Deorital Chandrashila Trek

      On our last day of Rupin pass trek with Indiahikes , me and Madhu promised ourselves to come back to Himalayas again. We were looking for a trek where I could bring my son who is 12 Years  . Though it took us more than a year to finally come up with suitable days and trek : “19th Oct Deoriatal- Chandrashila peak” . It was mentioned Easy-Moderate and was during Dussehara holidays.
      I Informed few more friends about the trek who were keen on exploring trekking & Himalayas and finally me, Advaith & Divya from Chennai and Madhu & Vandana from Bangalore started for the adventure.


@Chennai Airport



Executive Lounge@Delhi Railway Station

We all met at Delhi , spend our half day around  "Kake da Dhaba"  and the executive lounge at Railway Station. We had our veg :-) dinner at Kake-da-Dhaba and  delicious pan from "Panchayat" on the same street .
 
Plan was to reach Haridwar, spend a day there and start with Indiahikes' arranged vehicles to the base camp: sari Village.

      Haridwar and Rishikesh were  bonus & thanks to Jassie , our trekking friend from Haridwar who helped us with stay , vehicle and the activities around Haridwar and Rishikesh . We did river rafting , jumped and swam in refreshingly white Ganga . She was glittering , huge, milky and so full of life and  "rapids" in the river added so much fun to rafting. Jump from 12 feet or higher cliff in water was the most thrilling part of our rafting adventure ( Off course I had to jump on my toes all the way back later and visit ENT doctor in Rishikesh after all that jumping did not help ) . We ended our day with blissful Ganga arti and next morning started for base camp, Sari village .

On the way to Sari

We covered our  10 hour drive  listening to old all forgotten Hindi songs from the driver and eventually singing along and taking breaks at scenic places  en-route including “Devprayag” and “Rudraprayag”.

Day 1 - Sari Village
We reached sari village which is 6000 feet above sea level .We met the entire team formally  again and were introduced to our trek lead Shreyas . Our stay in sari hovered above the mountain village and where the  village was shining like a jewel box at night. We were already in mountains looking down at the village and eager for adventure .

Day 2 - Sari to Deoriatal

Next day everyone got up by 4 am to witness the much discussed sunrise if Sari .though sun came out only by 8 am. After a small walk, me and Adi settled ourselves on one of the house terraces and watched the sunrise where Sky was turning magnificent with beautiful shades.  Mountains and trees brightened up as sun was out and shining within no time .Me and Adi had  a long happy conversation over many topics while waiting for the sunrise.  Connect or the leisure bonding time that was missing during our daily busy errands .  

Morning @Sari

We came back to the room to get ready for the trek with a happy face , filled heart , bunch of selfies and sunrise photos.

Today's  trek was from Sari to Deoriatal . It was approximately 1250 feet ascent along the well laid path for pilgrims . This trek assured lot of birds though me not being very good with birds missed out on many though the bird experts Divya and suresh spotted few .
Distance was not much and we quickly reached Deoriatal after ascending approximately 2/3 Kms. Trail gave beautiful view of the village and some beautiful temples from height. We completed this trail in two hours and reached at a small shop  up where some of us had Maggie and cold drinks .

We could see a serene emerald shaped lake which had beautiful reflection of giant snowclad chaukhamba and Gahrwali mountain range. We reached beautiful Deoriatal camp  and pitched our own tents  with the help if Indiahikes team very close to the lake. Some Trekkers went gawping, jumping and clicking around lake with Garhwali gigantic Himalayan mountains while few went for little some more hiking around the lake.

This was our first night in the tent and Adi and Divya were super excited getting inside the sleeping bags . We slept quite happy having specious tents for three only to realize that Adi could roam comfortably and had gone perpendicular to me and Divya both leaving his place empty. We had a good laugh over the shock we got when we did not find him next to us when we woke up .

Day 3 - Deoriatal to Rohini Bugyal
Third day of the trek was 8 km trek with lot of ascent and descent through mountains and Khiri Forest .Trek was long and sometimes quite steep though it rewarded us a thick jungle, shady woods & some beautiful and rare birds.
Having a geologist in the team, we rest of the experts, tried to analyze each and every rock on the way. Despite my poor learning ability I too learnt to identify mica and carried a small stone just for the memories and new leanings ;-).  

One last small but steep climb took us to the beautiful Rohini Bugiyal, 1000 feet higher than yesterday where porters had already reached and kitchen tent was ready with refreshments .Adi managed to reach ahead of all of us and was proudly waiting and welcoming everyone. Once everyone from the team reached the campsite ,some decided to chant OM and some did stretches and some were ready to click and to be clicked.
While we concluded day's walk and were back inside the tents  opening and reopening our bags ,we heard some tapping sound only to realize the hailstorm. Within 15 minutes entire campsite was covered with snow. We strongly believe that it was the power of OM that bought snow  .

Sunset at Rohini Bugiyal was absolutely breath taking. Sky was clear again and we could enjoy snowclad Chaukhamba and camp with a huge bonfire and Garhwali songs from Porters and from some beautiful voices among the Trekkers. While it was cold and wet outside, we attempted heated round of Antakshari inside the dinner tent. We concluded our second day of the trek with a nice chitchat, laughter and scrumptious dinner along with deserts. Shreyas played a perfect host during every meal and made everyone eat more than what they usually do. Adi being the youngest trekker always got extra sweets. 

