Har Ki Dun Trek With Ruinsara and Maninda Tal

The Har Ki Dun trek with Ruinsara Tal is a 9-day moderate walk from Sankri that visits both valleys of the Supin: the Har Ki Dun valley, with Maninda Tal beyond it, and the Ruinsara valley, where you camp a night at Ruinsara Tal.

A short 4x4 drive from Sankri takes you to Taluka, and the trail follows the Supin through conifer forest to Chillur Gad. Next day it climbs steep switchbacks above Osla, eases through farmland to Halche and Kalkati Dhar, and reaches Boslo, where you sleep two nights. The day between is a light walk up the Har Ki Dun valley, with Har Ki Dun peak and Hata peak ahead, to Maninda Tal and a viewpoint towards the Jaundhar Glacier.

Then you cross the Har Ki Dun river on a bridge, turn into the Ruinsara valley and camp at Rainbasera. The next morning brings the lake itself, ringed by Bandarpoonch, Kalanag and the Swargarohini peaks, with the afternoon free beside it. You return by Devsu Bugyal, a meadow camp beside a waterfall, and walk out to Taluka and Sankri.

• Days: 9 days, 8 nights, from Dehradun airport and back, pickup and drop included. Camping on the trail, a homestay in Sankri.
• Grade: moderate. Walking days run 3 to 6 hours.
• Altitude: up to 4,200 m. You sleep no higher than Ruinsara Tal, 3,350 m.
• Best months: March to June, and mid-September to December.

Sleeping two nights at Boslo, with a high day to Maninda Tal in between, is how we acclimatise you before Ruinsara Tal.

If you want the Har Ki Dun valley alone, there is the shorter Har Ki Dun trek.

• A night at Ruinsara Tal: The glacial lake is ringed by Bandarpoonch, Kalanag and the Swargarohini peaks. You reach it early, so you can walk around it and see the light change at sunset and sunrise.
• The Har Ki Dun valley day: A light walk from Boslo up the valley, with Har Ki Dun peak (5,620 m) and Hata peak (5,838 m) ahead of you.
• Maninda Tal and the Jaundhar viewpoint: The same day continues to Maninda Tal and a viewpoint towards the Jaundhar Glacier, below the Swargarohini massif.
• The Supin from Taluka: The trail follows the river through conifer forest, crossing it on bridges. The Har Ki Dun Gad and the Ruinsara Gad both feed it.
• Old valley villages: Gangaad, Osla and Dhatmir sit high above the river, with their own temples, wooden houses and food. The trail climbs above Osla on day 3 and leaves the village itself for the walk back.
• Kalkati Dhar: A small meadow in the forest, passed on the way to Boslo, with Har Ki Dun peak and Hata peak overhead.
• Devsu Bugyal on the way down: A wide meadow camp beside a waterfall, the last night before the walk out to Taluka.
• Peaks all round: Over nine peaks of the range can be seen on this route, among them Bandarpoonch, Kalanag (6,387 m), the four Swargarohini peaks, Hata and Har Ki Dun peak.
• Rhododendron and flowers: In spring the forest carries rhododendron (locally Lali Guras, made into Buras syrup) and the meadows fill with small flowers once the snow recedes.
• Private camps, light footprint: Your own group, usually 2 to 10, with running camps that move each day and are never fixed. Waste is carried down.

This trek goes beyond the Har Ki Dun valley to Ruinsara Tal (3,350 m) and sleeps beside it, because a lake is something you want to see at more than one time of day.

Getting there. From Boslo you cross the Har Ki Dun river on a bridge and turn left into the Ruinsara valley. Day 5 is about 5 hours and 12 km, mostly through dense forest at first, to Rainbasera (3,400 m). The climb is gentle, with a few steep sections. Day 6 is the short one: 3 to 4 hours and about 8 km up to the lake. You arrive early and the rest of the day is yours.

The lake. Ruinsara Tal is an oval glacial lake with calm, clear water. The Ruinsara Gad comes down from the Bandarpoonch glacier. Around it stand the Bandarpoonch twins, the four Swargarohini peaks and Kalanag. A trail goes round the lake, so you can see the peaks from every side and, on a still day, their reflections.

