The summer temperatures were breaking all the records , even at places where its too early to be summer. Its been two years since covid , I haven’t had a chance to trek in the Himalayas , desperately needed to be in mountains before another covid wave hits us.
As usual the go to place was the Indiahikes website and in no time I had successfully registered for Ali Bedni Bugyal trek.
Rishikesh : The lost city
I had very fond memories of Rishikesh from my previous trek visit , hence had planned to land in Rishikesh two days before. A convenient flight to Dehradun and shared cab with fellow trekkers whom I met on pre paid cab counter was the end of luxurious travel , Google map was showing dark red “ This is usual situation on weekends sir , I will drop you as far as I can but then onwards you are on your own” our taxi driver added to our agony.
Driver was right , we had to be dropped at the start of the main city itself , long queues of vehicles were ahead of us moving at snails pace , we preferred to walk instead , called it our acclimatization walk for solace , temperature scale was reading 36 degrees.
Over the next 2 days I was in Rishikesh , things did not improve much , couldn't find a single breakfast place open before 8-8:30 AM , Yoga capital is not a early riser . I remember during my last visit we could see Yoga centers , yoga cafes everywhere , now all you see is adventure sports , water rafting , nigh out discs.
Things at Trivenni Ghat were not much different , the spiritual experience of Ganga aarti we had few years back was lost , The only soulful place I can recommend is the Beatles Ashram at the end of the city right next to Rajaji National park boundary.
All was not bad however , I had a chance to meet the entire trek team and enjoy great food at the Beatles Cafe. We were a mix group representing all parts of India , some of us has trekked before , others were first timers , most of us were travelling solo . We were all set to begin our journey towards Lohajung base camp.
Day 1 : Lohajung Base Camp
Journey from Rishikesh to Lohajung is long , 270kms and 10 hrs , but we were happy to be moving towards cooler climatic conditions and away from the crowd in Rishikesh.
We had crossed blissful Devprayag in early morning time and were just in time for the sunrise.
All of us were bit worried with the scale of infrastructure development happening in the mountains and their impact .In effort to reduce travelling time from Rishikesh to Char Dham's massive road construction has been undertaken , every mountain on either side of the road has been excavated , huge stacks of stone and rubble were dumped near the Ganges banks , so much that the agricultural farms have almost vanished in these parts. Trees are covered with thick coat of dust and concreate , birds are rarely visible. Massive tunnel construction for railways was even more terrifying. Not sure if this is the development we want.
Post lunch time we reached a small village , Deval , Lohajung wasn't too far away from here , we had crossed 5000ft mark.
A Barn swallow had made a photoframe her home , it was amazing to watch the entire family living in harmony with constant inflow of customers and human presence.
At 7700ft Lohajung is a quintessential Himalayan hill town , Goddess Mahananda fought and killed the demon Lohasur at this place hence the name Lohajung ( jung : fight ). Surrounded by jungles on all sides , Lohajung is also the birth place for Indiahikes , they have a very well equipped camp with all the amenities.
After a while we met our guides , Verru Paaji and Yash Bhai and our trek leader Nishant for the first time , hearing their stories and experiences we knew that we were in safe hands. We had a rather long briefing on dos and donts on the trek , Indiahikes green trail initiatives and our role in it , waste disposal , toilet etiquettes etc. followed by the dinner.
Ffood is the USP of any Indiahikes trek , we were served with pipping hot Jalebis , now that's a " warm welcome " .
Day 2 : Lohajung to Didna (8045ft)
The first two days of this trek are demanding , distances are long and effective climbing height is more. Didna at 8045ft is another small village at about 8-10kms from Lohajung was going to be our first campsite.
 |
| Trail starts from the back on Lohajung campsite , a walk on motorable road for 2kms as it starts descending for another km or so , slowly leading to the silver oak forest |
 |
| Jungle gets thicker |
 |
After close to 3 hours walk , we descend down into a river bed , cross the valley on the other side and start gradual ascend
|
 |
| Yash Bhai guiding the trekkers on one tricky patch of loose rubble |
 |
| After crossing at river bank , the trail further leads to beautiful Akhodi village |
 |
| Didna is visible from Akhodi village , towards the right on mountain top |
 |
| Another 45 mins walk from Akhodi and a scenic lunch location before we cross the valley. Post lunch point grueling ascend starts . lasts for 3kms , gains close to 1500ft , tests your endurance and ends in Didna |
 |
| Veeru Paaji |
 |
| Didna campsite , facing Lohajung at the other side of the valley |
 |
| waterefall , 5 mins walk from Didna |
 |
| Didna is a recently established village , Kuling a nearby village experienced a severe cloud burst in that unfortunate year of 2013 and was under the mud . Government offered the village to be reestablished , villagers requested the government to relocate them to Didna and not to far away from their mountains. |
Day 1 was challenging but it was a good beginning , Didna campsite is surrounded by forest so there is great opportunity for the birders here , campsite has Ali Bugyal at its back , we could see the Rhododendrons in full bloom at the top , day 2 was going to be amazing .
Day 2 : Didina to Ali Bugyal ( 11640ft) to Abin Kharak(11417ft)
If anything Day 1 had us prepared for Day 2 , today we would be targeting around 9-11kms climbing around 2500ft and walking through the Ali Bugyal.
