Roopkund Trek- first time in the bosom of the Himalayas

Light and Shadow on Bedni Bugyal

My almost final plan to do the Annapurna Circuit Trek cancelled due to the non-availability of enough leaves. I was unhappily browsing indiamike.com when suddenly a post seeking partners for Roopkund attracted my attention. Seemed like a god sent since the dates matched my available leave dates beautifully. That is how Roopkund turned out to be my first trek in the Himalayas.

Roopkund is a very well documented and well understood trail. Admittedly, I wasn’t best prepared for the trek since I didn’t do much research before heading out. Turned out that if one is physically able to handle long walks at high altitudes there isn’t much to prepare. Infact, if you already own all necessary trekking stuff e.g. cooking equipment, tent you don’t even need a guide. Karan, whom we met on the trail was completely on his own. However, if you are planning solo gather information on water sources very clearly. From the Bugyal onwards water is only available at selected spots.

Chaukhamba from Bhagwabasa

We were a special team since we had a very special guide. He himself didn’t show up, neither did the tents, mats and the food items he had promised. At Bedni Bugyal only 2 tents had reached for 9 people. A group of trekkers from Howrah, West Bengal helped us by lending their tents. Reyan and I, checked into one of the tents our guide had sent. The tent did very well to prevent us from staring into the starry sky, otherwise it was no different from sleeping under the open sky. God- was it cold? We rented tents from others at the next campsite.

We were accompanied by a substitute guide and a cook, who gave us a lot of attitude. What made the trek fun was the trek mates. A diverse group – lively, funny, hearty, driven and accommodating.

Nandaghunti at sunset- Bedni campsite

The first thing that underscores the trail is how incredibly popular Roopkund is. People of all sorts and from all places have converged here. The major camping points, Bedni Bugyal and Bhagwabasa, resembled a big village fair- teeming with people, colors, sounds and smells- only the ferris wheel and the food shops were missing. May be in couple of years they will be here as well.

Personally the highlight of the trail was the long walk from Didna to Bedni Bugyal through Ali Bugyal. Someone told me that Bedni Bugyal is the largest High Altitude meadow in Asia and it may be true. The walk to the campsite through the meadow seemed literally interminable. In early October the grass had started browning and yellowing as if they could already hear winter’s tread. Under the cloudy skies the vast grassland seemed otherworldly. For miles one could

Bhagwabasa campsite

see mules and trekkers, all walking in the direction of the camping ground.

There are a couple of steep walks, first from Patharnachauni to Kalu Vinayak and the other one the last 500 mts to the famed kund. The former tested my physical and mental endurance like anything. The latter was undertaken in the beautiful light of a fading night. Despite being very challenging since I was already feeling a little dizzy due to light AMS, I route left the impression of lines recalled from Kubla Khan.

Alas, due to clouds we couldn’t get to see the peaks during the day time therefore missing out some of the fabled views. It was a different story however when the sky cleared in the night as it did the night we were at Bedni Bugyal

On the meadow trail

and Bhagwabasa. Every day on our Roopkund Trail we were also getting closer to a Full Moon day and nature was willing to share her bounty. The night at Bhagwabasa is especially etched in my memory- the rocky face of Kali Dak smeared the whole area in front, above which towered Trishul on the right and Nandaghunti on the left. Their snowcapped tops shimmered like a dream. Chaukhamba was visible in the distance.

On reaching Roopkund I was struck by early signs of AMS and was freaked out by the thought of night camping in the ghastly tents we had. The result was that 4 of us hiked down right up to Wan that very day. Night had fallen well before we could reach the bus stand at

The watering hole on Ali Bugyal

the lowest point of Wan village. Incredible but true that the most adventurous part of my Roopkund trek was finding the way to reach the bus stand from the top of Wan village, wading through semi-forested trails branching into eerily moonlit tracks in all directions.

Goes without saying that resources of the villages that provide logistics support for the Roopkund Trek, namely Wan and Lohajung, get stretched during the peak season due to the sheer volume of trekkers who come. The limited home stays and hotel (only 1 in Wan and 1 GMVN in Lohajung) are almost always full during when the trekking window opens. If you are renting trekking gear there is high probability that some or all will not make it to you at the right spot and at the right time.

Leaving Ali Bugyal

Itinerary:

30 Sept: Reach Haridwar

1^st Oct: Haridwar- Lohajung

2^nd Oct: Lohajung- Didna

3^rd Oct: Didna- Bedni Bugyal

4^th Oct: Bedni Bugyal- Bhagwabasa

The trees mark exit from the forest trail from Didna

5^th Oct: Bhagwabasa- Roopkund – Bhagwabasa- Wan

6^th Oct: Wan- Rishikesh

Team:

Alok, Andy, Aneeka, Ashotush, Puneet, Reyan, 1 guide, 1 cook, 2 porters, me.