Kedarkanth Winter Trek – its Fluffy White Blanket

This picture exhibits a bunch of friends trekking through the trails of Kedarkanth trek route in northern India. The group felt lucky to experience four days of snowfall and enjoyed the scenic beauty throughout the trek duration.  This trek is popular amongst seasonal trekkers and the beginners due to its beautiful forests and stunning clearings making way to multiple campsites across the trek. The trek is not easy and is steadily steep right from the start.

A few winters are different than the usual ones and take us to the childhood tales. The picture shows another scenic view of the Kedarkanth trek wherein it feels like we have been transported to Narnia, the fantasy world of magic 🙂. 

Day 1 – Gaichwan Gao to Julota (Altitude Gain: 5,571 ft to 8,924 ft)

After having some sweets we also got to taste Sidku there. Sidku is a local food similar to kachoris but is steam cooked like momos instead, and has a fine stuffing made up of a few home made spices.

🌨️🌨️🌨️❄️🤧🤧

We had our meals and headed towards the tents to relax so as to gather for the evening snacks and a few group activities later. 

We were busy learning and practicing lessons as we had no other choice to slip on, and there comes another surprise – Our tents, we looked at them and we were already frozen; another exciting set of survival skills awaited us. 🌨️🌨️🌨️❄️🤧🤧

Day 2 – Julota to Pukhrola(Altitude Gain: 8,920 ft to 10,870 ft)

The pristine wilderness heightens the joy as we were opening the trail instead of following one. The sense of oneness with the forest was a serene experience, and made many of us think about “being ourselves”.

Arriving at camp, we had a lot of fun, countless life experiences, a few new friends and a question – Are we really going to push the summit next day?

Everyone in the group was excited to push the summit hence we decided to stay in the dining tents till dinner and kept speculating the decision with fun elements pitched in.

7:30pm

January 6, 2022

“Folks, I spoke to our teams down there at Gaichwan and in last 6 days, 3 teams attempted the summit push and none of them could go further than half the route. They had to return from upper Pukhrola due to bad climate”, Our trek leader entered our dining tent while shouting.

“We have bad weather forecast for tomorrow as well, and higher chances are that we may also end-up not doing it”. It was indifferent to our expectations.

“I am not a person who believe weather forecasts much, and we will attempt the push tomorrow morning”, he added. His statement made us smile and anxious.

He continued: “snowfall, wind and negative temperature are making it challenging, but the pace and fitness of our group over the last two days is that if we can’t, other teams can’t achieve it for a few days. Considering the challenges in opening the routes which are closed for last 6 days, we asked for help, and two of our kitchen staff will accompany us”.

“This is fun tomorrow morning, so eat properly, sleep well, and respect the timings. Morning 6:30; Tea milega, 7 is breakfast, and 7:30am will leave” were his words, following various instructions on packing, wearing right layers before we go to bed.

Day 3 – Summit Push (Altitude Gain: 10,870 ft to 12,500 ft)

4:00 am

January 7, 2022

प्रकृति, हर पल बदलता निराला अंदाज़ !!

Me and my friends woke up early and were delighted to see a clear sky out there after about 48 hours of snowfall and wind. We considered it as a sign of a successful summit push.

We started hiking on time. We walked for about an hour in a dense forest having a few water streams and most of which were frozen. Soon we found ourselves into a clearing to the summit climb. The ascend till the clearing was a collection of surrealistic scenery, but the next stretch was a bit harsh on the eyes as the sun shined across the fresh snow, and was making us snow blind at intervals. 

We encountered many wind gusts, dark clouds, and the bright sun. They all taught us to blend in with our surroundings until we reached the shoulders of the summit, providing us with a wealth of lifelong experience and skills in our lives.

11:00 am

January 7, 2022

पर्वत का शिखर !

😁😁😁 We Did It 😁😁😁

At first, many of us were nervous, anxious, and experimental about that day’s hike distance, elevation and weather. Many of us struggled a bit physically, mentally and emotionally, but kept moving at our own pace.

Even if everyone was not able to reach the summit, everybody was soaked up with lifetime experiences and a lot of memories they will cry, laugh, and have fun about whenever they’ll flash. On returning back to the campsite, everyone was transformed for the good, and had the same feeling, “Accomplished“.