My Experience on the Har Ki Dun Trek : A Cultural Himalayan Journey

I will consider Har ki dun trek as one of the best treks in Uttarakhand. You will witness everything that you want to be on a trek, It's a cultural trek. You will experience traditional architecture and the people of Osla , Gangad, taluka, villages how their lives are still a journey to the mountains.

We picked up the trekkers from their hotel our trekkers Katherine and Sydney they are from the USA along with we moved to Sankri village, we started our journey at 7:30 in the morning as we were on the way to Mussoorie the chilled air was striking on my face and our trekkers was comfortably sleeping roads were empty and sun also pops out and chilled air even I felt sleepy that time but the scenic view was so good I was feeling very amazing and then my trekkers were awake and they had little chat with me about their and mine experience of trekking and Sydney has climbed Kilimanjaro peak and also done the base camp of Annapurna which is in Nepal they both had a good experience of outdoors then I  was enjoying the journey along with Kathrine has lots of question while seeing the view from the window like why local people wear the round pahadi hats and what women's wear on their heads (talking about the scarf they wear) and I made them understand them about Pahadi culture and people and little bit about Indian culture then we stopped for the launch where we had rajma chawal, sabji, raita and roti, our trekkers also liked the Indian food they got after that we had chat with trekkers also about how many villages in between Dehradun to Sankri then I told about that after Dehradun we had passed from Mussoorie then Nainbagh then Naugaon then Purola then Jarmola and now er are at mori, and then we will reached Sanrki.

After reaching Sankri at our Himalaya shelter guest house, we had tea and snacks. Our trekkers loved our guest house and the view of the mountains from the room's big window. Then at 8, they had dinner, which they liked a lot and after dinner I briefed them about the Har ki dun trek , what to carry or what not to, about safety and morning timings.

Through the villages of Uttarakhand 

Our second day starts with beautiful morning view of mountains that reflection of golden sunrays on it we had morning breakfast along with packed launch then we moved for the gangad village from the bolero pick up that is the only vehicle  that will take you to that village because of rough road the roads will take you into the dense forest and some beautiful waterfalls along with pine and Rhododendron arboretum trees all the way which makes the trip very beautiful and scenic that 23 km of way takes approximately 2 hours on the way we passed through many villages like taluka , Datmir and then we will reached Gangad where we started our trek , it was hot in the noon when we started our journey we witness local people farming of potatoes the initial way was steep down into the valley along with supin river then we reached the Gangad village and meet lots of trekkers and local people also , local people were goin to osla  that is the only way to go to Osla to trek and the other side of the mountain the government were cutting the mountain to make a path so they can connect the road from Gangad to Osla right now the roads has reached only in gangad and will sure in upcoming days Osla will be the homestays for people to start the trek when road will reached to Osla, as we move further along the way we got to see walnut, pine and Rhododendron arboretum trees and that time weather had also changed that time from hot to little cold and little rain but before rain we managed to reached our campsite our campsite was below the Osla village we can clearly see the Osla village from our Seema campsite its over the other side of the mountain, the Seema campsite was near the farm and farmers of Osla village was seen farming along the campsite on their farm, our trekkers was also loved the campsite where I showed the nearby area of the campsite and tell about the Seema campsite which is altitude of 2560 meters then they have rest at that time I was enjoying the weather and the campsite area and after that we had tea and snacks where I checked their oxygen level of trekkers and asked about AMS, but they are pretty acclimatized after that our team served the soup and the dinner where I briefed about the next day.

In the nature along with trees mountains animals and flowers trees

The day starts with pretty cold as night also I feel very cold because of I was supposed that the temperature will not be fall at that but it had, and I didn't use liner in the sleeping bag which makes you warm but when sun rises the day getting warm and shiny so we served the breakfast not in the dinning tent but in open so the trekkers can also enjoy the mountains view and river sound along with sun's warmth. They had breakfast, and then we moved to Boslo campsite where we stated our trek we crossed the bridge so we can further side also meet local people where they love to talk with foreigners as I was the translator for them local people always greet peoples with their sweet gestures after when we crossed the bridge the way was steep ascent to the trail which connect to Osla village and follow the trail which goes to Har ki dun Boslo campsite along the way their was local shop where local guy of osla offers us Rhododendron arboretum flower juice which has some good properties of cooling and other, and they also offer of local berry juice which find in such an altitude we moved further the way was gradual ascent to the lush green meadows, and we meet some other trekkers also, they just came back from Har ki dun valley to Seema campsite going further to steep ascent into the dense forest found some old house on the way which looks very old then on the way we saw some vultures some of are flying over and some of fighting and some of resting they are just 5 meters away from us we stay 5 minutes to see and loved to see them too close and little bit scared too , we got many streams along the way where we directly drink water it was fun and water was so tasty and cold and the way was become ups and down and take to the waterfall which was looking very beautiful then we gradually descend to the campsite so total we trek approximately 10 km the altitude gain is 3560 approximately, there were lots of tents pitches nearby our campsite the campsite was very big its has lots of space, as we reached the campsite its was rain starting we had hot lunch there then I checked oxygen level of my trekkers and brief about the campsite because we have to next day Har ki dun valley and also Marinda Tal so had early took soup and had dinner and stayed their overnight.

