I hadn’t turned 11 yet in the summer of 2018. My parents were planning a family trip with my grandparents and my maternal uncle’s family. Well, that would be fun I thought, until I realized that this trip was to be a trekking trip to Dayara Bugyal, a high altitude meadow, 3,639 meters (11,939 ft) in the northern state of Uttarakhand. Trekking again I groaned? Not that I had been on any treks. My parents were avid trekkers but that didn’t affect my life in fact it was fun when they were away and my little sis and I could do as we pleased living with our grand-parents. However this time they had convinced all others to join them on this ‘easy’ beginners trek as they put it. They handed out a work out schedule to everyone insisting it be followed. I’m sure my uncle’s fam took it easy but where could I hide? My sister attacked the plan with gusto though. I went along slowly.
May was when we headed out. Summers in Uttarkashi were supposed to be cool and pleasant and we expected fine weather. We took a train to Haridwar and were picked up by the Tour operator — a close friend of my parent’s and headed into the hills towards Raithal, the start point of the trek.
Enroute we came across the Tehri dam. I was flabbergasted at its magnitude. It was like a giant cauldron of water sitting on mountain peaks! How did they make this here — was my first thought. My mother told me of the protests around the dam and the reasons for the same. I felt sorry for the villagers who were displaced from their homes especially. They had nothing to gain from the project. Of course sometimes sacrificing for the greater good is required when we live in state, but if there are more cons that pros, then alternative solutions should be found. Here there was not just loss of livelihoods and homes, but the tehri dam is also set in an ecologically fragile region and there are many environmental concerns around it. This was thought provoking and indeed my first brush with some kind of ethical dilemma concerning development and the environment.
The Tehri Dam
Moving on, we finally got to Uttarkashi a small town in the upper Himalayas well known for its yoga ashrams and the origin of very many treks around. We stayed the night at a lovely warm homestay called Monal and headed to Raithal the next day morning after breakfast.
We reached the village of Raithal around 12.30 pm. The trek was to start from here. It was around 1.30 pm when we headed up with our day packs on our shoulders. The support team would organise their gear and supplies and come through later.
Starting the trek at Raithal
We were to reach a place called Gui inside the forest that evening. Raithal to Gui was a good 5 hours through the pine forest. It felt quite dense. More than anything I didn’t feel too good. The walk felt tough to me as we seemed to be ascending an gaining height. Of course we stopped every now and then — maybe every 30 mins or so, but I was tired very early and so I was also very grumpy! The walk through the forest meant it was also warm as it was early afternoon. There weren’t too many views either.
I remember my father sitting beside me and consoling me every time we rested. He’d try to entertain me with stories about the jungle and his previous treks. But I just remember being very tired and miserable. We ate a packed lunch around 3 pm or so inside the forest. The others looked a bit tired too, other than my parents and little sister and my younger cousin who seemed to be in great spirits! Ughh!
First day of the trek
After a long exhausting walk we reached Gui around 5 pm. It was evening and the sun was almost setting. The support staff set up our tents and started the kitchen. We all changed into warm clothes as now that we had stopped walking, we had started to feel cold. Our bodies were cooling down and so was the temperature.
We (the kids) collected firewood for a campfire that evening. It was some fun after the long walk.
Collecting firewood for campfire
That night after a good dinner (don’t remember what it was other than the popcorn and soup that we got) I snuggled into my sleeping bag next to my dad and sister. We siblings slept in between while my parents slept on the outer edges.
I slept fine that night but I heard that none of the adults did. The mules that had come along with our supplies had been grazing all night, their neck bells ringing out and they snorting and running through the night.
The next morning we were to walk to Dayara bugyal straight. This was a long long day. It was planned that we would stay at Dayara for an additional day. This was a super tough day. We reached Dayara at 5.30 pm or so after a long long walk with many stops. I could see everyone except the earlier 4 mentioned earlier were struggling. My grandparents though fit seemed to be at the end of their patience, wanting to rest for the day.
But the Dayara campsite was beautiful. We camped at the edge of the meadow which I believe has been stopped now due to ecological reasons. I remember being exhausted and totally spent. We crashed and took at power nap outside out tents the minute they were set up.
At Dayara BugyalThat night was terrible. I was uncomfortable and unable to sleep. Also I threw up my food. I felt sluggish and irritable. I saw my grandparents and uncle struggling too. Not as much as me though. I was faring the worst.
The next morning, they all headed up to Dayara top — a small hill on the meadow. My dad stayed behind with me as I didn’t feel like climbing any more. We spent sometime exploring the huge huge meadow walking around. The meadow was indeed beautiful and we could see very many peaks just a short walk up to a small high point. There was Drapadi ka danda, Srikanta, Black Peak and Bandar pooch the most majestic of them all (so I thought)
As the day progressed I felt better but then came the rain at 3 pm or so and washed away my high spirits. We all sat in the big mess tent singing songs and playing until the rain abated an hour or 2 later. Spirits were high as the destination had been reached!
The next morning we were to descend to Barnala. As we started our walk down, my mother’s phone suddenly buzzed to life. There had been no network on the meadow. It was sheer luck that we were at a point where network was available and her caller called. It was my other uncle’s older brother. We learnt there that my uncle Vikas Dimri
Vikas Dimri
had summitted Mt Everest that very morning at 6.18 am. It was the 18th of May 2018. I remember that date so well. There were smiles and congratulations and we all happily decscended to Barnala which was just an hours walk downhill.
Barnala was a happy place or maybe it was because we had descended and the altitude wasn’t affecting me anymore. But to be honest, the campsite was really pretty with a couple of small water bodies and a quaint Shiv temple. We lit a campfire that evening as it did not rain thankfully.
Campfire at Barnala
The next day we further descended to Barsu and after a quick lunch headed down to Dehradun.
The memory of this first trek to Dayara will always remain as it was one trek that woke me up to the fact that I was unfit and needed to work on my fitness. The others had not seemed so uncomfortable as myself. Also, it somewhere made me a bit wary of high altitude treks. Looking back, I realize that I have struggled with altitude everywhere in my initial days — like when we visited Leh in 2021 and also during my first EBC trek in 2023. However, I have come a long way. In 2024 as I worked on my fitness and trained hard, I accomplished not just EBC without a hitch or complaint but went beyond to summit Mt Lobuje East at 6090 meters (20,000ft) without any discomfort.
Dayara was my first training ground. It showed me the mirror and I now look back at it fondly.
Have you trekked yet? If not, I suggest you look up the Dayara Bugyal trek in Uttarakhand and head there this summer. Reach out to me for any information that you might want, and I’ll be happy to help.
~By Advait Kulkarni