Roopkund Lake was a dream, and finally the time came when we set out to chase that dream. We took the Shatabdi Express from Delhi to Kathgodam and reached Kathgodam at around 11 am. We were a bit late and had to hurry up as we had 220 odd kilometres to cover all the way to Lohajung. Well, to be precise, we were to reach Wan, a small village about 13 kms from Lohajung which would be the starting point for our dream journey.
After a long and tedious journey which was quite scenic as well, we reached Wan vilage at about 10 pm at night. We received a warm welcome from our guide, Mr. Mohan Bisht and his team. We had an awesome dinner ready for us. It was a bit chilly and we were extremely tired, so we went to bed early as we had to start a long adventure the following day.
The next morning, we started early at around 8 am, along with Mohan Bhaiya. There were six of us, and we had two people to help carry the stuff and a cook. All the material were carried from Wan as we always prefer local guides over Hiking companies. It was a 12 km trek which was mostly uphill. We took small breaks every 1.5 - 2 kms to have some water and to catch our breath! The final 3-4 kms were a bit steep and I personally had some beathing issues as I had an upset tummy the previous day and my health was not really in the best of shape! But all's well that ends well, we reached our destination and first campsite: Gharoli Patal.
Gharoli is located amidst thick forests and boasts of mesmerizing views of Mt. Trishul and other high mountain peaks. We were spending some time chilling out when the disastrous news came in. Due to incessant snowfall, camping beyond Gharoli was not being allowed by the forest department and Roopkund was practically inaccessible. We were devastated by the news but Mohan bhaiya cheered us up and we decided that we'll try to reach as much as possible. We spent the rest of the evening chatting and went to sleep early.
The next morning, we were to trek 4 kms to Ali Bugyal and return to Gharoli. I must mention at this point that our cooks were amazing and the food that we were served would make you feel at home even at 12,000 ft.
After a couple hours of hiking, we reached the lush green meeadows of Ali Bugyal. Honestly I've never seen a place like this apart from the Windows XP wallpapers back in childhood! An amalgamation of the green meadows and the blue sky as far as your eyes can see, it sure felt heavenly.
We spent another couple of hours simply lying down on the pristine grass, looking up at the sky and pondering over life with some soft music! Ali Bugyal surely is a very photogenic place as well! It started getting quite cloudy and we came down to our camps at Gharoli before the heavy downpour began.
We planned to do some astrophotography at night but it was too cloudy for that. Moreover the next day would be our hardest day and we decided to sleep early and leave the astro stuff for another day.
The next morning, we set out with no clear destination in mind! We wanted to reach as far as possible on the Roopkund trail. After a mild ascent of around 3 kms we reached the stunning green meadows of Bedni Bugyal
Bedni Bugyal was out of the world. As you walk, the entire landscape slowly unfolds untill you can see paradise in front of you. We spent a lot of time in Bedni just staring at the sheer beauty of the place. The scenic Bedni Kund is located just before the ascent towards Pathar Nachuni starts.
Needless to say, the views were tremendous! There's a spot where you can click photos with Mt. Trishul on one side and Mt. Nanda Ghunti on the other side and we decided to make it a bit cinematic!
After spending an hour totally lost in nature, Mohan bahiya insisted we should move forward. The climb from Bedni was very steep, but once you've reached the top of the ridge, the view of the entire Bugyal below is mesmerizing and surreal!
The next destination was Pathar Nachuni that was supposed to be our next campsite. As we crossed Bedni and moved for another kilometre, we realized why the forest department did not permit camping. The trail became narrower and narrower and covered with a lot of snow, it started looking extremely risky. There were patches of snow with stepp cliffs on one side where there was barely enough space to keep both legs, even a slight slip would mean death! We had our crampons on and somehow managed to cross these stretches before reaching Pathar Nachuni.
The view was insanely beautiful and with a zoom lens, we could see the trail forward to Bagwabasa and to Roopkund. It was too snowy and according to our guide, going any further would be extremely risky in these conditions.
At that point, we were happy and content. It is at times like this that you realize that The journey is much more important than the destination. We were mind-blown at the spot and spent some time just appreciating the beauty.
It was snowing quite a bit and we realized that we should get back before the weather worsens. We had to cover around 10 kms to reach our campsite back at Gharoli. It was the summit for us in this trek and we had to take it with a bit of salt as the way to Roopkund was visible and it was just 16 odd kilometres. However, my favorite Rolling Stones song says You can't always get what you want! We cheered up and made a promise that we'll be back to conquer Roopkund very very soon!
We started our journey back through the amazing Bedni Bugyal and once again spent some time in the meadows!
It got really really cloudy on our way back and started raining very heavily. We had our ponchos on and it became a bit hard as we were slipping constantly and it was getting very cold as well. It was almost evening when we completed more than 20 kms of trekking for the day and reached back at our campsite!
We were extremely tired and spent the rest of our day relaxing and enjoying the final moments. Our guide and his team once again cheered us up with hot soup and evening snacks, followed by some tea. I might not have mentioned this for the previous days but this has been the story of everyday: the hospitality was absolutely wonderful! At night we finally got some clear skies and set up our tripods to get some shots.
The next day, it was time to get back to Wan. We started at about 10 am for the 12 km trek back that was mostly downhill and honestly a cakewalk after the previous day! On the way back we stopped at the famous Laatu Devta Temple at Wan.
We spent the rest of the day at Wan talking about life and about the wonderful trek that we had, also talking about how much we'd love to come back to conquer Roopkund. Mohan bhaiya informed us that we had managed to get some chicken for dinner. We strolled around in the quaint little village of Wan and had an amazing dinner with some drinks!
Finally the time had come to part ways. We were scheduled to reach Mussoorie today and we left Wan early morning at about 6 am. We parted ways with all the people in Wan, the ones who carried the tents and other stuff, the cooks, the helpers and of course our amazing guide, Mohan bhaiya. At this point I should say that I would recommend Mohan Bhaiya 10 out of 10 times! You can get in touch with him at the following contact numbers: +91 90121 73647/ +91 87556 12552/ +91 78304 54745. He manages Roopkund, Ronty Saddle, Brahmatal, Kedartal and other treks in that area.
The next morning, we once again set out for some food-walk and went on to Landour to Chaar Dukaan, Landour Bakehouse, and some other nice food places in Mussoorie. We also met the famous writer Ruskin Bond at a bookstore that he visited in Mussoorie.
In the evening it was time to bid farewell to the hills and we reached Dehradun from where we had a bus at night back to Delhi. The trip was superb: it was unsuccessful but who cares about success if you get satisfaction and hapiness? I just hope I can get back soon to the lush green meadows and beautiful sceneries at the Roopkund Trail and complete my unfulfilled quest!
