Trek to Kedar Tal

We had plans to trek to Tapovan and we had taken proper permission from Govt. authorities well in advance. We spent a full day in Gangotri in preparation for this trek! Arranging for food items, porters and preparing ourselves for the journey with sticks, tents, sleeping bags and woolen clothes etc. In the morning we  went to Tapovan rout check post but we were refused the permission to go ahead as few people had lost their lives in accidents previous day. So, we had no option but to come back to ashram and relax. We planed to trek to Kedar tal on the next day.

We started from Ishavashya Ashram at about 8.30am as we were waiting for our foreigner friends to get govt permission for the trek. We crossed the wooden log bridge (Lakdi Pool) immediately and started the trek...

It is fairly steep trek right from the beginning and within a couple of hrs time we could see that usual pine and fir trees were missing and Bhojpatra trees were seen.

Pine trees appear only upto certain height....

Beyond that, Bhoj Patra Trees for some height...

Because of rainy season, we were lucky to see many waterfalls on the way! We continued our journey and reached Bhoj Khadak by about 2pm.

The last portion of the day-1 trek was the most difficult! Very liitle space on the slippery rocks...

As it started raining we decided to pitch our tents here for overnight halt. Michael from UK and Malvina  from Sweden joined us at about 5pm. Accupressure treatment by Sun Yogi Uma Shankarji and Satsang after dinner were common throuout this journey!

On day two we started early and with great enthusiasm we started trekking. The rain experience of previous day taught us the lesson to take advantage of good weather conditions and go as far as possible in the first half of the day as after 2pm uncertainty of weather conditions is very common in this region.

We had to cross many such streams on the way!

 The trek was more steep today and also becoming dangerous at times. We reached Kedar Khadak and it started raining. This became our camping point for day two.

Day three we started moving early as we wanted to reach Kedar Tal before it starts raining! We enjoyed seeing Gauri Kund on the way.

And yes, we did reach there early and had nice refreshing bath in cold waters of Kedar Tal! Enjoying a cup of fresh herbal tea was so blissful, especially after cold water bath in Kedar Tal!

We got into tent by 5 pm; had early dinner and went to sleep to get up at 2.30am.

We had pitched the tent in such a way that we could see Kedar Tal from our tent. 2.30am to 4.30am we all were awake to see if other dimensional entities such as Apsaras and Devatas and Rishies come for bathing. We were ready with our cameras and yes we did capture few astral movements in our camera!
(Those pics will be soon uploaded on this blog...)

In the morning we got up at 6am but fog was so heavy we could hardly see anything around. Our hopes of photographing snow capped mountains started fading... But with the sunrise, things started changing and fog started clearing. Before leaving Kedar Tal we got very clear view of all the peaks and we were really happy to capture them in camera!

Group Phote at Kedar Tal: From left to right:

Malvina, Michael, Dr. Rajesh, Sun Yogi Uma Shankarji, Vidya, Bharati & Prem.

Thalaysagar Peak and its reflectin in Kedar tal waters...

Bhrigu mountain Range

Neel Kamal and dew drop!

Fane Kamal found between two rocks near Kedar Tal...

Brahma Kamal near Kedar Khadak...

Inside view of Brahma Kamal...

Return Journey from Kedat Tal to Ishavasyam Ashram...

Walking over the loose rocks...

Descending down was relatively easy and everyone wanted to reach ashram as early as possible! But we had to cross few dangerous landslide spots as early as possible!

What took us three day for upward journey; we completed the same in one day while coming down and reached the ashram in evening about 6pm. Even though our ankles and knees were tired and hurting, our spirits were soaring high as we could complete this difficult 18km trek safely.

Next day morning enjoyed Sun gazing Meditation with Sun Yogi Uma Shankarji and went to meet Lalita maiji, details of which are mentioned in the previous (Part-2: Gangotri Dhaam) blog.
Thank you!

Shivoham
Om Prem

Gangotri Dhaam

From Dwarahat began our long journey towards Gangotri en route Rudraprayag and Uttarkashi.

Our first night halt was at Rudraprayag which is a confuence of roaring and dancing water of river Alaknanda coming from Badrinath and serene-quiet flow of Mandakini coming from Kedarnath. We had a very refreshing dip in the energizing waters of Rudraprayag.

Next day we travelled to Uttarkashi. We all had bath in Ganges and went to Kashi Vishwanath temple there.

Opposite to this temple is a temple of Parvati Mata in which there is a huge trident (trishul). Nobody knows how old it is nor are they able to find its depth. Scientists have also failed to recognize what metal it is built of. The story says it is Devi's trishul and it is so deep it goes to patal loka. Its size and weight is so much that it may become difficult to move but then it is possible to shake it with one finger! It's magical!!

While travelling from Uttarkashi to Gangotri Dhaam, the most colorful and prominant ashram is that of Pilot Baba at Sainj village.

Nearer to Pilot Baba's ashram is Nanima's Ashram. Nanima is a British lady who came to Himalaya long back and met her Guru Mastramji who saved her from cancer. She then studied Sanskrit and is well versed with scriptures. She also has herself written books in Sanskrit. Since we had heard and read about Nanima we all were keen on meeting her. So we got down into the valley and had a wonderful loving encounter with the angelic Nanima!

On the way to Gangotri we halted at Ganganani Tapta Kunda for bath and breakfast. The hot water from sulpher water streams of Tapta kund was very relaxing and rejuvenating for the whole body...

We resumed our journey towards Gangotri and oh, on the way suddenly our vehicle had to come to a halt... and we all were surprised to spot a mountain deer jumping from the uphills there!

At last we reached Gangotridhaam in the afternoon... As the weather conditions were good we enjoyed photography.

Our stay in Gangotri was at Ishavasyam Ashram, a picturesque location and very aesthetically built and well-maintained serene place at Gangotridhaam.

View of Ishavasyam Ashram from across the river...

Next day we went to Surya Kund-magnificient waterfalls on river Ganges...

and then to Gauri Kund...

But the difficult and most memorable was our visit to Patal Gufa. It's almost about 500 mts straight down at the level of river. There is no proper way to reach there and one needs to be adventurous, courageous and really willing to take risk to reach Patal Gufa... I hope, following pictures will give youa glimpse of this thrilling experience!!!

Dr. Rajesh took this picture of group meditation at patal Gufa...

The difficult job of going round the stone is well done!

Climbing up was as rishky but we made our way up somehow and rested for a few minutes before going further to Pandav Gufa...

Difficult upward climb...

At last, safely back on the road... It's party under Pine tree!

On the way to Tapovan there is a Ram Mandir...

And a few kilometers further down stays Lalita Maiji. Sun Yogi Uma Shankarji introduced us to Lalita Maiji and she was very kind to talk to us for about two hrs. It was heart to heart communion which all of us enjoyed to the fullest! She talked on many subjects of our interests such as social service, spirituality, freedom, surrender, God's will and how God takes care of every little thing if we have faith...

With heart full of Love and Gratitude we reached Ishavasyam Ashram just in time for Bhandara (food distribution service)

After completeing a difficult trek in previous four days, meeting with Lalita maiji and serving people with unconditional love was such a soothing and enriching expereince for the soul!

Next day early morning we had this group photo with Swamiji at Ishavasyam Ashram and left for Hardwar...

From left to right: Dr. Rajesh, Vidya, Sun Yogi Uma Shankarji, Swami Girijananda Saraswatiji, Swami Prashantananda Saraswatiji, Prem and Bharati.