What the trek actually is
The Kashmir Great Lakes trek runs roughly 70 km from Sonamarg to Naranag, crossing four passes above 4,000 m and visiting a chain of glacial lakes — Nichnai, Vishansar, Krishansar, Gadsar, Satsar and Gangbal among them. Between the lakes are open meadows and long, exposed passes. On paper it is moderate. In practice, altitude and weather make it more demanding than the distance suggests.
Fitness
You should be able to walk 12 to 15 km with a light pack without distress, and you should be able to go uphill for an hour without stopping. Start six weeks out: stairs, hill walks, cycling. If you can do a 15 km walk two weekends in a row before you fly, you are ready. Nothing about this trek requires heroics, but it does require baseline fitness.
The packing list that matters
- Three layers for walking: base layer, fleece, waterproof shell. The passes are cold even in July.
- A down jacket for camp at night — it drops close to freezing at 3,800 m.
- Two pairs of worn-in shoes. One walking, one camp.
- Trekking poles. Your knees will thank you on the Sonamarg–Naranag descents.
- Rain cover for the pack, plus a dry bag for the sleeping bag and spare clothes.
- Sunscreen SPF 50, lip balm, sunglasses, wide-brim hat. The UV at altitude is genuinely brutal.
- Water purification — chlorine dioxide or a filter. Do not drink untreated stream water, however clean it looks below a grazing meadow.
- A small first-aid kit, blister tape, and any personal medication in original packaging.
What to leave behind
Cotton for walking. Anything in the 40-litre-plus range you are carrying yourself — ponies carry the heavy load on most of our departures, and you walk with a daypack. Excess electronics, hard books, and anything you are taking "just in case" that weighs over half a kilo.
The altitude question
You start at 2,700 m in Sonamarg and sleep at 3,500 m by day two. That is a fast gain. Walk slowly, drink constantly, and tell your guide if you have a headache that does not respond to water — the protocol is the same as Ladakh: descend or rest, never push.
Our departures
We run this trek in July and August only, in small groups with a certified guide, cook, ponies and a support team, and we carry oxygen for the passes. Guided, it is a superb trek. Unguided, in the monsoon, with a route you found on the internet, it is something else again.
Tell us your dates and we will build the rest.
Every itinerary is planned for one group at a time, with a written quotation and no published price list.