Trek to Deoriatal..

Diwali Holidays... another trekking to Garhwal cooked up... trek from Sari to Deoriatal and then another trek from Chopta-Tungnath-Chandrashila..

Itinerary:
Day1: Delhi-Haridwar by Mussoorie Ex.
Day2: Haridwar-Rishikesh by auto; Rishikesh- Rudraprayag by shared Jeep; Rudraprayag-Sari village by Sumo; Trek to Deoriatal; night at Deoriatal.
Day3: Trek down to Sari and drive to Chopta; Trek to Tungnath and Chandrashila, night at Chopta
Day4: Way back to Dehradun; Dehradun to Delhi by DDN-DL-AC-Spl

This trek was so mesmerising that we cant help clicking pictures...and end up capturing 500 odd snaps...most of them are invariably orkuttable...lol... I am putting the Chopta, Tungnath and Chandrashila trek in a different post..

Deoriatal (2438m) is a trek of 2kms from Sari village...This lake has captivating surroundings with forest all around... The reflection of the mighty Himalayan peaks in the lake creates a beautiful effect...

25/10/09

...train was little late...so had morning tea on train itself...

...oh...i forgot to tell that we are going in a group of 4...here come two...Manabesh and Arnab(from left)... from Haridwar took an auto to Rishikesh...few on route snaps...

Anrab was very much excited...afterall it is his first trek...

let me present...the master mind behind the trek...Shibatosh (Shibu-da)..
8:30 am...reached Rishikesh and occupied 4 seats of a shared taxi...and left for Rudraprayag...(un?)fotunately one luggage fall down, allowing to capture this pic...
just before reaching Devprayag we had our breakfast...with aloo parantha...
By 1.15 we were at Rudraprayag...where our driver Jagadish Negi was waiting for us with his Sumo...we r already running behind schedule...without wasting anytime we left for Sari...


No doubt..Border Road Organization is doing a great job....

Road widening is in progress...

the road runs parallel to River Mandakini...

Finally reached Sari at 4:15pm... Chandrashila from Sari...

After having maggie...we start trekking...we need to reach Deoriatal before dusk...very often Shibu-da prefers to take short-cuts...

Sunset...Golden Yellow...wowww...

when we reached top, it was almost dusk...gonna stay in Reflection Resort...decent enough..had a campfire...

dinner with roti and chicken curry...

Relfection Resort...

Inside Room...

26/10/09

Woke up at 5.30...having wake up tea and left for Tal to see sunrise...Oh no...its cloudy...

Banderpunch peaks...

Chaukhamba peak...

Meru and Sumeru peaks...

As sun rises ...peaks started changing its color from yellowish to brightwhite...

Nice reflection...

Snow white peaks..time to leave...

at around 7.45am we start trekking down to Sari...we had to complete our trek to Tungnath...

speed rating...of the 4 Arnab is the fastest...follewed by Shibu da...then me...and Manabesh always took his time...

Ooops...me ahead of Shibu-da...

beautiful Sari...

great photography by Manabesh...

by 8.45 we got down...had breakfast with aloo parantha again...

by 9.00am we left for Chopta...

Trek to Tungnath and Chandrashila...

Chopta-Tungnath-Chandrashila...

continued..
26/10/08
9.00am: after having breakfast we drove off to Chopta...

Chopta (2900m) is situated on the Gopeshwar-Ukhimath road at a distance of about 40 Kms. from Gopeshwar.

Tungnath (3680m), the highest shrine of lord Shiva among the Panch Kedar..The temple of Tungnath is considered to be more than 1000 years old...from Tungnath another 1 km trek leads to Chandrashila....
Chandrashila is the highest peak of Garhwal Range registering an altitude of 4000m...Provided clear sky it displays amazing view of NandaDevi, Trishul, Kedar peaks and Choukhamba peaks...

the road from Sari to Chopta runs through dense forest of Pristine Rhododendron, oak and Deodar trees...

Beautiful langur

Waterfall

Dense forest

and meadows..
Good Motorable roads
arrived Chopta at 10.30am. booked a room and by 11.00am we start trekking for Tungnath... concrete road...naah...not getting the trekking feeling
compared to Deoriatal slope was much gentle
Captivating meadows

we move on

Winter ahead...Temple of Tungnath is gonna closed from 5th nov...a vendor closed his shop and getting back to village...

guess we find Haldiram mixture here


Arnab became Eskimo

all of sudden its start raining...

yahoo..its not rain...its snow...snowfall!!!!

Alpine Harbel Research Institute

by 1.30 pm we are at Tungnath...

oh no...Manabesh left behind...he cramped his right leg!!!!

Tungnath Temple

1 of my best picture

Hill crows...much larger compared to what we normally see

when we start trekking Chandrashila was out of our plan...but after seeing Chandrashila peak just ahead...we decide to take it on...Manabesh not coming...its already 2.30 pm...and we have to complete this 1 and half kms trek by 4.00pm...slope is much steeper this time...also no concrete, proper trekking road this time...

Hats off to Shibu-da...

Destiny just ahead

another great photography by me...lol

half way down...Shibu-da decided to step back...felt like he not gonna make it...but i bet, he could have done it easily...young guns Arnab and myself are determined to complete it...its 3.00pm..1hr in hand...we rushed up...very soon we r above clouds... Oh yes we made it and its only 3.15pm

we can relax a bit

Cairn feeded with 2 more stones

.......Photo-Session.....

Nandadevi Peak

by 3.30pm we start getting down

and we got to Tungnath by sharp 4pm...excellent time management...after having a plate of maggie we start getting down to Chopta...

Marvelous sunset

we got back to Chopta just before dusk..

27/10/08
woke up early see another Sunrise...sky was much clear...

Here comes Sapurna Anandji who is making aloo parantha for us..
After having breakfast, we left Chopta at 8.30am for Dehradun...


More waterfalls



we took a halt at Rudraprayag and visited the Sangamsthal of Alakananda and Mandakini rivers

..Hanging Bridge..

Finally we arrived at Dehradun by 7.30pm and had our dinner...we took the Dehradun-Delhi AC special train and arrived at Delhi next morning...

Cheers....

Hriday