Roopkund, in the state of Uttarakhand in India, is a famous glacial lake. This lake is famous due to more than five hundred skeletons of humans that are found at the edge of the lake.There are reports that these skeletons belong to the 12th century to the 15th century. It is located at an altitude around 4800m above sea level. It is a moderate to difficult trek, so first timers don’t go for this trek.
This was my 3rd trek in total and first trek in uttrakhand and this was my first visit in uttrakhand beyond rishikesh. So I planned this trek in September 2018, I was very happy that YHAI (trekking organisation) started the famous Roopkund trek and I booked for September end batch but unfortunately that time high court banned camping in bugyals (one of the camp sites), so roopkund trek got cancelled and I was so sad and I didn’t do any other trek, I wanted to do only roopkund, so I waited for this trek to reopen, time passed and still after 1 year, the ban didn’t removed, while searching in the website I got know about the local person called Mohan who operates the roopkund trek and had a website named “roopkund with mohan” , where I got his contact and called him, then I got to know that locals can operate on roopkund trek and without a second thought I booked for 28th September, 2019 batch. I was very happy that finally I will be going for the trek.
Day-1 – Drive from Dehradun to wan
I reached Dehradun isbt from Delhi at 6 am, mohan arranged a shared jeep for me which cost me Rs700 one side, jeep driver picked me at 6:30 am from isbt Dehradun. Many shared jeeps are available at Dehradun isbt. The travel was beautiful but tiring and as usual i got sick , i was vomiting for the whole journey, i didn’t ate anything, surving on ors (medicine), when you can’t eat anything and frequently vomiting, then this medicine is best.
At lunch point
On the way it rained all afternoon, it was weird to see this much rain in the post monsoon season. Finally after reaching lohajung my health got better and i met mohan here and we together went towards wan village (final destination).
At lohajung waiting for the cab
It was around 8:30 pm when i reached wan. It took 14hrs approx to reach wan. After reaching here i got know that i am the only trekker who will go for roopkund and not mohan but other guide will accompany me for the whole trek. After dinner I met the guide and had a chat about the itinerary and other details, then I slept in the guest house.
Day-2 – Trek to Ghairoli patal (1st camp site)
At wan, from where you would start your trek.This was my first solo trek, I was the only person to trek with the guide. At first I was sad that I will be alone, it won’t be fun at all, but later I realised that trekking solo is another experience and it increased my mental strength. After having breakfast we went towards the first camp.
Due to the rain we started our trek at 10 am, after 1 hr, we reached our first rest point where we drank tea with parle-g biscuits and got some rest. It was steep climb till the rest point.
‘At rest point‘
After resting, we went towards Ghairoli,
As you can see in the above picture right in front of you, we needed to go to that mountain somewhere above the middle, 1st half an hour was downhill and after crossing the river, there was steep climb till Ghairoli.
It took us around 3 hrs to reach Ghairoli (our 1st camp site) from the river. We reached here at around 2:30 pm. Weather was not good, it was raining heavily, i met other trekker, he was with some other local guide for the trek, we stayed in a hut.
We had our dinner in the kitchen and then slept at around 7:30 pm
Day 3 – One more day at Ghairoli
I woke up at 5:00 am, weather was still not good, it was still raining, in september this was weird, it was raining for 24 hrs for the past 2 days, we waited for the weather to clear but it didn’t.
‘At camp site’
Even my guide also said that it’s weird to see this much rain in the month of september. We waited till 9:30 am, still weather was not good for trekking, my guide refused to go further due to bad weather as it was not safe but fellow trekker wanted to go further despite the bad weather, he and his guide went further in that bad weather. I stayed there itself, praying weather to be cleared by next day.
Day-4 – Trek to Bhagwabhasa camp site
Finally by God’s grace, weather got cleared and I was excited to go further, after having breakfast we packed our lunch and took gas and other kitchen stuff with us to make food as there is no kitchen facility is available after Ghairoli camp site. We started our trek towards next camp site.
