Panpatia Col Trek

Panpatia Col lies between two unnamed 5500 m + peaks. According to a mythological story, a priest used to perform rituals at the shrines of Badrinath and Kedarnath on the same day, using a route known as Kedar Badri connecting the two temples.This legend fuelled explorations to find a route connecting the two shrines drawing the likes of Shipton and Tilman, Meade and Harish Kapadia. The first reported crossing of the mythological pass at almost 18000 ft was in 1934 by Shipton and Tilman, while subsequent attempts in 1984 and 1997 were thwarted by its complex approach across massive icefalls. Shipton and Tilman’s crossing of the pass remained unrepeated till 1999, when Martin Moran led a team across the pass through a variation of the original route, avoiding some of the icefall danger. Finally, in 2007, a Bengali team led by Debabrata Mukhejee, opened a trekkable route to the pass climbing the Parvati Col to gain access to the upper snowfields of Panpatia Col. The new route, however,is no less a serious endeavour, and remains, till date, one of the least traversed passes in the Indian Himalaya.

 It is surrounded by several major peaks of the Garhwal Himalayan region. From the group of 6thousanders, the Nilkantha at an elevation of 6,596 meters is the most prominent one. Nonetheless, the peaks of Balakun at 6,108 meters, Kunaling at 6,471 meters, Januhut at 6,495 meters, Shri Parbat at 6,175 meters and Chaukhamba group and several other 5thousanders are visible throughout the trail from Badrinath to Ransi. The Panpatia Col trek that further traverses through two other high altitude mountain passes, several moraines, gushing streams and narrow cliffs is one of the toughest treks in the Garhwal Himalayan region. It was once the mythological route on which pilgrims used to trek from Kedarnath to Badrinath in 1 day. The route was lost in time but few demented explorers re-discovered the route and led it in the trekking map of the Garhwal Himalaya.The journey is further enriched with several picturesque campsites along the pristine water of several lakes that encircles rich alpine meadows dotted with varied species of Himalayan flowers. The Panpatia Col Trek requires some serious acclimatization at certain altitude and is recommended only to trekkers who have prior high altitude trekking experience. The journey involves use of on best-of-the-breed mountaineering equipments. Nonetheless, the trek is one such adventure in the Garhwal Himalayan region that turns out to be a grapevine who has covered the journey.

The trek to Panpatia Col commences from Badrinath and heads to Dumkal Kharak and thereafter turns to Nilkanth Khal, which is at an altitude of 4,650 meters.The journey thereafter turns to the snout of Panpatia Glacier and later winds to the glaciated track to further climb towards Panpatia plateau. Thereafter crossing Panpatia Col, the trail leads to Maidagala Tal. The downhill trek continues to Madmaheswar and thence leads off at Ransi.The best time to hit the trekking tracks to Panpatia Col is during the summer and autumn seasons.