Kedar Tal is a glacial lake which is popularly known as Shiva’s lake, is situated at an altitude of 15,600 ft. in the Garhwal region of the Indian Himalayas. The lake is nourished by the snowfall over Mount Thalay Sagar (22,650 ft.), Meru (21,889 ft.), Mount Bhrigupanth (22,217 ft.) and other surrounding mountains, which also serve as the source of Kedar Ganga. The closeness with magnificent mountains and the view this trek offers is truly magical.
DIFFICULTY : MODERATE-DIIFICULT.
MAX ALLTITUDE : 16,116 FT.
BASE CAMP : GANGOTRI.
DURATION : 7 DAYS 6 NIGHTS.
BEST SEASON : MAY-OCTOBER.
Brief Itinerary of Kedartal Trek:
Day 1: Drive from Dehradun Railway station to Dharali from Dehradun (8 -10 hour drive).
Day 2: Drive from Dharali to Gangotri. Trek from Gangotri to Bhoj Kharak ; 5-6 hours, 8 km
Day 3: Bhoj Kharak to Kedar Kharak ; 5-6 hours, 4 km.
Day 4: Kedar Kharak to Kedartal ; 6-7 hours, 5 km
Day 5: Kedartal to Bhoj Kharak ; 5-6 hours, 9 km
Day 6: Bhoj Kharak to Gangotri; 3 hours, 8 km. Drive to Dharali
Day 7: Depart for Dehradun.
Dharali serves as the base camp for the Kedartal trek. Dharali is a small village along the Bhagirathi River that is approximately 20 km before Gangotri, Overnight stay at Dharali and begin your journey to Gangotri the next morning. You can expect to see a lot of pilgrims here, particularly during the chardham yatra season in May and June.
Your journey to Gangotri one of the Dham of “Uttarakhand Chardham Yatra” will start early in the morning. The transportation will be arranged to take you there from Dharali to Gangotri. Throughout your drive, the Kedar Ganga loyally follows you on your left. And your Kedartal trek begins with some serious climbing up for the day. As you hike, the fresh pines regress and are replaced with a dense plantation of birch trees. This route opens into our first campsite, Bhoj Kharak. The spectacularly spiky façade of Thalay Sagar will definitely allure you from a distance. Overnight stay at the campsite.
As you continue to climb up steadily, we find a route to cross the mountainside. After this you stumble across a steady path which guides you down to the Kedar Ganga river bed, which you have to partly cross before heading back to a firm ground on the other side which then unlocks into your next campsite, Kedar Kharak. A beautiful campsite located among the gigantic peaks of Drigubanth, Thalaysagar and Jogin.
Kedartal Trekking is mostly composed of deposited rocks and an infrequent dirt trail running at the top of the three ridges that you have to pass to reach Kedar Tal. After climbing up the two ridges you get a sneak-peek of the final ridge. After climbing up the third ridge, Kedar Tal Lake awaits you like a frozen emerald below. The enormous views of Thalay Sagar and other mountains make your journey worthwhile. At the end of this day, we bid farewell to the divine Kedar Tal and continue to climb down to Kedar Kharak. Overnight stay at the campsite.
We start our journey down the mountain to Bhoj Kharak right after breakfast. We trace the same trail back. Since most of the route is downhill, it should take you lesser time to reach
The descent is approximately 8 km and takes around 3 hours to climb down. It is not too intimidating and you can complete it easily. As soon as you reach Gangotri, have hot lunch and then drive back to Dharali and enjoy dinner in the guest house. Pack to return to Dehradun.
