KEDARNATH TEMPLE

Hey! Guys, hope you all are safe and protected. I'm going to share with you all my experience of going to Kedarnath …. So, let’s get started!

We started our trip from Delhi to Haridwar to Sonprayag. I will not get into the detail of this part of the trip because it’s bit boring.

The fact of the matter was that our family was not the only one who had planned for this trip to Kedarnath and so it seemed as if entire India was on roads to get to Kedarnath. And so we got late getting to Sonprayag.

Bus Stand 

We got ready tad quickly and prepared for our hike up to Kedarnath. The queue of people for hiring taxi up to Gaurikund (~6KM from Sonprayag) from where the actual hike starts was too long that we decided to continue on foot. Throughout the walk up to Gaurikund, you could feel the cool breeze and hear the gentle lapping of water over the huge rocks through which it made its way.
Amidst this, there were also little streams of fresh natural water sneaking thorough crevices through which we drank. Well, 6KM trek might seem easy but mind you the trek was steep and we also had our own backpacks to carry on.

Carrying backpacks

Total we had 4 backpacks, although one is not captured in this pic 😛.
The sunlight was bit irritating me.

Gaurikund

In an about an hour and a half, we reached Gaurikund. 
We stopped there just to click a pic 😜.









But we didn’t wait much there  and proceeded further because we were already late and had to anyhow reach before it gets dark. From now on, the real hiking starts.

Now, trekking for about an hour, I thought I must have covered about 2 kilometers, but to my surprise, when I saw the milestone, I realized I had covered only half a kilometer! Imagine!! The trek to Kedarnath is not at all easy, mind you! The path is not a continuous steep but graduated step and your knees will soon give up! The scenic beauty, however, was all encompassing and made it possible for us to trek easily.

And one more thing was encouraging us to go on was that some people were chanting, “Take god’s name and keep on trekking”, while some were having a conversation where a person would ask the other person, ”How long would it take us to reach Kedarnath?” and the reply of the other person would be “Bas aadha ghanta aur”. 

It was making me laugh whenever I heard "aadha ghanta aur"....I mean how come people were making their own family members fool 😂.

Directly reaching to Bheembali, we took rest and had tea while the weather was also becoming cloudy. The shopkeeper told us to continue our journey asap because the rain might start anytime soon. So, listening to him, we got little freaked out because still we had to cover 8 kilometers. Moving on, we first decided to go by foot but after seeing the weather changing rapidly, we decided to go by mules.

The stick we are holding in our hands helps to trek steep route

                       
             
           

               A bridge near Bheembali











Having trekked on mules was also a good and different type of experience. While we were on mules, the rain suddenly started and so we wore raincoat. But hands were still getting wet and freeze as the water was very cold. I could say that it was a wonderful experience. And gazing at the sky, it looked as if the clouds are at the same level with us because of us being at such a height.

Being at such a height, we couldn’t see anything below in the valley, because it was as if we were among the clouds. Also, we literally passed through melting ice! and believe me, it wasn’t an easy ride with the mules!

The man who was guiding my mule, shared a lot about his life and what happened in the aftermath of the 2013 floods. It was an enriching experience!

Kedarnath Base Camp

                                                            

By late evening, we reached Kedarnath Base Camp, and obviously the rain stopped. That was the last destination where a mule can take us up to.

Having tea

 So, after taking a cold-water bath with mule,

 we had tea at the base camp and snacks. Now, 

 we had to trek for only 1 km. We did it!

We reached Kedarnath Temple, and got mesmerized by seeing the temple covered with lights. 

Heading on to Dharamshala, which was so clean, we got freshen up and went on for dinner.

  

Heading to Dharamshala

After having dinner and shivering with cold, we went back to Dharamshala. I went for bed straight 

and the moment I lay on bed, my legs and back started paining a lot. Got up next morning all fresh, 

we got ready and went for darshan. Standing in queue for 3-4 hours, we had darshan. 

An interesting fact, Vim Shila is considered as the holy rock  which saved the sanctum sanctorum 
from devastation in the 2013 floods is placed right behind the temple. 

           

Vim Shila

The darshan though had to be done in a hurry because of lot of rush. Well, an advice from Panditji 

was to come next time in the month of August/September when it is though a bit cold, but you have 

all the time in the world to do darshan.

After having darshan, we had Aloo Parantha in breakfast with tea.

So, That’s all!

This is my experience of Kedarnath and I hope you guys enjoyed reading it 😊.