Introduction
I first heard about the trail through the daily trail vlogs on YouTube from PrimeWilderness [Dave]. He did it in 2019 and compiled a great blog and YouTube playlist. I can highly recommend giving it a read, as he did it during a different season and with different gear. His GPX and trail route were the main resource for my planning.
There is also an official website. When I started the planning [1,5 years before the attempt], there wasn’t concrete, easy-to-find information. BUT – they have launched a new version with a lot of information. Hopefully, by the time you read it, the GHT is also available at FarOut [currently it’s in BETA – for 50€]. You can also buy the official GPX file [120€ – 50% discount if you bought the FarOut map – so 60€]. So if you want FarOut + GPX, it’s 110€. You can find the information about the current status HERE. This GPX will contain all the Waypoints from FarOut aswell as alternative routes etc. which are not contained in any other public file. Iam personally not a big fan of FarOut. This is about the general app and not about the GHT. Some of the points are: no offline satellite map, not able to get GPS points of the map, no on the fly calculation of routes [planned routes are possible – but tedious, slow, bad to manage], zoom resets after every app start [apparently Android only]. So I would use FarOut for the Images, the PoIs and the comments – I think its good for those features. But I would not consider it a fully functional backcountry app for navigation.
We attempt the “Trekking Thru-Hike Route,” formerly known as “high route”. It contains 5 technical passes where mountaineering equipment is required. We’re starting mid-August and plan to finish it in 100 days.
As we’re still on the trail, the blog will keep being updated. The final Version will be published after the hike.
Route & Directions
Routes
The main route I’ve used for planning was Version-11 from Dave (PrimeWilderness). As it’s a bit outdated by now, I wouldn’t rely on it. There is also a public version on CalTopo, which is from 2025 and which I can highly recommend.
Besides this, I also got early access to FarOut & the official GPX [Thanks again!]. As of now, it’s a plain GPX file with waypoints, and trail condition information is missing. I guess the true value of FarOut will come if it’s in use by a larger group of hikers to provide up-to-date information.
Direction & Weather
We’ll hike from West to East. This is mainly due to the pace we’ve planned and the weather. You can read more about it HERE. To break it down. If you go fast, you can go for the 2nd hiking season [autumn]. If you are slower, you have to start earlier, which means spring, as there is monsoon during summer. Why West to East? The North-West is a bit shielded against the monsoon, which leads to the point that this is the preferred direction if you go fast and start in autumn.
Route overview map
The map shows the two public GPX files and will also contain my GPX file with all trail notes once the hike is finished.
Tip: Open the side panel on the left and toggle the different routes.
Trail Notes
In the following part, you’ll find the daily trail notes. They should give you detailed insights into the trail conditions and overall experience of hiking the GHT. Details about the accommodation or campsite can be found in the PoI GPX – they also contain the locations mentioned.
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Approach – Hilsa
As we are doing the GHT eastbound, we need to get to Hilsa. There are basically two options. Take a plane either from Kathmandu or Nepalgunj to Simikot and then a Jeep to Hilsa. Or take a bus from Kathmandu to Nepalgunj and then another Bus to Simikot. We decided to take the bus. The first one was 2.500 NPR, took 12 h, and was okay. The A/C wasn’t really working, and the road is absolute shit for the first 300km. The second bus departs around 5 PM for 5.500 NPR and took 48h. The journey will always take 3 days as there are two fixed sleep stops. The places were 200 NPR and 250 NPR. We were super lucky therefore we arrived at the hotel for the 2nd night already at 5 PM. The last 100 km took 12h and even though we didn’t had any rain during the trip we will git stuck two times. We stayed at Hotel Kailash – GHT Checkpoint and highly reccomend for 1.500 NPR fir the room and they offered incredible delicious food.
So long story short – take the plane. Its incredible exhausting, slow, tedious and unpredictable. If I would ever have to go to Simikot again – i would fly from Nepalgunj.
Taking the Jeep from Simikot to Hilsa was easy and straight forward – it was 25.000 NPR. We didn’t had any checkpoints and it took 5,5 hours. There is a lot of construction along the road especially at the beginning and the condition is really good. The middle part is quite bumpy, after that it’s getting gradually better. We stayed at the Baglung Resort – not the GHT checkpoint but was recommended and I can also recommended it.
Small tipp – we didn’t had any Namaste [NCT – Nepal Telekom Signal] and no Wifi. If you want to have super fast internet just buy a China eSim – this is what I did.
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DAY 1 – 22.6 km | 916m | 5h 49m | 6h 28m | Yari
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Very straight forward. Easy hike along the main dirt road. Stayed at a guest house.
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DAY 2 – 24.92 km | 657m | 5h 42m | 6h 44m | Yangar
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Easy road walking until the bridge. After that it’s a hiking trail along the old dirt road. At one point you come back on the old dirt road which is maintained. Stick to the dirt road until you reach Yangar. A few kilometers before the hiking trail starts again and you can follow it all the way up to the main dort road. Easy hiking – stayed at a guest house.
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DAY 3 – 24.93 km | 520m | 5h 41m | 6h 43m | Dharapuri
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Straightforward road walking. Encountered one checkpoint they asked if we had a guide.
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DAY 4 – 13.6 km | 1050m | 3h 37m | 5h 09m | Simikot
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After clarifying the trail condition at our guest house we decided to take the route along the river not the road. It was a nice trail until you hit the old road. This turn into the new road and then joins the main road. After the pass it’s a easy hike down to Simikot.
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DAY 6 – 23.08 km | 1.296m | 5h 45m | 7h 39m | Durpa
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Following the main street down from Simikot is straightforward. After a small stop at a shop in the valley a new road goes up the mountain. Before the village it turns into a small and quite steep trail. For 700m it’s quite overgrown. There are no shops, guesthouse in Durpa – you could sleep at the school. The trail continues steep and plenty of water until the camp.
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Equipment
(Coming soon)
Cost breakdown
(Coming soon)
Navigation & Apps
(Coming soon)
Technical Passes
(Coming soon)
GHT Trekking Agency
(coming soon)
pre-Trail preparation
(Coming soon)
Infra on the Trail
(Coming soon)
Visa
(coming soon)
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