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If you want to experience all this in just one trip, Kedarkantha Winter Trek is the answer!
Winter is here and this is the best time to plan for one of the best Himalayan trek. Though you can do this trek round the year (except monsoon months), Kedarkantha trek is best done in winters (Mid Dec- March). You can trek to the peak (3800 M) which fully covered in snow in winter months.
This is a perfect picturesque trek in the lap of the Himalayas in the Garhwal region. The overall return trek distance is around 24 kilometers from Sankri - a small village located closer to Kinnaur in the Uttarkashi district of Uttrakhand.
This trek takes you up to its summit which touches the altitude of 3800 meters or 12468 Feet above the sea level. The view from the top offers spectacular panorama the region all around. Other lesser known peaks of the Supin Range, villages located nearby, valleys of Himachal and Garhwal.
Early in winter I went for this adventure trip which was a pure bliss in amidst of Himalayan range of Uttrakhand. After some research, we booked ourselves for Kedarkantha winter trek with GIO, one of the most professional teams in this business. Some of the main reasons why we chose this trek over other one was purely because of the expected snowfall, pretty campsites, beautiful drive from Dehradun to Sankri village, the base camp...all of this and more makes this trek one hell of a place to visit in winter.
This region gets early snow in the winters and soft white snow covers all the surrounding peaks. All the surrounding mountains, which otherwise were insignificant now looks extremely elegant and beautiful with their sharp points appearing like a dominating 6000 meter peaks of the Himalayas.
Delhi to Dehradun
We reached Dehradun around 6:30am from Delhi via train..out of 13 of us, 6 of us boarded from Delhi rest joined us @Dehradun station directly.
I can’t get over the fun part of this trek, I guess this wouldn't have been possible without mentioning some mad people who joined us for the first time starting from Aman (our so called ‘Supaari’ guide and world class ‘skier’:-)), Arjun (Akka fake Russian doper) to kids from 12th standard Ansh (dumb charades expert - can’t get over an enactment of ‘Linga’ till now) & Tanmay & Gitika (total surprise package starting from finishing trek too fast or later running down the trail)...this trek was a complete laugh riot with this happy bunch.
First Day at Dehradun -
We met our group leaders around 7:30am at the station. After introductions we were briefed about the trek, some do’s and don’ts, the challenges we were going to face and how to be prepared for Acclimatization and insulation which are the core keys in prevention of altitude sickness. Without wasting further time we gathered ourselves to start for another 5-6 hours bus journey from Dehradun to Sankri( (via Barkot - Purola - Netwar route). We thought this drive will be another tiring one as few of us were travelling practically for two good days before that. The only thing we all were praying is to get some sleep before reaching Sankri. There’s always this madness when I come for treks in north, knowing that I have to spend time with family also, I never get enough time to rest properly, so this bus journey was important to gather all the strength for the journey lay ahead. To our surprise, this route had some most beautiful mountain scenery of Maple & Oak trees, the current of Yamuna was our additional companions throughout the journey. Being a photographer, the Himalayan ghats, the mountainous views, valleys, gorges, forests were like a god gifted opportunity. luckily this drive was a complete delight, with not too many sharp turns, roads also are in much better conditions than other parts in Uttrakhand.
We reached Sankri post 4:30pm only, where GIO team planned our stay in one of the best known local lodge. No fancy stuff but clean rooms/toilets and decent food. This team has arranged small cultural program as well for all of us, which had worked as an eye opener for lot of first timers plus helped all of us to know each other better. Soon after dinner we left for our rooms to get a good sleep and to dream about the beautiful journey that lay ahead.
Second day Journey -
There was light showers in the morning, though we were scared if this will continue than climbing in this condition will become tough but soon after an hour or so it all stopped without creating much of a problem for anyone. Temperature dropped to 1 degrees because of this sudden rain rest everything remained calm.
We left Sankri, after a light & warm breakfast and with ample of liquids to keep us well hydrated.
