Kedarkantha Winter Trek- The First Snow Trek of my life

Tripoto
29th Dec 2019
Photo of Kedarkantha Winter Trek- The First Snow Trek of my life by Shubham Gandhi
Day 1
Dehradun to Juda ka Talab: Part-1

Day 0 of Kedarkantha trek starts with travelling to Dehradun from your base location. Since, i'm from Meerut (180KMs from Dehradun), so i started my journey on 28th December'19 late night on a Bus, so that i could reach Dehradun by 6 am in the morning and catch up with the other people.

Meerut to Dehradun on the volvo bus.

Photo of Kedarkantha Winter Trek- The First Snow Trek of my life by Shubham Gandhi

Day 1 (29th Dec'19) started with a chilly morning at the Dehradun Bus Stand. Today, we've to travel to the base village of Kedarkantha Trek, i.e., Sankri. After meeting the group with whom i booked my trip we started off to Sankri on a Sumo Car (a private taxi). It's a long and a hectic 190KMs ride which takes around 8-9 hours. One can also take a Govt. bus at 8 am or shared Taxi near Dehradun Bus Stand to travel Sankri.

The views on the way are just mind blowing. Also, one can stop at some unexplored places like 'Lakhamandal', which is famous for its temple having a great history from Mahabharat (video will explain this in detail).

We didn't got space in Sankri, since the New Year is the peak time to visit Kedarkantha, so we stayed 21KMs before Sankri to a place called M.O.R.I. Wrapped up the evening exploring the local bazaars of Mori and acclimatizing ourselves.

Lakhamandal Temple

Photo of Kedarkantha Winter Trek- The First Snow Trek of my life by Shubham Gandhi

The whole group

Photo of Kedarkantha Winter Trek- The First Snow Trek of my life by Shubham Gandhi

Me Posing at Lakhamandal Temple :p

Photo of Kedarkantha Winter Trek- The First Snow Trek of my life by Shubham Gandhi

A Chilly winter night in MORI with local kids

Photo of Kedarkantha Winter Trek- The First Snow Trek of my life by Shubham Gandhi
Day 2
Dehradun to Juda ka Talab: Part-1

Day 2 (30'th Dec'19) started with chilly hilly morning at Mori. Today, the travel is from Mori to the base village: Sankri with the best views of Pine Trees & the forests (Govind Wildlife Century) with the twisty roads. After freshen up & having breakfast at Sankri, and re-checking on our trekking gears(one can buy from the Sankri Local market also), it's time to start the trek towards 'Juda Ka Talab', the first checkpoint point of the trek. The 4KMs short trek (easy-5 hours) offers you the best views of the Himalayas on the way. Camping beside frozen Juda ka Talab, surrounded by thick of tall trees and mountain slopes is just a Bliss. One can also do Star gazing here from the camps.

Mori to Sankri Journey

Photo of Kedarkantha Winter Trek- The First Snow Trek of my life by Shubham Gandhi

Breakfast and Gearing up at Sankri

Photo of Kedarkantha Winter Trek- The First Snow Trek of my life by Shubham Gandhi

Trek begins from Sankri

Photo of Kedarkantha Winter Trek- The First Snow Trek of my life by Shubham Gandhi

The first patches of snow during the trek

Photo of Kedarkantha Winter Trek- The First Snow Trek of my life by Shubham Gandhi

Views on the way

Photo of Kedarkantha Winter Trek- The First Snow Trek of my life by Shubham Gandhi

Views from Juda ka Talab

Photo of Kedarkantha Winter Trek- The First Snow Trek of my life by Shubham Gandhi

Juda ka Talab Base Camp

Photo of Kedarkantha Winter Trek- The First Snow Trek of my life by Shubham Gandhi

TheBlueSpoonTraveller's signature finally

Photo of Kedarkantha Winter Trek- The First Snow Trek of my life by Shubham Gandhi

Dining tent at Juda ka Talab

Photo of Kedarkantha Winter Trek- The First Snow Trek of my life by Shubham Gandhi

Juda ka Talab Basecamp location

Photo of Kedarkantha Winter Trek- The First Snow Trek of my life by Shubham Gandhi

Me standing with Juda ka Talab Backdrop

Photo of Kedarkantha Winter Trek- The First Snow Trek of my life by Shubham Gandhi

Our group dining tent

Photo of Kedarkantha Winter Trek- The First Snow Trek of my life by Shubham Gandhi

Star Gazing at Juda ka Talab

Photo of Kedarkantha Winter Trek- The First Snow Trek of my life by Shubham Gandhi

Time to get some rest in the tent

Photo of Kedarkantha Winter Trek- The First Snow Trek of my life by Shubham Gandhi
Day 3
Juda ka Talab to Kedarkantha Base Camp: Part-2

Day 3 (31'st Dec'19) starts with waking up with the best snowy morning views from the Juda ka Talab base camp. Today it's time to go more up (11,250 ft.) towards the Kedarkantha Base Camp (another 5-6KMs trek).

