Panpatia Col Trek

The Panpatia Col trek is a 15-day private crossing from the Badrinath side to the Madhyamaheshwar valley, run from Dehradun (Jolly Grant) airport and back. It covers about 75 km and crosses Panpatia Col, above 5,200 m. It is graded Challenging.

You drive up to Auli, then on by Badrinath to Mana. From the Khirao road head a short walk brings you to the first camp, at 2,586 m. The Khirao Ganga leads you up through forest and shepherd pastures to the snout of the Panpatia Glacier, with Nilkantha and Parvati Parvat overhead. Moraine camps follow, and at 4,289 m a day of rest before the ice, with the Panpatia icefall and Balakun for company. Each camp is a step up, never a jump, and the day lengths stay short on purpose: 3 to 5 hours to the snout, then 5 to 7 on the moraine.

Then come the big days. You climb the gully to Parvati Col (5,183 m) and camp on the Panpatia Snowfield at 5,210 m, under Chaukhamba, with a reserve day in hand. The next day you cross Panpatia Col and drop to the lake camp at Sujal Sarovar (4,890 m). A ridge walk to Kachni Dhar, a pass and a long descent bring you to Madhyamaheshwar, at 3,500 m, and then to Ransi, a 6 to 8 hour walk, and the drive out. You come off the mountain by the Mandakini side, in forest and meadow, a long way from where you started.

• Days: 15 days, 14 nights, including one flexible reserve day.
• Top altitude: Panpatia Col, above 5,200 m.
• Season: May, June and September.
• Starts and ends: Dehradun airport, with the road via Rishikesh.

The acclimatisation day and the reserve day are built in before the high ground, so the crossing is made by a rested group.

• Panpatia Col crossing: The pass above 5,200 m is the high point of the trek and links the Alaknanda and Mandakini watersheds. Its day runs 7 to 9 hours.
• The Panpatia Snowfield: A long, wide field of ice below the Chaukhamba massif, crossed from a camp at 5,210 m.
• Parvati Col on the way: A steep gully climb to 5,183 m, the day before the snowfield camp, and a pass in its own right.
• The Kedar-Badri legend: The route is tied to the story of a Badrinath priest who worshipped at both shrines in a day, and it ends at Madhyamaheshwar, the second of the Panch Kedar.
• Khirao Ganga to the glacier snout: Forest, shepherd summer settlements and moraine, with Nilkantha (6,596 m) and Parvati Parvat in view from the snout camp.
• Sujal Sarovar: A glacial lake camp at 4,890 m, a gentler place after the col and a lake revered locally.
• Acclimatisation and a reserve day: A rest day at the moraine camp (4,289 m) and one flexible reserve day on the snowfield.
• A private crossing: Your own group, a local team and the gear we provide for the snow and ice.

The heart of the Panpatia Col trek is three days in a row: Parvati Col, a night on the Panpatia Snowfield, and the crossing of Panpatia Col itself. They are the reason for the whole walk, so it helps to know what each day asks.

Day 9: Parvati Col base camp to the snowfield

You leave the camp at 4,670 m before first light, when the snow is firmer. The day is 6 to 7 hours and about 6 km, and it starts with a steep, hard climb up a gully to Parvati Col at 5,183 m. From the col you walk on to the Panpatia Snowfield and make a minimal alpine camp at 5,210 m.

Day 10: the reserve day

The next day on the snowfield is a flexible reserve. It is there for weather, snow conditions or a group that needs more time at altitude. If it is not needed, it gives you a rested start to the day that matters. It can be used elsewhere on the high camps too, which is why we keep it unspent until the group needs it.

Day 11: Panpatia Col to Sujal Sarovar

This is the longest day, 7 to 9 hours and about 10 km. You cross the snowfield, which is long and wide, to Panpatia Col at above 5,200 m, a watershed between the Alaknanda and Mandakini systems. The descent from the col is steep and is walked as a roped team where the snow and ice call for it. You finish at Sujal Sarovar, a glacial lake camp at 4,890 m, which is 320 m lower than the snowfield camp, and the air is easier.

The gear

You do not need to buy snow gear for this trek. We provide microspikes or crampons, ice axes, helmets and gaiters as the snow and terrain need, and we rope up where it is needed. You bring your boots, your warm layers and your fitness. A short session with the gear on the acclimatisation day at the moraine camp, before the ice, means nothing is unfamiliar when you reach it.

What it asks of you

These are high, cold days, with a night temperature that can fall well below zero (the trek's range runs from -8 to 20 Deg Celsius across the season). Comfort on snow, steady footwork on steep ground and the patience to start early matter more than speed. If you have walked a high pass before and want something more remote, this is a good next step. Tell us your experience and we will tell you honestly how it fits.

Few Himalayan crossings carry as much story as Panpatia Col. The route links two of the great shrines of Garhwal, Badrinath, the home of Vishnu, and Kedarnath, the home of Shiva, and local legend has a Badrinath priest crossing it to worship at both in a day.

The old attempts

The first recorded attempt was made by Meade, early in the twentieth century. Later Bill Tilman and Eric Shipton crossed the col from the Satopanth side, but were stopped by the dense bamboo jungle of the Madhyamaheshwar valley below. Harish Kapadia tried the route near the end of the century and was turned back by the Panpatia icefall. Other parties completed the crossing after that, and a team led by Debabrata Mukherjee, using satellite maps, found the safer, trekkable line that we follow today.

Today's route reaches the snowfield over Parvati Col and then crosses Panpatia Col, with camps built up in steps beforehand.

