On the first day of the Pin Parvati trek, you will start from Mudh village, the last motorable village of Pin Valley. Leaving behind the picturesque village, you’ll be walking till your first campsite, Tiya.

It’s a straightforward trail till Tiya, where you walk over cree midst the typical landscapes of Spiti Valley. You’ll notice different colours in the mountains surrounding you, while a few hundred meters below, the Pin River gushes past. And Pin Valley slowly starts opening up to new views as you move further.

On the second day of the Pin Parvati trek, you’ll have to start early from Tiya on day two, as a river crossing awaits you early in the morning. The trail will pass through few glacial streams that you will cross on the way while walking over the loose rocks.

This part will lead to the descent to the Pin River, which flows on your left. After crossing the river you’ll climb up the other side, walk alongside the left bank of Pin River and then ascend a moraine, all the way to a shepherd’s campsite.

The third day of the Pin Parvati trek is an exciting one as you’ll start by crossing the Pin River barefoot, or cross it via glacier 2 kms ahead if the flow of water is unmanageable.

Moving further, you’ll have to tackle a steep ascent to reach the base camp of Pin Parvati pass, which is about 1000 feet below the pass itself. The moon-like conditions on this part of the mountain will enchant you, as you’ll arrive breathless after the climb, and cross a tricky stream on your way during the ascent.

You’ve to take care, as the campsite is quite windy, but it provides breath-taking views of the mountains around you.

On the fourth day of the Pin Parvati trek, we learn an important mountain lesson – Passes shouldn’t be traversed after noon, because of the dramatic weather changes. And this is why it’ll be another early morning as we’ll move to cross the Pin Parvati pass.

And it’s a pass where the world literally changes, as you move from the desert like Pin to the vast lush Parvati valley. And standing atop the pass, you could see as far as possible through both the valleys. You can see almost as far as Bara Shigri glacier, Pyramid Peak, Snow Peak etc.

And as the rhythmic flutter of the prayer flags enter your ears, you can gaze at the peaks of Kinnaur, Kullu and Spiti. The descend will include walking over muddy scree, passing Parvati glacier which is ridden with crevasses. Do follow the guide’s instructions and ensure that everyone walks in a line.

You’ll first cross the Parvati base camp, which is exactly like Pin base camp, and then descend towards Mantalai. It’s a steep descent, but it also gives one a chance to spot many a rare species of flowers including Brahmkamals, and then another river crossing will bring you to the most beautiful campsite of this trek.

On the fifth day of the Pin Parvati trek, a 9 kms descent will take you to Odi Thatch from the extremely beautiful region of Mantalai. The trail is scenic and starts with a walk on the right side of the river, until you reach a point from where you can get a view of Parvati River.

The best part about today’s trek are the mountains strewn with flowers before Odi Thatch, with different coloured bands formed by different flowers on slopes surrounding the trail. And ahead of these slopes lie a beautiful campsite.

On the sixth day of the Pin Parvati trek, is another hard day of trekking, as you descend from Odi Thatch to Tunda Bhuj while walking across meadows, followed by boulder strewn fields in the valley carrying Parvati river.

This trail will provide views of various peaks, and waterfalls along the mountain. An interesting part of the trail is Pandu Pul, which is an assimilation of boulders forming a natural bridge over the river.

Moving further is a tricky patch that you’ll have to negotiate before you enter a thick forest of Rhodoendron and Pine. This leads to Tunda Bhuj, which is a campsite surrounded by cliff faces, and there are many waterfalls all around.

On the seventh day of the Pin Parvati trek, a trek to Kheergana is a steady downhill hike, where you’ll reach Parvati River once again, and come across many waterfalls, and pastures of Birch trees.

The waterfalls in this region are sheets of mist, forming a gorgeous sight for trekkers in this part of the mountains. The trail will take you further down the mountains across various bridges, and forest patches until you spot the first signs of civilisations after almost a week at Kheerganga.

There’s a hot spring here to relax in, and it will also be your last campsite.

On the eighth and final day of the Pin Parvati trek, the popular trail down the hill from Kheerganga to Pulga is well laid and there are many dhabas on the way.

You’ll find many amateur trekkers going  up to Kheerganga, as you slowly descend down into the lower reaches of Parvati valley, where you’ll be picked and driven to Manali.

It’s the last day of the trek, and is fairly easy in comparison to what you’ve done on the previous days.