Holi in the Mountains: A First Forest Hike with My Puppies

The snow has melted away from Shilha village and its surroundings. It has almost started to feel like Spring. Or more like Summer if we go down the mountains to the cities. As unusual as it sounds to have Summer in March, this weather has allowed us to start our hikes and treks in this part of the Himalayan mountains.

So, on the day of Holi, I decided to go for a hike with my 4-month-old puppies after the snow-filled winter of 2025-2026. Since this is their first hike in their puppy life, I wanted to do this on an auspicious day.

We started around 8.30 from Shilha village, aiming to reach the meadows up in the forest. The forest, filled with tall pine trees and wildflowers, is a beautiful experience. But the meadows feel special and unexpected in between the sloppy mountains.

This hike was more about seeing how much Echo, Shai and Kai enjoy mountain hikes and treks. I have a long-term plan to take them on longer, higher treks like Sar Pass in the future. I also want them to accompany me and the guests on our treks.

So, we started strong. They climbed up the slopes with ease and stayed back in between to play with each other. The first part was the apple orchards. It is still closer to the village, and there were a few villagers pruning the trees for the next season.

The pruned apple trees look so different from how they were in the latter part of 2025. They have not a single leaf on them; their tops, slender twigs, were cut off and painted blue and white to fight the diseases.

When you look from here, it feels like an endless terrain of apple trees. But, then there are patches of yellow flowers of mustard and other vegetables starting to come out of soil after the snow.

The best part about the apple orchards and other cultivation fields is the “Dogra” or the small hut-like house. Dogras are where the families spent most of their time during the sowing and harvest seasons and beyond.

We reached our first resting spot in an hour. It is the resting spot for many villagers as well, who go to their apple orchards above. They stay for a short break, sometimes smoke, relax and continue climbing.

We stayed there for just a while and continued climbing up the mountain. After this point, there are a few apple orchards, and then the whole scene starts to change. When we look opposite to us, we feel we’re already at eye level with the huge mountains opposite to us.

The landscape also starts to change. Now, there are snow patches here and there. Huge, tall mountains surround us, and we feel we’re slowly entering a thick forest. There is nobody around us.

A lot of fallen pine cones, small trails and silence. It is beautiful but a little scary.

From here, I didn’t quite know the route. It was more of an exploration to reach the meadows. I told the puppies we are going to find the meadows. From there, they started leading the way as if they understood what I told them.

They showed me the trails, ran up and watched what was up ahead, and Kai stayed with me. Echo and Shai, who were way ahead of us, checking the trails stopped now and then waited for me to reach them.

In between the hike, they found a skeleton of some animal and stayed back to munch on it. I had to call them way too many times to leave that and continue the hike.

One thing was clear from the hike— they loved climbing mountains.

At around 12, we reached the top of the mountain we were climbing. Yet no meadows in sight. I understood we’ve gone in a different direction. Now, this top faced another part of the mountain, which meant there was bright, hot sun shining on us.

This was our spot for the day. The view from here was stunning. Snow-capped mountains at our eye level and trees still covered in snow. It felt like the mountains around us are still in a different time zone.

All three puppies were tired once we started walking in the sun. They started to ask me to stop. It felt so special to watch how they communicate with me. Then we found a place near someone’s dogra to take rest.

I had carried food and water for them. They were fed, and all of them went to sleep immediately. It was a quiet place, a little scary quiet, and I stayed awake looking after them.

There are many stories of leopards coming for the dogs in these mountains. So, I was very careful and scared. Because there is no way I can escape or save my puppies if any wild animal comes to us.

After they woke up, we decided to go down. It was already noon, and the general rule is not to stay in the forests once it gets dark. Since spring has almost started, the duration of the day is longer than that of winter.

I thought of taking another route back home, but two of the puppies were stubborn about not walking in the sun. They just made a whining noise like their mother and asked me to come back.

So, we went back the same route to the village— small meadows, icy patches and tall trees. I collected so many tiny pine cones.

There were star-like colourful flowers that had started to show up.

This is one of the hikes I’m planning to offer my guests from April. It’s scenic, beautiful and not very stressful. On the way back, the puppies had an encounter with other shepherd dogs and a cow. Kai was chased by a cow who was a recent mother through the slopes, and she reached home way before us.

Soon, the Echo, Shai and I reached home and waited for our new volunteer to join us on our homestay.

We're going for more hikes starting from April. Are you joining us??