Mamnet, Srinagar – Kashmir

Mamnet, a heavenly meadow in the lap of the Zabarwan range of mountains in Kashmir remains a fairly unexplored gem situated just a few kilometers away from the heart of srinagar city. The trek starts from Scholar’s School dhara, harwan. So, when I started this trek with some of my friends, this region of the Zabarwan range was quite unfamiliar to me & considering we decided to have this trek amidst winter made the task much more challenging. We started at around 7 in the morning. The cold chilly breeze of a winter morning welcomed us as we got off our car. We had never experienced a snow trek before so there was both a rush of excitement & a bit of fear of the unknown. One of the locals even went on to say that at this time of the year in the early morning, the bears descend to the lower reaches so it’s very unsafe but because we had proper gear with us, we decided to go ahead with the trek.

The trail leading upto the top is quite visible usually but because it was winter and the snow was around 5 feet, we had to be quite cautious so as we don’t deviate from the trail. The start of the trek is always difficult because your body has to adapt to the harsh environment it’s in, so we started off slowly and within an hour or so, we reached a lea where we decided to take a rest. The sun was also starting to come out which is always a good sign. After taking a breather, we started off again and as soon as we started and gained altitude, the weather started to get worse. The sun hid behind a huge cluster of clouds. As we kept trekking upwards, the accumulated snow on the ground began to rise which altered our pace. The visibility gradually started to decline but we stayed together as a group and made sure we didn’t deviate from the trail.

After a long and arduous climb, we finally reached the top. The meadow was covered in snow, with clouds not letting a single ray of sunlight to come through, but it was divine. It felt like we were strolling in the clouds and everywhere we looked our eyes could only see the color white. We knew we couldn’t stay there for a long time so we had a light lunch, explored the place a little & started the descend. We reached the bottom of the hill at around 3 in the afternoon. It felt like an achievement because of the harsh conditions in which we took on this challenge and even though I’ve been lucky enough to have seen a lot of such wild, uncharted places – Mamnet remains one of it’s kind. So, I would recommend the beginners & people from outside the valley to take on this trail in the summertime. But for the seasoned trekkers, this snow trek is a must.