It was night on Day 3 at KK Base camp (11250 ft). My wife did not eat her dinner and lost her interest in the trekking and did cry at her tent. Her tent mates made their best efforts to help her out but nothing worked out. 10.30pm sharp, I woke up. A miracle(?) happened!! You must be wondering what could have happened at Kedarkantha. Keep reading...
November 2016, When I looked for a beginner trek "Kedarakantha' appeared as the best place. With little push from my side, my wife agreed to join the trek. Expectation of the trek was SNOW, SCENERY and FUN! Kedarakantha made us to experience all of them! I do not cite this trek (or any trek for that matter) as 'conquered', but we were just a visitors to their habitat.
Glance on the trek. Check this video.
Kedarkantha does not need much of introduction. It is a mountain peak of the Himalayas in Uttarakhand, India. Its elevation is 12500ft. The place is known for winter trek. It is located within Govind Wildlife Sanctuary in Uttarkashi district. Believe me, every camp in KK Trek is fantastic. Though there was no snow fall for our bad luck, plenty of settled snow were good enough.
Summary of Trek
Trek Date: 26-Mar-2017 to 01-Apr-2017
Distance: 20 to 22 km
Max height: 12500 feet
Temperature: 1℃ to 15℃
Organizer: India hikes
Group size: 25+3 Guides
Cost per head : Flight Charges + 8.75k(trek fee)+2.5k (uber/train/cab etc..)+3k (misc)
Mobile Connectivity: Only BSNL (at some places) and Airtel (Very minimal)
Must Take items (~courtesy India Hikes):
Good Pair of Hiking Shoes. Do not ignore this point. You rely on your foot for entire duration of trek. So invest on it.
Camera: Carry all accessories - spare batteries, charger, etc.
Cutlery: Carry a plate, spoon, coffee mug & a lunch box.
Water bottles: 2 bottles, 1 Litre each.
Trekking pole: Trekking pole is mandatory.
Plastic covers: While packing, use plastic bags to compartmentalize things and carry few extra plastic bags for wet clothes.
Do's & Don'ts
Start doing regular exercise at least 3 weeks prior your trek. This will make your life easier at the mountains
Do eat natural food items at the mountains.
DO NOT litter at the mountains. Take it back to your city or through at the designated places only.
Here I go with the Summit photo at 12500 feet!
Kedarakantha Summit
Day-0 (25-April-2017)
We flew from Bangalore to New Delhi and reached as early as 8.30AM in the morning. With 12-13 hrs of free time in Delhi and 10kgs backpack on shoulder, booking a cab and roam Delhi was better option. Though I had visited Delhi twice before, place was lesser known to me.
India Gate, Delhi
Qutb Minar, Delhi
Humayun's Tomb, Delhi
Lotus Temple, Delhi
Delhi trip was pleasant and we visited some more places like Parliament, Jantar-Mantar and Market. We had to catch the train Nanda Devi Express to Dehradun at midnight 12.00 AM. Both spent the remaining time in railway station
Day-1 (26-Mar-2017) : Dehradun to Sankri
Morning 6.30AM the train arrived at Dehradun. Indiahikes team expecting people who opted this train. Total of 10 hrs drive from Dehradun to Sankri was unforgettable! Bumpy Ride in TaTa Sumo made my wife vomit couple of times. After 2-3 hours a stop was given to have breakfast. Drive goes through a beautiful town Mussoorie and later on drive through various ridges. It took total of 10 hrs to reach first base camp Sankri elevated at 6500 feet.
Magnificent view of valley
The Purest Water!
27-Mar-2017: Sankri (6450ft) to Juda Ka Talab (9150ft)
Day 2, Being the first day of the actual trek, I really excited to get into the trail. After the morning breakfast everyone assembled outside of base camp as instructed by the trek leader to kick off the trek. Trek started at around 9AM and reached the next camp Juda Ka Talab at 1.30PM. This day decides your body adaptation to high altitude. Anything above 8000 feet above the sea level is high altitude zone. None of us in the team had a problem in acclimatisation at this point.
First Snow Patches
Maggie Shop
Tents provided by India hike
View near the campsite
Day-3 (28-Mar-2017): Juda ka Talab (9150 ft) to KK base camp (11250 ft)
Day started around 8AM with the trekking on snow patches and gradually everyone ascended towards tree line. The tree line is the edge of the habitat at which trees are capable of growing. It is found at high elevations and in frigid environments. Beyond the tree line, trees cannot tolerate the environmental conditions (usually cold temperatures or lack of moisture). ~Courtesy Wiki
This was not a long trail. Team reached the next camping site at the lunch time. Later on we had a plenty of time to play, to talk. For the first time I wore crampons here and full team team did go for a little walk.
KK Base Camp - Amazing View
Coming back to the story I was talking about, Around 5.30-6pm I realized that I had lost my wife's iPhone which was at my pocket. Being a brother's gift she could not control her emotions and I was puzzled. Many of us searched all the tents, surrounding but no luck. By then time touched 8pm. And slowly everyone settled at their tents. I must say, 10.30pm a miracle happened. Mountains made me to recall a place where I could have dropped the phone.
I did not dare to go out as it was dark. I woke up my tent mate and 2 of my friends in the other tent. As we went down in to the mountain, many pairs of blue eyes staring at us from the dark and slowly approaching to us. They were possibly jackals! Finally I reached the place I recalled. I-phone reflected the light from my headlamp. Hurray!
Day-4 (29-Mar): KK Base (11250ft) – KK Summit (12500ft) – KK base– Hargaon (8900ft)
Day 4, Summit day started as early as 2.45 AM in the morning. Our trek leader strictly ordered everyone to be ready at 3.30AM for the hike. With 20 minutes late, at 4AM trek started towards the summit.
Team with headlamps at 4AM
Sunrise
Though the plan was to reach summit to witness the sunrise, we could not make it. We made only 30-40% on our way before sunrise. This day is the longest day in overall KK trek. Plan was to reach the summit for sun rise and then descend to Hargaon camp. All went well we made it Summit!!
Push towards Summit
Another Maggie Shop
Fresh Snow
View from the Summit
Swargarohini Mountain Range
After a long day trek team finally descended to Hargaon camp. This is the last camp of this trek. Cooking staff through out the trek were excellent. Everyone enjoyed the amazing food prepared by them. A wonderful cake was prepared by the local cooks on the final day. Superb taste and thanks to them.
Last day of the trek offered us fantastic view of the valley and plenty 'burans flower'. Flower tastes really good and It has good medicinal benefit as well
Burans Flower'
This was my first trek with India hikes and first trek with my wife as well. Overall experience with India hikes was pretty good. Trek was well planned and definitely one would not regret for the money you paid. Throughout the trek food was tasty and healthy. Trek guides were from native Sankri and they knew in and out of the place. Tents, sleeping bag, crampons were neat.
Since I am writing this blog after 7 months, some memories already faded. I have tried my best to recall them. Please put your comments below for any improvements in article, grammar etc..
And finally "It is not the beauty of destination, but the lessons learnt during the journey matters the most" ~anonymous
This is an iconic phone. Nokia 1110i does not require introduction. It ruled basic phone segment in India. Though it does not have many options it is meant for tough use. With the smart phone entry these kind phones hardly available at the market.
Shivagange Hills, was one of my “To Visit” places. Even though I am in Bangalore from few years, I never visited this place. I and my friend decided to go on our motorcycles early morning of 12th April 2015. Though we wanted to start 5 am, we started at 5.30 am (IPL fever, previous night RCB match! )
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