‘After weather got cleared’
After spending 2 days at Ghairoli, I was eager to trek further, we decided to skip 2 campsites ( bedni and patar) and move till 4th campsite (bhagwabhasa). At bendi stay was not allowed even for locals and from patar it was quite difficult to climb roopkund, from patar to bhagwabhasa was 3km and from bhagwabhasa to roopkund another 3km. So we started our trek at 7:30 am. It was steep climb till bedni.We reached bedni at 8:30 am.
Sun was playing hide and seek with us, after trekking for 30mins we reached bendi view point.
After the view point, tree line ended meadow was opening and bedni was more clear. No words to express the views. After reaching bedni it was flat trail till bedni lake.
Even though it was not raining still weather was not good for views, fog was everywhere and only upto few distances view was visible. After walking for 10mins, we reached bedni lake.
Walking towards bedni lake
At bedni lake
After taking rest for few minutes at bedni lake, we went towards patar ( next campsite ).
On the way towards patar nachauni, we took rest at ‘Ghora notani’. Till ghora notani it was little uphill and flat , mostly flat trail. It was an easy walk.
“At ghora notani’
Due to so much of fog, only upto few distances are visible. After this till patar it was downhill and flat trail, an easy walk till patar.
Way to patar nachauni ( camp site)We reached patar around 3 hrs from bedni around at 11 30 a.m. Thankfully we reached patar at right time because rain started again. We ate our packed lunch with hot tea. It was really windy outside and with the rain it was worst and cold.
‘At patar camp site’
After taking rest for around 30 mins at patar, I met the other trekker with his guide who went further one day before, that is on day 2. He completed the roopkund and was back to ghairoli. He was not able to go till junargali ( approx 400metres above roopkund) due to the bad weather. Junargali is like dessert after a dish. Whoever does the Roopkund trek goes till junargali too. He attempted roopkund from patar. After spending some time we left patar and went towards next campsite Bhagwabhasa. Thankfully rain was stopped but still sun didn’t shown up.
From patar to bhagwabhasa it was around 4km. It was steep climb around 3km till kalu vinayak and from there down hill around 1 km till bhagwabhasa camp site. After walking in flat trail for 5 min from pathar, climb for kalu vinayak started.
As you can see the trail in the picture through which I reached the point where the climbing starts.
It was a little difficult to climb as I already exhausted as well as I was gaining altitude in a quick period. I already trekked 7 km.Ghairoli was at 10,000 ft. Above sea level and kalu vinayak at 14,200 ft. Above sea level. So gaining almost 4,200 ft at one day. Although it is not generally advisable, because of altitude sickness. It is advisable that above 9,000 ft. you can gain upto 1,600 ft. At once, if you are staying at above camp, your sleeping elevation should be less than 1,600ft in one day. I.e. difference between your previous camp’s altitude and your next higher camp’s altitude should be less than 1,600ft. Otherwise you will be at risk for getting high altitude sickness. It’s a sickness which occurs when you gain altitude at early and without proper acclimatisation. Unless until you are a extremely fit trekker don’t follow my itinerary. As you gain altitude air becomes thin and it’s become difficult to breath especially when you gain more altitude at less time, which in my case happened. I was uncomfortable, I felt shorten of breath and I had very minimum water. At one point my guide said if it’s not good then we can go back to patar but I refused, I said I can push.
With the help of my guide we went further, I was lucky that I got a good guide he encouraged me and motivated me for the whole trek. He said push till kalu vinayak, if you feel better then we move forward otherwise we will go back to patar. As you heard me in the video I asked him many times that are we reached kalu vinayak? Until I finally reached there. I can’t express my feelings in words that how I felt after reaching kalu vinayak. I was extremely happy that I made it till kalu vinayak.
At kalu vinayak (14,200 ft.)
We took some rest there and made pooja and prayed for better weather and completion of trek safely.
