Tapovan and Kedartal in October 2008.

somnath

Hi friends,
The time has come to think about my vacation in Himalayas . And my target is Tapovan + (if possible) Kedar Taal. Tapovan is a dream for me I’ve seen so many photographs, read some wonderful trip reports …. finally a group is formed …. a crude plan is prepared and taking shape. Since the primary objective is to get train tickets (you know about us….. October is the season for Bengali tourists) we just thought Kolkata > Haridwar > Kolkata should be confirmed first. Well, some of us will be back immediately after Tapovan but the complete itinerary looks like:

1 4-Oct-2008 Sat Howrah (rajdhani)-16.55pm
2 5-Oct-2008 Sun New Delhi 10.15am(arr) (8477-Utkal express)----14.00pm(dep) Haridwar—20.30pm(arr)
3 6-Oct-2008 Mon Haridwar Uttarkashi (To get the permission from DFO)
4 7-Oct-2008 Tue Uttarkashi Gangotri
5 8-Oct-2008 Wed Tue-Gangotri Bhojbasha(14 kms)
6 9-Oct-2008 Thu Bhojbasha Gomukh(4kms) Tapovan(4kms)
7 10-Oct-2008 Fri Tapovan Bhojbasha / Chirbasa
8 11-Oct-2008 Sat Chirbasa / Bhojbasha Gangotri
9 12-Oct-2008 Sun Gangotri
10 13-Oct-2008 Mon Gangotri BhojKharak (8 KM)
11 14-Oct-2008 Tue BhojKharak Kedarkharak (4KM) kedartal (5kms)
12 15-Oct-2008 Wed Kedartal BhojKharak (9 KM)
13 16-Oct-2008 Thu BhojKharak Gangotri (8 KM)
14 17-Oct-2008 Fri Gangotri Haridwar
15 18-Oct-2008 Sat Haridwar(8478 Kalingantkal exp.)6.00am(dep) Delhi(H. Nizamiddim stn.)11.450am—(arr) Delhi (2330-W.B. smrpk Krnti exp)-19.05pm(dep)
16 19-Oct-2008 Sun Sealdah…(arrival—17.45pm)



Kedartaal part is optional as I said, some of our team members will be back after Tapovan and 1 or 2 would move towards other destination but they will meet at Haridwar. Now, as you all know I cannot consider this as final if it is not judged – rectified - approved here . Hence please feel free to share your thoughts on this. Plz.

I would like to avoid one day – 6th October at Uttarkahi but DFO’s permission is unavoidable so I was just thinking if any guide could arrange this permission. Do you think it is possible to contact any reliable guide at Uttarkashi who will be able to arrange for (required papers & charges will be sent through courier service) our permission and he’ll join us at Gangotri? It would be a great help if anyone can recommend someone.

I had been to Gangotri and I know it is a strenuous journey but we would like to take rest as well as arrange other things like porters / utensils / ration etc.
at Gangotri itself (instead of one night stay at Uttarkashi). Tent, sleeping bags etc. will be arranged from Kolkata from our trusted ‘Chakra Equipments’.

I think this trip may cost around Rs.8000/- per person (team size is 7 – estimated 4 porters @ Rs. 250/-). Any input regarding the estimate will be a great help.

Thanks in advance.

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travel joy

I think you should break up the ascent to Kedartal in two nights i.e. spend a night at kedar kharak also. Otherwise you will face altitude related problems in Kedartal.Also it is a beautiful place for pitching tents.If you are hardy trekkers,you can descent to Gangotri form Kedartal in a single day.

babuchand

hey somnath, listen to joy and stay at kedartaal. As I have suggested u previously, after negotiating the scree zone at such altitude u will have to stay at kedarkharak & then move to kedartaal. if u dont want to stay at kedartaal then come back to kedarkharak in the same day. u can save a day by moving town to gangotri from kedarkharak in a day (we started arnd 930am & reached gangotri arnd 2pm...amidst moderate rain and heavy winds...so this is doable)

another few points.
1. due to tehri dam route to haridwar from gangotri has been elongated by some 30km. dont expect to come to haridwar from gangotri on the same day.
2. except the rest day at gangotri on 12Oct u havent kept any buffer day (day on hand for emergency delay) in ur schedule to my utter surprise. I think if something harsh happen u will miss the train.
3. haridwar to & fro new delhi can be best done by NLDS Dehradoon Janshatabdi express....check it out on indianrail.gov.in. the trains u r looking at...specially utkal express will land u in problem by running late.

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somnath

Thank you Joy, thank you Babu. Thank you for your valuable information. Yes Babu, you told me to stay at Kedarkharak. Yes you are right Kedarkharak > Kedartaal > Kedarkharak (camp) would be better. So the new one is:


1 4-Oct-2008 Sat Howrah (rajdhani)-16.55pm
2 5-Oct-2008 Sun New Delhi 10.15am(arr) (8477-Utkal express)----14.00pm(dep) Haridwar—20.30pm(arr)
3 6-Oct-2008 Mon Haridwar Uttarkashi (To get the permission from DFO)
4 7-Oct-2008 Tue Uttarkashi Gangotri
5 8-Oct-2008 Wed Tue-Gangotri Bhojbasha(14 kms)
6 9-Oct-2008 Thu Bhojbasha Gomukh(4kms) Tapovan(4kms)
7 10-Oct-2008 Fri Tapovan Bhojbasha / Chirbasa
8 11-Oct-2008 Sat Chirbasa / Bhojbasha Gangotri
9 12-Oct-2008 Sun Gangotri
10 13-Oct-2008 Mon Gangotri BhojKharak (8 KM)
11 14-Oct-2008 Tue BhojKharak Kedarkharak (4KM)
12 15-Oct-2008 Wed Kedarkharak kedartal (5kms) Kedarkharak
13 16-Oct-2008 Thu Kedarkharak Gangotri (12 KM)
14 17-Oct-2008 Fri Gangotri Haridwar
15 18-Oct-2008 Sat Haridwar(8478 Kalingantkal exp.)6.00am(dep) Delhi(H. Nizamiddim stn.)11.450am—(arr) Delhi (2330-W.B. smrpk Krnti exp)-19.05pm(dep)
16 19-Oct-2008 Sun Sealdah…(arrival—17.45pm)


