Kedartal Trek Travelogue

High Mountains have their own Aura.  Their calmness permeate into one’s being and reinvigorate the body, mind and Soul. Standing Tall, kissing the skies , reflecting their beingness in the still turquoise waters of the Lakes inspires awe and respect and awakens the Humane nature of a man as well as evokes  Spritualism.

And these qualities of the High Mountains and Lakes attract the trekking enthusiasts like me and my Group of friends-who had opted to go for the Kedartaal Trek in the Higher Himalayas.

Our original plan was to visit Gangotri, Gaumukh and Tapovan in May this year. But, because of the ongoing Pandemic and the series of Lockdowns associated with it;  We had to defer our Trekking.

Then, in mid September, We came to know that the trekking will be allowed in the Gangotri as well as Gangotri National Park from 1st Oct 2020. I called up my trekking mates Sunil Raina and Ajay Chauhan.
Both of them were excited to know about the reopening of the treks in the Gangotri Region.

There were at least 6-7 friends who had shown their alacrity to join us for the trek. It was decided that instead of the Gaumukh-Tapovan Trek, we will go for the Kedartaal Trek from 2nd to 7th Oct 2020.

Akhil Koul, Sunil Raina and Ajay Chauhan had given their consent for the trek. Rakesh Bhat too showed interest to join us for this trek just 3-4 days before the commencement of our trek i.e 2nd Oct 2020.

Our Journey started from Haridwar. Our Tour Operator was ‘incredible Outdoors’ and this Company is Headed by Ashish Juyal.  In fact Ashish and two of his friends too joined us for this trek. For Transportation , a Tempo Traveller was arranged by Aashish.

We reached Gangotri in the late Evening of Friday , 2nd Oct. A Hotel/ Guest House was already booked for us.

On 3rd Morning, just Before our  trek, we paid our Obeisance at the Gangotri Temple.

We started our trek at around 10.00 in the morning. All my Trek mates were bubbling with Energy. Rakesh Bhat in Particular seemed more exited than the rest of us. I could understand his exitement as It was his first trek Ever! And that too ‘Kedartaal’- which is considered to be a difficult Trek in trekking circles.

Gangotri is situated at an elevation of more than 10000 feet above MSL. Many people from the plains do feel some symptoms of the Altitute Sickness even at Gangotri! Walking fast on such an Altitute makes one huff! 

It is always advised to walk slow and steady on the high Altitude treks.

Rakesh -because of the excitement- was walking quite fast. Then the actual ascend started. He walked a few steps and started Panting Badly! I was walking slow and was just behind him.
As I reached near to him, He asserted in a bit of disappointment,
‘I will not come with you. I don’t think I will make it to Kedartaal.’ He paused.
I was looking at him with amusement. In fact I knew that he will face difficulty because of his fast pace.

He further announced, ‘You go up. I will wait for you at the Hotel’.

I counseled him, ‘ You are panting because you are simply walking too fast! Slow down your speed and I am sure ,you will be able to make it to the top!’

He Believed my words and restarted his trek slowly and Steadily. He did not face any further difficulties during the entire Trek.

While we were treading to Bhojkharak; A shooting stone  fell from the top of the  Mountain cliff and hit the Right Hand of Ajay. Since Kedartaal comes in the Gangotri National Park; Herds of Himalayan Ibex could be found in this sanctuary. These Animals usually tread the high Mountains and sometimes their movement causes some loose Rocks to fall down. One such Rock had hit Ajay. Luckily for him, He escaped with a minor injury.

After 4-5 hours of our trek from Gangotri , we reached our first campsite Bhoj Kharak. This campsite is situated at an Altitute of around 3700 mts above MSL. One has to cross two tricky sections, that are also known as ‘Spider Walls’. A lot of Hype has been created by the trek Operators about these spider walls. However, we found them normal/easy and not v.difficult as has been propogated by some Trek Operators.

Our trek Organiser and his team that consisted of the cooks, porters as well as the Trek Guide-Ajit  did a stupendous job. I must say that the services offered by them was simply outstanding. The quality of the food was awesome. The suport staff was very helpful as well as Hospitable.

In the late Evening, all our group as well as the support staff celebrated with dancing as well as songs.

By 9.00 PM, we all went to our respective tents. We were alloted two tents. Sunil and Ajay shared one tent, while I, Rakesh and Akhil shared another. We were given sleeping bags that could withstand temperatures of Minus 10 degrees centigrade. We felt cozy in our tents, although the temperature outside was below freezing.

On 4th Oct, after having a delectable Breakfast, we headed towards our next campsite-Kedarkharak. This campsite is situated at an approximate Altitute of 4300 mts above MSL. It took us 4-5 hrs to reach this campsite. The vistas from Bhojkharak till Kedartaal is  simply enchanting. A Tricky Section of landslide area comes in between Bhojkharak and Kedarkharak. To escape this tricky section, our Guide Ajit advised us to cross to the other side of  Kedar Ganga. The point we choose to cross the Stream, the maximum depth of the water was around 3 feet deep. The waters were ice cold. Crossing and recrossing the Stream added a fun factor as well as adventure to our journey.

