A trek through snow covered mountain slopes is all a travel addict can wish for this Christmas or new year. Chopta in Uttarakhand is a small hill station close to the Kedarnath national park. One can book a car from Dehradun or Rishikesh and drive till Chopta (Chandrashila). From Dehradun it takes around 7 hours to reach and from Rishikesh around 5 and a half hours. The driveway is beside the Ganges for almost the entire stretch. The journey is filled with picturesque sceneries. The bluish green river water, white sand and mountains make every part of the drive mesmerizing. On the way one can stop at Devprayag and Rudraprayag to visit the famous confluences. Another place to visit on road is the Omkareshwar temple at Ukhimath. Its suitable to reach Chopta before sunset since its extremely cold afterwards. There are many camps at the base of Tunganath will really good services. We stayed in camps of Sun and Snow.
Next morning we started the trek around 9am. Depending on your stamina you can start the trek early or a bit later also. Make sure to get the boots and sticks to walk on snow. If this is your first trek it will be suitable to have a guide with you. As the temperature will be sub zero start the trek slowly and let your body adjust with the hike and temperature. The climb till Tunganath temple is almost 3 and a half kms. To reach Chandrashila peak another half a km one has to walk. As you keep going the view gets more and more marvelous. From the top you can see all around 360 degrees with peaks like Kedar, Chaukhamba, Gangortri, Nanda Devi. The winter sun and blue sky adds more to the beauty of the landscape. It took us around 6 hours to complete the entire trek. One should remember to have energy drinks, nutrition bars to keep your energy throughout the walk. After coming down you xan easily drive till Ukhimath or Rudraprayag. Spending a night there on the next afternoon one can come back to Dehradun or Rishikesh.
