Rudranath Trek | Part 1 | Being born in the mountains is itself a gift from God

Rudranath temple is the Tritiya (third) Kedar amongst Panch Kedar situated in Gopeshwar Mandal in the Chamoli district of Uttarakhand. Located at approx 3,600 meters above sea level, the Rudranath temple is dedicated to worship Lord Shiva.

The Trek of 22-25 kilometers towards Rudranath Temple begins from the Sagar Village situated in Gopeshwar Mandal in the Chamoli district. Sagar is a small and beautiful village situated in Chamoli District. This lockdown allowed us to visit this beautiful place in July'20. I started my journey with my cousins from our village Daula of Rudraprayag district which is the neighboring district of Chamoli. We started our journey at 5'o clock in the morning from our place which took 3 hours for us to cover the distance of approx 80KM to reach the Sagar Village.

The route of this beautiful journey depends on where you are coming from. For the people who are from Uttarakhand only, it's quite an understandable and easy route. But if you're coming from Rishikesh, there are two route options you will have once you reach Rudraprayag. The first and the short way would be Via Rudraprayag to Gopeshwar Mandal & the second would be Via Rudraprayag to Ukhimath to Mandal which is a long but beautiful route. I would personally suggest the second route because of the immense beauty of nature you will find on your way. Also, you will see the beauty of Chopta (Tungnath-Chandrashila Trek) on your way if you prefer the Ukhimath route.

We started our trek at 8 am from Sagar Village with no idea how much time it will take for us to reach the temple.

After completing the trek of just one kilometer, we left the village behind us & it was a complete jungle path we were heading to. The weather was quite happy and favorable for us as there were clouds everywhere instead of sun rays and rain which made our journey even more beautiful.

Just to bring to your notice that if this is going to be the first trek of yours and you want to complete it in one day, it's gonna be pretty tough. However, if you have 2-3 days to complete the trek, you have the option to do that too.

After completing the first 5 km, we have reached a place called Pung Bugyal where you can eat something in the only dhaba there. Pung Bugyal is a beautiful place with small green grass in between a dense forest. You can also make this place your first stay if you have plenty of days to cover this trek.

The trek was getting tough with each passing step because of not the good condition of the path. Slight rain and the path of the jungle made this journey amazing. The path of this entire trek is not in very good condition which makes this trek a little bit harder.

After the trekking of 5-6 km, we had our first meal which all had packed from home for breakfast as well as for lunch. The tiredness of continuous trekking of those 6 km and empty stomach made our home-cooked food (Roti, Aaloo ki sabzi, Chole, homemade achaar) even more delicious. Natural sources of water in every 100 or 200 meters never going to keep you thirsty there.