Kedarkantha – A Perfect Winter Trek for adventure seekers
It was already 4 months since we did our last trek so the desire for Adventure in us started to excite us. Then we looked for options for doable treks in February 2020. We were starting to plan a 4 to 5 days trip, so after digging a bit we both decided to go for Kedarkantha.
Packing & Gears Shopping
Now that the destination was finalized, we had to block a calendar date, but we needed to wrap up our tasks at our workplace before that. So we celebrated 14th Feb 2020, yeah “Valentine’s Day” by packing up our rucksacks. Since this was going to be our first winter trek together, we had to purchase a few essentials, and our best-preferred store for hiking gear was, of course, DECATHLON. We had a bunch of items on our list to buy like gaiters, fleece, warmers, winter gloves, etc.
It was the night of 14th Feb 2020, we were ready with our rucksacks packed, along with other stuff for the adventurous trip which was about to begin.
Heading Dehradun
In the early morning of 15th Feb 2020, around 5 AM we started our journey by our car to Dehradun. It took us approximately 5hrs to reach there. Around 10:15 AM we got into our Hotel- HW Residency, Rajpur Road, where we used to stay every time we visited Dehradun, but unfortunately, check-in time was 12 PM noon and they had no vacant room so we had to wait till then.
As we started our road trip early in the morning, by now we were starving and it was time for breakfast also. So we decided to go to Bikanervala on the same Rajpur road. After having breakfast, it was almost 12 PM and we went back to our hotel and checked into our room. We called off for the rest of the day as we had to depart for our real journey the next early morning.
16th Feb 2020, Day 1 – Dehradun To Sankri
We woke up early at 4 AM and got ready quickly as we were not aware of the bus timings but some locals told us that the bus for Sankri leaves by 6:30 or 7 AM. We had to rush to reach the bus stand so, we checked out the hotel by 5 AM. Before leaving we parked our car at the hotel parking lot and informed the receptionist that we would come back in 3-4 days. It was dark outside and it became quite challenging for us to find any convenience to reach the bus stand. Then we had to walk a few KMs and luckily we got an auto-rickshaw on the opposite side of the road. We called the auto driver and asked him to drop us at the bus stand which would take us to Sankri. He agreed to drop us but was charging ₹400. We somehow negotiated and fixed ₹300. It took us around 20-30 minutes to reach the bus stand. We quickly went to the inquiry counter and asked for a bus to Sankri. The attendant told us that all the buses to hilly areas depart from the other bus stand known as the “Mussoorie roadways bus stand“, which is also called “Pahado vala bus adda”!! It came out as a big shock for us and we thought we would miss the bus because it was already 6:30 by then. We were wondering whether that auto driver thugged us on purpose just to make extra bucks or probably he was not aware of the bus schedule and misguided us. Hence, we decided not to waste our time to figure out the reason for this goof-up, so we immediately rushed to an auto driver and asked him to drop us at “Pahado vala bus adda”. He agreed to drop us there and charged ₹200. We reached this Pahadi bus stand in about 40 minutes and we literally ran to the ticket counter. By our luck, we didn’t miss the bus as it was scheduled to leave around 8 AM. It was a big sense of relief.! We bought two tickets that cost a total of ₹700. It was 7:30 AM and we still had time to depart so we decided to have tea and biscuits from a local shop. As we were sipping our tea and discussing this horrible experience of getting to the wrong bus stand, we realised that we were saved because we moved very early in the morning and immediately took the right decisions.
Later we got into the bus and settled ourselves for the next 8-9 hours of the journey.
A Long Bus Journey To Sankri
At sharp 8 AM, the bus departed and our journey to Sankri started. Since this was a state bus, it stopped at many local villages and bus stops. We had a long way to go, so I started munching on snacks that we bought from the local shop at the bus stand but Surabhi avoided it as she felt nauseous while travelling in the bus.
It was almost 4 hours, the bus stopped at a point for lunch. We got down and stretched ourselves. Then we headed into a local restaurant and ordered two Rajma Rice Combo for ₹100 per plate. It was tasty and fulfilling as we were hungry since morning and Surabhi felt a little nauseous so she didn’t even have snacks. Now we have energised again and are all set for our next 3-4 hours of journey. We enjoyed the views of the mountains enough in this journey and so badly to reach Sankri ASAP. It was evening already and around 5 PM we reached our destination. We got down from the bus and our next target was to book accommodation to spend the night.
About To Get Tricked
While we were walking here and there, a local man came to us, asked whether we were with a group or solo. We said we are solo travellers and gave him a brief about our trek plan. He then suggested us to stay at his homestay and we were already looking for accommodation for the night so we agreed and went to his place. That homestay location was actually on the way where the trek starts and in between, there was a forest department checkpoint which we found quite thoughtful as there was a queue of few local people getting some paperwork done.
