Chandrashila: A journey and an adventure I won’t ever forget.

I actively seek silence in life. Therefore, trek to Chandrashila was was ideal. It was a beautiful getaway from the social world and mobile networks.

I choose this trek with Indiahikes. I met the other fellow trekkers at Haridwar railway station. Since I was travelling solo, it helped me to connect to so many people and the whole thing turned so unexpectedly adventurous.

Day 1: Sari

Sari is the beautiful base camp of Chandrashila trek. In order to reach Sari from Haridwar, we had to pass through Devprayag, the confluence of rivers Alaknanda and Bhagirathi to form river Ganga.

It was not humanly possible to collect the magnanimity of nature into a 5-inch screen. Still Yogesh Sir made a successful attempt at capturing every frame.

We reached Sari in evening. When I saw the sky, I was thrilled at the blue. The air was so clean. Any picture that I clicked was crystal clear because there was no dust or pollution.

We all relaxed for a while and later had dinner together. That night the cook made some hot and delicious jalebis.

Day 2: Sari to lake Deoriatal

We started our trek at 8:00 in the morning. Our trek leader taught us nice trek anthem. We don’t know what it meant, but it was really fun. Later we started hiking through Rhododendron forests.

After a steady hike of ten minutes we reached a second view point with a grand view of Mt. Chaukambha and few other peaks as well.

After some time we reached Deoriatal campsite. Our stay was in military tents. We took some rest. Later in the evening we explored lake Deoriatal and other trails, listened to Manoj Chacha’s stories. Manoj Chacha was our guide and a great storyteller.

After story time, we had tea at the top of the hills. It was a beginning of wonderful friendship full of laughter. Our trek leader asked all of us to share one travel dream and the craziest moment of our life. Those two hours, it felt like a safe place- a place where no one was judging, and everyone was eager to listen to one another’s stories.

Day 3: Deoriatal to Shaymali via Rohini Bugyal

Day 3 was the longest day of the trek. We were walking through dense forests with the series of ascends and descends.

We all kept rolling under the sky.
When we kept ascending and ascending, we were presented with different views each time. On each step, climbing up the scenery calls and asks us to stare at it.

After a while, we started descending and entered the forest ridge. The forests got even more dense. As we took rest by this gorgeous huge tree that’s probably lived for hundreds of years here, I could see the true strength and patience of these trekkers who climbed up all the way after hiking for hours.

Apart from that, I remembered the advice from my Mom, Be like a tree. Stand tall. Stay grounded. Be content with your natural beauty. Enjoy the view. And when there is a storm, grow deeper roots, get stronger!

We again started walking on a leisurely downhill trail inside a generous cover of Chopta forest. We could see lush green fields around, hear the sound of the birds and the rustling of the leaves and it was extremely remarkable.

On our way to Rohini Bugyal, we spotted some beautiful rhododendron trees.

Finally, we reached Rohini Bugyal which is a small meadow surrounded by such beautiful rhododendron forests and had our lunch there.

It took us another 20-30 minutes to reach Shaymali, our campsite.

From talking funny things in the journey, sharing food, having tea in evening to being for each other – nevertheless to say the journey to Shaymali was truly an adventure.

Day 4: Shaymali to Baniya kund

That day was evergreen. It was raining heavily. Walking on ahead and staying put was difficult. But with some brilliant and warm hearts around the journey was made simpler. We had to trek a few less kms than planned. Later on the jeep was supposed to come to pick us and drop us at Baniya kund.

Meanwhile, we all stayed in the cozy tent and played Dumb Charades. I wasn’t feeling well and wasn’t able to participate more, but I still enjoyed a lot. Those three hours in the tent brought all of us even more closer.

Day 5: Summit Day: Chopta to Chandrashila via Tungnath.

We started our jeep journey at 5 am from Baniya kund to reach Chopta, from where we had to trek to Chandrashila via Tungnath. We were all set to start our hike to the summit of the mountain.

The trail from Chopta was covered with snow. There was just something beautiful about walking on the snow. I felt so special. And it’s something I would cherish for life.

There’s blue…There’s green… There’s pink.. There’s white…There’s this melange of different hues that left me enchanted.

After a sharp ascent of 2 kms we reached Tungnath temple.

The trail from Tungnath to Chandrashila was pretty steep but it was amazing

Once we reached at the summit, I couldn’t have been happier. It was a moment to be treasured.
Also, It made me realise that our body and mind are capable beyond we can imagine or think.

Our deadline to leave the place was over and our guide asked us to get going. Hence after spending some tranqil moments at the summit, we started with the descend.

The best part about descending from Chandrashila was that we were sliding through the snow and it was one hell of the experience.

They say the first time experiences are the sweetest. My first Himalayan trek gave me some bitter sweet memories. It was a kind of experience that shall never be forgotten, but this one is also gonna remain close to my heart. Each trek is a different learning and experience altogether.

Once you open your eyes to the beauty, peace and serenity of nature, you are hooked. You can’t unsee it, you can’t escape it and you can’t live without it.

For me I was taken, taken for sure, thankfully!

I am not the same person coming from there. A part of me had changed for the good.