The first part of our trail was entirely covered with leaves and shadows of Maple & Oak trees which gave us an impression of nature welcoming us with a carpet of leaves. The whole trail was a mix of uphill and downhill journey which sometimes would require us to push ourselves because of the steep slope.
It took us around 4-5 hours to reach our first camp site. ‘Juda Ka Talab’, our first camp site was about 9150ft above sea level & remains hidden till the time you are directly on it. The sight of a frozen lake with fine hairline cracks running across it and sprinkled snow on top is something to behold. It was a magnificent view, our tents pitched on the greener patch to avoid any kind of uneasiness to sleep in tents, lake along our campsite and long oak trees all around us. Thanks to our guides to start early from Sankri to block this spot for our camps, lot of other groups were eyeing as well to park at the same spot.
Night was chilly with light rain which soon left all of us with some chills, luckily we kept the dry woods in advance for bonfire else situation would have gone worse. We had our share of laughter with some horror stories coming from our Pahaadi chaps to add up to the whole fun for the evening.
Day 3: Juda-ka-Talab to KK base camp 11250ft from Sea Level
Starting early morning, after an amazing round of snacks and soup, we left for our next campsite Kedarkantha Base Camp. It was a moderate trek of 3 hours which was continued on a normal pace with a single break spot. As we gained altitude, we encountered our first patch of snow which sometimes was up to a feet deep. The suggesting sound of snow crunching under the feet really prepares you for what lies ahead in the trek.
Every step of our trek in the dense forest gave way to plains with knee deep snow.
Once at Kedarkantha base camp, you’ll be treated with a stunning 360 degree view of famous mountain summits.
The monochromatic view with patches of color in the area was jaw dropping.
After we settled our bags and lunch, the second surprise came for us…snowfall!!! The next three hours were spent enjoying the snow, playing volleyball, snow fights, photography and so on.
For those seeing their first snowfall, it was a dream come true. The crystal snowflakes descending from the sky was like a reward from the almighty. The long oak trees everywhere groaned and moaned under the weight of the snow that lay innocently on their branches. When it touched you, it was so light that you couldn’t even fathom its presence.
Next to the snowfall we were again mesmerized by an amazing view of the sunset which painted the forest in golden hues.
As it was going to be a long day next day thus we planned to have an early dinner and went to sleep anticipating the adventure that lay ahead of us.
Day 5: KK base camp To KK Summit (12500ft) – Hargaon (8900ft)
We woke up around 3AM, packed little snacks for the trek and refilled water bottles for the summit. We had our headlamps on though the moon was shining bright and was giving a blueish shine on the snow beneath our feet. Walking through the snoozing trails in the snow-clad Himalayas, surrounded by the dark oaks, you wouldn’t realize when you switched off the lights and it was just moon shedding silver on the snow.
We kept on walking towards the summit; it seemed quite near yet so far. It felt like never ending and to motivate us our trek leader kept saying "Bus thoda sa or, phir summit, come-on" this continued for over an hour. We had a beautiful sunrise while the moon seemed wishing us good luck and good bye. Soon when we started enjoying this patch wind started blowing from all the sides. We took a short break to enjoy the surroundings which was a view of snow packed mountains. We kept thinking this situation may settles in a bit but unfortunately wind started growling louder, walking in that scenario was really tough..now the matter was to finish the remaining 150meters from the summit..or to head back from there. In this tricky situation there were many thoughts running in my mind...it was a tough call but we had to decide something quickly, so finally few of us decided to head back from there, few went to the top and there were still few left who never made till there also they stayed back at the base camp itself.
For me I think its not important whether one completed the trek or not, most important was to get the experience that power which drags me to Himalays forever to do something different and keep challenging myself.
The summit at a height of 12,500 feet offers some breath-taking views as far as your eyes can take you. Spread like a banquet all around are the Bandarpoonch, Yamunotri and Gangotri range of Himalayas and the distinct towering Swargarohini Peak (6,252 mts.) and the Black Peak (6,387 mts.). We spent some time at the summit, soaked ourselves in grandeur of the mighty Himalayas before making our way back to Kedarkantha base camp by 11:30am.
