We attempted this trek in the winter of 2007 (1st week of January). The trek starts from a village called song. You get to song by Jeep from the town of Bhageshwar. Bhageshwar is reachable by road from Khatgodham which is in turn reachable by train from New Delhi's Sarai Rohilla station.

We stayed in the KMVN (Kumaon Mandal Vikas Nigam) guest house in Bhageshwar. This guest house seems to be the best place to stay, although it is expensive during the off-season when compared to other private lodgings. The room rates are the same during off-season and the trekking season. You will have to book 3-4 months in advance if you want to stay in a KMVN guest house during trekking season (april-june, sept-nov).

It is difficult to find a guide during winters. You might find some in song. The trail for most part does not require a guide, but there are sections where you might need one.

The journey from Bhageshwar to song was picturesque. It is supposed to be similar to Nepal. From song we trekked to loharkhet the same day. The trek was for about 1.5 hours and one can  experience the first signs of exhaustion. The climb from song to Loharkhet is steep and one ascends quite a bit. The government is laying a good road connecting song and Loharkhet and soon people shall be traveling more by jeep instead of trekking.

At Loharkhet there is a KMVN guest house. It is basically a couple of damp and freezing rooms with a cot, mattress and a toilet. Attached to this construction is a kitchen where the chowkidar stays and prepares food for the guests at a nominal rate. The kitchen is the best place to be in, during winters. There is always a log fire burning to keep one warm and cozy. The view of the valley below is excellent especially during sunset.

We started form Loharkhet early next morning. The destination was a place called Dhakuri. The trek to Dhakuri is a continuous climb for about 5 hours. At the Dhakuri-pass we saw the snow capped mountains for the first time on this trek. There is a small temple for "Chilta-Maa" at Dhakuri-pass and a steep descent takes one to the camping ground of Dhakuri. The Camping ground is excellent, but in summers it is crowded with trekkers. As we had been to this place in winter, we were the only trekkers and hence experienced a peaceful atmosphere. We could see patches of snow all over the place. During that particular year, villages  had experienced scant rains and as a result only one installment of snow fall. Usually villages from Dhakuri onwards experience heavy snowfall and hence trekking is not possible during winters.

The remainder of this particular trek revolved arround Dhakuri. We did not go further as rain bearing clouds were gathering. Villagers advised us to return back as soon as possible as a rain storm would eventually lead to snowfall. So we decided to do small day-long treks to chilta and villages close to Khati. We decided to use the services of Raju (Phone Number: 09410416855) for our food supplies. Raju is a very enterprising chap and he runs a 'Dhaba' at Dhakuri. He usually goes back to his village at dusk, but for our sake (and business of course) he stayed back. He would prepare chapathi and subji (curry) with lot of salt (hill men consume more salt than those in the plains) for dinner and a rice-based dish for lunch. He also runs a telephone service based on WILL (Wireless in Local-Loop) technology and hence his 'Dhaba" is a favorite haunt for the villagers.

After 3 days of stay at Dhakuri, we returned to Bhageshwar.