked me to go back to the camp. I pleaded for one more chance as I actually felt better now. I had some ORS and he allowed me to go on. I didn’t want to leave without seeing the summit. The fact that we could keep our backpacks in the tent was also a plus point. I felt light and continued the hike.

The terrain was beautiful. There was a frozen lake that we had to cross. I was moving up with pure adrenaline as we reached closer and closer to the peak. Finally, we summited. This was a huge personal victory as I overcame my physical and mental limits. To this day, no other summit has given me so much satisfaction. The happiest moment was when our trek leader hugged me at the summit and told me that he knew I would do it.

I sat there, soaking in the views. The wind was cold, so we started our descent after clicking some pictures. The descent was straightforward and didn’t take time. We reached the Khulara camp by lunch and began our descent to Tugasi immediately.

The descent started well but it became dark soon. Winters in the Himalayas have short days and long nights. Our pace suffered in the dark, relying on head torches and mobile flashlights. At one point me and my 4 friends got lost. We couldn’t see anyone ahead or behind and the trail became confusing. We continued, hoping for the best and somehow rejoined the original trail.

We were dead tired when we eventually reached our pickup spot. The tempo traveler took us to Joshimath. I slept all the way and immediately slept after reaching the arranged rooms, putting an end to this whirlwind of a trek.

Whenever I’m feeling low, I always think back to this trek. Since I endured this, I feel that I can survive anything life can throw at me. The satisfactory moment at the peak is something I will cherish throughout my life.