Explore the Har ki dun valley and Marinda Tal

The morning starts with sound of river which is very near to the campsite and the chirping of birds. The day where we have come to explore Har ki dun valley and Marinda taal our trekkers Sydney and Kathrine were very excited as they both already loved this trek. They liked Indian food as well what we provide every day was new dish as usual we had cup of tea and had our breakfast with bread omelette fruits and Dalia after that we moved for the Har ki dun valley we started with gradual ascend along the way we have seen lots of blue pine and  Rhododendron arboretum trees and apple trees also in apple trees we have seen white flowers which was looking very beautiful, as we headed up we entered the Har ki dun valley we trekked 3 km for Har ki dun valley, the entered the valley, and we sat stream and meadow and in the front big rock and in front of that rock there was sharp triangle looking mountain we move forward towards the rock where we cross the wooden bridge as we reached the rock we saw Shivling on the rock and Trishul and took the blessings and had spent the time over there for 15 minutes to look out and enjoy the vast view of mountains our trekkers loved the view from their they have clicked some photos and enjoyed their after that we moved further for the Marinda lake which is 3 km from Har ki dun valley the way was steep ascent for 1 km then snow path were started, and we headed up further we saw big mountains all around its feel like we are going to summit some mountain as we continue going further on the hard snow and we also saw some animal footprints over there, we checked but we could not understand which animal footprint it is, and then we finally reached the Marinda lake which is covered full of snow it's a small water patch we witnessed and all around snow, we spent some time over there and have our refreshment which was given by our cook after spending 15 minutes we saw that weather has changes felt like it will be raining so we decent back for the campsite through Har ki dun valley on the way wind flows very fast chilled and fast wind striking on the face directly I tight my cap so it would not be removed by the winds and its was raining, but luckily we reached the campsite that time after half hour of drizzling the sun appears our trekkers was sitting outside to feel warm and was writing something on their diary and I with my team preparing things for the rest of the day the rest of the day went cozy and comfort with snacks and tea with the amazing mountains view and had dinner gave the short brief for next days and had stayed overnights at the tents.

Trekking all the in the Drizzling

Woke up with the sound of drizzling and it was raining for all over the night and when i saw the clouds it was seems like it will remain same for the day and it was raining all the night so we had breakfast and packed for the back seema campsite as we moved it continued drizzling and we also continues to our campsite but we have planning to go to osla village and also for Someshwar temple so we headed to the Osla village , on the way the trail were little slippery so we carefully decent down and at one Dhaba we stopped where we take tea from the local guy which is from osla and reached the osla village, the village was too ancient the architecture of houses was very ancient and it was wooden houses built with stone also our foreigners were so amazed to saw that beautiful houses and later we reached the Someshwar temple where we took blessings and like the way the architecture of the temple had clicked some photos as well and still it was drizzled and then we headed back to our seema campsite , at the campsite we had hot lunch there and after some time the rain was stopped and i and our trekkers were enjoying the last day of valley with having tea and snacks we served and had dinner and stayed our last day in the valley.

Back to where we were

this morning we headed back to the Sankri first we trek 4 km to Gangad village then from their we go to bolero pick up so after breakfast we headed back to the gangad the trek was very well and the weather was too good we reached early at the Gangad village and then reached to the Sankri Himalayas shelter guesthouse where we had hot lunch and and rest overnight there and next day we moved back to Dehradun after 8 hours of journey.

Har ki dun is not a trek its a cultural experience of Uttarakhand small town peoples where you will witness that even today there are many villages where there is no network and people of that town are still happy people of that area , they lived like a family there are 4 to 5 villages or more they know very well each other and live happy to help others they speak Pahadi language which is called gadwali language I was the trek leader of this trek and this was my first time i have done Har ki dun trek and this trek becomes my one of the best trek of my treks i have done in my life i have experience a lots of things in this trek.

A Special Thanks

A special thanks to our trekkers, Sydney and Kathrin. They were amazing throughout the trek. Every time they saw trash on the trail, they picked it up and put it in the dustbin at the campsite. They truly believe in the idea of leaving nature better than we found it. They were very curious about mountains, trees, flowers, and local village life. Their interest made me more excited to share everything I know about trekking, Indian culture, and mountain life. Trekking with them was not just fun—it was inspiring. Their love and respect for nature made this journey even more special.

If you’re looking for a trek that combines adventure, beauty, and culture, Har Ki Dun is the one for you.