My camp at Gangbal.

The Twin Lakes of Gangbal.

It is a 6 hr. trek to probably the most picturesque of the lakes of kashmir:- The Twin Lakes of Gangbal at an altitude of 3570 Mts. The trekking part starts from Naranag or Sonamarg. If one starts from Naranag one can directly hit gangbal in just 6 hrs. The distance from Naranag to Gangbal is 17Kms. From the sonamarg side it is a 6 day trek during which one can see all the 12 lakes on this range. The last two will be these twin lakes of Gangbal. I prefer the Naranag route if one has to just do the gangbal lakes. Naranag is one and a half hours drive from srinagar. Naranag has the ruins of Buddhist temples, built by Jauka, son of Ashoka and some of it was built by King Lalitadatya. Dont forget to see the bath tub carved out of a single boulder and the large spring which justifies the,”nag” part of the name Naranag. Nag in kashmiri language means a spring.The first climb called the Butsheer is the toughest. Although all along the forest cover which is dense will shade you from the sun but by any standards it is a strenous climb. You will need water and omething to munch as you go up this almost 60 degree climb but worry not the path is well trodden. Once the Butsheer has been overcome then on it is a easy walk on the undulating ridge which will take you to a moriane running down from the mighty Harmukh peak. Harmukh(5,755mts.) is the highest peak in this range and is a good sight. The Moraine named as Dudhkul is a nice place to camp if you have sufficient time. Usually most of the trekkers pefer to camp here for a night and proceed to the lakes the next morning. If you have chosen a season prior to the second week of July it is nice to make this camp the base and see the lakes during the daytime next day and then return back to this camp. The weather prior to mid july can be really unpredictable. I once visited on 22nd of May and it snowed a whole night and it was freezing in the night. Dont forget to take a fishing tackle along. Usually an equipment known as the spawn is better to fish in these lakes. It has a golden butterfly like metal piece attatched to it just above the hook which flutters when you move it in the water. It is easier to fish in the lower smaller lake. The best place to fish is near the mouth of the stream which flows from the upper lake into this lower one. The fish basically keep on herding at the entry of this stream into the lake as along with the flow the water gets along insects and other organic material which the fish eat. You can hire horses to take the tentage and other equipment at Naranag.