You can either trek or drive a distance of 112 from Chaukori to Pithoragarh that is a lovely small town, situated on the western-half of the Soar Valley. Though small, it resembles the valley of Kashmir and dotted with tiny villages and gives you a splendid view of the snow capped peaks of Nanda Devi, Panch Chulhi and Nanda Kot.
'Soar' means 'Cool' and this valley lies exactly in the middle of four hills named Chandak, Dhwaj, Kumdar and Thal-Kedar. It stretches till Jhoolaghat divided by the Kali River that is bounded with the Barren hills of Nepal. It is also known as the northern gateway to the Himalayas where pilgrims trek through to reach Mansarovar Lake and Om Parbat [Adi Kailash Peak].
The routes to follow are Nainital to Betalghat Trek route and Nainital to Kumeria Trek route.
After that long but easy journey, you can rest in Pithoragarh rest houses and the next day, early morning hike through more strenuous trekking trails that leads you to the famous Sinla Pass elevated above 3500 mts and requires guidance by experts. The trail leads you through remote villages, lush green environs and virgin forests including a spectacular view of Chhota Kailash Peak.
The trek route from Pithoragarh takes you through Tawaghat, a steep climb up to Sosa Village and 9 km further to arrive at Pangu. The route also takes you through Sirkha and Narayan Ashram which is a 50-year old well maintained hermitage that was established by Narayan Swami surrounded by a small garden, a meditation hall, a temple, a library and the Samadhi Sthala of Narayan Swami.
After a night stay at Pangu continue next morning to Gala through dense forest filled with tall ferns and wild flowers covering 23 km. Halt for a night stay here and continue further towards Budi which involves a steep descend along the Kali River with very high currents and flows with tremendous velocity that makes you feel dizzy just looking at it. The river colour is light brown and looks almost black sometimes hence it was named 'Kali River', or 'Black River'. You can camp in tents a little away from this river for an overnight stay but as a warning be very careful not to fall into this river as it can turn very deadly no matter how good a swimmer or diver you might be.
Next morning follow trails covering trees and wild flowers to Gunji for an overnight stay in tents. From here you get a view of the lovely Glaciers against the lush green forest on one side and the Kali River on the other side which leaves a memorable snap in your mind. Continue further to Kutti covering a distance of 18 km while enjoying the lush green forests. Here you stay overnight in tents and trek another 17 km to Jollingkong. After another overnight stay, you continue trekking 4 km to arrive at Parvati Lake set amidst majestic mountains where you stay overnight in tents. The next morning to trek on your last leg of journey to Bedang via the famous Sinla Pass covering 15 km and after a night rest, you can trek back the same way to Pithoragarh. The total journey to and fro will take about 15 days.
After another overnight stay at Pithoragarh, you can drive to Munsiyari to begin on another adventure along beautiful trails to view some spectacular Glaciers.
