Lamkhaga Pass – Chitkul to Harsil Traverse

Our guides are certified and have been trekking the Himalayas since their school days (all are local guides). They are well equipped and well versed with the terrain, route, the people and local culture.

The guides and porters are adequately trained and skilled in handling emergencies. You will get immediate first aid and all necessary help if required. In case of a medical emergency the porters & guides will carry you to a lower altitude and will contact the rescue authority.

We don’t provide trekking or camping gear or rent.

When it comes to packing for a trek in an efficient way so that you have maximum flexibility with minimum weight, we advise trekkers to pack only what it essentially needed. Packing things that are not required will overburden porters & mules and hamper the probability of competing a high altitude trek like Lamkhaga.
Clothing & Gear
Trekking pants and jackets.
Rainproof pants and jackets.
Thermals underwear.
A pair of gloves.
Short-sleeved trekking shirts.
Long-sleeved trekking shirts.
Woolen cap/ beanies.
Insulating jackets.
Fleece-lined jacket.
Lightweight Sweaters. 
Trekking boots.
Flip-flops or river shoes
First Aid.
Sanitary pads/ Tampons.
Toiletries.
Sunscreen.
Hand sanitizer.
Quick-drying towel.
Water Bottle.
Sunglasses.
Chargers.
Headlamp

Many people believe that they need immense physical strength to complete a trek like Lamkhaga, which is not necessarily true. Athletic strength is essential, but mental strength is equally important. Anyone with average physical strength and high mental strength can complete a trek like Lamkhaga pass.
Cardio (aerobic) exercises, like hiking, cycling, swimming, will help you achieve strength before the start of your journey. One crucial thing to remember is that trekking is not a race, so you need to keep up with ample breaks and acclimatization.

The best time to trek Lamkhaga is from May to September (barring the monsoon period). During the spring season (May month), wildflowers, including pink rhododendrons, bloom in the Kyarkoti Valley in Uttarakhand. Clear skies and stable conditions underscore the Lamkhaga pass trek during spring months.
The autumn month of September is renowned for its calming climate and favorable temperatures. Autumn month is a perfect time for night or dawn/dusk photography. Monsoon and winters are usually avoided because of the risks and difficulties presented by Garhwal and Kinnaur Himalayas.

You need to carry the backpack/daypack. The daypack consists of essentials like water, a camera, snacks, and rain gear. The heavy luggage will get carried by a porter.

The key to preventing altitude sickness is to acclimatize properly. In high altitude areas, you should not gain more than 600-800 m of altitude. We advise you to take things easy and not to trek in a hurry.
Regular hydration of at least 5 liters of water a day is a must. Diamox (acetazolamide) is not recommended. Diamox simply tricks the body into breathing faster (by increasing the blood Ph slightly) and in fact avoids symptoms. Acclimatization is the only treatment for high altitude sickness. Take medication only if it is recommended by your doctor.

Throughout the trek, numerous mountain streams of the Baspa Valley & Kyarkoti and the glaciers of Baspa & Jalandhari Gad are the main source of drinking water and cooking water. Mountain stream water & snowmelt water is perfectly safe to drink, although there may be issues with silt mixed water on rainy days. We filter water through the natural sedimentation process. We also recommend that hikers bring a filter fitted water bottle.

The trekking hours are not fixed. The prevailing weather conditions, terrain and walking pace of the group will determine the daily trekking hours. In general, we plan the trek for five to six hours of daily walking on average. In a group trekking expedition, it is essential for us to gauge every individual’s stamina level and plan our journey ahead accordingly.  Starting the trek early is key to avoiding the midday heat and arriving at your destination early. This leaves with enough time to rest, acclimatize, and explore the beautiful Baspa and Kyarkoti regions.

There will be toilet tents. Our team digs a hole in the ground and then erects a toilet tent around it for privacy. We brief our guides to erect the toilet tent away from water sources and mountain streams, and on departure the next morning the hole will be filled and covered with dirt. We recommend that you always keep a roll of toilet paper and a hand sanitizer in your daypack.