After reaching his place and while showing the homestay, he said we should do the trek with him and for that, he was charging ₹3000 per person as a guide. It was a shock for us as this came out of nowhere and disrupted our plan. We asked him to give us some time to think, meanwhile we decided not to stay at this homestay as it would cause a change in our trek plan. For once we thought that we are not dumb that we would agree to him because we, as solo travellers did so many treks in the past by ourselves, we called him and told him directly that we have a change of plan and we won’t stay in the homestay. He somehow understood that the reason we were not staying here is because of our solo trek plan. He didn’t agree with our plan and told us that it is mandatory to take a guide along with the trekkers. It seemed like he was threatening us. So, after all of this conversation, our mind didn’t allow us to even stay there for a minute and we immediately left the place.
In Search Of Accommodation
We came back to the streets of Sankri where the bus dropped us. There we found few available accommodations like hotel rooms, tiny cottages and a hostel. We decided to go for a hotel room and asked the owner of Hotel Swargarohini Palace. Unexpectedly, he agreed to give a double room for ₹800 per night which was quite reasonable. He also provided us with warm water and full-time electricity, so we found it worthy. Immediately we booked that room and checked in. After so many goof ups since morning, we were relaxed and then got freshen up. Later in the evening, we went outside to have a nice dinner as we had to restore ourselves for the morning plan. When we came downstairs, we asked the hotel owner about the forest permit thing, he said that it is mandatory from the forest department. Also, we asked him if we could do a solo trek and he said yes, it is doable without any local tour guide- just that we needed an official forest permit. We got a sense of relief and left the hotel. While exploring the village we had fun chit chats with a few locals and other trekkers. It was almost dinner time so we went to a cafe nearby and ordered Kadhai Paneer, Dal Tadka and Roti. After having this fulfilling food we went back to our room and started to dream for tomorrow’s hike to the sacred mountain. That night we had a nice sleep which got us mentally prepared for the next morning.
17th Feb 2020, Day 2 – Sankri To Base Camp
As we got up in the morning, our day 1 plan was to reach Juda ka Taal but we had to stretch to the Base Camp. But why such a change of plan suddenly?! That you will definitely get to know below.
So finally after so much processing, it was our trek day. We woke up around 7 AM, the water was frozen to ice cold and this didn’t allow it to flow freely from the tap. We very well knew this could happen, so we already filled a bucket of water at night for emergencies which later became super convenient in the morning for us to freshen up. Then we prepared our own tea and coffee by boiling water on our camping stove. We had Wagh Bakri instant tea mix sachets and coffee packets. After sunrise, the tap water came into a normal state. Then we bathed and got ready to move. We packed our bags and came out to eat. So for breakfast, we preferred something heavy, we had Aloo Parathas and also got some packed for lunch.
Getting Our Permit And Hitting The Trail
After that, we started hunting for someone who could help us in getting the permit from the forest department as they did not allow solo trekkers due to some mishap a few days back. Luckily, we met with Mani Rana, a local guide, who was very helpful. We explained to him our situation and our eagerness to do this trek all alone. He agreed and arranged a permit for us with minimal extra charge or I could say a genuine permit charge- ₹150 per person. So we gave him ₹500 and within 15 minutes we had the permit in our hands. Now we started our trek, he walked with us to the forest department checkpoint just to make sure that they allow us. Later that checkpoint, almost half a KM, the trek trail started which was like all the other treks. In the beginning, it was quite steep and due to the bright sun, snow was melting and the trail was completely muddy. Later, after an hour of hiking, we reached a height where views were getting pleasant. Now we were enjoying our trek and our enthusiasm was coming back which we lacked from the last day experience. However, that is the beauty of solo and unplanned trips which you may never know what you are going to get or how things will go, but with us till now it always ended well.
The trail headed into the pine and oak forests of the Govind Wildlife Sanctuary with a gorgeous backdrop of snow-capped mountain ranges. Now we started our photography sessions and meanwhile enjoying the trail snacks. About an hour later we reached a wooden bridge, across which there was a temporary shop. We took some rest there and had snacks. One thing which we missed to add to our item list was crampons. We didn’t have spikes or crampons with us, that’s why our walk on the melting snow was getting tricky. I almost fell two times “Hahaha” so, if you are planning this trek in winters, Crampons and Gaiters are a MUST.
After we were at some pace, we got up to a height of around 2400metres, gradually the views and snowy pine trail, both were getting interestingly superb. In the next few hours around 4:30 PM, we reached our first milestone, Juda-Ka-Taal.
A frozen lake surrounded by oak and pine trees, Aah! What a mesmerising view that was, great!!
We took some photographs there and tried to find a spot for pitching our tent but all the good spots were already taken over by other groups, so we decided to walk a little further. Now we were walking on soft snow which was between 1-2 ft at some places. What stupidity we did was, that we didn’t wear our Gaiters before. We felt that snow was getting inside our shoes, but it didn’t seem to be a big problem while walking.
Later on, it became worse and we had no idea what kind of consequences we might face.
Then we almost walked a KM from Juda-Ka-Taal in search of a camping spot but no luck. Hence we decided to go to the base camp directly and guess we shouldn’t have taken that decision as Surabhi was suggesting to stop here for the night but I said we have time we could reach there. Moreover, we didn’t get any spot for the tent so finally, we started to head towards base camp. Here you could find many trails so please ask someone for the correct route for the base camp.
