This week, The Musafir Stories speaks to Surya Raju who was the very first guest on the podcast when we started more than 5 years ago talking about her experience on the Kedarkantha Trek!

Today's destination: Kedarkantha, Uttarakhand!

Nearest Airport: Dehradun Airport (DED)

Nearest Railway Station: Dehradun Railway Station (DDN)

Prerequisites - Permit required

Packing - Pack trekking gear and warm clothes

Time of the year - December

Length of the itinerary: 6 days

Itinerary Highlights:

1. Surya talks about the USP of the trek, as well as the difficulty level and preparation required.

2. The railway head for the trek is Dehradun from where the trek company takes the team to Sankri, the starting point of the trek.

3. Sankri is a small village that serves as the base camp for a lot of treks including Harki Dun, Rupin pass along with Kedarkantha trek. It is situated at about 200kms from Dehradun and some buses ply to this little village.

4. The first day’s trek involves trekking for about 5 hours and camping at the Juda Ka Talaav - a high altitude alpine lake. This is the first pitstop and provides some wonderful views with the stunning alpine lake surrounded by trees and some dense forests. The stop is a great chance not just to rest and recoup from the first day’s trek but also acclimatise with the altitude and get to know your trekking group.

5. The next day’s trek is fairly easy and the team gains relatively less in terms of elevation. The destination of the second day’s trekking is the Kedarkantha base camp. The team not only rests here, but also prepares for the snow trek with microspikes to ensure grip.

6. The final day of trekking starts very early in the morning, as early as 1AM when the team sets off for the Kedarkantha peak. This is the most strenuous of days given that the team has to not only summit the peak but also return to the base camp at Sankri.

7. The trek involves an ascent in sub zero temperatures on very narrow ridges and severe conditions. However the views once you reach the summit are worth every bit. One gets a view of neighbouring Himalayan peaks including Nanda Ghunti, Swargarohini, Kalanag peak, Gangotri and Yamunotri ranges amongst others.

8. The descent involves taking the same route back to the Kedarkanta base camp followed by a descend to Sankri, usually through a different route.

Links:

Surya’s podcast: Travel Rope - You Inspire Me - https://open.spotify.com/show/7vkwapzVBv2adt3qCjcLzl

Surya’s blog - https://travelrope.com

Surya’s’s Twitter - https://twitter.com/travel_rope

Surya’s Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/travelrope/

Surya’s Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/thetravelrope/

Surya’s episode on Sikkim with The Musafir Stories: https://open.spotify.com/episode/5YI3FaVMG1QqCQOC6rdRr3

Image Credit - Photo by Vivek Sharma on Unsplash

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