The usual day at camp begins with 6-7-8 , tea at 6 , breakfast at 7 and before we move at 8 , some warm up stretches to get us going. Nishant had made it a ritual to offer a small prayer of gratitude for the mountains and everyone else , he would make sure after the stretches , a small briefing session , a small tip on greentrails and prayer is always followed.
Today we were lead by Veeru Paaji , he says its his favorite stretch on the trek , he loves jungles , has keen eye for flora and fauns , Day 2 has everything a naturalist in him would ask for.
We made sure that we stay with him throughout , in return we partied on Yellow Himalayan raspberries , wild strawberries. Veeru Paaji also helped us identify birds like streaked laughingthrush , grey headed bullfinch , beeeaters etc . Verru Paaji's grandfather had a great understanding of natural medicines and plants , he transferred his knowledge to his son & grandson. Veeru Paaji says " I am not as good as him but I can identify the common ones ". Folks from mountain are full of knowledge and stories , you just need to listen.
 |
| 10 mins into the trail you will see a rhodo forest in full bloom |
 |
for almost 4kms trail gradually moves through dense oak forest then gradually starts ascending til Tolpani , which has a shephards hut
|
 |
| Tolpani is a small meadow , about 4kms from Didina. as per locals this is the place where Shiva had rationed water for his disciples to teach them the importance of water. Gods we worship were aware of how important natural resources are , when will we learn ? |
 |
| April end is almost end of the season for Rhododendron flowers, making carpet of rhodo petals in the forest as we were making our way through steep ascend past Tolpani |
 |
| Altitude has impact on rhodos , they grow from 7000ft onwards till 10000ft , lesser the altitude darker they are and higher are their trees , as the altitude increases flower turn pink to white. Dark red ones are the ones used for juice making. Yash bhai makes organic Burransh ( local name for rhodos) juice , we had a burransh juice party in Lohajung post trek . It smells amazing and tests even better. |
.jpeg) |
| 2-3 kms walk in picturesque rhodo forest ends at Khan , a small medow at the top of the hill , this marks 70% of ascend is done |
 |
| carpet of rhodo petals |
 |
| After khan the ascend is gradual , another 1.5kms before the opening for Ali Bugyal |
 |
| Ali Bugyal's scale is astonishing , its the longest meadow in Asia , spans for 6-8kms in all directions |
 |
| Yash bhai |
 |
| Ali bugyal expanse just keep getting better and better , seems unending |
.jpeg) |
| from khan its almost 4kms walk till you see forest huts at a distance and a small temple , abin kharak campsite is just behind this. on a clear day you will be greeted by Mount Trishul , Mount Nana Ghunti |
 |
| Sunrise and sunet from Abin kharak are both outstanding , dont miss it. Nishant made an exception , gave us extra half an hour and allowed us to carry our snacks for a small ascend so that we can enjoy this view |
 |
| in the shadow of mount trishul |
 |
| moon rise before the sunrise from abin kharak |
 |
| sunrise from the abin kharak camp site |
Day 3 : Abin Khrak to Bedni top ( 12540ft) to Patal Gehroli(10479ft)
Summit days are usually challenging , you would want to have clear views from the summit so you get a very small window , so you have to start early. Even though bedni top summit is just 2-3 kms from Abin kharak , the challenges remain the same.
 |
| Jagjit Singh , age 62 and still young , our desi Allan Quattermain. Has visited 52 countries so far and still gong strong. On day one seeing size of his backpack , Yash bhai suggested he should offload. Jagi paaji politely declined and managed to surprise everyone throughout the trek. |
 |
| even though there were many first timers , all of them were gritty and inspirational , Vidisha had blisters on her leg from day 1 but managed to complete the trek without cribbing. Roopa and her daughter Mihika would surely inspire parents to trek with their kids. All the first timers managed to rise above their struggles and summit successfully. |
 |
| Post summit a gradual descend of about 2kms bring you to Bedni kund , Bedna or vedna is hindi word for pain , this is the place where Mahananda devi fighting with asur Mahishasur drew first blood |
 |
| Patal gehroli is about 2 hrs walk from the summit , a camp site in the middle of the forest. in the evening we were greeted by lighting and thunderstorm. it was so fierce we had to rush to the near by shephard huts for protection. Srinjana even saw the lightning strike nearby tree , just few meters away. This area is notorious for lightning strikes and one has to be very careful during such events. We were strictly told to keep our mobile devices on airplane mode , all other electrical equipment and trek pole away from ourselves , even the headphones are known to attract lightning strike. Later that night Nishant demonstrated safety procedure and ways to protect yourself from lightning |
Day 4 : back to Lohajung
Last day of the trek , with heavy heart we had to say good bye to the wonderful mountains and the entire team who has been taking care of us , the kitchen staff , Mule men , our guides and our trek leaders.
A small 4 hr descend till Neel Ganga river and another hours walk take you back to Wan where our vehicles had arrived to take us back to the civilization.
 |
| The team |
.jpeg)
.jpeg)
Wah KEDAR ... Very nicely written. You have covered each aspect one should notice during the trek.
ReplyDelete