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