Nag Tibba Trek by Hemant Soreng, PGP 1997

Nag Tibba literally means the Serpent’s Peak. It is believed to be the abode of Nag Devta or the Snake God. At the top (3,022 m/9,915 ft) there is a beautiful temple with the magnificent view of the entire Bandarpoonch ranges of Great Indian Himalayas towards the Yamunotri side.

It is a fairly easy trek and easily accessible as well. For the first time trekkers and those preparing for higher altitude long duration treks, I recommend this trek, as it gives an experience of how it is to camp and trek in the Himalayas. Keeping that in mind first time trekkers Kanwal, Anand and his wife, Vidyalakshmi joined me in this trek that Rustik Travel was organizing.

We set out in November with the objective of experiencing camping in the cold and trekking in the Himalayas, so that they could be well prepared, mentally for longer Himalayan treks in the future esp. Everest base Camp Trek that we were planning the coming year in April.

Day 1/18 Nov, 2017: Mussoorie

We arrived in Mussoorie, a day before the trek so that we rest well the night before the trek.

Day 2/ 19 Nov, 2017: Mussoorie to Pantwari (70 km/2 hrs drive). Trek to Nag Tibba Base (8 km/3-4 hrs trek)

In the morning we drove to Pantwari, the starting point of the trek. Incidentally, there are two other starting points as well – a similar distance and duration from Devalsari, and a shorter route from Shrikot.

From Pantwari, the walk towards the Nag Tibba Base is a gradual climb through open fields and forest. We came across trekkers coming down huffing and puffing. Looking at them made us uncomfortable estimating the difficulty of the path ahead. However, it was an easy walk for all of us as we made it to the scenic Nag Tibba Base, where we setup the camp.  The light was fading and through the multiple layers of the mountains the sun was transforming rapidly from scorching yellow to cooler red till it faded away into the encompassing darkness of the night lit dimly by the moonlight and the light from the kitchen tent.

It was cold but the hot tea, pakodas followed by dinners ensured that we were all warmed up as we slept inside our tents comfortably.

Day 3/20 Nov, 2017: Nag Tibba

After breakfast, we started walking to the top. It was a very pleasant walk through the woods green and dense in parts. In about 2-3 hours we were at the top looking introspectively at the majestic Bandarpoonch ranges of the Himalayas. We took our time to take pictures, joke around and then started to walk down except for Kanwal who literally ran down.

We were back in no time, but just in time for lunch, a sumptuous one I’d say. After lunch all of took a good nap out in the open. We seem to be the only ones camped at the campsite. It was extremely quiet and peaceful.

We repeated the evening routine of bonfire, snacks, and dinner and slept off.

Day 4/21 Nov, 2017: Trek to Pantwari. Drive to Dehradun.

Next morning we trekked down to Pantwari, from where a car drove us to Dehradun airport.

Thus, came an end to a beautiful trek. The first time trekkers had a great experience and were looking for more Himalayan treks in the future while leaving with the memories of magnificent layers of mountains and beautiful sunsets like this one 

Source: http://hemantsoreng.com/blog/travel/nag-tibba-trek-hike-up-to-the-serpents-peak/