I didn’t know that it would turn out to be a lifetime adventure on a short trip to Chopta chandrashila trek Tungnath Chandrashila! “No one realizes how beautiful it is to travel until he comes to resting his head on his long-familiar pillow,” I could so much relate to a quote which Lin Yutang has recently been reading.” But it’s more like an adventure for me that I had survived, and I wanted to go home and be warm and convenient at that moment!
The only reason I remember this trek so close to my heart is because I remember how I almost gave up! To save myself from pain, I gave up walking further. Sometimes it’s good to go to a group. I would have been stuck in the mountain if I had been on a solo trek. I don’t mind, but I’d surely be lost hopefully!
We took the train and arrived in Haridwar early in the morning. We were scheduled for our trek and should have arrived in the Deoria valley before sunrise, one of the most lovely places I had ever seen. From the city of Haridwar, our tempo traveler took us to the village called Ukhimath in the Uttarakhand Himalayas. I was fascinated with the junction of the Holy River Ganga between Alaknanda and Bhagirathi. In the afternoon we reached our base camp and began to walk towards the enchanting lake, only 7 km away. We already had our tents set for a night camping on the luxurious meadows of Deoria Tal! It’s been a rather moderate trek. I’ve been sorry to see the dull weather and the clouds covering the entire summit.
Before the sunset, we reached 5 minutes! I’m not going to say we missed it, because the cloudy weather couldn’t see anything anyway. After a short visit to the Valley, we settled in our tents. It rained because we were in our tents with hot tea and snacks. I hoped for a clear sky and a starry night, not as I had imagined it. But to my surprise, the clouds split apart and took over a sky black with diamond-like stars just as I went out of my tent. The eyes were more than peaceful for the firing stars and the quietness of the place! Nothing can be happier than to lie under the stars’ blanket with your favorite playlist and a good bunch of people.
We slept early in order to see the clear sky and a fantastic sunrise over the tops of our tent, which were white as a dove, as the leader said.
I’ve been awakening to one of the finest sights! At dawn, the peaks gleamed and before sunrise, I decided to go round the Tal. I took my camera and walked around from every angle I could capture the stunning mountain peaks. We left for the village Sari, from where we started our walks after witnessing the beautiful sunrise and eating this sumptuous breakfast. At Chopta, we had another trek waiting for us.
The Lord Shiva’ s highest temple in the world is called Tungnath Temple! I was very excited to walk to the Chandrashila Peak summit. But the dreary weather had returned! This time, it also helped to keep the temperature dropping. Our walking guide suggested that we take our raincoats and extra jacket in our day-pack.
The ways were impressive and the view around it was stunning. We started trekking to the temple. We kept on walking and the weather worsened.
When it started raining, we were only 2 km from our destination. I had nothing to cover, so I wore my raincoat and began to walk to the tea house, a few meters away. I saw the temple in the immediate vicinity as soon as I arrived, but realized it did not rain only, but also hail. I was sure we couldn’t go any further, but our trek leader decided to have a break from lunch and wait for better weather. The weather got better while we had a hot cup of tea and delicious Maggi. I began moving to the temple and from our group I was the first person to reach our destination. I started to explore the area around Chandrashila Peak and I was looking for the way. The rest of the group joined shortly thereafter, and we had a very interesting picture option. The weather continued to get duller and our trek leader soon told us that the Chandrashila Peak would not occur. All of us saw the logic, but were still disappointed.