Trans Hima 2020 – 2 Kyari – Nag Tibba – Pantwari

I slept on the portico of a beautiful hand crafted wooden temple in the village of Kyari. The night sky was cleared, filled with stars and pretty cold. I woke up at day break and went back to the dhaba where I kept my powerbank for overnight charging. I gobbled up 2 alloo butter parathas with dahi. No food along the way till night fall.

Locals guided me to a path above the village that gradually ascended along a small stream in the valley. Further the path started climbing up steeply towards the ridge above from where a beautiful forest path contoured offering spectacular views on the valleys far below.

Uttarakhand is dotted with countless settlements – villages in valleys and isolated hamlets in the hills – many of which are deserted as people migrate to cities for comfort and money. On top of the ridge I made unexpected first contact with shepherd’s. Was surprised to see they had yet to return to the village in November.

After a long traverse along the mountain slope across a scenic forest path I finally hit the main ridgeline again from where I could climb up towards Nag Tibba at 3050m. A long gradual ascent followed to the base of the peak where I found two deserted forest rest houses.

From here I followed a clear path downhill towards the village of Pantwari. On the way I crossed a commercial camping ground with many tents and a group of hikers. Nag Tibba appeared to be a touristic destination. I got treated on beautiful sunset views as I descended West to reach Pantwari in darkness