A Fun-filled family Trek to Deoriatal, Tunganath ad Chandrashila

 

A few days ago, my cousins from Calcutta along with their parents came to Dehradun. My mother, who works in the Himalayas as an architect had planned a family trek to Deoriatal, Tunganath and Chandrashila for all of us.

On 16th October we set out for Sari village from where we would  trek to Deoriatal. The route crossed the Tehri dam and ran like a snake through the mountains. I had traveled on this route earlier in April this year when I had accompanied my mother to Guptkashi so I knew that we would come across broken roads, wiped out villages, broken bridges- remains of the Kedarnath disaster. But the others had not travelled on this route after the disaster and were horrified on seeing all that.

 We reached Sari quite late in the evening. Next morning as we set out for the trek before dawn,. It was really thrilling to walk in the dark with a guide leading the way in torchlight . I imagined the wild animals through whose home we were walking.

 

We reached Deorital a little before sunrise. The sight of the Himalayan peaks reflected in the clear waters of the lake was so beautiful that it we could not stop admiring it.

We spent quite a lot of time there, having picnic breakfast on the banks of the lake, climbing a watchtower , running about on the rolling meadows.

 Tungnath has the highest Shiva temple in the world. The 4 km trek to this mountain top starts from Chopta and passes through oak forests, green meadows. In the last stretch the tree line just vanishes and it is just rock, rock and bare rock all around.

Tungnath is very high and very cold. We stayed at a guesthouse next to the temple. The moment I stepped out of the room, the famous Himalayan cold pounced on me like a hungry tiger. I hurriedly stepped back and retreated to the warmth of the blankets, refusing to come out again.

But next dawn again we, three reluctant kids were again woken by our parents and we trekked to Chandrashila to watch the sunrise. It was very cold up there, but the sight just before and after the sunrise was such an inspiring sight that I forgot all the discomfort. Here I was at the top of the world, clouds below me and I was looking straight into the face of the majestic Chaukhamba peak.

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It was a wonderful feeling which I have carried back with me to Dehradun.