Kedarkantha | October 18 – 21 | 2021

…a summit climb so steep, almost felt like I wouldn’t make it. Yet I did, with moral support from some local dogs…

It was the 17th of October, it had been raining profusely in the state of Uttarakhand. A lot of routes had closed down, effectively choking the roadways. A bunch of us were trying to reach Sankri from Dehradun. We had only made it to Dehradun earlier that morning (around 6.30 am) from Saharanpur, where we had gotten off from our train. The journey from there to Dehradun had been amazing, the road was great, with a tunnel or two here and there. Dehradun to Sankri was a fairly long distance. After waiting at numerous police barricades which had been made in an attempt to close the roads down due to excessive rain, we finally made it to Sankri around 7pm evening. The beautiful Tons river had made itself visible exactly 2hrs before we reached our destination and hadn’t left our side ever since, its beauty enhanced as the night fell. That night we went to sleep having in mind a possibility of no trek at all given the circumstances in terms of the weather.

18th October, I was woken up by a friend at 6am to witness the clear skies which had brought with them a reassurance that the trek will be happening on schedule after all. Soon after, we met our trek leader, Vicky who briefed us on the trail ahead. We had been joined by 4 new people from Delhi and had become a team of 11 in total. We gathered together and started around 9.30 am. In an attempt to avoid police restrictions (which were yet to be completely relaxed), we strayed from the trodden route and made our way up through winding roads through a local village. It was a fairly steep section with a make-do road made of rocks and mud through the forest. Beautiful yet exhausting. The jungle trail offered small clearings here and there where we stopped and had food and chocolate bars. Around 2 – 2.30, we reached Juda ka Talab which was supposed to be our campsite for the day. Legend has it that Juda ka Talab was formed when two smaller lakes had joined to form one (hence the name). If folklores are to be believed, it is said that lord Shiva had opened up a small strand of his hair that had let enough water out to have formed this lake. We had Rajma Chawal for lunch at our campsite which, after the utter exhaustion from the climb, tasted delicious. Evening ended on a sweet note with heavenly tomato soup. The night was pitch dark but the moon, being in its 3rd quarter phase, was clearly visible. We were advised not to leave our tents alone at night and, if we did, to move around in groups of 4-5 at least, due to the presence of wild animals in the region. We had filled our bottles with cold water from Jungle streams and went to sleep. That night I slept very well.

19th October, 3rd official day of the trek. We packed up and left Juda ka talab around 10.30 – 11 am for Kedarkantha basecamp which was to be our next campsite before summit. The road was steep but progress was easy compared to day 1. This was partly due to the fact that this route was frequented by mules and constant trampling by these creatures had created somewhat of a road there. Snowcapped peaks had started showing up on the horizon, often offering glimpses through the canopy. It was a short climb, took us around 2hrs to reach. Kedarkantha basecamp was huge area with campsites set up by various teams and adventure companies. There was a waterfall nearby in which some of our brave friends took a dip. Over there we managed to make friends with a local guy who had come with a group to graze their cattle. He brought some chicken for us from the market all the way down in Sankri, completing the journey there and back in a matter of 1hr 30mins! The chicken made a nice addendum to the otherwise plain dinner arrangements. The kitchen tent, being the only warm place there after nightfall, was where we had our dinner. I had developed a slight tonsil issue which didn’t allow me any sleep that night.

20th October, summit day. We woke up at 2.30am and started our climb around 2.45am in hopes of catching the sunrise from Kedarkantha summit. The team was divided into two groups, one that moved a little faster and another slightly on the slower side. I went with the faster team, accompanied by some local dogs which had managed to linger around. It was pitch dark and we had to walk on what little light our headtorches had to offer. The small canteen below the Kedarkantha summit was visible from a distance as a tiny little speck of light in the oblivion, it gave us hope to move forward. It took us 2hrs to reach the source of that light, the climb was steep and tiring. The sky was crystal clear and entire snowcapped ranges were clearly visible. After having some maggi, warm water and tea over there, we pushed forward once again. The toughest section started right at the base of the summit. I was already feeling quite sick and getting slight headaches, which I later learnt were symptoms of AMS. The final ridge-walk to the summit began and I was convinced that I wont be able to complete it, but I trudged along, following in the teams footsteps, accompanied by the local dogs. Sunrise began with 30 mins worth of climbing yet to happen, so we decided to sit down and take photographs as it was clearly visible from where we were. After hours of exhaustion, witnessing that sunrise was a welcome change of pace, it was beautiful. 30 mins later we made it to the summit (3810m) to be greeted by a 360 degree view of some of the most majestic mountains in the Indian Himalayas (Nanda Ghunti, Swargarohini, Bandarpuch etc.) and yes…it was everything I had hoped it would be!

Fun fact: We found full network on our mobile phones from Kedarkantha summit!