Wo kehte hai na" You are not a certified trekker, if you have not done all the treks of Mahadev". Bas toh safar yahi se shuru hua humara! As of our group, we were all students trying to move on from our exams. So plan banaa ki chalte hain Churdhar. We took an overnight traveller from Patiala to Noradhar and we were at the main Noradhar market at 5:30am. Ab punjabiyo ka khaane ke bina kaam chalta nahi😂 So we had paranthas from a dhaba and assembled all the tents and accessories in our rucksacks. 6:00am was the time and we took the name of Mahadev and started our trek.
The trek from Noradhar market to the Churdhar temple is a total of 18 kms(one side) and and it is divided into 3 equal parts. The first basecamp is Jamnala(6kms from Noradhar). The next stop can be made at Teesri(6 kms from Jamnala) and then the Churdhar temple(6 kms from Teesri).
It was a clear day and the starting 100 meters of the trek is surely steep ascent and it tests your core.
Then the trail was much of a fun lane and one could even run on it. Then comes "Lucky Dhaba" and we had a small break there and took refreshments. Continuing on the story, we entered the jungle and it was a delight of nature. Across that jungle was Jamnala! There were signboards after every 300-400 meters to guide you but still there were some instances that we had to think and walk on the right trail. So finally we reached Jamnala by noon. We thought of trekking towards Teesri but we could not setup tents at teesri because the area is very cold and windy. So we decided to halt at Jamnala for the night and carry on early in the morning.
There are a couple of dhabas in Jamnala and you can find overnight shelter at the dhabas. They are NOT expensive!! There were no mobile signals at Jamnala except JIO and that too at a top of a huge rock😂. So we took turns to call our families. But when you are in the lap on nature, you should keep all that stuff aside and just feel the vibe.
Here are some shots from Jamnala.
Now comes the most important day of our trip!
We had to ascend 12 more kilometres to the peak and then descend 18 kilometes to the Noradhar market! It was a challenge but jisme josh nahi,wo punjabi nahi😂. So we woke up at 4:45am. The plan was to ascend to the peak, descend back to Jamnala and then packup the tents and descend further.
It was all dark at 5:00am at Jamnala and the temperature was around 5-8°C. We took out our torches and started to trek further..we saw an amazing sunrise from between the jungle and reached Teesri at 8am. The view was a treat to the eyes😍. You could see the huge Himalayan peaks at one side and all the Lower Himalayan region on the other side.
It was really windy and it was a great decision that we did not decide to camp here.
We had a quick tea and then carried forward our trek. I would say that the real trek starts from Teesri. The temperature would have surely dropped below 0°C at night. The dew drops were frozen. An amazing trail to trek on!
It was a trail full of ascents and descents with a charming view. So when you descend,you have to again pass through the steep ascents and descents. After a kilometre or two, we could see the famous shiva idol on the top of the peak. It motivated us to increase the pace. We finally reached the T Point of the trail. One way was towards the temple and one went to the idol. We could see the idol more clearly now but it was still a kilometre and that ascent would surely take out all your energy 😂.It was a very narrow path surrounded by huge boulders. Mahadev ki yatra hai bhai,itni aasaani se thodi puri ho jayegi!! It was a minimum of 50°C inclination and that too a kilometre!
At 9:50am, we were at the feet of the Lord Shiva idol. The vibe was all of a different levek. The pandits and yogis were chanting bhajans and all along having the Bholenath ki jadibooti😂. The 360° view was totally worth of all that hardwork!
We all had an half hour nap at the top of the peak as the sunshine was too comforting! Then we started the descend and reached Noradhar by 7pm.