Thailand Mountain Trail has spent several years to investigate the most remote mountain trails in Northern Thailand before creating an important network of hiking footpaths. Thanks to our extensive knowledge of these mountain areas and our long relationship with local people, our company is the only one in Chiang Mai to organize trips and bring runners into these remote tribal areas.

This 2-day trip will lead us to the last part of TMT.1 until Chiang Dao, the highest mountain range of Thailand. Starting in the low valley of Mae Taeng into the deep jungle, we will progressively run up to the Lahu high country to charming bamboo villages before reaching the highest summits of the Chiang Mai province. It’s a privilege to run in this steep, wild and magnificent area unknown from the tourists.

It’s a long and slow climb exposed to the sun and the mountains around. It’s both beautiful and tough as the sun begins to beat down. After one hour, at 1300m above sea level the village of Hmong Ngo located on a pass reveals its bamboo houses nestling against the mountainside. The view all around is now imposing and wide. For the next kilometers we are surrounded by an ocean of greenery until we reach the lovely village of Kio Bua Ha.

After passing another Hmong village, the route turns left to follow a river for 10 kilometers. It starts with a stream that runs down into gorges and jungle. We must focus and be careful because it’s not really a trail that we have to follow, we must hike directly in the water. Progress is difficult and slow, but when the stream finally joins the river of Mae Taeng, the horizon opens. The trail becomes easier until we reach the 20m-high waterfall of Huay Satan.

It remains 8k and 800m elevation gain to reach the overnight place. We must first hike up a steep slope to the Lahu village of Kup Kap. It’s a last tough effort, but on arrival, we get a wonderful wide view over the valley of Mae Taeng. Then it’s getting easier with an open trail on the mountainside until the village of Pha Deng. This Lahu village located on a ridge at 1100m. offers great scenery at sunset. We will eat and sleep there in bamboo huts we have built with a local family in the purest traditional Lahu style.

After the summit and a deserved lunch break, we continue running on a beautiful ridge. The atmosphere has changed completely; we are now in a large pine forest and running on a carpet of needles is a great feeling. When we arrive at Doi Pakhia summit (1680m), we can observe for the 1^st time the massive mountain range of Chiang Dao. Standing out against the sky, it is the only alpine mountain in Thailand. With a profusion of lesser peaks and ridges, it is also the most imposing and beautiful one.

In the Hmong village of Pakhia, we will take a break for lunch, before tackling the final part. We have to go all around the massif of Chiang Dao from the south face to the north face on a steep trail going up and down. We will reach first an open-ridge line where we can observe in the distance the magnificent mountains of Chiang Dao. Then we run down and up a technical trail that will lead us to the final Lisu villages of Fa Suay and Na Lao Mai.