How is your life behind that desk? happy? I really know the answer, you don’t need to explain it. I too felt the same and escaped for one week to First ever Snow Trek in my life. With so much going on in my personal life, i thought it was important for me to take a break.
Preparation:
If you are a frequent Trekker, Kedarkantha Trek is going to be one of the easy Treks. Often Labeled as Easy to Moderate trek, It also requires Strength and little preparation ahead of it. If You are Trekking for first time, then start jogging at least 15 days before, that should be more than enough. If you are a Sportsperson or athlete, Just the normal preparation is enough.
“Climbing to the top demands strength, whether it is to top of Mountain or to top of your career.”
Packing:
Since it was my first Snow Trek, i was unsure of what to pack. I referred to google and packing list given by Hyderabad Trekking Club(HTC). I already had the basic equipment since i travel regularly like Waterproof Trekking Shoes, Travel Bag and day pack, Fleece. If You lack any equipment , you can buy them in Decathlon or any Sports Shop. If you are short on budget, do not buy those equipment, you can rent most of them in Sankri, a village at the foot of kedarkantha hills. If anyone wants to know exactly what to pack they can ask or contact me.
Day 0:
I booked a flight from Bangalore to Dehradun directly, since I had no time to go to Delhi and take an overnight bus to Dehradun, which is cheaper by the way. I took flight at 6:20 in morning and landed at 9:15 in Dehradun. There I met with other people who are traveling with HTC. Since we came a day early than what was planned. We went to various places in Dehradun like Robber’s cave , IFR. Robber’s cave was good as we were walking in water inside those caves. Went back to Room which was booked through Airbnb in the evening and took rest. Was excited for our journey next day.
Day 1:
We got up as early as 6 am and got freshen up and headed to Railway station where bus was waiting for us. We started our journey at 7:30am to Sankri . The journey takes around 7-8 hours. So we loaded ourselves with snacks and drinks which we might require on that day. The Ghat roads were amazing and very curvy , so suggest to eat minimal and non oily foods during journey. We enjoyed ourselves along the road and got familiar with each other on the way. The Mountains added the beauty to roads.
On our way we passed through Mussoorie, another feather of beauty lying in Mountains. We had a halt at Kempty falls, had our lunch there. Most of us bought woolen items there, since they were cheaper and good quality. Like woolen gloves and woolen caps were for Rs.100/- only each, cheaper compared to Decathlon or any other shops in metropolitan cities. Kempty falls is amazing, even in the month of February.
On our way to Sankri, yamunotri river was flowing right beside the Ghat roads. The journey , Mountains and the river filled my travel lust for the day. We would never get bored of those views. It just kept getting better and better.
Before reaching Sankri, we lost our phone signals at a town called Mohri. We will get only BSNL network in Sankri but don’t relay on it. We reached Sankri by evening 4:30 pm and was allotted Tents. It was 3 sharing. We got freshen up quickly and headed to Sankri market to rent Trekking gear. Gaitors , Shoes and Trekking pole were provided to us by the Guides( for rental only). The rest we can get for rental in market for less cost. Please carry cash with you all times because there won’t be any Internet or Swiping Machines or ATM’s there. There should be a minimum of Rs. 3500/- in cash with you before reaching Sankri. The day ended with a delightful dinner and we headed back to our tents and kept Camera and Mobile phones on charge, which should sustain for next 3 days.
Day 2:
Day started early in morning, the view from Tents was classic. Temperature was around 12°C in the morning.
Trekking started after having a light breakfast around 10 am. Our destination for the day was Juda ka talab. If you are Going for first Snow Trek , it is recommended to offload your luggage. Mules will carry your luggage for the entire trek and it costs around Rs.1000/- for one bag for entire trek. Keep only the essentials like water bottles and sunscreen/lip balm, and Chocolate bars in the day pack, Rest all are unnecessary for the first day trek. we wore only one layer of clothes on the first day, that was enough ,cause you tend to get lot of sweat as you trek. The view just keeps getting better as we get higher. Our First stop was at a Tea point , which came after 1 hour of trek. We filled our bottles from nearby river water which were fresh , tasty and chilled. We took break for 15-20 mins and we again began our trek. We don’t need Clamp on/ micro spikes on first day. We don’t need Gaiters too.