My health got better and we decided to move further. As we are about to go, once again rain drops started.
Towards bhagwabhasa (14,100 ft.)
From kalu vinayak to bhagwabhasa was easy, 1km downhill. We were literally running as rain was getting heavy. It took us around 2 hr 30 min to reach bhagwabhasa.
At bhagwabhasa ( 14,100ft.)
As you can see in the picture, view only upto few distance is visible, I can’t see further that. After reaching here, my guide went further 1 km down to fill the water for us.
After 2 or 3 hrs weather started clearing and finally we were able to see the sun. It was around 5:30 pm. Weather was beautiful, perfect weather you can say.
View from bhagwabhasa camp site
I marked a circle in the above picture, that’s roopkund. You can see it from bhagwabhasa camp site if weather is cleared. We explored the campsite until the sunset.
It was beautiful to see such amazing mountains and especially roopkund which you need to climb next day itself. I was mesmerized by the views.
In the video kali bhai ( my guide) who took me to roopkund from wan and back. He was amazing and always motivating and informative. Because of him I completed the roopkund trek without any difficulties.
Took an evening walk here, with this beautiful weather and amazing views. After enjoying here taking pictures and videos we went into the hut. We had dinner around 7 pm and slept in the sleeping bag.
While making dinner by my guide
At hut
While lying inside the sleeping bag, before sleeping I took the above picture of roopkund right in front of me. Lying inside the sleeping bag seeing this mountain right in front of you, it’s a different feeling which I can’t express in words here. The more I see this it boosted me that at any how I need to climb this and I will. I repeated these words inside my heart. As I already mentioned above about the sleeping elevation should be less than 1600 ft, but here my sleeping elevation was 4100 ft. Last night I slept at an elevation of 10,000 ft. At ghairoli and today at an elevation of 14,100ft at bhagwabhasa. I started to feel some altitude. While trying to sleep I had a mild headache and I started to listening sound in my ear, similar to the horse running sound, it felt weird. I experienced this first time in Himalayas. So I listened to songs for a while and fall asleep.
Day 5 – Trek to roopkund and back to Ghairoli.
This day was my longest in all. So we started our trek around 5 30 am. After having breakfast we left for roopkund. We left our bag in the hut itself. We took only a small bag carrying water, dry fruits, apple and bisuits etc. It was dark when we started our trek. Weather was thankfully good. I coudln’t take the picture as it was dark. We walked with our head lights on. It was around 3km to rookund.I had mild headache and little vomit sensation also due to altitude, i wanted to take medicine but my guide refused. He said it will be alright and if you take medicine then it will become difficult to climb, so i did not take medicines. After some time i felt better.
Way to roopkund
We needed to cross this slippery snow. on our way. First 2.5 km was moderate, it was little steep and flat with snow. It is advisable to wear sunglasses in a snow trail and in mountains with snow, if you see without sunglasses for a longer period then it will affect your eyes.
After walking 2.5kms we took a rest and ate apples and biscuits to regain our energy. Dry fruits are best to regain your energy. Last 500 metre stretch was difficult as it was around 60° steep and with a fresh snow, it was slippery too.
500 metres below roopkund
As you can see foot marks of my fellow trekker in the picture who climbed it yesterday.
From this point onwards till roopkund, my one hand was holded by my guide and my one hand was holding the trekking pole. I don’t had any crampons or gaiters. My guide said with gaiters and crampons on, it will be more slippery as it is a fresh snow. Nor we had any rope tied for support. So we climbed as quick as possible. It was thrilling. In my whole trek only climbing this 500 metres was thrilling with a risk too. Finally after climbing for around 40 min , we finally reached roopkund. We reached roopkund at around 8 am, it took us 2 and a half hours to reach here.
Finally the moment arrived, we finally reached roopkund. It felt amazing after reaching the top. Finally I did it and my dream came true. Views were worth it.
