The Trek of Kedarkantha
By: Adwait Abhyankar
Tags: Kedarkantha, Kedarkantha Trek, Hiking, Snow, Winter

It was a bright sunny morning to start the day. There wasn't a single cloud in the sky. Perfect trekking conditions. With a ridiculously heavy and mysteriously lumpy rucksack, I was all set in for the climb. After having a feast of breakfast, we met our guides who accompanied us from the start till the downward descend. Each one got a pair of a crampons-a metal plate with spikes fixed to a boot for walking on ice & gaiters-a protective covering of cloth or leather for the ankle and lower leg to keep snow out of the shoes which were necessary to walk on thick and deep snow. We had to reach the Kedarkantha base camp on the same day due to the previous day’s cancelled trek due to snowfall- a whopping 7 km climb out of the total 9 km upward climb. With a walking stick and rucksack, the upward climb began. Of the total 7 km, the frozen lake of Juda Ka Talab was a 3 km climb from the starting point of Sankri.

Trek ready me

The first 20% of the upward climb to Juda Ka Talab was the worst trekking experience of my life of all the treks that I have done so far. With the sun shining bright and clear blue skies, the snow had started to melt exponentially, making the path too slippery and the trekking conditions more adverse. All the snowmelt had begun resulting in downwards streams of water with steep ridges in between. A combination of all this began to take a toll on my body. Also, having been locked in at home since previous December, the physical body stamina was at a lifetime low. Although the Kalsubai trek(as mentioned in Part 1) negated some fatigue and rustiness of the body, some leftover remains had begun to show its effects. As a result of all this, I was climbing at tortoise level speed. All of a sudden, the weight of luggage on my shoulders started to feel too bulky. I had begun to feel as if my young shoulders were carrying the entire burden of twenty-two years of my prime existence.

As a result of all this, I was left behind in my group. I was the last man walking and climbing upwards in the group. At a certain point, I could see no signs of my group. Probably, they had gone far too ahead, I thought. There were many tea points on the way. At the second tea point to Juda ka Talab, I was exhausted. The shoulders had begun to drop. A virtually drained me then had a cup of lemon tea. One sip of it and life felt better.

Resilience and tenacity were what my body had to show at that moment. Although I had strong determination in my mind to make it to the top come what may, my body wasn't on the same page as my mind. This is where issues started to arise. But this is also where I got to practically experience what I had read in some of the travel novels- real-life lessons during the climb. This where I learned, that despite the pain beneath the neck, I was far more capable of doing things that I was made to believe by my thoughts I couldn’t ever do. A look at the surreal view around the place was enough to vanish my vague worries into happiness. A chat with the local chaiwala en route the climb taught me more about life than all the textbooks combined.

After the break, there were still no signs of the group. Hope was all I could cling upon. By this time, the snow level had begun to increase, and the road had started to turn more slippery. I slipped not once but twice during this part. All of a sudden, a couple of people from my group emerged from behind. I got reminded to put on the crampons. Parth helped me put it on as I found it pretty tricky to fix it beneath the shoe grip due to the exhaustion. By this time, 70% of the journey to Juda ka Talab had been completed.

Almost 300 people were belonging to many different groups who were climbing along with us. The last 30 % to Juda ka Talab campsite I managed to climb with many other groups and different people. Any sudden voice in Marathi suddenly felt as if I was trekking in my home state. There were many voices like these, some who even spoke Gujrati with the help I successfully managed to reach Juda Ka Talab campsite.

There were many tents placed in the campsite. It was surreal to see so many tents around with many food joints. While I was sipping another glass of tea at this campsite, I found 3 of my group members- Aman, Priya and Tanvi. They too, were left behind just like me. This was where the trek was supposed to change for the better. And it did. The worst part was over. On reaching here, I got to know that everyone had hired mules and sent their luggage to the base camp as everyone was finding it difficult to climb with the bags on the back. Aman and me, the last of the remaining two who still had the bulky rucksacks on our backs, immediately hired the mule to the base camp.

All of a sudden, with the weight off my back transferred to the mule’s end, there was no shortage of stamina. We four decided to climb the rest of the journey together. And then from here on, began the most thrilling part of the climb. The Juda Ka Talab campsite was 200 m downwards to the actual lake. So another 200 m had to be climbed before reaching Juda ka Talab. At this point, we 4 had no idea where the rest of the group was. We had a lot of catch-ups to do. We decided to have a move on. We dramatically increased our climbing speeds. With the luggage gone, the trek suddenly started to feel comfortable.

