Kedartal, as the name indicates its Lord Shiva’s lake. The legend says Shiva created this lake as a contribution to River Bhagirathi. The lake is believed to be the origin of Kedar Ganga, a tributary to Bhagirathi which joins the river at Gangotri. But, in that landscape you happen to see Kedar Ganga originating from a glacier which feeds the lake too!
After injury at Chadar trek I was thinking that my left hand is gone forever! Very depressed, I was pushing hard to get some movements in the wrist. Had never thought I could go for a trek within 4 months of injury. Still decided to make it to Kedartal with only one hand operational. Initially it sounded like madness but, later I didn’t regret. It was hard but wasn’t as hard as I believed.
The trek starts from Gangotri and the trail is steep uphill including numerous switchbacks through birch forest. Birch trees are referred to as Bhoj trees in local language and so the first campsite inside the Bhoj forest is named Bhoj Kharak. The trail is well marked, other than all uphill terrain there is nothing much to talk about. Just few meters before the campsite the Spider Wall crossing is interesting. Almost vertical granite with couple of inches wide footholds and quite a deep valley below … well it is not as scary as it is mentioned in all websites. But, yes! one needs to be careful.
The second day of trekking from Bhoj Kharak to Kedar Kharak is comparitively easy on knees but tricky and very interesting! Steep climb, blue sheep pushing lose rocks from top, we dodging those falling rocks, crossing sliding zones, river crossing at places. I loved it. What is the fun in just walking and walking? It is fun to get some dust and dirt. The real heroes are the porters. I envied them, their immunity towards the cold, altitude and the terrain. When our team, well equipped with vibrum sole trekking shoes and saying “mein guide ke sath hi jaoonga” (I will go only with the guide), these guys were walking in a pair of flimsy slippers with no grip at all and carrying a backpack of the size of an almirah! I heard they carry about 30 to 50KG! They deserve a story of their own.
We had started late in the morning and got to experience some snow fall at the end. I was in a open area, there was nothing to hide and strong cold wind brought snowflakes. Snowflakes were ramming to my face. The light weight poncho wasn’t of any use, it was flying in every direction except to protect me from snow and wind. The romantic looking snowflakes which come in slow motion aren’t so in reality, they seemed too hostile and felt like ripping my facial skin. On the mountains you can hardly do anything but accept the situation- if hot sweat, if cold shiver!! There was no option than walking ahead. Fortunately, the storm was brief and the last stretch of the trail is almost flat and opens up into a beautiful grassy meadow with views of high peaks and blue sheep grazing around.
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