This is the most frequently asked question related to the tarsar marsar trek. Many trekkers who want to do this trek, need to know how difficult is this trek. It’s only by knowing about this trek, that many trekkers either opt for this trek. In this blog, we will be explaining the difficulty of this trek. And explaining how the trail of this trek looks like so that a trekker is prepared before coming on the actual trek.
Introduction:
First let’s get an introduction about this trek. This trek is around 50km in length and it takes around 7 days to finish this trek. The trek is mostly famous for twin lakes i.e Tarsar and Marsar lakes. It starts from the Aru valley of Kashmir which is around 112 km from Srinagar.
The trek has beautiful meadows like lidderwat meadow. And all along the trek, you will be walking beside the river streams. The famous among all of the river streams in this trek is the Lidder river which is the tributary of river Jhelum. This trek has jungle walks as well along with meadow walks. Tarsar Marsar Trek is the summer trek and the best months to do this trek is from June to October. However, in July and August, this trek is in the full bloom of lush greenery and wildflowers.
The difficulty of the trek:
Tarsar Marsar trek is an easy to moderate trek. The trek is largely a meadow walk. It starts with a short ascent from Aru and enters into a jungle which is an easy walk. The trail then goes to wavy meadows until lidderwat campsite. The next day again starts with a short ascent and then goes through a short jungle walk until it opens to a meadow.
There is a river crossing on this day. The following days the trail goes through long meadows. However, there are two short but sharp ascents. One ascent is going up to the Tarsar Ridge. This is after you have seen Tarsar Lake. Then another ascent comes when you go from Sundersar lake to Marsar lake. This ascent is also short and steep. However, the gradient of the two ascents is moderate. The trek has some boulder sections. One is when you go from shewas to tarsar lake and another comes before this. Just before the shekwas valley.
All in all the trek is an easy trek mostly but gets moderate in difficulty with the length and some short ascents. It in no way is a difficult trek. Beginners can join this trek. However, someone who is living a completely sedentary life has to hit the gym and do some cardio. Mix your cardio with some stretching exercises and squat workouts.
Trek highlights of Tarsar Marsar Trek
Duration: The trek is finished in 7 days which includes one acclimatization day at Aru base camp. This duration is perfect to avoid any high altitude sickness of AMS.
Distance: The total distance of the trek is around 50km. This is not a circuit trek. It starts and ends at Aru. You will have to follow the same trail for the last two days.
Highest Altitude: The highest altitude of the trek is 4020m which one reaches while going for Marsar Lake. The trek starts at an altitude of 2450m which is at Aru.
Best season: Tarsar Marsar Trek is a summer trek and is best done between June to October. This trek is not a winter trek and remains covered in heavy snow all winter.
How to reach: You should hire a direct cab from Srinagar that will drop you at the base camp Aru. The drive takes around 3.5 hours and the distance is around 110km from Srinagar and 12km from Pahalgam.
To sum up, the Tarsar Marsar trek is an easy to moderate trek. It is recommended for both beginners and seasoned trekkers. The best attraction of the trek is its wavy meadows, alpine lakes, and river streams. One sees three alpine lakes in this trek that including tarsar and marsar lakes.