We reached Juda ka Talab around 4:30 pm. The temperature was Falling gradually. Our Rucksacks were there waiting for us at Camp which we offloaded. We were allotted Tents on 3- sharing basis. Changed to two layers as soon as we got our luggage as it became cold outside. Had our evening Tea , we spent the evening Clicking Pictures and playing with Snow. Some of our team has even made a Mini Iceman in the mean time and It was too good. Since there is no electricity, everyone headed back to tents after Sunset.With only available Solar Light, we had our dinner under it around 7:30 pm , which is good in taste, never expected food of that quality at that place, Kudos to Chef. After dinner, we got back to tents, sang few songs , played UNO too. Around 9:30 or so, everyone crawled into Sleeping bags and lost into dreams.
Day 3:
I got up early than others cause i wanted to feel the Snow when it is fresh. I played with snow for few minutes and got back into tent. The real Struggle started after this because of availability of washroom. There were 3 tents of washroom. They were okay-ish, as we cannot expect more in mountains , we adjusted to it. One more important things was, there were no water for other purposes except drinking. So we had to use Toilet Rolls. After Freshening Up, We packed our luggage and gave it to offloading. I wore one pair of clothes and One fleece/ Sweater was kept in my Day-pack just in case. We wore our Clamp on/ micro spikes. We had our breakfast and filled our water bottles and started our trek for the day.
Snow was more than our first day and the way was slippery too. But it was exciting , as the altitude rose, beauty of nature unwrapped itself. One can never get enough of the views. It was like complete bed of snow. I loved the way , how every corner had its Surprises, how mountains showed themselves to the eyes of the trekker.
After 1 hour or so, we reached Juda ka Talab, it was a frozen lake. That was my first time to watch a frozen lake in live. Felt good and the child inside wanted to walk on it. Do not try this, cause we never know how brittle the frozen ice can be. We took a break for around 30mins and we clicked some good pictures. After this point , there has been steep increase in trek path. Most of us started getting headache, which is common at that altitude. After trekking for another 2 and half to 3 hours we reached the base camp. The view from there was amazing, you can see other trekkers camping too. As soon as we reached, took our backpacks and headed to allotted Tents. We freshend up and had soup. After soup, we slided and played in snow. In the meantime, dinner was prepared. We had our dinner and got ready to sleep early ,cause the next day trek starts at early morning 3:00 , to catch sunrise.
Day 4:
THE SUMMIT DAY. This day started as early as 2:30 am. Everyone wore around 3 layers to protect them from cool winds and temperature, which was around -7°C. We wore gaiters and clamp on. Torch light/ Head torch is mandatory, otherwise one won’t be able to see anything. Trek in Snow and that too at pitch dark, just can’t stop the adrenaline kick. So, we started with our lights on and it was after 1and half hour of difficult trek, we reached a tea point. Those who are not fit enough to trek after this point, took rest at tea point. Others ,after a short break, started to summit the peak. This is the difficult part of entire trek. Breathing became little difficult, the peak was so near yet so far. For first timers, it challenged mentally and physically. After 2 hours of trek from the tea break, finally reached the summit. There it is. The wonderful view hiding at 12,500 ft. I was awe-stricken with the view. Snowy mountains were spread till you can lay your eyes. We clicked good pics and soaked in it’s beauty. I felt like the struggle, effort, pain all was worth for that view.
Temperature began dropping rapidly. Since there was no proper sunrise and clouds began to hover above us, we had to get down the peak sooner than we thought. We started our descent in a very fun way. We started sliding our way down. The decent path is different from the climbing path. So most of the time we were sliding down. This is actually faster but riskier too. So take care of yourself while sliding, be under guide supervision all the time. So it took us around 2hours to reach the base camp. We had our lunch and packed our bags. Since most of our trek group was active enough, we thought to make the long descent directly to Sankri.
We started our down trek around 12:30pm. As we are going down, the views started to fade away. But the down trek is not easy as one thought, the path was slippery and most of our group fell or skidded in mud, nothing serious though. In between we halted at a tea point, just for a short break. We took around 4 hours to trek completely down. Finally in Sankri, after 3 days of our little adventure. That evening ,i slept with a satisfaction , felt like achieved something. The feeling of ticking one off your Bucket-list.
Day 5:
The last day of our trek. Packed our luggages and got into a tempo. With heavy heart, said goodbye to one of the best weeks till now. Loved every moment of our trek. Those Mountains and the valleys filled my heart. We headed back to Dehradun, which took around 7 hours. From there everyone , headed for their respective homes.
Till this day I miss those Mountains and amazing people. It was my first Snow trek but not going to be the last one.
“Bags of memories with backpacks“
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