We were set to go to the Tarsar & Marsar Lakes trek with a small all-women’s group of 5 in August of 2021. Little did we know that we were heading for trouble as our dates were coinciding with the 15th of August Independence day.

With Kashmir’s history, this date is still very sensitive as the administration and the army is very careful with the safety of the civilians and I did not blame them for our trip almost on the verge of being cancelled.

We should have known from our past experience but then the group wanted to use the national holiday on 15th August and they all being working women with MNC’s, they wanted to capitalise the 2 weekends pre and post-Independence day. Since we did not get permission from the army, we had to choose another trek.

We wanted to avoid The Great Himalayan range closer to the LOC and hence we started exploring the Pir Panjal Range which runs parallel in the Kashmir valley. And that’s how we heard about the unparalleled beauty of the Ashtar Valley & the Magrusar Lake. 

Ashtar Valley trek starts from Doodhpathri located in the Pir Panjal region of Kashmir and is one of the lesser-known destinations which was no less than heaven. Doodhpathri is a natural gem situated on the banks of river Shaliganga with vast meadows delighting a traveller. There are now a few good hotels where one can stay and make it as a base.

The trek showcases vast undulating meadows running in kilometres and passing through dense forests of deodar. In my 30+ years of trekking and exploring the Himalayan regions, I have never ever come across such beautiful vistas. Truly this was the best ever trek that we have ever done.

We began the trek which runs along the banks of the Shaliganga River, and one has to cross the Shaliganga River 2 times during the trek. As the trail reaches the top of the Pir Panjal Valley, one gets spectacular views of several major peaks in which Mount Harmukh (5,142M) is the most prominent.

The second river that we crossed in this trek route originates from Magrusar Lake and is called Doodhganga, as the water of both Shailiganga & Doodganga rivers are milky in colour like milk and hence the place is named Doodhpathri.

Itinerary

Day 1 We reached Srinagar by flight and stayed the night in the city 

Day 2 After breakfast, we took a tempo traveller and left for Doodhpathri (2730M) which took us around 3 hours to reach. We set up our base camp and stayed that night so as to acclimatise. In the evening, we went for a short hike for 2 hours, which was very scenic. I could not sleep that night due to packs of dogs barking throughout the night.

DAY 2 TREK TO DISKAL MEADOWS 3300M (10kms/5 hrs) – Starting from the beautiful meadows of Doodhpathri, passing through a dense forest of deodar trees, we walked up to the last road head till the river Shaliganga.

It started raining as we crossed the river on a wooden log bridge to enter the gate of the national park. From here the route started climbing for about 550 M along the Shaliganga river. It rained throughout and the trail led to crossing the forest and slowly climbing up to the most amazing, vast and undulated meadows that anyone would have ever seen.

We set up our tents on the alpine meadows and rested while enjoying the spectacular beauty of the burials. By the evening, the meadows were dotted with hundreds of sheep grazing and braying making the entire scene so surreal.

I could not sleep that night either and kept tossing and turning. This is not a good sign and it clearly denotes that the body was not acclimatising to the altitude. I usually adapt to the altitude very well, and this was something new and alien to me. 

DAY 3 TREK TO ASHTAR VALLEY 3700M (6 kms/3 hrs) – I woke up worried with no sleep as it had been 2 consecutive days that I had not slept. I but then as we started getting ready for the day’s new experience, I forgot about it.

We left the Diskal camp and the trail started climbing up through the meadows and Juniper bushes to the ridge above the Diskal meadows. When we hit the ridge, the view opened up to the Ashtar Valley down below. As we were in the months of August and the rainy season, the entire valley was booming with flowers of many varieties.

As we kept walking on the ridge, the mysteries of various Himalayan flowers kept unfolding. The trail kept me busy clicking pictures and I took two hours plus to reach today’s camp, but then that’s the main attraction of trekking as an activity. We climbed the ridge touching around 4000M altitude and then descended down to our spectacular camp at Ashtar Valley, which is right on the Shaliganga river.

The camp was completely surrounded by carpets of flowers all around. making this an unbelievable dream campsite. We had to cross the river twice before reaching the campsite, making it a fun and enjoyable activity. The evening was spent exploring the huge meadows around.

There were many horses and sheep all across the meadows making them even more inviting. The night was magical as the rains had stopped and the sky had cleared revealing stars and the milky way so clearly visible. And today I finally slept very peacefully. 

DAY 4 TREK TO CHISKENARD 3800M (6 km/4hrs) – Today we crossed the river again two times before we started climbing the ridge on the left bank. The steady climb took around 45 mins to reach the top of the ridge through meadows, and boulders with flowering all around them.

And behold – The view from the top was one of the highlights of our trek. We got a 360-degree view of the 3 Himalayan ranges and the peaks around them. As we stand on top of the Pir Panjal range, we get a view to the north of the Great Himalayan Range and of the Zabarwan range which is a lower range than the Great Himalayan Range, but towering over the Srinagar town.

The prominent peaks visible on the left are Mt Harmukh and as we look straight ahead, Mt. Kolahoi was clearly dominating the range. As the range moves towards the right, it enters the Ladakh region. The view down below from the ridge was of the “Bada Aangan” which as the name suggests means in Hindi, a great plateau.

The trail then traverses and descends on the right crossing boulder-stricken nullahs and then again climbing up the second ridge which took us around 45 mins. From the top of the second ridge, we finally descended down the valley through the dense vegetation of Junipers and coniferous shrubs.

The route follows the river Doodhganga upstream for another 45 mins finally arriving at the Chiskenard campsite.  The river here is very calm at the campsite making the entire picture very serene, calm and beautiful. The camp is beside the river with aqua green water and as the river meanders making a formation of letters “S”.

The river is flowing down straight from the glaciers of Mt Tatakoti and Mt Sunset peaks. The Chiskenard camp is where one can dream of staying for a week and yet not get bored. 

DAY 5 TREK TO MAGRUSAR LAKE 4200M  (17 kms/9 hrs) – This was our finest and also the longest day. The hike today climbed steeply immediately after the camp for around 300M opening up to another valley which undoubtedly was the most undulating of all that we had crossed till now.

The valley keeps on turning toward the left with the route dotted with flowers all throughout. The last climb to the lake is over a lot of boulders, scree and moraine which leads to the Magrusar Lake, which is at the bottom of Mt. Sunset and Mt. Tatakoti peaks. The lake is majestic with glaciers all around and is also the origin of the Dudhganga River which flows down the valley. After spending an hour or so at the lake, we started the long descent back to the camp.  

DAY 6 TREK TO DISKAL MEADOWS 3200M (10kms/5 hrs) – We descended the meadows and climbed back the same trail halfway to the Bada Aangan ridge and traversed to the Diskal meadows. It took us an eternity to cross the never-ending meadows, but it was a delight for sure. 

DAY 7 TREK TO DOODHPATHRI MEADOWS 2750M (10kms/3hrs) – The last day it again started raining as we descended down all the way through the dense forest finally ending our adventure.

Few Facts About This Trek

What is the best Time To Visit Ashtar Valley, Doodhpathri, and Magrusar Lake? –

The best time to visit is from June to September. Though this season is also the rainy season, it starts getting very cold at the end of September month. But because of the rains, one also sees many types of flora and flowers blooming during this season along with the rains. One will find leftover snow in the north-facing nallah and gullies in the month of June and even in July. 

Difficulty level – It is not a very difficult trek but one needs to be fit for long walks and ascends. The difficulty level of this trek may be rated as easy to moderate.