Day 1 - Dehradun to Pantwari (1,400 m) to Kathian Campsite (2,265 m)
- The journey starts early from Dehradun to avoid traffic towards Mussoorie and Kempty Falls.
- The road leads downhill from Kempty Falls towards the Yamuna river bed and reaches the town of Nainbagh.
- The route towards Yamunotri continues, while a narrower road leads uphill towards Pantwari village.
- Gujjars with their domesticated sheep and goats are seen on hilltops.
Terraced farms and hill slopes are dotted with Bauhinia trees with their purple blossoms.
- After a journey of three and a half hours, Pantwari village is reached, and the ascent to the camping site begins.
- The trekking trail passes through wild territory, and flowers and birds are in abundance.
- The trail is rather steep until the Goat Village on the left, which is an initiative started to sustain the Himalayan village’s way of living.
- After the Goat Village, the trail enters a dense forest with plenty of Rhododendron trees with bright crimson red flowers.
- The camping ground at Kathian is reached by late afternoon, and the sunset views are marvelous.
- The camping ground is flush with mint leaves, which can be used to make a delightful brew of mint tea, or the Kandali shrub can be washed and cooked to form a tasty saag.
- The sunset views from the campsite at Kathian are the highlight of the Nag Tibba trek, and the colors come out beautifully during the evening twilight hours.
Day 2 - Trek from campsite to Nagtibba top(3,020 m) and back to Pantwari; Drive back to Dehradun.
- We begin the second day with breakfast and a hike to Nag Devta temple.
- The temple is not well-maintained and has a pujari who is occasionally present.
- Locals frequently visit the temple to pay their respects.
- There is a vast open space near the temple which is used as a grazing ground.
- The Nag Tibba ridge is another hour’s journey ahead, and the vegetation changes from here.
- The forests become dense and are dominated by oaks and rhododendrons.
- The forest floor is damp, indicating the lack of sunlight.
- This region is an ideal habitat for a variety of orchids to grow, but it is under anthropogenic pressure due to grazing, lopping of oaks, and trekking.
- Various birds like the niltava and flameback woodpecker are seen in the barks of oak trees.
- After returning to the campsite, we have lunch and head down to Pantwari village.
- The trek down is easy and fast, taking only a couple of hours.
- We then proceed to Dehradun by our transport.