Babu, you are right there is no buffer day, you can understand the time constraints in sector – V. he he…… hence we’ve taken the harsh decision at the beginning. If anyone is even 90% fit after Tapovan s/he will drop Kedartal – not even 10% chance. I know it doesn’t sound very organized but Kolkata to Kolkata the number of days are not flexible.

Any suggestion / comment on other parts like guide’s recommendation / budget (approx). etc.?

roy_supratim05

Hi Somnath,

I have done Tapovan and Kedartal in October 2007. I went Kedartal first and then to Tapovan. You should get the best weather in October that is for sure, but in past few years places above 4000 mtr. getting fresh snow in October. So be prepared for that. By the way I'm also in Sector V and I also face the time constrains .

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AvidTrekker

After the Kedarkharak correction, the second schedule sounds ok.

Drop the rest day on 12th Oct at Gangotri. Keep it at the end. It will give you a buffer day in case of emergency. Again, on this day 12th Oct, you can start as late as 10:00 for Gangotri to Bhojkharak trek. Not very long day... maybe three to four hours at most.

At the end, now you will get Thursday 16 Oct as the extra day.

Friday Gangotri to Haridwar is a very loooong day. Start from Gangotri at 4:00 am. (first bus)

Alternately, travel Gangotri to Uttarkashi on Thursday and Uttarkashi to Haridwar on Friday.

Rest sounds good

HAPPY TREKKING
.
.

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urvashi

Hi Friends
I joined just today
Even me & my husband is also planning the same trip as said by SOMNATH. It will be very much helpful for us if you can give some more informations on this tour.Is it necessary to carry tents in tapoban? if yes , will it be worth to carry it from kolkata itself or from uttarkashi/ gangotri
Please help

somnath

Supratim, Joy, Avid and Babu,
Thank you so much for you time and inputs. Supratim, thanks for your informative posts in other threads regarding Kedartal it was great ! And hey, both of us are working in same area ? that’s great, lets meet some day after office hours …. I’ll call my trekking partner (his office is also here….) and Babu where are you now?
Once I thought to go Kedartal first but as per the suggestion from seasoned trekkers we’ll keep Tapovan first to get the flavor of high altitude. And early snowfall at 4000 mtr. is true …… yeah, you are rite we need to be ready for that.

Avid, as per the suggestion (since the next day is not that tough) I am going to eliminate that ‘rest day’ at Gangotri to have an extra day.

And on 16th our target will be to leave Gangotri (ASAP) for Uttarkashi. Well, if not possible then Harshil.

Now, please don’t ignore the estimate part ....... I promise I am not going to send you the bills (if the given budget exceeds) .

Har Har Gangey .

roy_supratim05

Thanks Somnath,

What I can tell about budget is every time when we made a estimated budget for trekking, that had been ruined due to guide & porter rate .

You will find in several threads that guide@300/400 and porter@150/200 is available . But the truth I faced several times is that the guides and porters became more demanding due to foreigners . So in my opinion you make your budget considering guide@400/500 per day and porter@200/250 per day basis.

But anyway if you are in a group of 4 or higher, then you should finish it up within 5500 - 6000 including everything. 6000 for two treks becomes 3000 per trek, not bad I think .

Happy Trekking.

urvashi

Hi friends,

I would like to ask for what somnath has said in his thread
(To get the permission from DFO). Is it mandetory to take a permission for that trek??? I went to gomukh in 2001 but there no permit was needed. is the permit necessary for kedartal or for the both? If yes please let me know from where and how I can get it?

Please help.

AvidTrekker

You are most welcome



Porter at 250 per day and guide at 500 per day, plus their food. Count one porter per person. Food and kerosene budget for ten people for five days is around Rs 5000.

Anything else??

My treks are rather luxurious nowadays... so don't ask me my budget
.
.

travel joy

We went for Kedartal last year without any permissions or permits.Even Tapovan was done without any such formalities.I don't know whether the scenario has changed this year.
Hope any recent trekker can clarify.

roy_supratim05

Urvashi, Welcome to IM.

The scenario has been changed after the incident in last year (2007) September. Permission is needed from DFO Uttarkashi to enter Gangotri National Park. Also the average tourist & pilgrim load per day has been controlled to near 100.

May be it is possible in India to enter into the Park without any entry permission . But in my opinion, try to collect those papers for better convenience.

For Kedartaal trek, you still don't need any type of permission, coz. you are not entering in the Gangotri National Park. No checkpost is there.

Happy Trekking.

Bhaswaran

Hi SOmnath,

Congrats in advance for your forthcoming trek. SUpratim is right. I visited Gomukh in October 2007 and heard that something like this is going to be implemented, although dont know about the present scenario. They are considering regulation of the number of pilgrims even upto Gomukh consider the pollution problems also.

And it is nice to note that Supratim also works in Sector V. Small world.

regards,

Bhaswaran

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urvashi

Thanks a lot Supratim, Joy for your informations.
supratim, I read the details of your trek to Kedar tal, it is fantastic. Can u please provide me the information about how to gate this permission and where should I must approach for that. Please also give the Address and/ or phone no. of DFO office if you have it. Can I get it from Kolkata?

Thanks.
Urvashi