Roopkund Trek Short Story
Day 1 : – Lohajung (7,575 ft) to Didna village (8,530 ft) distance – 9 KM
It was our 1st day of the trek and we were all excited, by 6 am we all woke up, 6:30 we had our tea, 7 our breakfast and by 7:30 we started our trek. As a true trekker we had our backpacks carried by us (you also have the option of taking a mule who would carry your backpack with 350 rs per day per bag charges). The starting 3-4 kms went very well as the path was straight and descending our organisers had told that we won’t be gaining much altitude on this particular day. But anyhow we were not complaining for the time being since the scenery was very warm and pleasant and so was the weather.
Took a break point for some refreshments and to do some time pass stuff with our new friends (This was the first point where we unknown creatures started to know each other). After a KitKat break we again started our journey to Didna village with singing songs, enjoying each other’s company ( To have any trip successful the company with whom you go also plays a vital role). Till this point the entire path was downhill, after this point there was a pretty steep climb towards Didna our camp for the day and that is when our real trek started. The ascend was a difficult one and as we were carrying our backpacks it made even more difficult.
After 2 km of climb we came across a lady sitting in the rocks with her child selling some sort of juice. As we were dehydrated by the climb we took 1 glass for tasting and it was so good that we drank 12 glasses after that 😂 (2 per person), we asked the lady what is this juice called as and she said it’s rhododendron juice made from rhododendron flower (the name itself is very difficult to pronounce in the first attempt). After this 15-20 mins break we again started our trek to Didna village. At some point we started to hear the tinkling sound made by the mule’s bells (in this part of the world all the domesticated animals are born with bells around their neck 😛 ) getting closer and closer. One would not expect the mule’s having been overloaded with luggage overtaking us in these steep climbs, but that was the bitter truth……. After 4 hours of trek we finally reached to Didna village our 1st check point where we had our lunch and rest the remaining day. After a good rest (not in terms of sleep as we were given strict instructions to avoid sleeping we had other alternatives such as cards and Uno with us) our group decided to go out for a walk and get some wood for born fire.
After dinner we started the born fire and members from other groups like Indiahikes, trek the Himalayas, etc. also joined us. The night went well it was chilling cold we were informed about our next day schedule and about the climb as it was the toughest part of the trek and there was some 100 zig-zag climbs in total…. hmmm…. interesting :).
Day 2 : – Didna (8,530 ft) to Ali Bugyal to Bedni bugyal (11,519 ft) distance – 11 km
The entire team was up early and after our refreshments and breakfast we started our trek by 8 am to Bedni bugyal.
No sooner had we left the camp the climb started. This climb was through dense oak forests after a 1-2 km we had to take a break to fill our water from a running stream (as we were informed by our trek guide that after this point there is no source of water) and also we were tired by the climb 😓. So after an 10-15 mins break and filling all our bottles we again started our journey to Bedni with another steep climb.
The climb through dense oak forests was amazing with lots of dried leaves on the trail path , leading to lots of “Crunching” sound while walking, the forest was pretty dense and sunlight was blocked to the outer fringes. After another 2-3 km we reached our resting point where some local children were playing cricket and we joined them too for experiencing some High Altitude Cricket, as time passed members from other groups also joined us and a 5-10 mins break went upto half an hour. Finally our guide somehow pulled us off from the game and we started the trek again to Ali bugyal. We reached Ali Bhugyal after another steep climb and the scenes up there were marvelous can’t describe it in words with acres and acres of grassland in all directions. This resulted in some breathtaking views of the mountains. On one side you have trees and grass filled hills along with human habitation and on the other side you had the snow filled peaks. We had our lunch followed by some awesome photography. After a 45 mins break we continued our march to Bedni bugyal through lush green outfields of Ali bugyal. The journey to Bedni was not so challenging as it was a straight 4-5 km path. We reached to Bedni Bugyal by 4 pm and boy the scenes were mesmerizing to see from the top of the mountain. This was the first time we were going to stay in tents which was surrounded by Huge mountains, clouds, cattle grazing and view of Trishul mountain covered with snow. This was the 2nd base camp where we have to stay and enjoy the atmosphere. With nature we also met a guy who cooks food for all groups including us at 3354 m above sea level. Uday Shetty was truly the Master chef in the mountains. The food he made was very delicious (Not a fan of veg food but taste of Shetty bhai’s veg food was nice with menu such as chapatti, dal chawal and vegetable with most important sweet dish my favorite Gulab jamun yummy…….. ) . After having our dinner we had our short meeting which briefed about the next day schedule and checked our conditions by taking oximeter reading (This device checks the level of oxygen in your body if the oxygen level decreases you are in trouble). Thankfully everyone’s reading came normal and it the feeling as if we have passed any exam or what.
