Yet another short trek, unexplored and unknown to most of the people: Nag Tibba
Location : Nag tibba, distt.- Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India
Distance from Mussoorie: 57 km
Trekking route altitudes : Min: 4590 ft. (at Pantwari)& amp; Max. 9915 ft.(Nag tibba top)
This was a dream destination I always wanted to visit :)
We were a group of 15 people started our journey from Dehradun by car to Pantwari village from where the trek began. Trek was of moderate difficulty- actually easy till camp site but moderate due to snow clad mountain trek the next day.
We started our trek at around 12.30 pm carrying our backpack with only essentials like warm clothes, raincoat, some energy drink, chocolate/ energy bars, camera (most important), etc.. Trust me- that too felt like a tons of weight after some time.
Trek was steep and continued so but easy to climb. We stopped at a nice meadow for lunch, took rest for 30-45 mins and again started the journey for the camp site. 
The trek was muddy and steep, typical mountain trek but as we continued the view started to unfold and we could see the ranges of Lesser Himalayas.
The air became cooler and cooler as we hiked.. We reached to a small clearing and clicked some shots J
People generally camp here instead of Nag Tibba base which was 2 km further up. One can see the entire beautiful valley from this place.
The first site of Nag Tibba base was amazing as the place was covered in snow. Bright yellow camps were ready on white snow bed. We were served pakoras and tea and our trek leader briefed us for next day’s hike. We had our dinner by 8 pm, by then it was dark, chilli, windy and we were hell lot of tired, But just as we looked up at the sky all tiredness vanished.
Gazing up at the naked sky was one of my dreams come true. I could see all the constellations and actually started counting the stars which are numbered in a place like Delhi. We made plans to start our trek to the peak at 5.30 am so we could see sunrise from the peak; chit chat with bonfire and music went on and later we retired to our tents.
The night was not as peaceful as the sky depicted at first. Sleeping bags, jacket, sweater, sweat pants- nothing could stop the chill coming from snow bed below, then it started to rain- first slowly, then vigorously followed by hail. It went on for the entire night and early morning when it finally stopped at 9 am.We started our trek again with our 5 layers of clothing plus raincoat which also worked as windshield.
We could see thick clouds all over Nag Tibba snow peak and were so determined to go into that dense white unknown as if walking on the vault of Heaven to experience hail and snowfall.
The entire journey to the peak was mesmerizing, I witnessed snowfall for the first time..it was beautiful. Snowfall continued as we climbed ahead in knee length fresh snow. Its difficult to hike in hard snow-we were also given spikes for that but luckily the snow was fresh which made it easy to hike but still difficult than normal hiking because though the snow bed seems to be at the same level the ground beneath it might not be. Also if you have low BP (as I do), make sure you take some chocolate/ energy bars with you, I had that bar in a middle of nowhere waiting for 2 guys to join us as they missed the track and took wrong route.
It felt so blissful as we hiked..all I could see was pure white everywhere…I could not make out where the mountain ended and where the sky started..it was as if walking on clouds Jand thousands of wind chimes ringing rhythmically as snowflakes touched the leaves of forest trees all around me.. As the sound of silence pursued we continued our journey ahead.
The best part of trekking in snow is that you’ll never have shortness of breath the entire time you are in snow and because of normal breathing you won’t feel tired.
Few of us who were a li’l slower than others were following the track left behind by them. Walking on those foot marks is easier than making new ones. One- it gives you a right direction, and second- when snow is knee length its better to slide your foot in the existing foot hole, this’ll give you good grip and lesser chances of slipping in snow. But make sure foot marks are going ‘towards’ the top and not coming from there ;) Usually hikers take different return route.
Our welcome was done with snow balls and the third world war began J
The view from top was breathtaking; I still wish we had more time to sit there. One can see Himalayan range from the top- all snow clad mountains, given the weather is clear.
Don’t forgot to visit the Temple at Nag Tibba base J
One of my favorite treks now- Nag Tibba is gaining popularity amongst Delhiites because of its snowy weather at a short distance.
Make sure to pack water bottles, rain coat and a trekking pole- kindda important for steep and snow trek.
Happy Trekking J