We have a camp crew who set up the tents and also take care of the cooking and clearing up the trash.

Our trek leader is going to carry a first aid kit. We recommend that you bring a small personal kit of your own to deal with any bruises, scrapes or blisters that you may pick up along the way. The more difficult a trek is, the more exhaustive your personal first aid kit should be.

Generally, it is not required. The water from mountain streams is already purified and much better than the tap water you get in cities. You can carry a filter-fitted water bottle like Lifestraw Go Reusable Personal Filter Water Bottle.

The rule of thumb is to use several thin layers rather than just one or two thick layers. It helps you to peel or strip layers depending on the current weather conditions and the time of day. Use a fabric that soaks moisture away from your skin and dries quickly. Your outer layer should be fully wind and waterproof. We recommend that you wear good quality thermals, woolen socks, and a waterproof jacket. A windproof outer layer is essential to fight wind chills. Choose a thermal base-layer with fabric that sucks sweat away from your skin. You need to cover your hands and feet with high-quality gloves and socks, also a hat to cover your head and a balaclava to shield your face from snowy winds of Lamkhaga snowfields.

If you have no prior experience of walking long stretches on glaciers, you should bring crampons. Crampons fitted trekking boots help you get past the snow with ease(Lamkhaga trek route has a long snowfield stretch). Many people prefer walking on the glaciers without crampons.

You need good quality Gore-Tex boots with a strong grip and sturdy ankle support. Your boots must be fully waterproof and at higher altitudes (like the Lamkhaga base camp) we recommend boots with trekking gaiters to cross the Lamkhaga snowfields.

This is a rather personal preference. Many people swear by them, particularly on treks with long ascents (like Baspa River glacier snout to Lamkhaga pass summit) and descents, others consider that they get in the way and prefer to manage without them. If you have weak hips, knees or ankles, trekking poles can be effective in reducing the strain.

No. We carry good quality 4 season sleeping bags (offering up to -10℃ comfort range), mattresses and pillows.

There is no other way to train for Himalayan altitude than to slowly acclimatize. Our Lamkhaga pass trek itinerary has been carefully planned to allow for gradual acclimatization (at Chitkul and Ranikanda). Altitude sickness can impact the fittest trekkers as easily as the less fit. If you’re on a trek, the main advice is to keep your fluid intake up to stay hydrated. Diamox (acetazolamide) is not recommended. Diamox simply tricks the body into breathing faster (by increasing the blood Ph slightly). It actually covers the symptoms. The best treatment for high altitude sickness is acclimatization or descent to a lower altitude.

During the trek, your luggage is carried by a porter or a mule, and all you need to carry is what you need during the day, such as a bottle of water, camera, extra clothes, sun-cream, and a small personal first aid kit. We recommend a daypack of 15 to 30 liters for Lamkhaga pass trek.

There is no definitive training regime that suits everyone because people have different fitness levels. A workout plan may work great for some and may not work for others. The best way to train for the Lamkhaga trek is to spend plenty of time walking and jogging for at least a month. Aerobic exercise training always helps, but there’s no substitute for simply walking & trotting for several hours at a stretch. It’s also a good opportunity to test out all your trekking gear, clothes and shoes – to make sure everything is comfortable and works well.

It’s not really a problem. You can walk at your own pace almost all the time because we have enough guides to support trekkers of all speeds. Occasionally, for safety reasons, the leader of the trek may pull the group together (e.g., in bad weather or in a difficult section of the trek, including crossing the Nithal Thach stream crossing section and the Lamkhaga base camp to Jalandhari Gad stretch) but in general, the group can string out and everyone finds their own comfortable walking pace.

The evaluation of your personal health is very subjective. Your fitness level is also set against the difficulty level of the trekking route, which includes different factors such as the number of walking hours per day, the total number of days, the duration and complexity of the descent, the terrain, the altitude, and the weather conditions. You need to have previous high altitude trekking experience to match the difficulty level of Lamkhaga. Without being physically and mentally fit, one can not climb Lamkhaga pass or for that matter any pass or a peak.