After freshen up, having breakfast and exploring the juda ka talab again, one can start today's trek towards the Kedarkantha Base camp. This track too begins through some dense forests of oak and pine trees then goes through some steep ridges and much more dense areas that were present before.

After the 3 hours trek, one can explore the Kedarkantha base camp with the majestic views of the himalayas from the above. Playing games, making snow creatures etc. things are the best things to do here. Celebrating the new year's eve at such an altitude was one of the best things experienced.

Good morning from Juda ka Talab Base Camp

Photo of Kedarkantha Winter Trek- The First Snow Trek of my life by Shubham Gandhi

Morning view of Juda ka Talab

Photo of Kedarkantha Winter Trek- The First Snow Trek of my life by Shubham Gandhi

Steep Climbs towards the Kedarkantha Base Camp

Photo of Kedarkantha Winter Trek- The First Snow Trek of my life by Shubham Gandhi

One can have Porters to carry their luggage if he/she's having trouble lifting the same

Photo of Kedarkantha Winter Trek- The First Snow Trek of my life by Shubham Gandhi

Trek buddy on the way

Photo of Kedarkantha Winter Trek- The First Snow Trek of my life by Shubham Gandhi

Kedarkantha Base camp, Majestic Views

Photo of Kedarkantha Winter Trek- The First Snow Trek of my life by Shubham Gandhi

Making of Snow Statues

Photo of Kedarkantha Winter Trek- The First Snow Trek of my life by Shubham Gandhi

Kedarkantha Base Camp

Photo of Kedarkantha Winter Trek- The First Snow Trek of my life by Shubham Gandhi

New Year's Eve Cake...made by the guides along

Photo of Kedarkantha Winter Trek- The First Snow Trek of my life by Shubham Gandhi
Day 4
Kedarkantha Base Camp to Kedarkantha Peak: Part-2

Day 4 (1st Jan'20)- The target for today was to catch the 1st sunrise of 2020 from the Summit (12,500 ft.) and comes back to the Kedarkantha Base Camp and again to Juda ka Talab.

The trek started 3am on 1st Jan towards the Kedarkantha Summit. The mountains were full glowed with torches and walking on the snow in dark was my first time. It was a little difficult & scary yet a beautiful experience.

We were able to reach the summit just before the 1st ray of the sunlight and experienced one of the stunning sun rises of our life on the new year. It was -15 degrees at the top, and one can neither speak properly nor take photos by taking their hands out of gloves (it was extremely windy up).

We then again headed towards the Kedarkantha Base camp sliding all the way down the snow, freshen up & then towards the Juda ka Talab base camp again on the same day.

Mountain full of Torches

Photo of Kedarkantha Winter Trek- The First Snow Trek of my life by Shubham Gandhi

The first Sunrise of 2020

Photo of Kedarkantha Winter Trek- The First Snow Trek of my life by Shubham Gandhi

Temple at the top of the Kedarkantha peak

Photo of Kedarkantha Winter Trek- The First Snow Trek of my life by Shubham Gandhi

Selfie Selfie

Photo of Kedarkantha Winter Trek- The First Snow Trek of my life by Shubham Gandhi

Majestic views from the top

Photo of Kedarkantha Winter Trek- The First Snow Trek of my life by Shubham Gandhi

Majestic views from the top

Photo of Kedarkantha Winter Trek- The First Snow Trek of my life by Shubham Gandhi
Day 5

Day 5 (2nd Jan'20) is the pack-up day. One needs to get down to Sankri from Juda ka Talab this day and head back to dehradun from Sankri, taking alot of memories from the 5 days. PS: i wished my family Happy New Year on 2nd Jan Eve, since there were no signals after MORI (that too only Jio) :p

Some Calories up after completed the trek in Sankri (one of the best momos in the world) <3

Photo of Juda Ka Talab, Supin Range, Uttarakhand by Shubham Gandhi

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