Situated in the Garhwal region, Uttarakhand (State in India), Nag Tibba peak is a part of the Himalayan range. Standing at 3000+ meters, it is one of the most beautiful treks which can be covered over a period of 2-3 days.

Coordinates are: 30°35′11″N 78°9′4″E
December 2018

It was during the winter holidays that I along with 5 of my friends from work decided to go for this small adventure called Nag Tibba. We booked out tickets, packed our bags, convinced some of our friends to stop being lazy and rushed towards the bus station at 9:00 pm on 14-Dec-2018. Journey from Gurgaon to Kashmere Gate gave us a preview of the fun that this trip was going to unfold.

In the freezing Uttarakhandi winter we arrived at Mussoorie early in the morning around 5 am on 15-Dec-2018. It was colder than we had expected and the smell of mountain’s freshly brewed coffee attracted us like bees to flowers. All in all, it was super cold and super chilly. Struggle was to wash hands before and after we had food.

From Mussoorie we took a traveller cab and reached the base location, Pantwari. In my opinion this is where that mountain feeling started to sink in. Through the twisty and bendy roads of the hills of Mussoorie with a little bit of motion sickness due to the sudden sharp turns, all 6 of us kept looking outside the cab window. The mesmerising view was… (I cannot describe it but I can show it to you.)

After a 3.5 hours of journey we reached the base location. From now on the journey was on foot and the trek was about to begin. After fueling ourselves up and getting fresh we took to the mountains. Energy and enthusiasm was high and the feeling of being far away from the hustle and bustle of Delhi was so soothing. Laughter never left our side.

The trek was a two day one. On day one we trekked from Panthwari to Base Camp 1. This part of the climb was dusty & full of rocks and pebbles. Scorching heat of the Sun on the dried winter skin did not do justice to us and we did experience some degree of Sunburn. That’s what happens when you leave for a trip at the last minute, you forget to pack Sunscreen. However the view made up for it. Cars and houses kept on getting smaller along with our worldly problems and at 1500 meters all we had was friendship, laughter, stories & people posing for pictures.

So after a 6 hours plus climb we reached our location for Day 1. Even though it was a harsh welcome we enjoyed it thoroughly and those memories are fresh even till this date (evident by my writing I suppose). Our Guide who also happened to be our host was this down to earth humble mountain man. He offered us food, tents and shelter (part of the package) and what we Indians called Mehman-nawazi. We ate a lot because we were hungry from the climb and later set ourselves up a Bonfire and had a few rounds of drink. The cold mountain air at -3 degree Celsius added to the fun. Singing songs till 2 am, dancing to our own tunes, cracking jokes which were not at all age appropriate and most of all looking at the Star studded night sky were the highlights of that night. We all shared a group hug at 3 am before we went to our tents for a few hours of sleep. I still remember that.

Day 2 started off with a beautiful sunrise. We got ready, had some breakfast, took some caffeine and whilst admiring the view, geared up for the second half of the climb. Now this climb was snowy, hard and longer than the one we had done yesterday. We started for the peak at 8:30 am on 16-Dec-2018 and no matter how fast we climbed we were running behind schedule. Gatorade all the way! (or, Gaitonde as my group calls it :P)

We slipped a lot but after a lot of shenanigans we did make it to the Top. It felt like we had achieved something extraordinary. Trust me for some of us who were hung over from the night before, it was. Around 1:30 pm we reached the famous peak of Nag Tibba where situated was this beautiful Temple.

Nag Tibba means Serpent’s Peak and the temple was of Nag Devta where locals come and pray for the protection of their cattle.

We sat there for some time, admired the view and joked around for quite a bit. Talked to some of the locals and got to know their story. Played in the snow and yes, took lots and lots of pictures.

On 16th Dec’18 we conquered Nag Tibba and it was my first trek ever. I was proud of myself for doing a 3000+ m high trek being a newbie.

What did I take away from Nag Tibba?

Nag Tibba gave me two things:

1. Friendship
2. Memories

It was a very positive experience and till date those views flash back in my head as if it was just yesterday that we were there. I learnt that when you have the right people with you, they help you to rise up no matter how many times you fall.

I hope you enjoyed this journey. Thank you for walking with me. Love you.