Day 3 : – Bedni (11,519 ft) to Patharnachani to Bhagwabasa (14,100 ft) distance – 10 km
So after our daily morning schedule we started our trek by 8 to Patharnachani. The day was not bright and shinning as we had in our previous campsites, it was cloudy and chances of rain (as said by our guide).
After climbing a fairly steep mountain when we reached to the top the weather became from bad to worse, the wind was blowing so strongly that it was pushing us to the edges of the mountain path and thus we decided to stop our march to Patharnachani and wait for some time. After 10-15 mins we stared the trek again through fairly strong wind and reached to “Ghora Lotani ” where we took our break. The Ghora Lotani Name is derived from the fact that this used to be a last point for mules and horses towards Roopkund. But now this is far from truth with mules being pulled all the way to Bhagwabasa. So after a small little break we again started our March to Patharnachani and reached there around 11-12 am where we had our lunch. After having a good lunch our guide came towards us with devil’s smile on his face and pointed towards a mountain and said that’s Kaluvinayak where lord Ganesha rested for some time after the climb and that we now have to climb the same mountain interesting isn’t it 😐. So we had to be ready for this 3 km steep trek both mentally and physically. After climbing for some half an hour we were totally surrounded by clouds bringing down the visibility to single digits. Also the thinness of the air started to show, for every couple of steps we took we would slow down to catch our breath. The steep mountain and lack of oxygen made sure the trail was going to be tougher than we had thought. It took 2 hrs for us to reach to the top and we were literally very exhausted by the climb that we took a good half hour break where we had tea, coffee and some maggie from local shop. The guides offered prayers to the stone idol for the successful completion of the journey. After this peaceful break we again started our march to Bhagwabasa (our guide told the path was straight and no climbing thankfully) and as we were nearing Bhagwabasa campsite weather played its part (yet again) as heavy rain started to pour upon us we quickly got our Poncho (type of raincoat) out and were running as quickly as possible to reach to the campsite. By 4 we reached to our campsite and quickly into the tents as it was still raining with cold breeze (the temperature would be around 3-4 Celsius as said by our guide). In the evening when it stopped raining we met Anand bhai (He was the trek specialist who would be taking us to Roopkund), we had training session of 1 hour on how to walk and climb on snow with our crampon attached to our shoes (crampons were provided by CrazyPeak) and schedule for the next day. After training we had our dinner and back to sleep as we had to start our next day trek to Roopkund by 4 in the morning.
Day 4 : – Bhagwabasa (14,100 ft) to Roopkund Summit (15,696 ft) to Bedni – Disatance – 15 km
Due to the sleepless night (because of rain and cold breeze) we were up by 2:30 am and when we came out of the tents we were amazed to see that not only us but members from other groups were also up and hovering around getting acclimatised their body in this chilling cold weather. Generally every group start their trek to Roopkund early in the morning as the snow is hard and you get good grip to walk over it after sunrise the snow starts to melt and it becomes difficult to walk on it.
