George Everest Peak, Mussoorie Overview

George Everest was the Surveyor General of India from 1830 to 1843, under whose leadership a great part of the Great Trigonometrical Survey in India was completed. George Everest Peak near Mussoorie, the Queen of Hills , derives its name by the presence of his house that is situated 300 meters down the top of this hill.

We begin the day hike a kilometer short of the George Everest peak and make our way to the top. The under 30 minute hike brings us to the top of the hill and we can get a good view of the house. We descenddown the hill and take the course leading towards the house. After visiting the house we continue further and find our way across scattered rural settlements and towards the reserved forest area of Mussoorie, known as Benog Wildlife Sanctuary, which we enter right after crossing the road leading to Cloud's End, another popular motorable view point for visitors in Mussoorie.

After a quick descent through the forest we begin to climb back up on the opposite hill, the Benog Hill which houses a temple dedicated to goddess Jwala Devi. The route is scarcely hiked but is a wide and clearly marked trail all the way up to the top of the hill. The ridge that rises in the West to East direction provides a good view of the Mussoorie town to its East, while the Yamuna river and its encompassing valleys can be seen in the distance, slight east of north along with many rural settlements spread across the neighboring hills.

We return back along the same route up to the road head (Cloud's end road) and drive back to Dehradun via Mussoorie. Alternatively we can camp at a secluded place nearby and choose to return to Dehradun the consecutive day, early in the morning.

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