Brahmatal Trek

Pickup at Kathgodam station, the group assembles over chai while bags are loaded. The drive cuts through the Kumaon hills, past river bends and roadside dhabas serving hot samosas. You arrive in Lohajung as dusk settles, a mountain village wrapped in winter quiet. Your guide walks the group through the plan over a hot dinner, pointing out ridges on a map. The rooms are cold but the blankets are thick. Sleep comes fast.

Snow from the first hour. The trail leaves Lohajung through pine and oak forest, and within thirty minutes you're walking on a white blanket that muffles every sound. The guide breaks trail, his boots packing the snow for the group. Bekaltal appears by afternoon, a small frozen lake in a clearing, the surface smooth and white. Camp is set on the snow near the shore. Your cook has soup ready before you've finished setting up your tent. The temperature drops fast after sunset. Everyone is in sleeping bags by 7 PM.

Rhododendron forest transitions to open alpine meadow as you climb. The snow deepens, past your ankles in sections. Your guide stops at a rise and points ahead, Trishul appears between two ridges, sharp and clean against the winter sky. The meadow where you camp is a white expanse, unmarked, yours alone. The sun sets early in winter. The sky turns purple and then black. Stars at 3,200 metres are the kind that make you forget the cold for a few minutes.

Early start, the snow is firm from the overnight freeze, easier to walk on. Brahmatal Lake is completely frozen, a perfect white disc surrounded by oak trees bowed under snow. You cross the lake and climb to the pass at 3,862 metres. The view from the top is a 360-degree Himalayan panorama, Trishul, Nanda Ghunti, and the peaks of Garhwal laid out in a horseshoe. Your guide points out the summit of Roopkund in the distance. The descent back to camp is quick, the snow softens as the day warms.

Eleven kilometres of descent through winter forest. The snow is softer now, post-holed in places, but the gradient is gentle and the day is long. You pass the Bekaltal lake and re-enter the oak forest that marked day two. The village appears through the trees in the late afternoon. A hot dinner, warm beds, and tiredness that feels earned. Stories are shared late into the evening.

The drive back is quiet and content. Hills roll past the window. Kathgodam station arrives by early afternoon. The group exchanges handshakes and half-promises of future treks. Trek ends at Kathgodam.