Trek to the Lord of Peaks : Tungnath

Tripoto
3rd Apr 2015
Photo of Trek to the Lord of Peaks : Tungnath by Pavsi Saxena
Photo of Trek to the Lord of Peaks : Tungnath by Pavsi Saxena
Photo of Trek to the Lord of Peaks : Tungnath by Pavsi Saxena
Photo of Trek to the Lord of Peaks : Tungnath by Pavsi Saxena

Snow Slide

Photo of Trek to the Lord of Peaks : Tungnath by Pavsi Saxena
Photo of Trek to the Lord of Peaks : Tungnath by Pavsi Saxena

Route Map

Photo of Trek to the Lord of Peaks : Tungnath by Pavsi Saxena
Photo of Trek to the Lord of Peaks : Tungnath by Pavsi Saxena
Photo of Trek to the Lord of Peaks : Tungnath by Pavsi Saxena
Photo of Trek to the Lord of Peaks : Tungnath by Pavsi Saxena

Everything is fair in LOVE & WAR !! Truly said and here I am, justifying it for my love story. Its a love at first sight for me. No, its not for the man of my life but for the bliss of my life – MOUNTAINS !!

Photo of Trek to the Lord of Peaks : Tungnath 1/11 by Pavsi Saxena

What an enthralling view they have given me whenever I managed to respond to their call !! They have never disheartened me in any of my treks. After dating the Mountains with some easy going treks, I have decided to give myself an enchanter surprise with a trek to Tunganath in April,2015. Its an easy to moderate level trek.
Located at an altitude of 12,073 ft, Tunganath is the highest Shiva Temple in the world. It is one of the five Panch Kedar temples. The 4 km trek to the temple starts from Chopta.

Photo of Trek to the Lord of Peaks : Tungnath 2/11 by Pavsi Saxena

We started our journey from Delhi to Chopta on Friday evening after office. Riding through the clouds, we reached there at around 8 a.m. in the morning. It was a serene and scenic place with chirping birds and pink rhododendrons in their full bloom.

Photo of Trek to the Lord of Peaks : Tungnath 3/11 by Pavsi Saxena

We decided to start the trek next morning and completed our local sight seeing by that time. By sight seeing, I mean the view of the beautiful landscapes, birds, peaks, etc.

Photo of Trek to the Lord of Peaks : Tungnath 4/11 by Pavsi Saxena

In the evening, we placed our tents there and tried our hands in preparing dinner in the nearby dhaba. They were so sweet that they allowed us to try our hands in their chulha. It was a fun-filled experience to make chulha rotis and chatting with the local people.

Photo of Trek to the Lord of Peaks : Tungnath 5/11 by Pavsi Saxena

Next day, we started our trek with full zeal to conquer it successfully, although the weather there was not in our favor. It was raining and people told us about the expected snowfall. But we took our gears and started with Lord Shiva’s name. It was smooth in the beginning and got harder with snow covered tracks.

Photo of Trek to the Lord of Peaks : Tungnath 6/11 by Pavsi Saxena

There was a thick white bed-sheet all around and we felt like being hypnotized by its shining snowiness. We were following each other and was trying to avoid the old snow as it became slippery.

Photo of Trek to the Lord of Peaks : Tungnath 7/11 by Pavsi Saxena

After covering around 1 km, we encountered snowfall and that too with good speed wind. So we stopped and took shelter in the nearby broken hut which was the only possible shade there. With temperature below 0 C and all wet hair, we decided to ignite some fire in the hut for our cold blooded bodies. It took us 30 minutes to ignite it with the wet wood and lighter.

Photo of Trek to the Lord of Peaks : Tungnath 8/11 by Pavsi Saxena

When the snow showed all of its tantrums of falling for an hour, we started heading towards the temple again, this time with fresh snow all around and stupendous views.

Photo of Trek to the Lord of Peaks : Tungnath 9/11 by Pavsi Saxena

Finally in an hour or so, we reached our destination and the temple was all covered with snow and nothing was visible inside it. We snapped Lord Shiva’s name together and promised Him to come again and go for Chandrashila trek as well next time.

Photo of Trek to the Lord of Peaks : Tungnath 10/11 by Pavsi Saxena

We were bound to come back to the base as soon as possible because the bad weather was suggesting us of heavy snowfall. Any delay could have caused us to be stacked there for days. We had to take some risks and slides in the snow to cover the distance quickly.

Photo of Trek to the Lord of Peaks : Tungnath 11/11 by Pavsi Saxena

We reached our base camp safely at around 5 p.m. in the evening. It was a great sense of satisfaction for everybody. Thanks to the team of my great friends.For me, it was one of the most memorable and adventurous date with my crush. I looked to the Mountains and thanked them for being so generous and kind during our trek.I would recommend this trek to all the trekkers. Go, conquer the Lord of the peaks and live the adventure for yourself !!

Happy Travelling !!

This post was originally published on 'birdofpassage'.