Nag Tibba Trek : 12/13^th March’2015

I am Anil Mittal and I live in Dehradun since 2013. I have traveled almost all parts of the country and explored lots of places. I am an Engineer by qualification, explorer and traveler by passion. Exploring new places is my hobby. I am a life member of BNHS and have done many trips with them. Trekking had been in my mind for a long time. After coming to Dehradun I started doing treks and bought my 3 person tent and sleeping bags. I enjoy weekly day treks to Mussoorie from Dehradun and also to Benog Tibba, Bhadraj Tibba from Mussoorie.

I did Nag Tibba trek on 12^th/13^th March’2015. Nag Tibba or Serpent Peak is the highest peak in lower Himalayas of Garhwal region. It is at about 10000’ height. Nag tibba offers majestic scenic beauty and is a good trek for first timers and adventure lovers. From Nag Tibba one can see the clear view of stunning  snow peaks of Himalayas.

The mountain’s mixed oak, deodar and rhododendron forests around Nag Tibba are dense and isolated. It has a large population of birds and wildlife. The flora and fauna in this trek are very rich.
Due to its close proximity to Mussorie/Dehradun, it is one of the ideal extended weekend treks out of Dehradun/Delhi. Time is a big constraint in our lives and this trek can be completed in two days starting from Delhi on Friday night and reach back by Monday morning with proper logistic support.

There are various places of starting the trek  to Nag Tibba. From Pantwari on northern side where from Adventure companies do this trek and Deolsari, Aunter, Manglori and Tewa on southern side. Camping is done at Nag Tibba close to the Nag Devta temple and the summit (Top or Jhundi) is reached through a 3 km steep ascent from base camp. Water is scarce on this trek and you need to carry your own water supply.When I first time went for this trekking, I looked for information through books, blogs and websites and understood the difficulties in doing on your own.

But I do not enjoy  organised tours by Adventure companies on two grounds. One, they are a bit costly and the second, the fun gets missing as they do everything for you in a routine manner. Your explorer takes back seat. I preferred route from Tewa village (4500’) which involves a trek of 10 kms up to Nag Tibba base camp (8500’). 

If you are starting  from Delhi, take the night train (Nanda Devi AC Express- Train No. 12205) starting from New Delhi Rly Stn at 2355 hrs and this train reaches Dehradun at 5.40 AM. You can take a direct taxi to Tewa or travel by bus and share jeep taxi combination. Travelling in your car from Delhi takes extra days and involves frustration of journey crossing Modi Nagar and all such places on rubbish roads. Likewise you take the same train for returning to Delhi. Tewa is about 80 kms from Dehradun. The road to Tewa is parallel to river Pali and takes you through Mussoorie, Suakholi and Thatyur.

The Nag Tibba trek gives you fun of camping in a tent and sleep under starry sky on sleeping mats with sleeping bags.

Day 1 (March 12^th2015): I started from Dehradun at 6 AM in my car and backpack carrying tent, sleeping bag, cooking pan maggi etc.. and reached Tewa village by 8.30 AM. My local guide was waiting at Tewa village. I parked my car and we went to his house.  There I met his family members.  After breakfast, we left for Nag Tibba carrying paranthas, alu ki subzi as our food during trek and for dinner and milk, chai patti etc . On the way we crossed full bloom of Buransh (Rhododendron) flowers….valley view  with villages way below. There are two places worth camping on the way in case you feel tired. We reached a place called Taal (Gujjars’ camp) at 8000’ altitude by 3 PM after 5 hours trekking clicking photographs and chatting with villagers who are either going down or coming up. Taal is a beautiful place and from here we could see our destination i.e. Nag Tibba base or Nag Tibba Temple. We also encountered snow from here. Trekking on snow for one and a half hours we reached Nag Devta temple. We went to the temple and worshiped the Serpent God though the temple was locked. We reached our camping site by 4.30 PM. We installed our Tent and looked for dry wood. Then we lit fire and prepared tea and maggi  for ourselves. Till it became dark, we moved around on snow. At 7 PM we prepared tomato soup and then we warmed our paranthas in fire and had our dinner. Radio was with us and we listened songs on FM Rainbow. Before slipping in our sleeping bags I had a hot cup of milk and stayed for overnight in our tent. We enjoyed lovely sky full of stars, planets and moving satellites. We found at least a dozen of satellites crossing clear sky.

Day 2 (March 13^th2015):  We got up at 5.30 AM. The fire we had put on last night was still on. We prepared our morning tea on the wood flame. Again moved around and enjoyed the stunning views of snow clad mountains. Then we had our breakfast. As snow cover was very heavy, we dropped the idea of going to summit or Jhundi. We moved around the place and decided to start for back journey to village Tewa. We left at 8 AM and reached back to Tewa by 12 noon. We had some rice and daal for lunch. I thanked the family of my guide for tasty food, did some photography, moved around on the banks of river, saw gharat (pan chakki) and bid them farewell distributing 5 star chocolates to all family members (15 in all). I started back by 3 PM and reached my home (Gulmohar) in Dehradun by 5.30 PM. Thus I concluded my Nag Tibba trek which is imprinted on my soul forever….

If you enjoy playing flute or mouth-organ, do carry it with you. We are doing the trek with some friends on 25th/26th April'15...if interested in joining us, pl call me on 09639931833.  “We travel not to escape life….but for life not to escape us”