These 200 metres and 20 minutes were the most thrilling 20 minutes of my life. We were all at sea with virtually no idea of the group and the route to Juda ka Talab. On inquiring with another group's local guide, he told us that rest of our trekking group had gone far too ahead. We were alarmed. He showed us a shortcut to reach Juda ka Talab. This route was steep with a thick cover of pine trees all over. There were very few people who were taking this route. The trail was full of lush green trees covered by a white blanket of thick deep snow. We four skipped a beat for some part of the journey just with the sheer audacity of the pace of our climb- exhausted yet not stopping, tired legs however not waiting, pumping chest finally breathing heavily. Only at the end moment, Aman went a little ahead at the top and shouted to us who had stopped to take a breather in delight & full excitement that we had reached. And that shout was one for the ages. “ Hum pohoch Gaye” still buzzes in my ear as I write this. We finally reached Juda Ka Talab. We had ticked off one hell of a thriller.

Juda Ka Talab-A beautiful picturesque frozen lake en route the upward climb towards the base camp with the surreal pine trees. It was too tempting not to click a pic — This site was a real treat to photography lovers' eye.

At reaching Juda Ka Talab, we got the big surprise when we caught up with some of our group's others. But we 4 decided not to stop and continue climbing upwards albeit at our slow pace with them catching up with rest of us.

Now the last leg of the upwards climb was pending from Juda ka Talab to Kedarkantha Base Camp. Before I joined these 3, they had managed to befriend the Chennai group. At Juda Ka Talab, we four also met the Chennai group- a fantastic bunch of 6 people from Chennai, some of whom also played soccer players in the local leagues in Chennai. Ashok, Perumal, Bala, and others were just the right people we found at the right time. We 4 decided to join these six and trekked together to the base camp.

At the first tea point after Juda Ka Talab, I recharged my battery entirely with two pieces of bread and butter and bun Muska along with 3 cups of tea. Fatigue just vanished altogether and more quickly than a ray of light. The rest of the upward climb got completed, and I didn't even realise it. It was the best part of the upward climb. While travelling upwards, we talked of Chennai, soccer & the similarities between the two Indian coastal megacities of Chennai and Mumbai. It was also where we realised of our similar itineraries ahead of Hrishikesh. This is where we decided on the Hrishikesh trip together. More the number of people, more fun.

It had turned dark by the time we had reached the Kedarkantha base camp. The trek that we started in the morning had finally reached its logical conclusion at 7 pm. The temperatures had dropped severely. It was surreal cold with the spine-shivering with the chills. The temperatures were a whopping low of -18 degree Celcius. We were finally allotted our tents after the rest of our group reached upward, and we just sneaked in our tents. 4 people were to sleep in one tent with four sleeping bags each.

Every second there in the dark, inside and outside the tent- the body was shivering with cold as I went into our tent, a significant issue I had anticipated before the trek arose. The sleeping bag's length was equal to my height, making it rather uncomfortable to sneak into it. Add to it the bulky weight that I had managed to put on in the past one year only further complicated this as it became impossible for me to sleep in one position and I had to keep shuffling inside the sleeping bag always. This caused problems not only for me but even for others inside the tent. I had to occupy a lot of space inside the tent due to the complicated sleeping bag size making it rather uncomfortable for others and me to fit in and sleep peacefully. However, by 8 pm so tired was my body that after some deliberations, it went into sleep mode with sudden awakenings due to the uneasiness of the bag's size. This problem could not be solved as all the sleeping bags were equal to my height. So a change in a sleeping bag wouldn't have made any difference. Having slept at 8 pm, I only woke up at 7 am the next morning.

We were supposed to wake up at 2 am the next morning to start the final climb of 2 km from Kedarkantha base camp to summit, view the sunrise and return by 7 am. But so tired was all of us that only four people out of our group of 12 managed to wake up in the daunting cold after just 4 hours of rest and managed to successfully reach the summit and return to base camp at 7 am. When I woke up at 7 am, I had a sunshine beam that signalled me that the Sun had risen. Every ray of sun and it felt better.

After waking up, I got to know that the four who had gone up had still not returned. So then, meanwhile, we had our breakfast. Radhe, Neha, and Nikhil then climbed further upwards nearby hunting for a suitable spot to click some amazing photos of the serene view and then had great fun clicking some fantastic photos, boomerangs, and videos consumed more than an hour.