The watershed

The Panpatia Snowfield, which is long and wide, sits between the Alaknanda and Mandakini river systems, under the Chaukhamba massif. The mapped peaks of the area include Chaukhamba I to IV, Balakun, Nilkantha, Gauri Parbat and Hathi Parbat. From the camp below the col you stand between two valleys that, in the old story, belong to two different gods.

The end of the route: Madhyamaheshwar

You come down to Madhyamaheshwar, at 3,500 m, the second of the five Panch Kedar temples, where the middle part of Shiva is worshipped. It is a good place to have a night after the high ground, with a homestay or camp, and a walk to the temple. Walking out to Ransi the next day takes 6 to 8 hours. If the Panch Kedar circuit interests you, see our Panch Kedar trek.

We tell the history as it is written in the sources we trust, and keep the legend as a legend. It is part of why people come, and a good reason to walk it slowly.

The first week of the Panpatia Col trek is not a warm-up to be hurried. It is the acclimatisation, and the itinerary is built around it.

Day 2: Auli to Mana

You drive from Auli to Mana, by Badrinath, a day with 61 km on the road and time for the shrine. Mana is at 3,340 m and the night is in a hotel. After Auli, which sits at about 2,600 m, it is the first step up.

Day 3: the road head to the first camp

You drive to the Khirao road head and walk a short way to the first camp, at 2,586 m. It is a low camp and a quiet start. The altitude you gain is small, and you reach camp early.

Day 4: up the Khirao Ganga

A 4 to 5 hour climb of about 8 km takes you to a camp at 3,526 m, which is a gain of nearly 1,000 m. The trail follows the Khirao Ganga through forest and then above the tree line, past the summer settlements of local shepherds.

Day 5: to the glacier snout

It is a short day of 3 to 5 hours and 5 km, over moraine and boulders, to the snout camp at 3,897 m. Nilkantha and Parvati Parvat stand over the camp. The short day lets you sleep high without the effort of a long one.

Day 6: onto the glacier moraine

The ground gets rougher: loose scree and big boulders along the edge of the Panpatia Glacier. The day is 5 to 7 hours and about 5 km, to a camp at 4,289 m.

Day 7: a day to rest

You stay at the moraine camp. It is a rest and acclimatisation day, with a short walk, a look at the icefall and the route ahead, and a session with the gear. It is also the day the group is rested before the camps above 4,600 m.

Day 8: to Parvati Col base camp

A day of 5 to 7 hours and 5 km, over lateral moraine, puts you at 4,670 m, ready for the early start to the col.

The pattern is gain, a short day, a rest, and then the high ground. If you tell us your recent altitude experience, we can talk through how the days would suit you.

The Panpatia Col trek runs in two windows: May and June, and September. They give two different mountains.

May and June

Spring and early summer bring snow cover on the high ground. The snowfield and the gully to Parvati Col are firmer in the early morning and the higher camps feel more wintry. The weather can change quickly, and the trails lower down can be wet or slushy.

September

After the monsoon the skies clear and the air is cleaner. The moraine is more open, and the weather is steadier. Views of the Garhwal peaks are at their best. As September goes on, an early snowfall on the high camps becomes possible, which is a reason to keep the reserve day available.

Both seasons work

One is not the safe season and the other the risky one. The choice is a matter of taste: more snow and a winter feel in the early season, or more open ground and clear skies in the autumn. The itinerary, the acclimatisation and the reserve day are the same in each.

Temperatures

Across the season the trek's range is -8 to 20 Deg Celsius. The higher camps, at 4,289 m, 4,670 m and 5,210 m, will be well below zero at night. Plan for real warmth at those camps and a light layer for the road days.

The monsoon

We do not run this trek from July to mid-September. The roads from Rishikesh to Badrinath and from Ukhimath to Ransi can be held up by landslides in the monsoon, and the high ground is not at its best.

Getting here

We pick you up at Dehradun (Jolly Grant) airport. The drive to Auli is a long one, about 270 km and 8 to 9 hours from Rishikesh, so the first night is spent in Auli. At the end, Ransi is about 210 km and 6 to 7 hours from Rishikesh, and we take you back to Dehradun airport. Keep a spare day before your flight home.

Tell us the month you have in mind, and we will tell you what the conditions are likely to be.

The Panpatia Col trek is Challenging and is one of the more remote crossings in Garhwal. How it is run decides how it feels.

Private and unhurried

Only your group is on the trek, usually 2 to 10 people. We do not run it as a fast schedule. The itinerary spends the first week climbing from 2,586 m to 4,670 m, with a rest day at the moraine camp, and then the high days follow. One flexible reserve day sits on the snowfield for weather, snow conditions or acclimatisation, and it is counted in the 15 days.

Where the days are long

Know the long days before you book. The day to Parvati Col is 6 to 7 hours, the Panpatia Col day is 7 to 9 hours, and the walk out from Madhyamaheshwar to Ransi is 6 to 8 hours over 16 km. In between, the days are shorter, so the effort is shared out.

A local team

The team that walks with you is local, paid fairly and used to the weather in this part of Garhwal. They lead on the route-finding, the camps and the decisions on the snowfield. Turning back or waiting a day is a normal decision for them, and it is one we make when it is right.

Permits and the gear

We arrange the permits. We also provide the snow and ice gear when conditions call for it, so you need not buy any.

Who it suits

The itinerary is rated for experienced trekkers, aged over 18. It suits someone who has already walked at altitude, is happy on snow, is fit for several long days in a row and likes remote camps. It is not the right first high trek.

Leave No Trace

We carry out our waste and keep the camps clean, which matters most on the snowfield and the lake at Sujal Sarovar.

Send us your dates, your experience and the pace you like, and we will shape the days with you.