Roopkund after Milam Glacier

devleenas

Hi ,
Greetings to all IM’ers
Well, I (in a group of 4) have done Milam Glacier this year June and it was my very first serious trekking experience .
I have been planning for my next trek since then and its time I need some advice
Do I qualify for trekking in Roopkund ??
I was initially interested in the same but then after reading posts on Roopkund where they speak of crossing over to Ronty Saddle I felt I should reserve Roopkund for the future when I will be experienced enough to go beyond hemkund

It will be great if anyone can suggest us treks that can be completed in 2 weeks time next year in the months of May-Sep .

Almoraboy

it can be done in 1 week.
i myself have gone till bedni (chennai-bedni bugyal-chennai in 4 days). for details, u can check my blog. for guides, etc, u can check here:

http://almoraboy.blogspot.com/2006/0...formation.html

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Trek blog over here

devleenas

Hi Almoraboy ,
Thanks for the info. I have been through your travellog before and it is indeed very helpful .
But ummm , if I do Roopkund then I would like to go atleast till Hemkund/shila samudra , if you know what I mean . I was very disappointed on not making to NDEBC in the Milam Glacier trek just because we didnt have enuf time in our hand .

chits007

Hi Devleenas..

we are planning exacty same route what you are discussing in sep end..lets see how successful it goes..another thing its homkund and not hemkund ..


For more info check this thread
Roopkund Homkund Trek Advise

I dont know about roopkund to milam..i guess it will be long trekk
..u can club kuari pass and roopkund

Sadanand Kamath

Initially I got the impression from the title of the thread that devleenas is planning a trek to Rupkund and thereafter to Milam Glacier which is not so after reading his post.

Sadanand

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Sirf ek kadam utha tha galat rahe shauk mein
Manzil tamam umr hame dhunti rahi.

[Just one wrong step on the way of the quest
My destination looked for me all life long]

AvidTrekker

Roopkund and Homkund are best done in September or latest in the first week of October. After this chances of snowfall in the higher reaches increases.

Its become quite a standard trek now. If you take it slowly, you will have no problems to Roopkund. You have one good experience behind you already....

go for it !!!

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devleenas

err..Sorry for the Confusion with the thread name ..

chits007: Hi , I went thru your thread , infact I have picked up the itinerary from there and yeah, thanks for correcting me . Homkund it is

Hi Avid ,
Thanks a ton for the much needed push . Going for it next year

chits007

Hi devleenas...

if you are eager you can join us ..we are planning the same route this month end...

devleenas

Thanks a lot for the offer Chits
I wish , I wish I cud have gone there with you this month end
but no possibility of getting a 10 day leave from office
Its a long wait before I get that long a leave

devleenas

One doubt .
I have never done the fixed rope thing
Frankly , I dont even know what that means .
I am not a pro trekker , just an enthusiast .
So will my guide take care of the rope thing in Junargali, or will I have to learn certain skills or is it that I should drop the idea of venturing beyond Roopkund ???

chits007

Hi devleenas,

Even I havent used rope ..my only treks are @ http://chitrang.blogspot.com
me too is enthsiatic...
i talked to guide, which we are taking, he has ropes and ice axe and experinced enough.

The idea to club homkund comes to my mind when i saw pics of this guys Supriyo Burman , who undertook YHAI Delhi State Branch organised trek (Roopkund-homkund)...they have used ropes..you can check his pics @ http://outdoors.webshots.com/album/558854779QzYeqt
they have used ropes..check in one of pics..while descend from jorawar guli..

Last week ..i see on trekearth.com who has done Ronti-Saddle. also.. so as of now we have clubbed ronti..but lets see..on that day howz condition all team member..then we will take decision to do ronti..guide knows the route as he assured us that we can try coz now their no snow..
http://www.trekearth.com/trip.php?tid=1953&display=full

We will take ropes and ice axe..rest guide will show us how to use..

chits007

I was just checking Lonely Planet trekking in himalays..if u have check page 206-207 (maps)...from Milam to Roopkund..seems to be long way..i could see route through Longstaff Col( Nanda Devi East) side..I dont know whether anyone has taken this or not..may be experinced people on this forums can through some light...

devleenas

No No
there is a confusion
I donot intend to travel to Milam from Roopkund ..
I meant that can I trek to Roopkund (?) after I have been to Milam Glacier this year June , you know experince wise .
I am just a trek old
that way !!
Sorry for the confusing subject line

rolling_25

hi Deleenas,

please provide details about your trip to MILAM, we are a group of 8 is planning to visit Milam in june 2008, do we have carry tent? and also request you share your experience about the trip. I have completed KEDARTAAL,Gomukh - Tapovan, Varse to Phalut(sikkim), satopanth taal, Chandrakhani pass- Malana and incompleted Mayali pass due to bad weather (we are planning to go again in Sept 2009. if you need any information on these trips please ask me.

thanks

somenath

devleenas

Hi Rolling,
Looking at all the places you went so far, Milam Glacier will be an easy trek for you..
We were a group of 6 , 3 of us , 1 guide and 2 porters . We didnt carry much food other than maggie and soup.People usually do carry food on mules .
Started from Munisiyari , that reminds me ,get your permits done , either get it done before you arrive ( your guide can manage it ) or reserve a week day to get it done . During weekends the regsiter office stays closed and it’s a lot of trouble to get it arranged .

