55 Kumaon East

A backpacking tour to explore some remote areas and places in Eastern Kumaon, along the Kali River, that is the border between Uttarakhand, India and Nepal

Some Sub-Pages are still WIP

Intro:

I have made many trips to Kumaon over the last 10 years and visited most of the places and trekking trails there.

But there are some places in border areas with Nepal, like Pithoragarh, Lohaghat, Chamapawat etc. that I had never seen. And I had also missed visiting the hill-top Narayan Swami Ashram (NSA), during my Darma Valley Trek in July-2009 (Darma).

On an impulse, I decided to visit these areas before the winter season closes out fully. So planned it for the first fortnight of March-2014 and made a rough route plan as depicted in the Map above and a rough day-wise itinerary as shown in footer below.

Advaita Ashram (at Mayavati, Lohaghat) founded by Swami Vivekanand in 1901

View of Nanda Devi range from Dhwaj Top near Pithoragarh, Kumaon, Uttarkhand

That schedule worked very well and I could stick to it mostly. Only change was, I did not night-stay at Abbot and Devidhura; and instead was in Almora KMVN for the last 2 nights.

Day-wise details of the trip are in sub-pages:

View over the rooftops of Narayan Swami Ashram

Google Image of NSA - with my GPS track in red

Planned Itinerary :

Mar-5 6:00AM > Reach Kathgodam by Ranikhet Express from Delhi

Mar-5 Day-1 : Kathgodam - Pithoragarh (by share-maxx) - N/H Pithoragarh KMVN

Mar-6 Day-2 : Pithoragarh - day trip to Chandak & Chhera - N/H Pithoragarh KMVN

Mar-7 Day-3 : Pithoragarh - day trip to Dhwaj - N/H Pithoragarh KMVN

Mar-8 Day-4 : Pithoragarh to Dharchula - N/H Darchula KMVN

Mar-9 Day-5 : Dharchula-Narayanswami Ashram-Dharchula. - N/H Darchula KMVN

Mar-10 Day-6 : Dharchula-Lohaghat - N/H Lohaghat KMVN

Mar-11 Day-7 : Lohaghat - day trip Mayavati Champawat - N/H Lohaghat KMVN

Mar-12 Day-8 : Lohaghat- Abbot Mount - N/H Abbot Mount

Mar-13 Day-9 : Abbot Mount to Devidhura via Lohaghat. - N/H Devidhura

Mar-14 Day-10 : Devidhura - Almora - Kathgodam (by share-maxx)

Mar-14 8:40PM > Catch Ranikhet Express from Kathgodam to Delhi

Actual Itinerary :

Mar-5 6:00AM > Reach Kathgodam by Ranikhet Express from Delhi

Mar-5 Day-1 : Kathgodam -> Almora -> Pithoragarh (by share-maxx) - N/H Pithoragarh KMVN

Mar-6 Day-2 : Pithoragarh -> Chandak, Chhera, & Ashurchuli Top Trek - N/H Pithoragarh KMVN

Mar-7 Day-3 : Pithoragarh -> Paleta to Dhwaj Top Trek - N/H Pithoragarh KMVN

Mar-8 Day-4 : Pithoragarh -> Dharchula by share-maxx - N/H Darchula KMVN

Mar-9 Day-5 : Dharchula -> Ghasku and Trek Climb to Narayanswami Ashram - N/H Darchula KMVN

Mar-10 Day-6 : Dharchula -> Lohaghat by share-maxx - N/H Lohaghat KMVN

Mar-11 Day-7 : Lohaghat -> Mayavati Advaita, Champawat, Abbot, Pancheswar - N/H Lohaghat KMVN

Mar-12 Day-8 : Lohaghat-> Devidhura, Sharafatak, Lamgarh, Almora by Bus & Maxx - N/H Almora KMVN

Mar-13 Day-9 : Rest Day at Almora - N/H Almora KMVN

Mar-14 Day-10 : Almora -> Kathgodam (by share-maxx) (4hrs in Dorm of KGM Rly station)

Mar-14 8:40PM > Catch Ranikhet Express from Kathgodam to Delhi