Leh winter Treks

Leh from the top

 Our Experience of Leh:

Trek Preparations

I am always skeptical about traveling with people, as I believe my thought process and theirs might differ. But this notion of mine was put to rest by the last trip we did to Leh. Our friends had gone on Chadar trek (frozen river trek for 8days) through Indiahikes a year before, and the pics were so mesmerizing that my heart kept telling me to go and my brain always refused. After mulling over the option of trekking for months, we finally got the push to go forward with our plan when we got very cheap air ticket (2.8K to and fro) from Delhi to Leh (cheap airfare was our driving force..hehehe). The same day we got our slot booked for chadar trek (this trek happens on Zanskar river for 7-8 days every year only for a month; Jan mid to Feb mid). This trek does not require professional trekking experience, but then some level of fitness more

What is there in Ladakh winter treks?

The magnificent Leh

Ladakh is a beautiful place, and the snow during winters is an embellishment to its beauty. The place is filled with adventurous activities and the awe-inspiring beauty of picturesque mountains and crystal clear skies.
There are a lot of monasteries in Leh such as the famous one -Thiksey, there are also many small villages in and around Leh and each one is more beautiful than the other. We had an opportunity to visit couple of them during the trek. We visited:

The view of monasteries at Lamayuru

a. Lamayuru: it is a beautiful village well connected with Leh-Srinagar highway(NH1), it has a beautiful monastry which reminds you of Cappadoccia of Turkey. We camped here for the first night and the minimum temperature that we saw was -18C.

The Pinkrila pass – the destination to climb on the first day of our trek

The way between the canyons – one of the best experiences of the trek

b. Wan-La: The trek from Lamayuru to Wan-la is about 13.4 kms and you have to cross Pinkrila pass which was at a height of 3600m. This trek is moderate, and it passes through small canyons and valleys. Finally, you cross a stream to enter this place.

The first experience of walking on the frozen river

Hard Ice – way slippery than snow

c. Phanji La: The trek to this place from Wan-la is more of a road trek, but if you detoure your way and enter a small frozen river running along the road, it becomes an interesting trek. Once you reach Phanji La, you can also trek on the frozen stream further to Hanumata. We however, went about 5kms upstream from Phanji la and returned, but the view was really amazing and we liked the challenges the stream had for us.

The trek in the snow – an arduous experience filled with lot of snow.. 🙂

This is the view of the valley from where we made our descend back to Hinju

Ahh – the closer view of the slippery surface

d. Hinju: Situated in the cradle of a mountain valley, this village is calm and serene. We (tried to) trekked from this village to Konskila pass. There was knee high snow which made it very difficult to walk . This was one of the great experience we had. While returning from the pass to the village, we took the frozen stream. Since the stream was slippery, we had to sit on our bottom and skid on the stream. It was both hilarious and painful experience, as stopping for a minute used to get our bottom glued to the ice.

The view of the mountains from Sakti

Evening walk in Sakti

e. Sakti: This is on the way to Pangong Tso from Leh, situated after the police check post for Pangong. This was the most beautiful village that we have seen in our life. It was snowing when we reached Sakti and we instantly fell in love with this place. The view was so mesmerizing that we all went speechless and the silence between us said all. This place gets really cold because of the chilly winds, we experienced a temperature of -21C at this place.
What winter treks are possible in Ladakh?

Spectacular view of the Zanskar and Indus meeting

1. Chadar trek : Walking on frozen Zanskar river
2. Nubra valley : Scenic, snowy walk
3. Sham Valley : Scenic, snowy walk
4. Lamayuru- Zanskar trek : the original one which we had planned, but we had to divert to other route as mentioned above.
5. Pangong: Though a risky trek, but people do trek on the frozen Pangong lake

How to reach Leh?

Fly: There are many flights from Delhi-Leh.
Road: During winters, the road from Manali is closed but the road from the Srinagar(NH1) remains open.

Where to stay during winter treks?

The frozen river – the layering effect of ice

If you are doing Chadar and other known treks then obviously you will be staying in tents. But if you end up going on a mixed trek like us then staying in homestays in villages is the best thing. If you want to experience the real Ladakh, I would suggest taking homestays, they are a perfect and best possible way to know more about the life in villages of Ladakh.

In Leh, there are many hotels, and you can choose from a very expensive one to cheap ones.

What is the best time in winter to visit?

The ice road

Third highest motorable pass in the world

Finally, we reached Pangong lake after 2 unsuccessful attempts

Serenity found at the lake

En route to Pangong – the wildlife sanctuary

Pangong lake at its best

   

The best time to visit is from mid-Jan to mid-Feb. Leh is exceptionally cold during December, and the snow starts melting after mid-Feb, thereby making it quite difficult terrain to walk.

What things you need to carry?

For winters you need a lot of things to carry with you: woolen cap, torch(preferably head torch), down jacket, gloves(woolen and waterproof), waterproof track pants, woolen socks and waterproof shoes (Quechua Forclaz 500,600 etc.). The most important thing that you need to keep in mind is to dress in layers, the thickness might not matter that much but layering is essential – 4 to 5 layers. Most of the things will be mentioned by the trekking company with which you are going, but naming a few things which we realized one should have:

1. Extra batteries for all the gadgets you are carrying
2. Buy woolen socks from Leh
3. Listerine
4. Hot water bags
5. Few pairs of gloves as you will need them day in day out.

Thiksey monastery – Leh

View from the monestry

How to book your winter treks?

There are many agencies that you can book your trek with – Indiahikes, burn the boundaries, Trek the Himalayas, etc. Never book it with Trek The Himalayas – NEVER – they are the worst. These guys are not professional, nor are they considerate, once they take your money they will be done with you.

The other way and cheap way is to go to Leh and hire a local there. But it will be better if you are in a group otherwise it will be quite expensive.

Leh at its best – the sunset

How to save your money?

Most of the stuff that you need for trekking can be rented from Indian Mountaineering Foundation in Delhi. We rented down jacket, waterproof track pants, shoes, and gloves. All the things that we rented from IMF were in good condition and also were not expensive. You can buy woolen socks from Leh itself, this will be a cheaper and a better option.