1st Day : Munisiyari – Lilam (4 hrs) :
Our first halt was Lilam , started from Munisiyari around 1.30 after lunch and reached Lilam by 5. It a easy walk to Lilam. In Lilam you will find pwd guest houses and even a kitchen very near to where you will stay .
2nd Day : Lilam to Bogdiyar (6-7 hrs):
Started from Lilam around 5 in the morning and reached rargari (rail gari) by lunch. had lunch there and set out for Bogdiyaar .Upto Bogdiyaar the stretch is fairly good . No steep ascents, covered greeny track and you will even find a hot water (the sun warms it) hole to have a refreshing soak.
3rd day : Bogdiyaar to Rilkot ( 6 hrs) :
From Bogdiyaar you will have to ascent a steep climb to reach Nahardevi . Beyond Nahardevi there are series of 5-6 big glacier that you will need to cross. It depends on which time of the year you are going to Milam . If its in September I believe you will go much down the valley and cross a snow bridge .Be very careful with the kind of shoes you wear while crossing glacier . At places its very slippery and a false step can throw you right into Gori Ganga . I was confident of my Nike shoes but it ditched me big time .Had to grope on a stick and also holding on to one of our porter Inderkumar I somehow managed to cross the slippery edge .Todays halt was at a place called Rilkot .The route was damaged and broken by rain at some places and it was quite a tiring day . At Rilkot you will again find a place where you can have roti and sabji and also eggs . Rilkot is the last place where we got eggs , else the usual diet is roti , chawal , dal and some kind of curry .


4th Day : Rilkot to Martoli (3 hrs)
From Rilkot we headed towards Martoli. This is again an easy track except for the initial climb from the Rilkot valley. Martoli is the most beautiful place in this entire route . We loved it completely . The weather turned excellent and its was fiercely windy. In Martoli we planned to park for the day . We had rooms to stay but since we didnt use the tent for this long in the journey , we decided to stay in tents .
There is a Nanda Devi temple in Martloli , a very beautiful place and you will get fascinating views of Nanda Devi ranges , Martoli peak and also Bridge Ganga Pass. Martoli provided an excellent rest day and also we had a nice camp fire at night with bhoj patra wood .

5th Day : Martoli to Burphu to Milam ( 4 hrs)
Next day we set out quite late in the morning but we reached Milam via Burphu within 3 in the evening . The stretch going down from Martoli is badly broken but after that the route is a much broader track .We had lunch at Burphu . On the way you will get views of Nanda Devi and Trishul from a place called bilju.
Reached Milam by 3.30 and headed for the ITBP camp.In Milam you will have to hand over your cameras to the ITPB post and also show your permits .Milam is a nice place with rows of deserted houses and we walked up to the Milam Village for supper .Our guide knew a guy there who had just returned from a hunt in the upper tracks of the glaciers sorrunding Milam Village. He went to collect what he named “Kira Grass” , one end of it is grass like and the other end resembles a dead worm. Till date I dint know what it actually is. Tried googling it but didn’t get much help. According to Kushal (the guy) Tibetans buy them at exorbitant prices.
Milam to Milam Glacier is a 3 -4 hours walk .You will find various coloured rocks . There is supposed to be a trail going beyond the glacier snout which we didnt find .
We had only 8 days in hand and we missed NDEBC badly . Well even if you are strained on time I will suggest you first visit NDEBC and then Milam Glacier .
The return journey is almost the same .That very day after visiting Milam Glacier we went straight to Rilkot. It was a long route and when we reached Rilkot it was almost dark. The following day we travelled from Rilkot to raragri and halted there. From Raragri the last leg of the journey was upto Munisiyari.The last 4-5 kms of the stretch is bad.The road is very steep though its a concrete path but with last few drops of energy left its an extremely difficult walk.

You actually made me write my travel log . Was kind of very lazy to do it . Hope this helps you. A browse through India Mike will help you find much much well written and detailed logs and also with maps attached.Try finding a log by Jeroen .
All the best for you journey .

Our Guide : Laxman : 05961211396
Our Porters : Inderkumar and Harish.