Valley of Flowers & Hemkund Sahib

Hi solo,

from Mana - three routes up - 1. get down from entrance arch of Mana village , cross Alaknanda and proceed to Laxmivan - chakrathirth - Lake satopanth-swargarohini 2. straight climb up via Vyas gupha , you reach the tarred road which goes up to mausapani and then trek path to Gustoli - arwa tal - kalindi kal 3. cross bhimpul and walk on the paved stone path to Vasudhara falls and there is a way to Gustoli from here.

look at my picture 1. i have taken it from Laxmivan on the above mentioned route 1. you can even see vasudhara falls in the photo. but , you can not view the Laxmivan forest (??!!) from Vasudhara. During the Pandavas' swargarohan journey , they is where draupadi is assumed to have died. above laxmivan , it is alpine zone.

soooo...
i apparently reached vasudhara falls just by default then...!!!
i just walked it from badrinath to mana and then carried on - alone... had a general idea that one of the paths ahead would lead me to the falls... and by gawd, it sure did...!
spent an hour at the falls and it was pitch dark by the time i reached back civilization at badrinath...!
but the arathis on at the most sacred of hindu temples more than soothened my nerves and muscles...
cheers...!!!

Folks... here is video clip of that very bad road patch near Pipalkoti. This was end of last month. This was the view from my bus window.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6HVBKElQXc

is trek to valley of flower,hemkund and badrinath open in starting of october??

the answer to all three :

valley of flowers - open, but very few flowers... but the scenic beauty is spectacular never the less...! though it's illegal, it's a good time to collect a few seeds and see if you can grow a valley of your own in your blessed backyard...!

hemkund sahib - closes in the first week of october - they bring the holy book (guru granth sahib) down in a procession till govindghat, where it stays till the first week of june, the following year...

badrinath - very much open, and very few tourists... just perfect for a visit... i was once the sole occupant for a night in october in a 500 bed gmvn hotel...! the neelkanth peak is absolutely mesmerising... the badrinath temple closes sometime in november (varies), the date depending on diwali date - it closes only a few days after diwali...

hope all the queries stand answered...
cheers...!

Here's a link to that thread

So this thread now closed.

WOOPS.... wrong thread!

This thread very much open: I'll close the other one

seems like the thread was hanging on by a thread.


Ah, these moderators

thanx for your help.
i need just one more answer,as i am taking a group of 10 people for first time from my college... i just need to know that the estimate i made for trek of 6 days... 3000+ per person .is it okay or it will go above 4000.....

thank gawd...!
that this thread is still alive...!

well... about the budget seems alright... i imagine u'd be coming to haridwar from lucknow... the cost is ok from haridwar to the valley and hemkund and badrinath and back to haridwar... 3k is quite enough for a group of students - assuming none of u would need to hire ponies for the trek to ghangharia or to hemkund sahib... hotels are cheap and the peak season is already over... when is this trip happenin' or has it already happened...?

Greetings!
I am from Bombay Some queries:-
I have 5 days from 29 October to 2 November (Haridwar to Haridwar-not able to get more leave from @#@$% office)

Would Badrinath+VoF be possible in late October?

If not could someone suggest alternative short treks in Garhwal? I have already been to Chopta/DeoriaTal,and I have heard that HKD or Gangotri Tapovan may take more time.

Help!

hiya ssg...

@#@$% office...?
u r being very polite, my dear sir - in my terminology, i would've added atleast a couple of more @s and $s and %s too...!

badrinath would be great at this time - nice n cold and with no one there - the best time for tourists like me...! the view of neelkanth peak towering above badrinath is just haunting and mesmerising...!

but, why do u wanna do vof at this time...? actually, even a month prior to your planned days might be too late to see most of the flowers... but yes, u can still do it - u'd get to see the lovely views of the valley with the snow-capped peaks... but then, like i'd mentioned somewhere earlier on this thread, if u r going there just for the breath-taking views, there are a whole range of posibilities.

btw, hemkund sahib closes in the first week of october, which is now - so that is no longer an option till june 2008...!

a possible plan :
leave haridwar as early as posible - say 5 a.m.
if u catch a public bus, get a seat on the left (thatz so for any mode of transport...!) - after srinagar, u get to have the alaknanda river on your left for a good 6-7 hours...!
if u catch the 5 a.m. bus, u can even cross joshimath the same day, and reach govindghat, where u can spend the night... but, if u catch a bus at 6 a.m., the bus will stop over for the night at joshimath... thatz ok too, as u can see this place too and take the same bus around 6 a.m. the next morning...

day 1 - haridwar to joshimath / govindghat
day 2 - reach ghanghria after a 16 km trek
day 3 - trek to vof and back to ghanghria
day 4 - early morning trek to govindghat and reach badrinath late afternoon. if u r crazy (i was), u can (just about) trek to vasudhara falls - if u have the time n the inclination, that is.
day 5 - if u can add one day, u could do the above trek on day 5
day 6 - leave badrinath early morning to ensure u reach haridwar the very same evening.

u could even consider dodital as an option - thatz from uttarkashi via agoda to dodital to darba top to hanuman chatti.
btw - dodital happens to be the birth place of lord ganesha...!

cheers...!

hiya again...
well, the season is about to begin...

not yet for the valley of flowers and certainly not for hemkunt sahib; but then, it's not too early to begin making your plans...! soo, check out this thread...

with a whole lotta snow this season, the views of the glorious peaks are going to be even better than always...

cheers...!

Greetings!!!

Any chances of any flowers this early???

Am planning to couple VOF with a trek to Madhyamaheshwar starting June 27th till July 4th.

Any suggestion is welcome.

Though Ive been to himalayas many times before, I am a complete novice during monsoons

Yes, you'll get to see some flowers. Each month has something different.

Hi Folks

How is VOF in late August? Flowers?

How is the idea of combining a short hike to Tungnath (and perhaps Chandrashila peak) with VOF and Badrinath? I'll perhaps have 10 forty plus folks with me. Fit but not trekkers.

Arjun