Kashmir Tarsar Marsar Trek August 16 to 20th 2022
A detailed day wise route desctiption and timings of the popular Tarsar Marsar trek by South Col Expeditions in August 2022 - due to bad weather and lack of days we could not cross over the Sonomas pass to Sumbal but returned to Lidderwat/Aru the same way.
August 16th 2022 Pahalgam to Aru to Lidderwat
We drove from Pahalgam to Aru 2440 metres in about
30 minutes and started out from Aru around 8 am. It had rained for 14 hours nonstop
the previous day but the weather had cleared up and the sun was out with blue
skies. The first part of the trail from Aru to the Agricultural station was
extremely muddy and slippery thanks to all the pony traffic as well as the
incessant rains. This portion of the trail took us around one hour which should
have normally taken 30 minutes. We reached the first meadow around 9 am and
after a short break plunged into the forest - this part was also quite muddy
and it was heavy going - finally after around 2 hours from Aru we emerged into
the meadows for a brief while and the trail had dried out somewhat due to the
morning sun. The river Lidder thundered through the gorge below while thick
pine forests surrounded the adjacent hills. We met few tourists and some locals
making their way down from Lidderwat to Pahalgam and some shepherds as well.
Finally around 11.30 am at around 2670 metres we reached a small tea shop -
further up on the ridge was another tea shop serving tea and Maggi noodles. The
distance was around 7 km from Aru. After
a quick break we carried on the trails through the meadows soon descended to
the Lidder river. This idyllic section
of the walk followed the Lidder river and was incredibly beautiful with the
river flowing adjacent to the trail. We soon came to another tea shop - the
third one on the trail from here the path climbed up to another small meadow
before again plunging down a steep path to the river. You finally cross a
bridge across the Lidder and climb up to the meadows of Lidderwat. As we reached Lidderwat and stopped for lunch
the rain came down once again and carried on till around 5 pm in the evening
after which the weather did clear up and we saw some blue skies in the clouds -
hope for tomorrow.
Aru to first meadow 1 hr - should be 30 minutes in dry weather; First meadow to
first tea shop 2 hrs to 2 hrs 15 min; First tea shop to second tea shop 30 min;
Second tea shop to third tea shop 45 min Third tea shop to Lidderwat 45 min to
1 hr
Aru to Lidderwat 4.5 to 5 hours depending on trail conditions - 10.7 km 18695
steps
Aru 2430 m 34 5 31 N 75 15 57E Lidderwat 2775m 34 9 35 N 75 14 31 E
August 17th Lidderwat to Homwas to Shekwas
As we had to complete the complete the trek to
Sumbal across the Sonomas pass in five days we decided to make a early start in
the hope of getting to the Tarsar camp site by evening. However, it started
raining again at around 1 am in the morning and the rain persisted until around
7.30 am. This dashed our hopes for an early start and also the possibility of
reaching Tarsar the same evening seemed remote. After breakfast we managed to
get away around 8.25 am. The trail starts from the meadows and climbs up
steeply to the first ridge in about 30 minutes. From here the trail continues
to climb though not so steeply until in about 45 minutes it crosses the 3000m
mark. The trail then continues to ascend gradually crossing some small streams
on the way with the river not very far away from the trail. In about two hours
from Lidderwat the trail descends to a bridge across the Lidder at 3120 metres.
From here it climbs again through some rocky sections until it reaches a tea
shop at Homwas 3188m. From Homwas the route crosses a broad meadow and then
hugs the river along a boulder strewn track made all the more difficult by the
pelting rain. From here the trail again crosses a number of small streams
across the meadow before coming into a clearing which is the camp site of
Shekwas 3335m.
Lidderwat to Homwas 2 hr 30 min; Homwas to Shekwas 1 hr 30 min.
Homwas 3188m 34 10 4N 75 12 16E Shekwas 3335m 34 9 37N 75 11 14E
Lidderwat to Shekwas 6 km.
August 18 Shekwas to Marsar
It rained the whole night and the weather looked
like clearing in the early morning. Patches of blue sky appeared and then the
sun reluctantly appeared through the clouds. We decided to leave around 8 10 am
and the trail initially left the campsite and climbed upwards and in around
20-25 minutes reached a shepherds hut which was locked. The trail continued to
climb gently through boulder sections until it crossed the river again over
boulders and reached the bottom of a hill - the altitude was 3515 metres and
one hour from Shekwas. In around 20 minutes the meadows on top were crested at
an altitude of 3600 metres - the trail was then through the meadows climbing
steadily until it reached a small pass at around 3725 metres. The trail further
climbed from here to the Tarsar campsite in about 20 min 3780m
Shekwas to river crossing 1 hr River crossing to Tarsar 1 hr 30 min to 1 hr 45
min
River Crossing 3515m 34 9 0 N 75 10 40E Tarsar 3780m 34 8 45N 75 9 26E
Shekwas to Marsar 5.8 km
Side Trip to Marsar Top
Due to the inclement weather since the start of the
trek at Aru we lost one day and were not able to do the crossing across to
Sunderser then to the Sonomas pass and finally out at Sumbal. So as a
consolation prize we decided to climb upto to the ridge across the Tarsar lake which
is also known as Marsar top from where both Tarsar and Marsar lakes are
visible. After a half hour break at Tarsar we started for Marsar top. The trail
initially skirted the lake and then immediately entered into a boulder section
- it continued to climb steadily sometimes through grassy sections and
sometimes through boulders for about one hour until it reached the bottom of a
steep zig zag section at around 3850 metres - from here the trail climbed
steeply for about 45 minutes until we got to Marsar top at 3985 metres- it was a
spectacular view point with the Marsar lake visible on one side and the Tarsar
on the other side below the viewpoint.
Tarsar camp site to Marsar viewpoint 1 hr 45 min to 2 hours Marsar viewpoint to
Tarsar camp site 1 hr 15 min to 1 hr 30 min
Marsar viewpoint or Marsar top 3985 metres 34 7 56 N 75 8 22 E
August 19 Tarsar down to Lidderwat
As we had to be back in Srinagar on 20th August due
to connecting flights on the 21st we decided to make a push for it and head all
the way down to Lidderwat. After a spectacular day at Tarsar it started raining
in the earring evening around 5 pm and continued relentlessly until around 7
pm. The next morning was very misty with low lying fog over the lake but it
cleared once the sun came up. We left after a late breakfast and reached
Shekwas in about an hour and 45 minutes. After a brief rest in the Shekwas
meadow we started down for Homwas only to find a pony lying dead on the road -
he had very tragically fallen with his heavy load from the trail overhead - it
was a terrible sight. We reached Homwas in about an hour and stopped for lunch
on a meadow with the fast flowing river below. We then crossed the Homwas
bridge and headed down to Lidderwat which took around 2 hours. Luckily for us
the weather held up and it did not rain the whole day.
Tarsar to Shekwas 1 hr 45 min; Shekwas to Homwas 1 hour; Homwas to Lidderwat 2
hours.
August 20 Lidderwat to Aru
Today was the last day of our trek and we had to drive on to Srinagar. We left after breakfast at around 7.45 am and we were in Aru by about 11.30 am and in Sringar by late afternoon.
For more details on our treks and photo workshops do visit www.southcol.com
For more photographs of the Himalaya do visit www.sujoydas.com
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