Recently I went to a trip with my 3 friends from my hometown Gopeshwar, Uttarakhand to Deoria tal trek and chandrashila trek which is one of the most beautiful places of Uttarakhand.
On first day we went to Deoria tal. For that we drove approximately 65 kms from gopeshwar to sari village in rudaraprayag district via chopta. From sari village there is a trek of 2.3kms to reach deoria tal. The trek is moderate but in this trek there is nothing to see in the way it is quite boring. It took us 2.5 hrs to cover that 2.3kms distance because that was day time and the sun rays were hitting so hard, so we took many breaks in between to keep our body hydrated. Before reaching deoria tal we went to our camp where we have to stay for the night to drop my luggage and freshen up. The place where we stayed is "Magpie Eco Retreat" which is a property of Magpie Group. The property is located just 200 meter far from the deoria tal lake and is surrounded by beauty of nature. On one side we can see different mountain ranges like Mt. Chaukhamba, Kedarnath peak and Neelkanth peak etc. and on the other side the Tungnath Temple is located which is the highest shiva temple in the world at a altitude of 4000 meters. The Magpie Eco Retreat includes 4 luxury tents in which 4 person can live per tent and A beautiful wooden hut which have 4 rooms and in each room 3-4 persons can stay. There is a kitchen beside the hut and on the upper floor of the kitchen there is a dining hall which is made of glass. You can enjoy the view while eating your food. There is a seprate place for the bonfire to enjoy at night.
We took rest for 1.5 hrs and after that we went to the deoria tal lake which is just 3-4 minutes far from our camp. The view at the lake was mesmerising the sunrays were flashing the water of the lake and the reflection of the sky, clouds and trees were clearly visible. There is a office of the forest department where you have to show your IDs and have to do entry in the register. After doing that we went to lake side and clicked photos. Then we went to the watch tower which is there and from all the mountain ranges were clearly visible. After coming down from the watch tower we went to another side of the lake. There is a path made at the circumference of the lake by which you can revolve around the lake.
It was already 3 hrs at the lake then we decided to head back to the camp. While returing we decided to collect some wood for the bonfire and then we went back to our camp. After an hour we saw the beautiful sunset from our camp and it took all our tiredness. In some time the bright sky turns into dark.
Now it was time for the bonfire. We set the bonfire with the music and enjoyed the evening. Meanwhile the dinner was ready and there was chilli paneer for the vegetarians and chicken curry or the non vegetarians along with chapatis and rice. We decided not to go to dining hall but to have our dinner beside the bonfire.
After finishing the dinner we all were sleepy but suddenly I looked up in the sky and saw that there were millions of stars and all were clearly visible because of the low pollution leval and high altitude. It was so clear that the mars, jupiter and saturn were clearly visible. I forgot to take my tripod with me but still I tried to click the milkyway by putting my camera onto a rock. After clicking some pictures we get back to our room and it was 11pm already and it was so cold now. We gossiped a little and then I thought to see the sunrise by the lake side and set alarm for 5:30am and then we all slept.
Morning 5:30 am the alarm rings, it was still dark outside. I checked the time of sunrise at the internet and It shows 6:15am. I had only 45 minutes so I jumped out of my bed and got freshen up. At that time no one was awake other than me. I asked my friends to join me to watch the sunrise, one of my friend was ready and other two were least intrested so we both went to the lakeside and reached there by 6:10 at that time the sky was clear and there were no clouds in the sky and the view was amazing like yesterday.
After few minutes the first rays of sunlight glorifies the peak of Mt. Chaukhamba and its nearby mountains. The Mt. Chaukhamba was shining like gold. I captured that moment in my camera and then again we went to the watch tower to click pictures of all the mountain peaks. The view of snow capped mountains was mesmerising and we stayed there for 1 hour to adore the beauty of the nature.
After that we covered the boundary of the lake and and at the last point the water was extremly clear and calm. The reflection of Mount Chaukhamba was clearly visible and it was extremly beautiful that I can not express in words.
It was 8:30 when we reached back and the breakfast was ready. We had our breakfast and at 9:30 we left that beautiful location to go to another beautiful location. It took us 1.5hrs to reach down to sari village where our car was parked. After a tea break and setting our luggage in the car we left for our next destination chopta which was about 20kms from there. We left sari at 11:30am and by 12:15pm we were at chopta
From chopta we have to start our trek towards Tungnath temple which is 3kms and then Chandrashila which is further 1km from there. We started our trek at 12:30pm and the climb is moderate, not too tough but the view in this trek is amazing unlike deoria tal trek, tungnath- chandrashila trek is full of scenic beauty. In 1km there comes a wide grassland called bugyal which has no trees in it. It was a wide field where cows and horses were grazing. We refilled our water bottles because there is no water source for next 2 kms, but there are many shops in between where packaged water is available.
At 2 pm we all reached tungnath 2 of us were there at 1:45pm and we were waiting for other 2 guys and also reached there at 2pm. we were just below the temple at a shop and the altitude of that place was 4000m and suddenly cold winds started to blew we put our jackets and have a cup of tea and went to temple. Due to the pandemic public was not allowed to enter the temple. We did our darshan and went back to that shop and had our lunch which was Aloo parathas.
After having our lunch at 3pm we started our trek to chandrashila which was further 1 km from there. The trek to chandrashila from tungnath trek is steep and bit difficult for beginners and due to high altitude people feel breathlessness and have to take many breaks. We also took approx 10 breaks in this and it took 1.5 hrs to reach chandrashila top.
At 4:30 we were at chandrashila top and the breeze here was so cold and strong. From chandrashila there are many mountain ranges visible like nanda devi, trishul and panchachuli etc. We clicked pictures there and there were many people from different regions of India. Everyone was amazed to see the view and want to capture everything in there cameras. It was already 5:15 and everyone started going down because it was so cold there but I asked my friends to stay there till sunset because the sunset from there is mesmerising and lifetime moment.
It was 5:30pm and I checked the sunset time and it was saying 5:43pm, only 13 minutes was remaining and now there was only a few people left on the top. After few minutes the bright sun started to turn red and the blue sky started to turn orange everyone was ready to capture the moment.
Finally the time had come and we witnessed the most beautiful sunset of our lives. It was worth the climb and it is a must watch thing I bet you will not be disappoint. At 6pm after clicking lot of photos we were ready to go down 4km to chopta.
We only descended 1km and its starts to get dark. We increase our speed and try to cover as much distance before it gets too dark because there are no lights in the way. After moving one more kilometer now nothing was visible and we have to turn on our phones flashlights and our speed decreased automatically. Now only we 4 are on that way, there was no other person till our sight. We didn't take any break and at 7:30 pm we reached chopta where our car was parked.
Now we have to go to our camp where we have to stay at night. The camp in which we were going was also the property of Magpie Group and the name of property is Magpie Jungle Camp. Like its name it is in the centre of forest and surrounded by dense forest.
It is located 7kms far from chopta on ukhimath road. It took 20 minutes to reach the parking of the camp and 5 min walk to the camp. It was very dark and when we reached the camp, the camp staff welcomed us and alloted us our camps. We have our dinner by 9pm and we were so tired that when we lie down on our beds we didn't know when we sleep
Next morning we woke up by the chirping of birds, I came out of my camp and saw that the location is very beautiful. We had our morning tea and coffee and head to our home.
We travelled the 42kms to our home and reached at 9:30 at the time of breaakfast. We shared our photos and shared our beautiful experiences to our parents
It was an awesome trip. If you want to do these trips then the weekend is perfect for you and there are many camps and hotels to stay at chopta and deoriatal.
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