For the love of the Himalayas - A memorable trek to Roopkund (Mystery lake with skeletons)

What if I tell you India has as mesmerizing mountain region and villages as probably any other beautiful countries have? Yes, I am talking about the Himalayas 😊 The Himalayas always amused me and always ever will! Having traveled to many countries, experiencing various beautiful landscapes, I feel that every place has its own charm, still, no place is comparable with the beauty of Himalayas. It is one of a kind!

Having seen various mountains and peaks in Europe, the majority of them can be accomplished with very minimal effort. The only place where you need to put some effort is – while stepping into and coming out of cable car ;) Often such mountains, sooner or later, become more commercialized and touristy. It is not a hike anymore, just a visit to the top. The mountain loses its charm. Having said that, these places are still beautiful in its own way but nothing like the Himalayas 😊

For me, the real hike, the real feeling of accomplishment, the real joy lies in having to get out of the comfort zone and having to put additional effort to reach the top, that joy is immense. In that sense all the hikes in the Himalayas are reachable only by foot; hikes that last at least few days. This is something wonderful.

The hike starts from a base village that continues through pine forests, innumerous tiny mountain villages, crossing the tree line to the flushing meadows and streams, the ridges, the boulders, snow and the last summit climb to the top of snowcapped mountains; leaving you mesmerized by every crossing stages and eventually gaining altitude! You get to feel and experience each and every step of your journey towards the mighty mountains. This way our body gets enough time to acclimatize as we go higher without having to rush through and it can have a major impact on the working of our body systems. Furthermore, hiking needs time (every second is worth it!), a high endurance level, a strong commitment, motivation to make it to the pinnacle and the belief in yourself, in your body that you will be able to do it. This is very important as often hikers begin their journey but give-up way before climbing the summit due to disobliging body conditions and return down to the village. At times even I felt that my body will not support, even then with a strong will and being positive, I never gave up! Glad I haven’t! 😊

Let’s get started, this time around I decided to hike to this mystery place called ‘Roopkund lake’ that is located somewhere in the Himalayas at an altitude of 5,029 meters (16,499 feet) surrounded by glaciers and snow clad mountains almost lying on the lap of Majestic Mt. Trishul. It is a mystery because back in early 1900’s it was discovered by a ranger and he found hundreds of human skeletons in and around the lake (at an altitude of 5029 m!). Even until recent past there were skeletons lying around the lake. Due to this, the place has evoked interest among a lot of archaeologists and scientists across the world. During the last decade, National Geographic magazine had published articles about the lake due to underlying mystery. Knowing all this, I was very excited to be there and witness it myself. Since the trek length was more than a week, I will try to shorten the articles (will complete in 2 parts) and share more of pictures, as, at times, pictures talk more than words!

After months of waiting and preparation, I set-off for the journey to the Himalayas late September. This is an ideal time to hike as the weather will be comparatively mild and there will still be some snow – bonus! After November, weather turns to be much cooler with heavy snow and trail gets harder. I started from southern part of India, Bangalore to all the way to the capital Delhi. After flying to Delhi took the train to the state of Uttarakhand located to the east on the foothills of Himalayas. Finishing the overnight train journey, I got out at a town called Kathgodam.

I already started to sense the change in landscape, air, and the whole feeling as compared to Bangalore. The state of Uttarakhand is fondly called as ‘Devbhumi’ in Sanskrit, meaning the place where Gods live. This little town in Uttarakhand is the starting point of the trek to Roopkund. It was planned, we few of us meet here in Uttarakhand and travel together as a group. After freshening up and a light breakfast introducing each other we set off to our base village of Lohajung, from where the trek starts. It was a long and exhausting 11 hours’ drive through rugged terrain to reach the base village. Although the route was crazy, the views were equally getting better with time and we were gaining some altitude. We reached the village end of the day and took some rest to re-energize ourselves for the next day hike.

Panorama of mountains enroute our base village.

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Some beautiful stone carved temples on the way.

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After a much-required rest and all good vibes we started our day 2 - hike from the base village towards Ghairoli Patal that is at an altitude of around 10,000 feet. This was a relatively short stretch of 4 kilometers with lovely walks through water streams and forests with a distant view of the snow-capped mountains. We reached Ghairoli Patal by evening having sufficient time to acclimatize and unwind ourselves appreciating the distant views.

The journey begins- long way to go!

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Pure mountain water.

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How about living here?

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We camped nearby this lovely mountain village.

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Early next day we continued our day 3 journey towards Bedni Bugyal through Ali Bugyal. Meaning of ‘Bugyal’ means meadows. We start our day hiking through dense forests, enjoying some beautiful Himalayan flora spread as far as our eye could reach, cross the tree line to reach the beautiful undulating alpine meadows of Ali Bugyal.

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Hike through forests.

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Himalayan Flora.

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Entering Ali Bugyal.

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Lovely meadows of Ali Bugyal.

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Way ahead.

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After spending some time at Ali Bugyal admiring the surrounding panorama and capturing as many photos, we continued our ascent as dense clouds covered the area leaving us nowhere. As we gain altitude the weather gets so unpredictable in the Himalayas. If one moment it is hailstones the next moment some bright sunshine, I will share my experience with snowstorm later as we go on with the hike.

Walk through the meadows, after we cross the tree line.

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A man’s best friend.

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These mountain dogs are mainly used as shepherds to guard the flock of sheep and to protect them from lurking scavengers. Going further up for a couple of hours we crossed some beautiful landscapes to reach our Campsite of Bedni Bugyal. It was a huge meadow clearing with snowcapped mountains on your horizon with Bedni Kund (Lake called Bedni) in the foreground. Hence the name Bedni Bugyal.

We spent the evening together playing some games and exploring some nearby places before going to our tents to call it a day. As we were already at an altitude of around 12,000 feet, it was really cold. I had a different plan for next day early morning as the place and surroundings had really got me into to it. Even with the cold, I wanted to get up early and try to shoot some early morning shots. And I did manage to do that. Here are few of the photos.

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In my next post, I will share you the rest of our journey to lake Roopkund and how we made it to the top of Junargali.

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Chaithra Bhat