By 4 we started our trek to Roopkund lake (by eating milk and cornflakes as breakfast most of them started empty stomach as they were unable to eat at such early morning) with other groups also started at the same time and there was a long queue as everyone wanted to reach Roopkund first. Roopkund is 3 km away from Bhagwabasa with straight path and marginally steep climb in between, just the last part is difficult as we have a steep 500m climb through the snow.
The climb was very steep and for every step we took the lungs would gasp for breath and fact that we had reached nearly 5000 m above sea level didn’t make it any better.
We finally reached to Roopkund lake breathless even to celebrate but was very happy as after such hard work we made it. It was emotional scene as snow was falling, people were crying in happiness, some were jumping and screaming while others taking selfies and group photos. The lake was frozen solid so there was no chance of getting any sight of skulls etc. These happy moments didn’t last long as we were hit by snow storm and had to leave Roopkund within 5 mins (we were allotted half hour for enjoyment and photography), the descend was even tough then ascend as others were still in progress to ascend towards Roopkund while we were descending all in the same route. Somehow we managed to reach to our basecamp Bhagwabhasa as quickly as possible with rain still playing its part. We were all wet and had to sit in the tents in cold with our body shivering as we didn’t had extra clothes with us, soon as the rain stopped our trek guide came and said we had to start descending to Patharnachani (as it was feasible to go down now with heavy rain expected throughout the day), so we packed our bags had our lunch and started our trek to Patharnachani. The descent was not easy as we thought it would be as due to rain the trail path was very muddy and it was difficult to keep the grip (we literally slipped 4-5 times 😅) . Met lot of trekkers who were on their way to Roopkund and we wished them “Best Of Luck” and also shared our short experience with them so that they would get some motivation to climb Kaluvinayak 😂. After an hour or so we reached to Patharnachani took some 10-15 mins break and again continued on our trail to Bedni bugyal. We reached Bedni by 5 pm and straight into the tents as our body had given up (15 km trek that too after getting up at 2:30 in the morning. Well it was hell of a day). Our guide brought tea and biscuits for us we sat out of the tents enjoying the cup of tea with mother nature and with our master chef (Uday Shetty) and telling him about our experience of Roopkund. By 7:30 we had our dinner and after our cheat chat and Uno sessions it was time for some awesome sleep 😴.
Day 5 :- Bedni to Wan to Lohajung Distance – 10km
Today was the last day of our trek we had a mixed feelings about it. Happiness as in we completed our summit and sad that this trek is going to end soon with only memories to cherish. As per our daily routine we started our trek early in the morning after having our breakfast to Wan and from there half hour road journey to Lohajung. Just a few minutes of walk and we entered the Oak forest and within it started the steep descent. Initially was satisfied taking the longer and safer route, but then the spirit of adventure possessed us that we started taking shortcuts if there was no path we would make it one 😎. We slipped got light bruises, laugh at each other all worth of it. But after an hour or so the legs started to hurt a bit and decided to give it a rest and followed the normal zig-zag route.
As we reached down the valley we came across the Neel Ganga river. A gurgling stream flowing right across our path. We had our lunch planned there and since we came early the food was not yet cooked so we had some time to enjoy the running stream by immersing our bare, aching feet into the cold water… Aahhhhh!!! Such an awesome feeling it was. After our lunch we started our trail towards Wan with an uphill climb en route. Dragging the tired body and soul through this climb even though it was short lived.
When we were about to reach Wan we came across a lots of Kids and they have pretty much the same dialogue to each and everyone “Namaste, mitai dho” (mithai was the code word for money). At last we reached the taxi stand in the tiny town of Wan after pretty much guiding ourselves all the way from Neel Ganga. After loading our Rucksacks onto the jeep we were off towards Lohajung ( it is an half hour journey some 15 km). The route offered some good views of the valley.