The meadow beside the lake is a wide, level camp. In the morning and at sunset the colour on the water shifts through several shades of blue, which is the reason photographers like to be here early and late.

By November, water starts to freeze at night in the Har Ki Dun and Ruinsara camps. In autumn, bring warm layers for the evenings and mornings.

Why the night matters. Walking to the lake and back in a day leaves little time by the water. Sleeping there gives you an evening and a morning, and the light is better at both ends of the day than at midday. The glaciers above the lake, the Bandarpoonch and Kalanag glaciers, are among the larger ones that feed the Ruinsara and Har Ki Dun rivers. With the extra time in camp you can look at them from the lake, or walk around it.

After the lake. Day 7 retraces the trail down to Devsu Bugyal (about 2,930 m), a meadow camp beside a waterfall, in 5 to 6 hours. Watch your footing on the landslide and boulder patches. If the group is strong we can go further down to Chillur Gad or Gangaad, depending on the team's condition.

The lake is also reached on the longer Bali Pass trek, which continues from Ruinsara Tal over the pass. This trek is the version that ends at the lake and walks out the same way.

Day 4 is the day the trek is named for. You sleep at Boslo (3,150 m) on days 3 and 4, and on day 4 you walk up the valley with only a daypack, about 6 hours and 8 km, and come back to the same camp.

Why it is a round trip. It is a climb-high, sleep-low day. You rise to roughly 3,800 m during the day and come back down to sleep at 3,150 m, which is one of the ways the itinerary builds acclimatisation before Ruinsara Tal. We start early, and we walk gently at first.

What the walk is like. The trail ascends gradually along the Har Ki Dun river. The river narrows as you climb and swirls through forest of conifer and rhododendron, with small flowers along the bank in season. The path is quiet, and birds are common along it.

As you reach the valley, Har Ki Dun peak (5,620 m) and Hata peak (5,838 m) stand ahead. Two streams come down to join the river near here, the Maninda Gad and the Hata Gad.

Maninda Tal and the Jaundhar Glacier. Beyond the valley the trail goes on to Maninda Tal, a lake in its own side valley. It is mapped at about 3,797 m. From the valley you can also walk towards a viewpoint of the Jaundhar Glacier, which lies under the Swargarohini massif. The Jaundhar Gad flows down from that glacier to meet the Har Ki Dun river.

How far you take each of these walks is decided on the day, by the pace of the group, the weather and how everyone is feeling. We carry lunch and you carry water, a warm layer and a rain layer.

Beyond Maninda. A route continues from this side of the valley over the Borasu Pass towards Chitkul. It is a separate crossing, for experienced and strong trekkers, and not part of this trek. The Borasu Pass trek covers it.

After the day out you sleep at Boslo again. The next morning you leave the valley and turn towards Ruinsara.

This trek follows one river system from its mouth to the glaciers that feed it, and the peaks are the reason the rivers exist.

The Supin. The Har Ki Dun Gad, the Ruinsara Gad and a stream from Dev Kyara join to form the Supin, and the river is called the Supin overall. On the walk from Taluka to Chillur Gad you follow the Supin through conifer forest, crossing it on bridges. The Supin then joins the Rupin to become the Tons, and the Tons joins the Yamuna.

The glaciers. The Jaundhar Glacier, the Kalanag Glacier and the Bandarpoonch Glacier are the larger ones here. Together they are the main source of the Ruinsara Gad and the Har Ki Dun Gad. Ruinsara Tal and Maninda Tal also sit in this system, in the two valleys that the trek visits.

The peaks. The range has about 11 or 12 peaks, and over 9 of them can be seen on this trek. In the order you meet them:

• Swargarohini: four peaks of the massif (6,252 m, 6,240 m, 6,168 m and 6,000 m) can be seen right from Sankri.
• Hata peak (5,838 m) and Har Ki Dun peak (5,620 m): ahead of you at the head of the Har Ki Dun valley on day 4.
• Bandarpoonch: the twins, West (6,316 m) and East (6,045 m), above Ruinsara Tal.
• Kalanag (6,387 m): the highest, standing over the lake with the Bandarpoonch twins.

