Guest Post: When the Kedarkantha Trek became too challenging

Recently I went to Kedarkantha trek which is considered as one of the easiest trek for the beginners. But with the level of snow (aound 7-8 ft.) out there, it became one of the most challenging trek. I share my story here; Happy reading 🙂

Day 1 (31st January): Started from Faridabad by my car at 2:00 AM. Picked up two of my friends from Dilshad garden at around 3:15 AM and reached Dehradun at around 7:30 AM. Picked up our guide Bachan (owner of Himalaya Shelter and one of the best guide I must say) from there and then headed to Sankri, base camp to start Har Ki Dun and Kedarkantha trek, where we reached at 5:00 PM

Day 2 (1st February): With clear sky, we started off with our trek to Kedarkantha at 8:30 AM. Looking at the level of snow at Sankri itself, we decided not to camp at Juda-Ka-Talaab as it would be frozen, hence we decided to camp 100 mts below Juda to make sure we have water supply. We reached our first day camping site (100 mts below Juda) at around 12:30 PM. Trek up to this site was a continuous climb with moderate difficulty level but with the level of snow during the trail it became extremely challenging. The snowfall surprised us when we reached there and continued for the next two days

Day 3 (2nd Feb): We woke with a view of white scenery everywhere. With moderate snowfall, we decided not to proceed further and started waiting for the clear sky to show up. After few hours, with sun started playing hide and seek, we decided to leave our tents there (looking at the weather there was hardly any chance of someone coming for this trek) and proceed further to the base of the summit. We left the camp at around 2:00 PM and after an hour of climb, snowfall started again. And this time we had to face the strong wind too. At some loose patches we got stuck in the snow but managed to come out of it with some effort. I must say that was the most thrilling part of the trek. Looking at the weather conditions with continuous snowfall, we decided to stay in one of the huts (fully covered with snow) around 1 km before the base of the summit. We reached the hut at 4:40 PM

Day 4 (3rd Feb): Continuous snowfall with no chance of stopping. We were in a dilemma whether to proceed back to Sankri or to wait for another day for the clear sky to show up and we get the beautiful views of the snow capped peaks all around and Kedarkantha peak at the front. In either case there was a risk element involved. But we decided to stay back in the hut hoping for the bright sunshine tomorrow

Day 5 (4th Feb): We hardly got any sleep at night due to severe cold conditions with temperature reaching minus 11 degree at 7:00 AM and shitting under these conditions became the most challenging task of everyone’s life. For the first time we realized the importance of a wash room. Anyways, we all were delighted to see the clear sky with expectations of bright sunshine all day. With the level of snow, it wouldn’t have been possible to go for the summit, hence we decided to trail back to Sankri. At 8:00 AM we started off and reached Sankri at 12:00 PM. I picked my car and left for Delhi at 1:00 PM from Sankri. Next day (5th February) morning at 4:00 AM I reached safely at my Faridabad residence with memories of the most challenging trek of my life that will last forever

Guest Contributor : Ayush Singhal

Ayush is avid traveler and an adventurer, he has gladly shared one of his recent experiences here from his long list of travel stories.

We are sure our readers will appreciate it. Happy Exploring with Untraveled Routes 🙂