Kedarkantha was in my bucket list for a long time. We finally decided to take up the challenge last December, just before the COVID-19 pandemic broke out. There were seven of us and we went with a local tour guide. We had taken a night bus from Kashmere Gate (New Delhi) and reached Dehradun at about 4 am in the morning. We had a car waiting for us and started roughly at 6 am towards our destination, Sankri. After a scenic but terribly tiring journey, we reached Sankri, the base camp for our trek at about 4 pm.
Sankri is a small village that acts primarily as a base camp for Kedarkantha, Har Ki Dun, Bali Pass and several other treks. To be honest, it was extremely crowded, and we already had a flavour of the fact that the trek was going to be quite crowded too. Sankri boasts of wonderful views of snow capped mountains, especially the Swargarohini peaks.
We started at about 8 am from Sankri. There were hundreds of people and it seemed like we were walking in the city roads! Our group comprised of about thirty people, most of who were first timers. Since the seven of us had been to more difficult treks before, it was a cakewalk for us, but trekking is all about coordination: so we would wait for the others at every 1 km mark for them to catch up!
After a couple of kilometres, there was snow all around and the magnificient beauty of the trek started to unfold. After trekking for about 4 kms we reached Juda ka Talab, a beautiful frozen lake. Juda ka Talab was supposed to be our campsite for tonight, although the camps were set up anothe kilometre above the lake. We stopped at the lake for some photographs.
Kedarkantha Base Camp was completely covered in snow. As far as you can see in any direction, it's a white blanket. There are hundreds of tents set up and we went up for a hike to some higher areas to get some nice views for photographs and to talk to other people about their experience.
When you have to start your trek at -10 degrees, there are weird problems. What you first need to figure out is the number of layers you are going to wear. You need three layers, without any woolen inners because even in insanely cold temperatures, your body generates a lot of heat when you walk and hence inners would make you sweat, and that might be dangerous. Crampons are a must to walk on the thick snow. We started our journey with torches at 3 am when it was quite dark. The trail is steep and bubbling with people. The distance is about 3.5 kms but it takes up a lot of time because of the ascent and the crowd.
We reached the Base Camp back at around 10 am. It wasa tiring journey and we rested for a bit. Today we were supposed to trek down to Hargaon (4 kms) from where we could go down to Sankri (another 4 kms) the next day. However today was 30th December and we wanted to spend the New Year eve at Mussoorie. So we decided to trek down all the way to Sankri. We started at about 2 pm from the base camp for the 8 kms journey. We rushed down to Hargaon in an hour but it go considerably difficult after that. The snow was melting and the trail was immensely slippery. The last couple of kilometres was through a forest and it got dark. We seemed to lose our way at some point and panicked but there were some local people who helped us and at about 7 pm, we reached our guest house at Sankri.
We bid farewell to the others at Sankri and left for Mussoorie early in the morning. We reached Mussoorie at about 5 pm and spent the rest of the evening roaming around in cafes and restaurants. There were loads of people in Mussoorie for the New Year eve and it was a lot of fun, especially after the tiring trek. To be precise, we had some snacks at Cafe By The Way, had our dinner at Urban Turban and then stopped for some drinks at the Tavern. The next day we roamed around Mussorie and then headed back to Dehradun for the end of the journey. Kedarkantha was a beautiful trek, checked off the bucket list. We'd love to go back to Sankri for the more adventurous and pretty treks that start from the village. Our tour guide integrated us with a trek company called 'Himalayan Shelter' which I do not personally recommend. Their service was okay but the guides were pathetic and rude, and the company was absolutely business oriented and it led to several problems for us in the trek. But a journey should not be remembered for its shortcomings but for its magic and the sheer beauty of this winter trek was enough for us to forget these minor issues.
We spent the rest of the day resting and preparing ourselves for the journey that lay ahead. Kedarkantha is classified as an easy trek, but the main challenge would not be the difficulty. It was peak winter and the temperature was supposed to drop as low as -15 degrees. We got a taste of the issue on our first night at Sankri itself, where it went down to about 3-4 degrees.
The campsite was very pretty with snow clad mountains on all sides. We got some delicious snacks and soup on reaching our campsite, and went inside our tents to rest for a bit. Towards the evening, it started getting quite cold. This was my first snow trek and walking on snow can be a bit tricky, especially if you are not wearing your trekking shoes and crampons. Almost all of us slipped today as the snow was old and quite slippery near the tents. Towards the evening we came out for some photographs and then went back and spent our time having a chat and a laugh till dinner.
Today our destination was the Kedarkantha Base Camp, another 4 kms away. Once again, the routes were insanely crowded and we were a bit disappointed, as we had expected a more quiet and peaceful experience. Today's trek once again was a cakewalk and quite soon, we reached the base camp after a couple of rest stops.
The next morning we had to trek to the summit at 11,500 ft. before sunrise, and hence we had to start as early as 2:30 am. So dinner was served at about 7 pm. However we could not sleep that early and ventured out to a higher area to get some mesmerizing astro shots. The milky way was completely visible and it was a treat to the eyes.
It was as low as -10 degrees and we were freezing outside the tents. So we rushed inside and tried to sleep. Most of us however could not get proper sleep due to the cold and the uncomfortable tents.
The temperature soon started becoming uncomfortable to a point that your feet would begin freeezing in spite of wearing thick socks and trekking shoes. The tiredness was escalated by the cold and towards the end it started to be a bit difficult. However at about 6 am, we reached the summit. -15 degree is no joke, and we realized that at the summit. Most of us were feeling quite uncomfortable and althought the scenery was absolutely breathtaking, I could not take a lot of photographs.
We witnessed the sunrise from the summit and it was surreal! However, the only thing that was missing here in the summit was peace and quiet, the most important thing that drives me to the mountains. There were people all around! We could not stay here for more than 20 minutes because of the cold and started climbing down.
This was the fun part as we had to slide down the snow in a lot of stretches. SLiding down the snow is absolutely amazing, probably the most enjoyable experience in the trek. While coming down, the Sun was up and it started getting a bit more comfortable. We stopped at some points for photographs and there was one shop on the way selling chai and maggi. I was extremely hungry and had whatever I could.
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