We reached Lohajung to be welcomed by our camp manager where our rooms were allotted with some tea and snacks. Spent the rest of the day roaming around this tiny town and returning our Poncho (Which we had taken on rent) and calling back home after 6 days for giving them the news that we are still alive and coming home soon. The evening dinner was the best dinner of our whole trip as it was a non – veg dinner after having the same veg food for 6 days (we had contributed for the chicken and gave some money to chef for cooking). The chicken was cooked perfectly, with us enjoying the dinner sitting in gallery with our guide, camp manager and our group in this freezing cold with some Arjit singh song’s 🙂 . No dinner date will match this (This came out because I don’t have a girl friend 😉 ). All in all the day was spent well and after another UNO session we were off to sleep as tomorrow we had our road journey to Kathgodam.
After 2 km of climb we came across a lady sitting in the rocks with her child selling some sort of juice. As we were dehydrated by the climb we took 1 glass for tasting and it was so good that we drank 12 glasses after that 😂 (2 per person), we asked the lady what is this juice called as and she said it’s rhododendron juice made from rhododendron flower (the name itself is very difficult to pronounce in the first attempt). After this 15-20 mins break we again started our trek to Didna village. At some point we started to hear the tinkling sound made by the mule’s bells (in this part of the world all the domesticated animals are born with bells around their neck 😛 ) getting closer and closer. One would not expect the mule’s having been overloaded with luggage overtaking us in these steep climbs, but that was the bitter truth……. After 4 hours of trek we finally reached to Didna village our 1st check point where we had our lunch and rest the remaining day. After a good rest (not in terms of sleep as we were given strict instructions to avoid sleeping we had other alternatives such as cards and Uno with us) our group decided to go out for a walk and get some wood for born fire.
After dinner we started the born fire and members from other groups like Indiahikes, trek the Himalayas, etc. also joined us. The night went well it was chilling cold we were informed about our next day schedule and about the climb as it was the toughest part of the trek and there was some 100 zig-zag climbs in total…. hmmm…. interesting :).
Day 2 : – Didna (8,530 ft) to Ali Bugyal to Bedni bugyal (11,519 ft) distance – 11 km
The entire team was up early and after our refreshments and breakfast we started our trek by 8 am to Bedni bugyal.
No sooner had we left the camp the climb started. This climb was through dense oak forests after a 1-2 km we had to take a break to fill our water from a running stream (as we were informed by our trek guide that after this point there is no source of water) and also we were tired by the climb 😓. So after an 10-15 mins break and filling all our bottles we again started our journey to Bedni with another steep climb.
The climb through dense oak forests was amazing with lots of dried leaves on the trail path , leading to lots of “Crunching” sound while walking, the forest was pretty dense and sunlight was blocked to the outer fringes. After another 2-3 km we reached our resting point where some local children were playing cricket and we joined them too for experiencing some High Altitude Cricket, as time passed members from other groups also joined us and a 5-10 mins break went upto half an hour. Finally our guide somehow pulled us off from the game and we started the trek again to Ali bugyal. We reached Ali Bhugyal after another steep climb and the scenes up there were marvelous can’t describe it in words with acres and acres of grassland in all directions. This resulted in some breathtaking views of the mountains. On one side you have trees and grass filled hills along with human habitation and on the other side you had the snow filled peaks. We had our lunch followed by some awesome photography. After a 45 mins break we continued our march to Bedni bugyal through lush green outfields of Ali bugyal. The journey to Bedni was not so challenging as it was a straight 4-5 km path. We reached to Bedni Bugyal by 4 pm and boy the scenes were mesmerizing to see from the top of the mountain. This was the first time we were going to stay in tents which was surrounded by Huge mountains, clouds, cattle grazing and view of Trishul mountain covered with snow. This was the 2nd base camp where we have to stay and enjoy the atmosphere. With nature we also met a guy who cooks food for all groups including us at 3354 m above sea level. Uday Shetty was truly the Master chef in the mountains. The food he made was very delicious (Not a fan of veg food but taste of Shetty bhai’s veg food was nice with menu such as chapatti, dal chawal and vegetable with most important sweet dish my favorite Gulab jamun yummy…….. ) . After having our dinner we had our short meeting which briefed about the next day schedule and checked our conditions by taking oximeter reading (This device checks the level of oxygen in your body if the oxygen level decreases you are in trouble). Thankfully everyone’s reading came normal and it the feeling as if we have passed any exam or what.