Now, it was the time to celebrate at the base camp. We had to stay overnight at the same campsite so even after strenuous trek nobody looked tired rather everyone were ready to play some fun snow games.
There was skiing session planned by GIO team. I think if anyone ever travel this side of Himalayas, its never to miss activity. one of the best highlight of this whole trek. Our mad group created some really memorable moments. Best was Aman the way he was sliding around banging himself to one tent or the other. It was a laugh riot watching him during this whole activity.
Post 4:30pm all of us gathered enough dried woods from surrounding for bonfire which could have lasted easily for atleast one whole night. We knew this going to be our last night on this trek so all of us planned not to sleep very early. That evening started with Dumb charades session(which made all of us nuts - the way Ansh enacted some of the movie pieces, or Subir, who was competitive enough to challenge all of us by throwing with some unheard movie titles), playing Laddoo to Antakshani session...which only ended finally with some great karaoke singing by Aman/Arjun duet.
Last descent
Next day, we started around 7:30ish to descend, gathered all our stuff to climb down..captured some last moment memories with this happy bunch..ooohhh I am getting nostalgic again thinking about all of that:-)
Descend was beautifully laid out on gentle slopes among the pine and oak trees. On our way back there was this challenge all of us thrown at each other to reach first at the base...this was some kind of a challenge which made all of us nuts...we were literally zooming down the hill..though there was no gratification attached for anyone but I guess all of us were enough competitive to beat each other to just win the title to be the fastest... what a race!!
After reaching Sankri, we realized it’s a Holi celebration day which is supposedly a very big festival up in north...so most of the locals suggested us to stay back at Sankri that night and depart early next morning to avoid any kind of traffic jam...apparently some of us had flights booked for next day from Dehradun so there was no point for us to stay back, we had to leave from Sankri to Dehradun the same day. That drive seemed never ending, this was the 5th day of this trek, by than we all were dog tired...that 5-6 hours journey was literally killing us ..we finally managed to reach Dehradun by 11:30pm…thought this is it!!!!! now we can finally relax....NAAAAAAAAAA...picture abhi baaki he mere dost...our task was not over yet, now we had to find a hotel also to stay for that night, this was another big task in itself, I mean sometime its difficult to handle such situations where everyone has some specific requirement and they all have to meet at the same ground. Somehow we managed to figure one such property which got approved by everyone…that night again we barely get to sleep for few hours... all of us partied till 3:30 -4am, post that, some went off to sleep, some kept singing... weird old hindi cheezy songs…or some talking about there love lives...uff!!! this was never ending...:-)
Memories from this trek bring so much happiness to me is not a joke..I have to plan something soon with this bunch to relive each and every moment..till than keep reading😊
Some Quick Facts -
How to reach: There is one direct bus that goes from Dehradun to Sankri village (via Barkot - Purola - Netwar route). It leaves Dehradun at 5:30 am and reaches Sari by about 4:00/ 4:30 pm.
if you are traveling from Delhi by any overnight trains, you won't be able to catch the bus.
For that, take Shatabdi (on previous day), reach Dehradun early morning, Book yourself a Station Retiring room to fresh n up or ask your tour guide to arrange a room near station for few hours to rest.
Trek Essentials
- Winter jackets (preferably down jackets). At night temp goes down to -10 degree C.
- If you do not have down jackets, best is to layer yourself (Thermal, full T-shirt, sweater/ fleece, thick jacket).
- carry thick gloves, woolen socks & balaclava
- quick dry pants
- good water proof trek shoes and walking stick
- head lamps & reflective glasses (must)
- Preferably have cramp-ons. It's helpful in places where solid ice formation happens. Though people do this trek without cramp-ons.
- I prefer my own sleeping bag. If you are carrying it, ensure it's - 10/ - 5 degree rated.
- Toiletries/ Sun screen(its a must)/ flask which can keep the water warm for long time and some spare T-shirts
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