"Adventures in Abundances" - Trekking Odyssey [Gaurikund to Kedarnath 22km]

Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase. - Martin Luther King, Jr.

I find the relevance of this quote during our trekkimg. The moment we try to look ahead in the elevation. We started feeling scsred abd starts to lose motivation to climb. But once we focus on step, we were good enough to cover the entire trek.

After driving pass through the difficult hilly and risky roads, we made it to Sonprayag The gateway to heaeven. We enjoyed our evning at Mandskini river fully aware we had tough days ahead. Trekking to such an height is not easy and going to test our physical ability. From stamina, to heartbeat, to courage. Such trekking is a huge task to any person who is not into sports, considering the Kedarnath trek is one of toughest trek to cover. A person is suppose to cover 22km on foot to make it a successfull pligrimaige. But are we prepare to climb it successfully? that was the question that we kept asking to ourself troughout the night before.

We did made sure to take a proper rest as the trekking going to be hectic as none three of us were sporty. The temperature at night gets too low, and we needed some extra blanket. During middle of night we heard few noises outside. Few more visitors made it to sonprsyag at night but the unavailability of rooms made them to spend night on the roads. We had to wake up early, to take local shared taxi to cover the next 5 km on vehicle before test our physical endurance. the actual treking route starts from GauriKund and the local vehicle are the only operate at such an height were the only option.

Sonprayag used to be the starting point of Kedarnath Yatra. But now, a motorable road upto Gaurikund has been built and the 5 km distance from Sonprayag to Gaurikund can be travelled by a shared jeep.

We wore warm cloth, took our bags and moved towards the market, the sharing vehcile would be availabe after the local market area. We already did our reiki and made us aware of everything previous evening, so we didnt face any issue. But we were little ahead of time. We and many others recahed before time and the security guards made us to wait in queue for another 30 min till they leave us alone. It was part of their security measure.

The cool breeze from the mountains make us to shiver. But it was only a matter of time that we will start our trek. Soon the guard open the barricade and we walked towards the jeeps standing for taking the yatris to Gaurikund. It was on the other side of the river where we spent the evening a day before. We were embarking our trek. We got our seats in the jeep and were soon at Gaurikund. The jeep fare was Rs.30 per head (less than 50 cents)

The trek starts at Gaurikund. "Gauri" stands for goddess parvati and “Kund” literally means a reservoir. Gaurikund has a hot water spring where the pilgrims usually have a bath before embarking on the Yatra.

The hot spring no longer exists after the flash floods of 2013. Still people goes down to enjoy in water. We didnt wanted to spend our time and went straighway to our trek. We have our plans to spend maximjm time on the top.

Gaurikumd has a small market place with many congested shops alongbthe the roads. We begin our walks towards our main destination. The trek was too steep to climb and it did not take us lok to undesrsood. The shivering time gone and we started sweating. I started to feel the heat and changed my warm cloth to shorts and tee. I also put on my knee support cap to prevent any injury while climbing up the steep slope. Later it proved to be a good decicison.

The Kedarnath trek route starts from Gaurikund and concludes at Kedarnath covering a distance of 16km. As per the internet and the board at Gaurikund, the trek is 16 KM. The actual trek is 22 KM each way. It took people 9-12 hrs to reach the temple, in comparison a mule takes about 5 hrs, pithu will take about 6 to 7 hrs. yes we have all the option available to make it to the temple.

We started from Gaurikund as esrly as 6 AM. The Mandakini River was gushing down with beauty and spirit. As much as I wanted to stay there and admire the sprightly river, but we had to start our trek towards Kedarnath Temple to make it by evening.

The trekking route had changed and rebuilt after the flash floods of 2013. The old trekking route has now given way to a better and wider trekking trail. About half a kilometer from the starting gate, is a booking office for horses, mules and palkis and Pitthus. (Pitthus are basically men carrying the pilgrims on their back). After a kilometer of trekking comes the Horse Point (Ghoda Pul) or the place from where you can get on your horses or mules to carry your journey..

The trek surface is not smooth at all, the rocky surface is broken at many places. There is mud, slush at some places. To make things worse, mule poop and urinate on the trek itself. One has to be very careful, the broken patches can break your leg

And the ocassional rainfall make things worse.

We trekked along the trail. Very soon we were quite tired and panting. Our legs were screaming for respite. Well, this is what happens if you are out of any fitness regime and had not trekked for almost never. Nevertheless, we continued to trek. Though I must admit that there were a couple of moments when I felt that I should have hired a mule. My nephew started giving up hope of making it to top.

We took a lot of breaks, we were in no hurry to return the same day. There are enough facilities enroute. We took stops at every 500m or 100m, depending upon the elevation. The Presence of nature all around us and to reach to the snow clad top made us to keep walking. We started taking frequesnt stoppages, take few sip of water to dehydration and then start again.

The entirr trekking route is full of natural beauty, while there are waterfall, there are green mountains, lookjng may scare you but looking upward make you fall in love of the place. Trekking through dense forests, tranquil meadows, and challenging terrains, yhat what making our trek too adventurous.
The route is carved out of the mountains, while at many places we have to cross the water fall. while at some places the roads were carved out due to recent landslide. We saw all aspect of natural wrath. We were witnessing the natural beauty as well all the casualities caused by nature.

While many people prefered to take the pony. I was very adamanant to cover the ditance on foot, and kept moving. We reached our first stoppages at Jungle Chatti. A small place to relax, enjoy the surrounding and take a break from rigorous trek. The local people were selling some eatables. But expect a higher price at such location.

Gaurikund – Jungle Chatti via Rambara bridge | Jungle Chatti – Bheembali | Bheembali – Linchauli | Linchauli – Kedarnath base camp|

The route is designed in a well planned way so that no one get any problem We have these establishment along the route with medical facilities. the real trek starts after you cross the river Mandakini to the other side, it is all upwards from there. Like those hairpin bends, just up up and up. You need to be mentally strong, keep it slow and steady, do not rush.

I.aas enjoying the route completelly, infact I was lost in myself, untill, I realised my nephews were left behind. The availability of mobile network all through the way let us to stay connected. It was fund enjoying the different stoppages and also exploring the natural beauty. Especially the water falls.

Our journey continues, sometime tired, sometimes gasping for breath, sometime talking to fellow trekker , crossing the uneven broken roads and finally we made it to the base camp around 3PM. Giving us a sigh of relief , the distance from base camp to the main temple is only 2 km. But the excitement of makjng it to the top gave us a new life. We all.were pumped up and moved forward ....this time with fast pace....

will share my "experience of the top" in a different post

Hope you enjoy the little trekking adventure......

Read - Road to Kedarnath

Read - Day before Trek

PS: All photographs are mine

Peace!!

Namaste @steemflow

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