Many of these peaks have been climbed, and others remain unclimbed. For a closer look at the mountain above the lake, there is the Kalanag Base Camp trek.

Meadows. Between the forest and the snow lie the high meadows: Devsu Bugyal, Har Ki Dun and Ruinsara. They are grazing and flowering grounds, and the wildflowers are at their best in spring, just after the snow recedes.

Everything here lies inside Govind Pashu Vihar National Park.

The first three days of this trek pass through the villages of the Supin valley, and they are part of what you come for.

The villages. Taluka, Gangaad, Dhatmir and Osla belong to the Har Ki Dun valley. Many of the houses stand high above the river, almost hanging when seen from a distance, which people built to be safe from floods. The villages belong to the Jaunsar region of Uttarakhand, with their own dialect, dress, jewellery, rituals and temples. The architecture and carpentry of the houses and temples repay a slow look.

People here farm in hard country and also work as mountain guides and porters. On day 2, the trail is also the village path, and you will meet people walking it. On day 3 the trail climbs above Osla on steep switchbacks and we leave the village itself for the return walk.

Food. The local cooking mixes Garhwali and Kinnauri styles. Rice, potato, rajma and dal are the staples, and dried meat is a gift for guests. On the trek our team serves local dishes alongside the camp meals.

A trading valley. Passes at the head of these valleys were once gateways of cultural exchange, and barter has not entirely ended. The Borasu Patti villages lay on the trade route between the Baspa valley and the Supin valley.

The forest. The trail passes through pine, deodar, walnut and oak, with rhododendron higher up. The park is home to the Himalayan black bear, leopard, blue sheep, bharal, musk deer and Himalayan fox.

The permit. The trek lies inside Govind Pashu Vihar National Park. The forest department issues the trek permit at its check-post in Sankri, only to groups with a registered local guide. Each trekker needs a photocopy of photo ID, which we ask you to bring on day 1.

Cash and signal. Sankri has no ATM or bank, so carry cash from Dehradun or Mussoorie. Mobile signal is patchy in Sankri and Taluka, and there is none on the trail after Taluka.

The Har Ki Dun and Ruinsara Tal trek takes 9 days, 8 nights, from Dehradun airport and back, with pickup and drop included. Seven of those days are on foot. Each part of the schedule has a reason.

• Day 1, the drive. Dehradun to Sankri is about 190 km and takes 8 to 9 hours, with an overnight in a Sankri homestay. We pick you up from the airport or your hotel and start early so the last stretch is in daylight. The first flight from Delhi lands around 10 am, so many guests spend a night in Dehradun first and we collect them from the hotel.
• Days 2 and 3, the climb to Boslo. Chillur Gad at 2,500 m, then Boslo at 3,150 m.
• Day 4, the high day. You walk to the Har Ki Dun valley and Maninda Tal and sleep at Boslo again, which is how we acclimatise before the second valley.
• Days 5 and 6, Ruinsara Tal. Rainbasera at 3,400 m, then the lake at 3,600 m, the highest night of the trek.
• Days 7 to 9. Down to Devsu Bugyal, out to Taluka and Sankri, then the drive to Dehradun.

Season. From March to the end of June the snow recedes, the rhododendron blooms and the river rises with the melt. From mid-September to December there is little snow, and the days are colder and drier. By November water freezes at night in the high camps. The forest department closes the trail in January and February for heavy snow.

The camps. Camps are running camps, pitched fresh each day and never fixed, with a dry bio-toilet in a toilet tent. A local crew and mule handlers carry the gear from Taluka.

If something goes wrong. The only way out is through Taluka, and evacuation is by horse or porter. Neither Taluka nor Sankri has a hospital, so serious cases go to Purola or Naugaon. We keep groups small and private, usually 2 to 10, and we have had zero fatalities and zero injuries since inception, kept by discipline and not by luck.

Who it suits. A fit walker who is happy with a steady pace and long days, and who wants a small group rather than a crowd. For the valley alone, there is the shorter Har Ki Dun trek. For the lake and a pass crossing, there is the Bali Pass trek.

Tell us your dates, your trekking experience and how you walk at height, and we will shape the days around you.