Roopkund lake
We stayed there for around 30 min. My guide did a ‘pooja’ there. We left roopkund around 8 30 A.M.
At Roopkund
In the above pic as you can see, I circled a top that’s junargali, it’s about 400ft above from roopkund, due to the bad weather and heavy snow we were not able to go there. If you trek till roopkund then you must do junargali. It’s worth it, unfortunately I couldn’t able to do it.
‘Doing pooja’
‘At Roopkund’
‘view from Roopkund’
So after spending some time at roopkund and after enjoying the mesmerizing views, we finally started descent. Going down is always difficult than going up. I climbed roopkund successfully, but now comes important part to reach safely down.
One with my guide
‘Towards Bhagwabhasa’
We reached bhagwabhasa as soon as possible. After reaching there we ate khichdi and then we packed our bags and left for ghairoli.
‘On the way down’
After reaching patar we took some rest and drank tea and we ate our lunch here. Weather was thankfully good and clearing. Finally I got to see sun after so many days. We reached patar around 1 30 pm.
At Patar
After resting there for around 30 mins we went further.
‘Towards Gharoli’
We walked faster, as the trail was mostly flat and down.
‘2.5km before bedni’
While descending we took different route as weather was clearing, we decided to go down via bedni top and ali bugyal. Both Bedni and ali bugyals are beautiful you can’t miss these beautiful meadows.
At Bedni
As you can see in the above pic one trail is straight which go towards Ali bugyal via Bedi top and and one towards Bedni lake and down towards our climbed route. We took the Ali bugyal route.
At Bedni top
We didn’t go till Ali bugyal, we took a turn just before Ali bugyal for gharoli. There is another route to reach down via Ali bugyal. After crossing Ali bugyal a route go towards didina village. Some trekkers do roopkund from didina.
From where we took the turn
In the above pic, you can see Ali bugyal right in front of you, but this is only one side, if you reach the Ali bugyal top, then you can see the other side also. We took some rest here enjoying the weather,beautiful views around us and eating parle-g biscuits.
Finally got to see clear blue sky
As you heard in the video, we were going towards ghairoli via thitak village. As we went further these beautiful meadows started to vanish as we were going down and down we entered into a jungle.
After walking for around 2 hrs we reached thitak village. It was around 6 pm. We decided to stay here as it was getting dark. Thankfully guide knew the village peoples and they were agreed to take us in. Village people were very humble and they made their food with their home made ingredients. I got to eat tasty and healthy food.
At Thitak
In the above pic, these two are cute couples, they live in thitak taking care of their cows. Their childrens live in wan. She made tasty food. They were very good. If you trek to roopkund then you can stay here at a reasonable price. After having dinner we slept at around 9 pm.
Day-6 – Towards Wan village ( last day of trek)
After a long and good sleep, we woke up at around 8 a.m. After having breakfast, we left thitak at around 9 am.
At Thitak village
‘At Thitak’
We reached wan guest house after visiting some temples in wan around 4 pm in the evening. I met Mohan and shared my beautiful experience. At night we ate together and gone too sleep. Next day morning at around 5 30 am, Mohan came, he dropped me in lohajung in his bike. I boarded a shared jeep to rishikesh and then to delhi. My journey ends here.
At guest house
I am sharing some links here regarding the roopkund trek. Please do visit once for further details. Trek cost me around 10k Rs from Delhi to Delhi (excluding personal expenses). Dehradun to wan and back will cost you 1400 Rs in shared jeeps. You can also take private taxi. I am open to suggestions. Please give your valuable views in comments or you can mail me. I will mention my mail id below.
Links
1) MOHAN’S (TREK ORGANISER IN WAN) WEBSITE
2) Details about AMS ( ACUTE MOUNTAIN SICKNESS)
Mail id – karthikrk01@gmail.com
Kali bhai (guide in wan and nepal)
His contact – 70371 30867
Laxman for shared jeeps booking- 9997348834
TRAVEL DIARIES 