3 thoughts on “Webinar Series 6 – Maps & Navigation”

  1. Dear Peter,

    Thank you very much for all the effort in preparing these webinars and making your knowledge and experience, that you have gathered over all these years available to everyone. I have toured the Himalayas for many years and your planning and execution is indeed pioneering.

    I have been also participating in your Navigation Bootcamp webinars and trying your exercises for the mountains (HP) , instead of the Southern part of India. I found that the SOI maps for HP have only the contours, with the place names missing. Did you also encounter that? If not, do you have them downloaded somewhere, where I could access them?

    I also came across this spreadsheet of your adventures in 2019 (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vTFo-x8ZX7OgYIFDrhWkS-7g5knIsMKaVeeJxZTL7UJes6pj-uZ6ftfyqNt2PHu8_1BTk4ML922easp/pubhtml?gid=0&single=true), which again I thoroughly appreciate! Some of the contents of the cells have been cut out. Would it be possible to know the full contents? I tried to find a similar sheet for 2018 but couldn’t, is there one on the website that I somehow missed?

    Lastly, I have been staying for the last one month in a village located in the ecozone of the GHNP. I have been trying to use satellite imagery to find trails, especially to cross the Sainj valley (where I am), into the Jiwa Nala, though I haven’t been successful. You mention the Phangchi Galu Pass in your 2019 excel sheet, but it appears that you also had problems finding a way. Is this the same pass near Kandi Galu? or is it further east, opening up to a large plateau? On OSM I also found waypoints marked by you around this area, so it appears you have done some reconnaissance here.

    I hope things get better in time for your 2020 attempt! Let me know if you need some on-ground information.

    Best,
    Aman

    1. Hi Aman,

      Glad you like the Webinars of the Himalayas and Navigation Bootcamp. It took me quite some effort to condense this information in nice videos.

      SOI maps (of HP) should have all terrain details including village names, rivers, trails, etc. in addition to contours. You can download them here:
      http://www.soinakshe.uk.gov.in
      If not available (border states) then go to the Survey office in Chandigarh and pick up a soft or hardcopy in person.

      Full 2018 and 2019 planning sheets over here: (fixed the truncation in the blog, thanks)
      https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/159XXdSrQQ7bNPdTaueodL2AXcH7z4fF1Vx7VKS2KIdU/edit?usp=sharing
      https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1CxbXOw0iWBRBBPCAaOa1URN6hUlKE7Qm9Za4grnueY8/edit?usp=sharing

      GHNP – this part of the Himalayas is poorly documented and no blogs / trails available (probably because it’s restricted) except for the schematic map by the HP tourist department:
      https://greathimalayannationalpark.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Maps_GHNPTrekkingRoutesMap.pdf

      I used this map to cross over all the passes between the Palchan Gad / Tirthan / Sainj / Jiwa Nala valleys. Routes/Passes are marked on above map but should be taken with grain of salt and the trails on the ground are not always clear due to disuse. Here are my blogs of my exploration this year:
      https://ultrajourneys.org/tag/ghnp/

      Kandi Galu connects Sainj and Jiwa Nalla. Phangchi Galu connects Jiwa Nalla with Parvati valley (still on my todo list – was still closed by snow last year)

      I was about to leave for 160 passes / Trans Himalaya 2020 in mid March when unfortunately HP closed its borders. I think they will not reopen to outsiders until a vaccine is available 1-2 years later…

      Take care,
      Peter

      It’s easier to contact me on whatsapp – 9600004509

  2. Thank you for sharing the web series. They’re extremely informative and useful. Much appreciated. I also enjoy all of your posts on instagram. Thanks, again! 😀

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