Just before the Kedarkharak campsite, a Herd of Himalayan Ibex greeted us. They didn’t seemed to shy away from us . We watched them as they locked their horns, or  drank water from the running stream , or were simply grazing and relaxing.

By 3.00 PM, we had reached our campsite at Kedarkharak, we were offered some snacks as well as coffee .we did witness some gusty cold winds on the first day. It did also snow there briefly for some minutes. But, the skies soon cleared up. For the next 2 nights , we were greeted by the sunny days and freezing nights!

In the evening, we sang some Bhajans, did pranayama on ‘OM’ as well as did meditation.
By 9.00 PM, we  were in our respective tents.

It must have been around 12 in the midnight, when Sunil in a stentorian voice raised the slogan of ‘Har Har Mahadev’! I am not sure, whether we were sleeping or not, but I did answer Back, ‘ Har Har Mahadev’!’.

‘Come out! It is not that cold outside. Also, the view of the starry sky is spectacular’ Sunil was trying to inveigle us . He had slept earlier than us and it seemed that He was in no mood to sleep soon!

Well…I ,Akhil and Rakesh too were not feeling that sleepy and we all decided to go out of our tents and join Sunil.
He was not wrong! We didn’t feel cold outside! It was indeed a starry night. Also the Moon was up!  Even the Mighty Mountains of  Brigupanth and Thalaisagar were visible. It was indeed a Breathtaking View.

We clicked some photographs ,Joked,  Laughed and after half an hour went back to our respective tents.
 
We were supposed to leave early by 8.00am towards Kedartaal. We woke up by 6.00 in the morning. It was freezing cold outside. The stream running close to our campsite had partially frozen. It must have been around -8 to -10 degrees centigrade. The freezing cold deferred our start by another 2 hours. Finally by 10 in the morning, we started our final ascend to Kedartaal.It was a Bright sunny Day. A section of the stream was still frozen!

The trek from Kedarkharak to Kedartaal is quite Rocky. It does not offer as picturesque views. However the views of the High Mountain Tops and distant Glaciers are much clearer.

After two hours, I and Ajay reached Kedartaal. This lake is situated at an Altitude of around 16000 ft above MSL.
Sunil, Akhil and Rakesh too joined us soon. The scintillating turquoise waters looked surreal. This Lake is an epitome of Beauty. It is surrounded by three big Mountains. Mount Thalaisar( 6904 mts) , Mount Meru(6672 mts) and Mount Brigupanth( 6772 mts) and they seem to be the Guardians of this Lake. Kedar Ganga-that meets Bhagirathi at Gangotri-has its source here. This Lake is considered to be the lake of Shiva and is held very sacred by the people of Uttarkashi.

We paid our Obeisance here and also had a dip in this beautiful holy lake out of reverence. We also offered pooja at the Banks of the lake.

We started back to Kedarkharak at around 2.45 PM.
By 4 or 4.30 Pm , we were at our Campsite. That Evening also, we did OM chanting as well as Pranayama.

We retired to our tents by 9.00PM. The Night was much colder than the previous one.

Next Morning, we went out of our Tents by 6.30. I had a look at the rivulet nearby. It was completely frozen. It was estimated that the night temperatures had plunged to -12 to -15degrees centigrade!

After having our Breakfast, we started our descend back to Gangotri.

While coming back towards Bhojkharak, I , Ajay and  Akhil opted to take the Landslide prone area stretch while as , Rakesh and Sunil opted to recross the Kedarganga Stream.

The landslide prone area stretch is around half a kilometer long. One has to be very cautious while crossing this section of the area. Just a couple of years back, a porter was killed by the landslide at this tricky Patch.

It took us only 4 to 4.30 hrs to descend back to Gangotri. Ajay collected the Sacred waters at the Banks of the Gangotri Temple. Since Sunil and Rakesh had opted to take the river route; they were late by an hour. They went straight to the Holy Gangotri Temple and thanked Goddess Ganga for our safe journey.

By 5 PM , we started our journey Back . We halted for the night at a Hotel at Uttarkashi. Next Morning, we started early by 5 am and reached Back to Haridwar by 2 P.M.

This journey will remain special for a few reasons:
1. It did not rain at all during our entire Trek. This has happened for the first time, although I have trekked several times .Had it rained, the trek would have become very slippery and thus difficult to tread.

2.Even though, it was Rakesh’s first Trek; he was able to complete it rather easily.

3. None of us face any sort of Altitute Sickness or got tired in the entire journey.

4. The Food offered to us during our trek was Luscious.

5. For 8 Trekkers; there was a suport team of 11 people.

And lastly, Whole day , It was Sunny at Kedartaal-which is a rare phenomenon. We were told that sometimes people had to wait for days, in order to get the clear views of the Mountains and the lake.

Apart from my Trekmates-who made this journey adventurous as well as spritual-I would also like to Thank Ashish Juyal and his team for making this trip a memorable one.

I strongly recommend this Lake to those who are adventurous, lovers of nature as well as  Devotees of Shiva!

Har Har Mahadev’!