Day 3 : – Bedni (11,519 ft) to Patharnachani to Bhagwabasa (14,100 ft) distance – 10 km
So after our daily morning schedule we started our trek by 8 to Patharnachani. The day was not bright and shinning as we had in our previous campsites, it was cloudy and chances of rain (as said by our guide).
After climbing a fairly steep mountain when we reached to the top the weather became from bad to worse, the wind was blowing so strongly that it was pushing us to the edges of the mountain path and thus we decided to stop our march to Patharnachani and wait for some time. After 10-15 mins we stared the trek again through fairly strong wind and reached to “Ghora Lotani ” where we took our break. The Ghora Lotani Name is derived from the fact that this used to be a last point for mules and horses towards Roopkund. But now this is far from truth with mules being pulled all the way to Bhagwabasa. So after a small little break we again started our March to Patharnachani and reached there around 11-12 am where we had our lunch. After having a good lunch our guide came towards us with devil’s smile on his face and pointed towards a mountain and said that’s Kaluvinayak where lord Ganesha rested for some time after the climb and that we now have to climb the same mountain interesting isn’t it 😐. So we had to be ready for this 3 km steep trek both mentally and physically. After climbing for some half an hour we were totally surrounded by clouds bringing down the visibility to single digits. Also the thinness of the air started to show, for every couple of steps we took we would slow down to catch our breath. The steep mountain and lack of oxygen made sure the trail was going to be tougher than we had thought. It took 2 hrs for us to reach to the top and we were literally very exhausted by the climb that we took a good half hour break where we had tea, coffee and some maggie from local shop. The guides offered prayers to the stone idol for the successful completion of the journey. After this peaceful break we again started our march to Bhagwabasa (our guide told the path was straight and no climbing thankfully) and as we were nearing Bhagwabasa campsite weather played its part (yet again) as heavy rain started to pour upon us we quickly got our Poncho (type of raincoat) out and were running as quickly as possible to reach to the campsite. By 4 we reached to our campsite and quickly into the tents as it was still raining with cold breeze (the temperature would be around 3-4 Celsius as said by our guide). In the evening when it stopped raining we met Anand bhai (He was the trek specialist who would be taking us to Roopkund), we had training session of 1 hour on how to walk and climb on snow with our crampon attached to our shoes (crampons were provided by CrazyPeak) and schedule for the next day. After training we had our dinner and back to sleep as we had to start our next day trek to Roopkund by 4 in the morning.
Day 4 : – Bhagwabasa (14,100 ft) to Roopkund Summit (15,696 ft) to Bedni – Disatance – 15 km
Due to the sleepless night (because of rain and cold breeze) we were up by 2:30 am and when we came out of the tents we were amazed to see that not only us but members from other groups were also up and hovering around getting acclimatised their body in this chilling cold weather. Generally every group start their trek to Roopkund early in the morning as the snow is hard and you get good grip to walk over it after sunrise the snow starts to melt and it becomes difficult to walk on it.
By 4 we started our trek to Roopkund lake (by eating milk and cornflakes as breakfast most of them started empty stomach as they were unable to eat at such early morning) with other groups also started at the same time and there was a long queue as everyone wanted to reach Roopkund first. Roopkund is 3 km away from Bhagwabasa with straight path and marginally steep climb in between, just the last part is difficult as we have a steep 500m climb through the snow.
The climb was very steep and for every step we took the lungs would gasp for breath and fact that we had reached nearly 5000 m above sea level didn’t make it any better.
