Up to the temple before the crowds, bags in hand

Delhi to Kanatal is a manageable day — the plains to Rishikesh, then the climb past Chamba on the Tehri road, cool and green by the time you are above 2,000 m. Kanatal itself is quiet, a scatter of resorts and orchards, and we ate early because the plan was a 5 a.m. start.

The Surkanda Devi temple sits at about 2,750 m above Kaddukhal, on the Chamba–Mussoorie road. There is a cable car now, but we walked — a steep 1.5 km, maybe forty-five minutes in the cold and dark, head-torches on. We had the last stretch of path to ourselves and the top almost empty, the valley filling with light while we stood around not talking much.

Coming down is when you see it. The trail collects wrappers, water bottles, foil prasad packaging and broken chai glasses, and the Kaddukhal parking at the bottom — where the buses and cabs idle — is worse, a rim of plastic and cigarette packs around the edge of the lot.

We did the descent slowly with a bag each, then spent another twenty minutes on the car park itself. About 19 kilos between us. The temple committee has a bin arrangement at Kaddukhal and we handed it in there. A group of local lads doing the walk asked what we were doing and then two of them joined in for the last stretch, which was the best part of the morning.

Back at Kanatal for a proper breakfast, then the ridge road to Dhanaulti and its eco-parks before dropping back down the Tehri road to the plains. An easy ride home, done in daylight.

Go in spring or autumn — winter can put snow on the Surkanda path and close it. The route, the temple-walk note and the season table are on the Delhi to Kanatal & Dhanaulti page.