Madhyamaheshwar

travel joy

Gohna Tal has an interesting history. It ceased to exist since the flood of Alakananda in 1970, but it is still shown in some Survey oF India maps.There are some green pastures in that place, near the Gohna village, where you can camp.
Hope you have a great introductory trip of Garhwal; it is really a beautiful place.

somnath biswas

(riddho) Thank you very much for showing interest on Gohna Tal. Frankly speaking I have read a book on Himalaya from which I came to know about the Lake called Gohna Tal. Later Raghu and Dilliwala, both are my IM friends, educated me on that and accordingly, on my way to Kalpeswar I went there along with my family last year. Believe me, to my entire trip that was the best place, both in term of stay and location. Kalpeswar is definitely a very nice place but to get the real essence of Himalaya, I would suggest you to go there for a day.
In the thread Kalpeswar/Gohna Tal, you will get all information and photographs of Gohna Tal. Hope you will enjoy that. Please do write about any further query.
Last but not least, welcome to Garwal Himalaya.

riddho

checked the kalpeswar-gohna tal thread...the photos were great...

Where are you planning to go this year?

By the way,this is my tentative itinerary...

Day 1 - Start from Howrah, by train.
Day 2 - Reach Haridwar, Stay at Haridwar.
Day 3 - Stay at Hrishikesh.
Day 4 - Reach Rudraprayag, with halt at Devaprayag. NS at Rudraprayag.
Day 5 - Reach Gourikund, then trek to Jangakchati. Stay.
Day 6 - Trek to Kedarnath. Stay.
Day 7 - Trek to Gandhi Sarovar, and Vasukital, and back. Stay at Kedarnath
Day 8 - Trek back to Gourikund, then reach Ukhimoth,Stay at Ukhimoth.
Day 9 - To Uniana by car. Then trek to Bantoli. Stay.
Day 10 - Trek to Madhyamaheswar. Stay.
Day 11- Trek to budha madh in morning and back, then trek back to Goundar. Stay.
Day 12- Goundar to Uniana. Then to Sarigram, via ukhimoth. Stay
Day 13- Trek to Deoriatal, stay at the tal.
Day 14- Trek to chopta, from deoriatal. Stay at Chopta.
Day 15- Trek to Tunganath. Stay
Day 16- trek to Chandrashila in morning, then back to Chopta, stay at Chopta.
Day 17- ?
Day 18- ?
Day 19- Reserve day 1.
Day 20- Reserve day 2.
Day 21- Catch Train from Haridwar, at noon.
Day 22- Reach Howrah.

riddho

What to do with day 17, 18, 19 & 20? I could include Badrinath, but it would eat the reserve days. So any other locations.

somnath biswas

riddho :
You will definitely get feedback from our IM Members, who have more knowledge than me.
You have mentioned "Reach Gourikund, then trek to Jangakchati. Stay". I think it is typographical mistake. It should be Jangalchati. But Rambara is the place where people normally stay.
After coming back from Tungnath, you can trek to Rudranath from Mondal and return from Kalpeswar. As you have 22 days in hand you can easily do "Panchkedar" covering this two.

spicetrekker

I agree with Somnath, with the time you have you should do the Panchkedars. It is amazing you start with the famous but crowded Kedarnath, then visit Madhmaheshwar which is serene and very less crowded, then tungnath which is the highest of the kedars ut reached with a short trek, then the most difficult Rudranth (you can climb via Mandal and descend via Panar to Sagar) and then go to Kalpeshwar from Helang (I believe there is a road till Urgam now) and cap it off with going to Badrinath. People say that one needs to go to Badri after the Panchkedars to enlist Vishnu (at Badri)as a witness to having done the Panchkedars
BTW when are you starting all the temples will close by Bhai dooj

somnath biswas

As I have mentioned riddho, you have started getting inputs from Senior members like spicetrekker. He is very helpful and knowledgable person. His inputs helped me a lot last year.

One small question to spicetrekker. Can't he climbed down from Rudranath to Kalpeswar and then come back to Helang via Urgam. Last year we witnessed lot of trekkers who were on their way to Rudranath via Kalpeswar.

riddho

panchakedar was always in my mind, I always dreamt of entering the heart of Himalaya with panchakedar trek, but the reason I opted not to go for it, because I heard that the trek to rudranath is for the very experienced ones.....is that so?

Yes Somnath-da, I meant jangalchati.

And thanks spicetrekker for helping me. Looking eagerly for more infos.

And 1 thing more, if I do Panchakedar, do I need to cut Deoriatal from my plan? And I don't want to rush anywhere, so 'Panchakedar-Deoriatal-Badrinath' - can all be completed in 21 days?

riddho

3 more queries...

1. Is bus/shared jeep service available from Devprayag to Rudraprayag all day, specially after noon?

2. Is gandhi sarovar & basukital can be covered in a single day? Is guide neede in this trek?

3. Distance from Madhmaheswar to gondar, and gondar to uniana?

spicetrekker

Yes one can go via Dumak and Bansinarayan but I havent been on that route so cannot comment on the difficulty. It will certainly need an experienced guide and a tent is my guess.

Riddho: Rudranath is not very tough, If you are fit you can do it, the problem is that there is dense forest specially on Mandal side and the route is not clearly marked but if you have a good porter who knows the way you can do it. I would say go for it.

riddho

yes certainly panchakedar looks possible! WOW!

Thanks spicetrekker. Do you know any experienced guide/porter for Rudranath trek?

And I guess no guide is needed for Kalpeswar/Madhyamaheswar?

somnath biswas

Thanks spicetrekker for your feedback. Last year when we came down from Kalpeswar, we met a couple who were quite aged. They were also resting after Rudranath Trek. Believe me, the man had neurological problem and could not walk properly. The lady is a school teacher of Midnapur, a suburb of West Bengal. According to the advice of the Doctor they trek every year to Himalaya. If they can do it , why not we?

For Kalpeswar, no guide is needed. I think it is better to take one porter cum guide for MM trek. I will take one, if I go this year.

somnath biswas

My answeres is in red riddho.
3 more queries...

1. Is bus/shared jeep service available from Devprayag to Rudraprayag all day, specially after noon? Yes

2. Is gandhi sarovar & basukital can be covered in a single day? Is guide neede in this trek? I don't have clear idea as I have not done this.

3. Distance from Madhmaheswar to gondar, and gondar to uniana?You will get all info in a thread " Madmaheswar by first time trekker", by Arunava.

riddho

thanks very much for the info. that thread was immensely helpful. Now I think a porter cum guide is necessary for MM, and certainly for Rudranath.

travel joy

Hii Ridhdho,
I went through the last itinerary you posted and would like to suggest the following:
1) You can shift Hrishikesh at the end of your itinerary.
2) Haridwar to Gourikund cane be covered in a day.By doing that you can cover the trek to Kedarnath in a day and will not have to stay at Jangalchati.I would not recommend that spot for night stay.
3) For Vasuki tal you will need a guide as the route involves some steep ascents and boulder hopping.Start early fom Kedranath if you want to cover both vasuki tal and gandhi sarover.
4) You will be needing a guide for a trek from Deoria tal to Chopta. If you are planning for Panch kedar or Badrinath or both, the best thing to do will be come back to Sari and take a car for Chopta.
5) For MM, the path is well marked and you do not need any guide as such.

Do modify your itinerary as per your requirements and latest plans.
All the best.