All you need to know before visiting to 'KEDARNATH'

Since everyone must be familiar with the beauty and the divineness of 'KEDARNATH TEMPLE', this article will cover the things which are necessary and important to know before planning your visit to this holy land of Lord 'SHIVA'.

START OF THE JOURNEY

We ( Group of four people ) started our journey from Kanpur city and due to non availability of the train reservations, we opted to go through car. Though it was a long journey of 950 kilometers single side and we had a total of 4 days for the whole journey yet we decided to go. We started our journey at evening 8 P.M and reached Sonprayag at 10:00 P.M next day. Sonprayag is the nearest and major center to stay just before the starting point of the trek. One can find multiple hotels to stay at sonprayag however it is strongly recommended to book the hotels in advance as it can get overcrowded sometimes.

HOW TO REACH TO SONPRAYAG FROM DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE COUNTRY:

In order to reach sonprayag , one has to take a private vehicle from Rishikesh or Haridwar if you are travelling through train as the major railway station is Haridwar and if someone is travelling by Air then vehicle can be booked either from Dehradun Airport or from Haridwar or Rishikesh.

Total Road distance of Sonprayag from Rishikesh is about 250 Km with a estimated travel time of 10 hour's least so if you are travelling through your private vehicle, make prior arrangements of fuel ( preferably in Rishikesh ), and Food as after leaving Rishikesh it'll be a uphill climb and you will only get to stop your vehicle at Devprayag, Shrinagar and Rudraprayag.

If you are travelling with a private vehicle It is advisable to have a skilled driver who has a prior experience of driving on hills as one overtaking mistake could cause hour's of delay on hills so it is best not to overtake and just follow the lead of the vehicle moving infront of you. You will get multiple such points where you have to stop your vehicle in order to let the vehicle pass which is coming downhill. Further take a good serviced vehicle with you ( preferably Suv ) as during most of the hill drive, vehicle will run either in first or second gear so the power of the engine will become very crucial factor.

Where to Stay:

If someone is planning to reach to the temple by way of trekking then the best place to stay is either sonprayag or Gaurikund but for those who booked helicopter to reach Dham then the best place to stay is either at Guptkashi or Phata. One can get the heli service from both guptkashi and phata and the helicopter takes only 7 minutes to reach Kedar Dham.

IMPORTANT THINGS TO REMEMBER BEFORE START OF THE TREK:

Before starting the trek it is to be kept in mind that extreme level of endurance is needed in order to complete this 22 Km of hard trek and if you are not doing regular Cardio exercise then it is strongly recommended to take the heli services or opt for the Horses at the starting point of the journey.

I would recommend to go for the heli services as it is less risky and time saving and if you want to go through the regular trekking route and are unable to climb then there are horse ride's and pithoo ride are always available at the start of the trek. Horse ride would cost you around 2500-3500 single side and pithoo ride would cost you around 4000-5000 single side.

It is also recommended to carry water bottles, wafers, chocolates and other dry items with you as these things are very much costly uphill. A regular water bottle would cost you around 70 rupees so make arrangements for these things before the start of the journey. Also carry a first aid kit along with other medicines with you as it is very common to feel exhausted, nausea during the climb further there is always a risk of land sliding which causes injuries and sometimes unfortunate death now and then to the people. During our visit, a person died due to land slide during his descend.

KEDARNATH BASE CAMP

It is highly unlikely for a regular climber to climb and descend in a same day hence one has to stay at the base camp after reaching to the top. At the base camp you can easily get the tents with an occupancy of 1 to 10 peoples in a single tent for a reasonable rate. The tents are comfortable with all the basic facilities however at morning, you have to pay 100/- per bucket of hot water in order to get fresh as it'll be chilling up there.

BEST TIME TO VISIT KEDARNATH

I would say that month of october is the ideal time to visit kedarnath as there is very less chances of landslide in this season but you will get a huge amount of crowd so be ready for that and do register yourself on the uttrakhand toursit app or website before visiting as the same is required.

Have a safe and health trip.

JAI SHREE KEDAR..