We finally reached to Roopkund lake breathless even to celebrate but was very happy as after such hard work we made it. It was emotional scene as snow was falling, people were crying in happiness, some were jumping and screaming while others taking selfies and group photos. The lake was frozen solid so there was no chance of getting any sight of skulls etc. These happy moments didn’t last long as we were hit by snow storm and had to leave Roopkund within 5 mins (we were allotted half hour for enjoyment and photography), the descend was even tough then ascend as others were still in progress to ascend towards Roopkund while we were descending all in the same route. Somehow we managed to reach to our basecamp Bhagwabhasa as quickly as possible with rain still playing its part. We were all wet and had to sit in the tents in cold with our body shivering as we didn’t had extra clothes with us, soon as the rain stopped our trek guide came and said we had to start descending to Patharnachani (as it was feasible to go down now with heavy rain expected throughout the day), so we packed our bags had our lunch and started our trek to Patharnachani. The descent was not easy as we thought it would be as due to rain the trail path was very muddy and it was difficult to keep the grip (we literally slipped 4-5 times 😅) . Met lot of trekkers who were on their way to Roopkund and we wished them “Best Of Luck” and also shared our short experience with them so that they would get some motivation to climb Kaluvinayak 😂. After an hour or so we reached to Patharnachani took some 10-15 mins break and again continued on our trail to Bedni bugyal. We reached Bedni by 5 pm and straight into the tents as our body had given up (15 km trek that too after getting up at 2:30 in the morning. Well it was hell of a day). Our guide brought tea and biscuits for us we sat out of the tents enjoying the cup of tea with mother nature and with our master chef (Uday Shetty) and telling him about our experience of Roopkund. By 7:30 we had our dinner and after our cheat chat and Uno sessions it was time for some awesome sleep 😴.
Day 5 :- Bedni to Wan to Lohajung Distance – 10km
Today was the last day of our trek we had a mixed feelings about it. Happiness as in we completed our summit and sad that this trek is going to end soon with only memories to cherish. As per our daily routine we started our trek early in the morning after having our breakfast to Wan and from there half hour road journey to Lohajung. Just a few minutes of walk and we entered the Oak forest and within it started the steep descent. Initially was satisfied taking the longer and safer route, but then the spirit of adventure possessed us that we started taking shortcuts if there was no path we would make it one 😎. We slipped got light bruises, laugh at each other all worth of it. But after an hour or so the legs started to hurt a bit and decided to give it a rest and followed the normal zig-zag route.
As we reached down the valley we came across the Neel Ganga river. A gurgling stream flowing right across our path. We had our lunch planned there and since we came early the food was not yet cooked so we had some time to enjoy the running stream by immersing our bare, aching feet into the cold water… Aahhhhh!!! Such an awesome feeling it was. After our lunch we started our trail towards Wan with an uphill climb en route. Dragging the tired body and soul through this climb even though it was short lived.
When we were about to reach Wan we came across a lots of Kids and they have pretty much the same dialogue to each and everyone “Namaste, mitai dho” (mithai was the code word for money). At last we reached the taxi stand in the tiny town of Wan after pretty much guiding ourselves all the way from Neel Ganga. After loading our Rucksacks onto the jeep we were off towards Lohajung ( it is an half hour journey some 15 km). The route offered some good views of the valley.
We reached Lohajung to be welcomed by our camp manager where our rooms were allotted with some tea and snacks. Spent the rest of the day roaming around this tiny town and returning our Poncho (Which we had taken on rent) and calling back home after 6 days for giving them the news that we are still alive and coming home soon. The evening dinner was the best dinner of our whole trip as it was a non – veg dinner after having the same veg food for 6 days (we had contributed for the chicken and gave some money to chef for cooking). The chicken was cooked perfectly, with us enjoying the dinner sitting in gallery with our guide, camp manager and our group in this freezing cold with some Arjit singh song’s 🙂 . No dinner date will match this (This came out because I don’t have a girl friend 😉 ). All in all the day was spent well and after another UNO session we were off to sleep as tomorrow we had our road journey to Kathgodam.