Sunset

 Day 4 -Rohini Bugyal to Martoli

Forth day was a 4-5 km walk from Rohini Bugiyal to Martoli .It was again through woods and amidst the Rhondenraon trees, dried maple leaves, some red, white and yellow flowers .On the way we took a small break at Akashkamini river . Water was freezing cold though refreshing .some sat dipping their feet in water and some dared to take bath .The ISM gang was quite particular about their looks and washed their hair every chance they got .
Camp place again was absolutely stunning and all the tents were facing the mountain range. We were greeted with hot Maggie and chai at the camp and we were ready for another round of mafia and bonfire.

We concluded our dinner early as we needed to start next day by 3:45 am .It was last day for the porters team with us so after dinner there was long and nice singing sessions from the enthusiastic porters and when we asked for stories, they came up with loads of interesting mythological stories from Mahabharata, Pandavas and God Shiva and their connection to all base camps, route and the Tungnath temple.
We got to know that Martholi name depicts that if you have survived so far means you are really brave!! :-) We applauded ourselves being the tough blood! And went back to the tents looking forward to the next morning.

Day 5 - Martoli - Chopta -Chandrashila Peak -Chopta

Next day chai and breakfast was ready at almost 3am and we were all set for the trek at 3:45 am. It was freezing cold, pitch dark and a steep climb to begin with. Some of us did not carry torches and had to stick with others .It indeed was difficult and to Adi it seemed insane. His unsure mind was questioning him every step whether to go ahead or stay back and was not able to determine the purpose of the difficult climb and time.


With little counseling, small pep up talks, cheering, motivating we completed the steep mountain!


We reached Chopta where the route was again well laid/built for Tungnath pilgrims. Sky was clear and full of stars .it seemed like we could almost touch them.
“Chandrashila means that you have reached so high that you can almost touch the moon ".

Shreyas was sweeping and trying to push the team so we could reach the summit before sunrise. It seemed more and more difficult with the steep and never ending ascent. By the time Tungnath was in sight, everyone was exhausted but we all realized that there is no way down and one cannot quit.
Adi's had tears rolling at one point and he said, “I know mom .I have to climb and I don't want to cry but these tear are coming automatically” Sudden uncertainty hit me making me wonder whether it was too much for him.
But we walked and walked. We changed our pace. Sun was already rising behind Chaukamba which was much closer now and we decided not to rush. We were tired and desperate to end this never ending climb.

We reached Tungnath temple only to know that there is another mountain yet to be climbed - Chandrashila peak .We refused to give in and picked up the pace .We wanted to reach the peak now . Due to hailstorm previous day , the snow was melted and  hardened many places and making it slippery and extremely dangerous as one side was mountain and other side if you slip was a deep dark valley .

Somewhere on the way we saw sun rising up .It was breathtakingly and awfully beautiful to see widespread colors in the sky and surrounding mountains around. It was the last stretch; we gathered our will power told ourselves its mind over body and continued climbing till we reached Chandrashila peak.

Chandrashila summit at 13100 feet was absolutely magical . We were at summit. Clear sky, sun was shining and was already out in the sky & surrounding mountains. Entire Garhwali Himalayan Range  from Kedar ,Shivaparvati , Nandadevi , Chaukhamba , Badri  was standing tall and clear , other side was deep valley where fearless eagles and Falcons were flying with the wings spread wide .360 degree view from summit was humongous and depicted undeniable strength and power of Mother Earth. Some went speechless, some sang, some simply sat ,Some took out their best lenses to capture the outstanding surrounding.

It was surreal, spiritual, peaceful and humbling moment being at the summit.
You feel so tiny and powerful at the same time.
I think one must do treks for this moment. one should experience being at height. Adi's tears were long gone and he was smiling. It was a proud moment for him and me as well.
We sat quietly for some time till we could sink in the moment and the surroundings. Surely that’s going to be my favourite place with my favourite buddy for long long time.

Again with loads of clicks from everybody's camera we started to descend. It was last night of the trek and once we reached, inspired by the young boys some of us washed our hair with the coldest water ever. It indeed was refreshing. We had mastered mafia game by now and campsite was echoing with lot of shouting and laughter  .We concluded our day with super-heated and controversial Antakshari game of girls vs boys and hot dinner with deserts . None of us wanted to end the day or trek though.

Day 6 - Chopta  to Haridwar

With new emotional experiences, new set of friends and hundred other trekking plans we said goodbyes and started our return journey to our homes.

Trek was short and comfortable. It had beautiful views which covered dark forests ,Deep valleys, breath taking Bugyals , colourful trees and birds , steep climbs ,tiring walks , views ,stunning sunsets and sunrises , colors on the sky and land .
It was a perfect cocktail with all flavors . It added enough adventure with so many mythological interesting stories attached to every place en-route .Plenty of time to bond, relax and rejuvenate .Great food, super enthusiastic trekkers and friendly Indiahikes team made this  experience once in a lifetime.
It's an excellent trek for anyone who wishes great rewards for lesser efforts. who wishes to  have good time, great scenery , absolute adventure, fall in love with nature and trekking with . Adi surely is ready for next one !