From L to R -Nikhil, Neha, Radhe & Me

Neha and Nikhil were a fantastic pair of brother-sister. The ever-smiling Nikhil always had a big smile to offer every time anyone looked at him. Neha had a charming personality who could quickly turn any mood around into a jolly one just like her younger brother. Like every other brother-sister bond, these dashing duo bonded exceptionally well and always giggled over something. The first time I had seen both of them, I had felt that maybe Neha was the younger sister and Nikhil the elder brother. Later as I told them this, they joked saying that I had joined a long list of people who also felt the same as me prima facie. Radhe, our group leader, did an excellent job handling a probable cricket team(as talked about in part 2).

At the Kedarkantha base camp with India’s tricolour

With the snow-capped Healing Himalayas in the background

After clicking some photos at the base camp, we went in our respective tents for the final packing before the downward descend. At 11 am, our downward fall to Juda Ka Talab began. The descend was the easiest because of the crampons, which made the downward descend pretty easy. Also, the stamina issue was out of scope as there wasn't any climb to do. So in about a couple of hours, we reached at Juda ka Talab with relative ease. This time, there were no hiccups in the descend. More challenging the climb, more relative fun it is to descend. This proves that in the cycle of life that nothing remains constant. After more challenging times, good and fun times are bound to follow. That's where the beauty of life lies in.

Rest of the day just passed by eating snacks and relative fun. We had a stay in Juda Ka Talab for that night in the campsite tents. Again, the temperatures dropped exponentially in the night, and the extreme cold returned to give a nightmare once again. However, it was much better than the previous night with temperatures a little warmer but relatively colder at -10 degrees.

The next morning after breakfast was our final leg of the trek- the downward descend to Sankri from Juda ka Talab. It was the easiest of the entire hike. The crampons did an excellent job by providing a solid grip which made the 2.5 hours descend extremely easy. I also played soothing songs on my mobile, which made the descend more exciting. Music changes the entire mood and has a soothing effect that provides additional energy to the mind.

A fitting farewell to Juda Ka Talab

Our group with other fellow trekkers part of the same trekking company

The Healing Himalayas

After a 2.5 hour downward descend, we finally reached Sankri around 1 pm. After taking the remaining luggage from the safehouse in Sankri, we went back to our hotel. After lunch, we did our final packing as the trek had finally come to an end. It was the last day of 2020. Since it was the New Year’s Eve, celebrations to welcome the New Year of 2021 were bound to happen.

At 6 pm, I joined Aman, Radhe and Neha where we ate plates of momos and other varieties as the trek had been done and dusted. Later, another 5 of us visited three different cafes having coffee, bread Nutella, momos and other cuisines to eat to a belly full. After that, we welcomed 31st in a cafe dancing our hearts out. I'm not particularly eager to dance at all. Dance is an art I hate to do. Its great fun to watch for the eye but not great fun to do. But one thing I realised that the best way to beat the nipping cold was to dance. Our body suddenly generated heat as a result of which the cold vanished, and it felt surreal. So I danced with total energy till I was tired, sweating and I had to remove my hoodie for some time. Such was the fantastic feeling that it was the only time I had dared to remove my hoodie in the entire trek. We danced our way into 2021.

2021 had a grand welcome. The first day of the year was saying goodbye to Sankri with the return 9-hour road trip to Dehradun where it was time to bid adieus to rest of the group and depart for Hrishikesh trip where river rafting and other adventures were waiting for us. Since the majority of the journey towards Sankri went in sleeping, I was determined not to sleep in the return journey and enjoy the beauty of the trip. This road journey was the most fantastic road trip that I experienced in the past few years. With the gorgeous Yamuna river following us alongside our journey and the pine trees refusing to leave our company, it made a great trip in the mountainous terrains and Uttarakhand's Ghats. We had initially decided to see the Kemdy Falls in Mussoorie as the same fell on our way to Dehradun. But as we reached there, our legs were too tired to walk 15 min downstairs and climb double the amount of time. We saw it from outside and went straight to Dehradun.

Time Lapse of some part of the journey from Sankri- Mussoorie

Since it was the first evening of the year, Half of Dehradun was in Mussoorie to celebrate this occasion. As a result, we faced heavy traffic from Mussoorie to Dehradun. We reached a couple of hours late beyond our scheduled time. We reached Dehradun Railway Station at 8 pm when we were supposed to arrive by 6 pm. After bidding adieus to the rest of the group who had a train to board to Kota at 10 pm, we decided to carry on with the rest of our trip. Hrishikesh was waiting. Hrishikesh was calling. We were pumped up for the last leg of our successful trip before the buzz of Mumbai came close. Time was up for this to give it a shot.