General
The Gorgeous ridge or Pha Gnam peak is 2,277 meters above sea level and is a part of the Inthanon mountain range. The Inthanon Mountain itself is 2,565 meters above sea level and is the highest mountain in Thailand. There is a valley between the Inthanon mountain and Pha Gnam. The two mountains are known as brothers. Pha Gnam, true to its name, is a gorgeous place to visit. There are not many tourists as not many tour companies offer tours in this area. So the peak if not known at all.
Day 1
We pick you up at 09.00 am from Chiang Mai and first drive for about 1 hour to a local market where we shop for supplies for the trek. We then continue to drive for another 45 minutes and walk for about 10 minutes until we reach a waterfall where we go for a swim. Afterwards, we eat our lunch and fruit for desert by the waterfall. There is a path and a clearing where we can comfortably enjoy our lunch.
Rested and full, we continue to drive for another hour through the forest and on a ridge until we are in the middle of a jungle. Here we start hiking for about 3 hours to the campsite. In the evening before the sunset, we hike up to the Gorgeous peak (Pha Gnam) for about 15-20 minutes and enjoy the evening vies. We see Doi Inthanon and behind it numerous lower peaks of the Inthanon range. Gorgeous mountain has two distinct sides: on one side is an agricultural plantation, a hill tribe village, and forest and on the other side is only dense jungle. We see the sunset on the jungle side.
Tonight we stay in the camp under the trees which shield us from strong mountain winds. Note that in the rainy season we spend the night in a tribal village a bit lower down the mountain. There is no shower, electricity, or toilet at the peak.
Day 2
We wake up 30 minutes before sunrise and do the short hike to the peak to enjoy the daybreak. We see the sun rise behind the plantation and tribal village on the left-hand side as we hike to the peak and the gorgeous red and yellow light of the horizon as the sun slowly rises around us when we are on the peak of Gorgeous mountain. As we enjoy this morning wonder, we have hot tea and coffee.
After sunrise, we hike back to the campsite for breakfast and more tea/coffee and then hike into the unique primeval forest. We walk for 1 and a half hours in the forest and another 20 minutes through the plantations until we reach a pick-up point where our trekking truck awaits and then drive for 15 minutes to the start point of our next trail. From here, we hike for an hour through the primary rain forest to a waterfall where we have a break for lunch.
After lunch, we continue hiking for another 3 hours through the jungle to a Karen tribe village where we stay overnight. The village is in the forest but there is a mountain road leading to it so it is accessible by trekking truck, therefore, we can make this tour into a 2-day itinerary and drive back to Chiang Mai from the village.
We have dinner in the village and spend the night as guests of the villagers. We can also shower in the village.
Day 3
We leave the village after breakfast and start hiking for 2 and a half hours through the rain forest and uphill to a smaller mountain peak at 1,400 meters above sea level. Here we prepare the fire to cook our lunch and boil water for our tea/coffee.
In the afternoon, we hike for 3 hours to a waterfall to swim and from there continue hiking for another 20 minutes to our car which takes us back to Chiang Mai. We reach the city late in the afternoon.