From here, the trek got steeper as we crossed far from Juda-Ka-Taal. We were almost exhausted but in the middle of nowhere, it was better to walk forward than go backwards.
Mythology Behind Kedarkantha
On the way, we met a few people who were talking about the MYTHOLOGY behind Kedarkantha.
Kedarkantha means the throat of Lord Shiva, one of the many stories is that after Mahabharat, the Pandavas came to the Himalayas for Lord Shiva’s blessings. Lord Shiva did not appear to meet them and Instead, he took the disguise of a Buffalo and misled the Pandavas. Bheem seeing the herd of buffaloes played a trick. He stood on two rocks with his legs opened wide. The buffaloes were made to pass under Bheem. One of the buffalo refused to pass, resulting in a fight with Bheem. In this fight, Bheem ripped apart the buffalo in pieces. The place where these pieces fell Pandavas later constructed temples of Shiva to worship.
After hearing this story we got to know the mythological importance of this trek which became a shrine for us now.
Reaching Kedarkantha Base Camp
After 2 more hours of walking, we reached base camp around 7 PM and started looking for a place to pitch our tent. Here also the story was the same, all the good spots were taken but we had to find a place soon as it was getting dark so we took a shovel from a local and tried to flatten some snow on which we could set up our tent. This whole tantrum took us around 45 minutes to set up our tent.
As the evening got darker, it was time for dinner. We cooked soup on our camping stove and had bread with it. We had limited water as the stream was quite far from our tent so I asked for two bottles from locals and they said the stream is around half a km straight; these two bottles were enough for the night. We had a 2 person tent which is good enough for 1 person and luggage but not spacious for 2 persons with luggage, so we had to keep our bags and shoes outside of the tent which was a foolish decision. Never keep your luggage especially shoes outside, they’ll definitely freeze.
After our dinner, we slipped into our sleeping bags but the temperature was freezing cold which further made us shiver for the whole night. We took some small naps but the deadly chilling weather and our continuous walk on snow without Gaiters were showing its results. Surabhi had minor frostbites on her toes so I boiled some water in the middle of the night and later she kept that hot water bottle on her feet inside the sleeping bag. She wore two pairs of woollen socks, then after some time, her feet got some relief. Then we discussed whether we should go to the summit or not. But she insisted that we have come so far with all of these unexpected things happening which are a part of any solo journey, we had to come out of our comfort zones and many more things to motivate us. Then we decided we’ll surely do the summit early in the morning and try to reach Sankri on the same day, with this plan we tried to get some sleep.
18th Feb 2020, Day 2 – Kedarkantha Base Camp To Summit and back to Sankri
We were just waiting for any group to move for the summit so that we could join them as the trail to the summit was not clear and moreover, it was dark.
At 2 am we started gearing up and as I mentioned above there was less space in the tent, we had to keep our shoes and luggage outside, due to which our shoes got frozen. Anyhow, we managed to slip our feet inside them, with two layers of socks for extra warmth and this time we didn’t forget to put on our Gaiters.
The Summit Push
We started our summit around 3:30 AM so that we didn’t miss the majestic sunrise.
This section of trail was very steep and the snow here could be knee-deep during this season. We got along with a group of 7 people, they all belonged from South India and were trekking with a tour guide.
After about an hour of sheer trekking, we ultimately reached the surreal Summit of Kedarkantha. From the top of this sacred mountain, we could see a fantastic 360-degree view of some renowned mountain peaks and Himalayan ranges like Gangotri, Yamunotri, Bandarpoonch, Swargarohini and Har Ki Dun.
There was also a stone arrangement dedicated to Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati, marked by a Trishul.
It was around 5 am and the Sun scattered its golden rays on the snowy mountains. We clicked many photographs and sat for a while to enjoy the enthralling view. Glad that we did the summit push because this was the beauty and aura for which we actually came.
It was about 6:30 AM, we started to descend for the base camp as our tent and camping stuff was there. In about half an hour we reached back to the base camp. It was time to freshen up and have something for breakfast, so we had tea coffee first and then cooked poha with soup. After that, we packed our stuff and made our way back to Sankri.
I didn’t know exactly how but we felt energetic and enthusiastic, probably because of the enchanting morning view and the positivity that we accomplished the summit. Whatever the reason was but we were so satisfied and in the next 2hrs, we reached Juda-Ka-Taal. Here, we met a few trekkers who were heading their way to the base camp. They asked about our trek and experience at the summit. We wished them good luck and headed our way down. Later we met a young local boy named Manoj, who was like 17 years old. We got along with him and started walking together. We chatted and he told us about his near plans. He wanted to start his own homestay and trekking agency business. Eventually, with these light-hearted and ambitious talks, we three reached back to Sankri. Later we checked into the same hotel room, freshened up and took a rest for some time. Late in the evening we went out for a walk and discovered a cafe up near the woods. After these days of trekking we were badly craving for Indian food, so we ordered Paneer Tikka Masala and Butter Roti along with green salad. We really enjoyed the food and ambience of the cafe, they also had a bonfire outside where a couple of people were enjoying music.
The next morning we had to take the early 8 AM bus to Dehradun, so we decided to rest and put a full stop on our Kedarkantha trek tale.
