ugti Pass Trek_The bridge before the school
[Walk up the now gentle undulating trail with pines as company. A wide curve of the trail and a bend later, the view opens out to the first construction of Kugti. Below and on the other side of a stream that crosses your path is a large grey building. It is a primary school under construction.
It is a sharp short switchback decent to the stream, before rejoining the trail that widens out to a flat straight walk through a thick canopy of pines. The school passes below you. Twenty minutes later watch for a tributary that joins the Budhil below you, signaling the start of the Kugti village. The trail veers sharply to the left and around a bend the entire Kugti village opens out in a picturesque settlement.
Do not enter the village, but ask the locals for direction to the Forest Rest House. It is directly above the trail at the entrance of the village. Located in an idyllic setting the Kugti Forest Rest house overlooks the entire Kugti village. With the Budhil flowing below through a gorge, the Kugti village looks perched over a high cliff. On the other side of the river, the thick impenetrable pine forests still continue to overlook the setting.
The caretaker of the Forest Rest House can fix you up a room quickly (ideally booked at Bharmour) or use the grounds of the FRH to set up your tents.
Day 2. Kugti (8,500 feet) to Duggi (11,000 feet)
Via Kelang temple (4 kms). Mostly gentle climbs with a short steep climb to Kelang temple, further followed by easy undulating walk to Duggi. Total distance 7 kms. Time: 5 hours.
The days trek has numerous changes in scenery at the end of which you camp above the tree line.