The journey starts with a group of about 20 friends in the mid-night of 25th January, from Noida. The distance to travel was about 450 KMs. We had expected to reach to our camping site in Chopta after a journey time of 12-14 hours but the foggy night and twisting hilly roads took more than 18 hours. This made us to travel in the bus the whole night and the whole next day making us to reach there by 8pm. In the way, we experienced the life of Rudraprayag and took a dip at the confluence of rivers Alaknanda and Mandakini. Once we reached the camping site, we were all exhausted like hell. So, without doing much chit-chat in the camp, we better chose to sleep since the trek was scheduled the early next morning. The camp was in amidst of the snow and the temperature in the night was about -10°C. Very chilling, isn't it???
We started our trek in the morning at 8am after having the delicious breakfast. Our camp site was about 3km away from the actual point where the trek of Tungnath get started. This was needed to be covered by trekking through the snowy path, thus increasing the trekking distance. Every person in the group was very excited and energetic. The weather was chilling though giving a sense of immense pleasure. Clothes not less than 5 layers couldn't be helpful to beat the cold and it was not possible to capture the views with naked eyes; the sunglasses were a must.
The trek from the camping site to the Tungnath temple- the highest temple of Lord Shiva; was about 16km. We reach the destination in about 6 hours. On lighter note, it felt like surrender you to the chilling breezes and the elevating height for most of the time during the trek. But the view from the temple was so mesmerising that compelled us to forget all the tiredness of the trek. It feels like leave the previous life and stay there for the rest of the coming life. The cold breezes were making us count the value of every single breathes. This place is a must visit to everyone out there who are looking for adventurous trips.
The Chandrashila peak point was about 3km above the Tungnath temple but the weather suddenly became a little stormy which then prevented us to continue. As it is said "Something must be left behind which creates a reason to visit that place again". Keeping this in the heart, we came back to the camp which again took about 5 hours. At this time, the sun was behind the mountains and the moon was over the head. The moonlight headed our way back to the tent. The snow in the night was like sparkling froth.
Once we reach to the camp, the only thing we were finding was the bonfire to get us warm and then the sleeping bags. The sleeping bag was not less than the true desire that night. Yeah, really it was! The next day, we packed our bags to get back to Noida. On the way back, we took halt at Haridwar for some power snacks and stretch our legs which were like jammed in the seat of the bus.
It's been a long time to the Tungnath trip, but the feeling of joy and adventure stays live all the time. The mountains, snow, cold breezes and the zigzag roads with the best of friends always work like meditation which heals every pores of the body from outer to the inner soul.