My experience at the Chopta-Tunganath trek
I went for the Chopta-Tunganath trek on the August occasion of Samhain or more popularly known as Halloween.
It was a spirited decision, the one I had been the most excited to plan in recent times. It is considered an easy trek, the summit is a religious site for Hindus, and is considered to be one of the 5 dhams ( abode) of Lord Shiva.
A Shiva temple at an altitude of 12, 300 ft above sea level, with breathtaking views offering the best of both worlds.
We reached Chopta a day before to acclimatize to the dipping temperature. Chopta is the base camp for the trek to the temple. The place is tiny but inundated with tourists- trekkers going to Tunganath and devotees coming from Badrinath looking for a pit stop. Due to the higher footfall of tourists, the village has expanded to house a growing number of resorts, campsites, and motels.
An interesting fact about Chopta: The place is powered by solar energy, there is no electricity in the day and solar-powered batteries light up the nights, some hotels also use diesel-powered generators.
I tried asking the locals the reason for no electricity and didn’t get an adequate response, so I looked it up. The most commonly cited response was that Chopta falls under the Kedarnath forest sanctuary and is a protected area.
I pride myself on being a trekker of respectable caliber, having gone on many treks ranging from moderate to difficult, and so, I believed it to be a walk in the park.
We had Maggi before the trek, one of the hacks I use to avoid having to use the toilet. To get an energy boost, I also had a shot of an Espresso.
We rented wooden sticks more out of fashion than need. The trek began and I began my sermons of taking it slow, not exerting and such. We were greeted by the arresting views of the Garhwal Himalayan range and the lush green locales that are also home/ resting places for various birds.
It was crowded on account of being a religious site and even though there are mules to carry the elderly, many of them preferred to trek the whole way. My heart swelled in gratitude for those who didn’t burden the poor mules who looked so traumatized and could only protest with their excreta, which was littered throughout the rocky hike.
At this point, I must mention that I have had the misfortune of contracting COVID at least thrice in the last 3 years, but in my excitement for an adventure, I had either forgotten this or decided to hide it somewhere very deep in me.
The long and bony hands of the malady caught up with me within minutes of the trek, and I was soon gasping for breath even when I was walking at the speed of a sloth.
The gasps were amplified by the frequent ring of bells alerting the pedestrians to the passing of human laden mules on that narrow stretch.
I reached the halfway mark in an hour and a half ( 2.5kms) and decided to treat myself to some Rose sherbet. It was a blessing and super delicious too! The man behind that tiny shop also trusted me to pay him on my way back as I didn’t have any change on me.
I reached the temple in a little over 3 hours, by which I had started enjoying the ascent and decided to also make a head start for the Chandrashila peak as my husband and in-laws prayed. The distance from Tungnath to Chandrashila is only a kilometre (.62 miles) but the route is treacherous and very steep, halfway to the peak I battled altitude sickness and decided to give it a rest. I found a tiny meadow on the side of the ascent and took my phone out.
I use a bygone era phone with LCD screen and all, but I had some time to kill and so made the most of my time.
By the time my husband and his siblings came up, I had already settled in on a moss covered stone and the climb seemed unappealing, and the clouds were upon us and we ( Husband and I) decided to just chill while his siblings went up to the Chandrashila peak.
We wanted to go but I believe we chose to acknowledge how tired we were and decided to not be too harsh on ourselves, and I think it was a beautiful experience to let go.
They took over an hour to go up and back and we sat and talked and clicked pictured by that baby meadow. The Sun was playing hide and seek and the clouds cast beautiful shapes and the mountains glowed. Butterflies chased one another and it was such a divine experience for us.
The descent from Tunganath takes about 45 min- 1 hour if you don’t stop anywhere but we may have stopped once or twice.
Our legs were wobbly and we were equal parts tired and hungry. We said goodbye to Chopta the same evening with a promise to come back stronger and watch the dawn breaking around the Chandrashila peak.
Fingers in symphony 