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Sat 22 Oct: Chamba–Ghansyali (53km, 445m ascent)
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Chamba view |
We turned right at the junction and the road instantly turned to rubble. This whole area is a building site for the Tehri dam. There are no signposts, and the route barely qualifies as a road. It is necessary to ask directions frequently. The forlorn remains of the old town could still be seen.
Soon the road becomes clear, but its surface has been destroyed by quarry trucks which trundle past with disconcerting frequency. Sprinkler lorries dampen the dust, and the resulting mud cakes bikes and panniers.
After 15 or 20 km you come to Gadolia and take your leave of the quarry traffic. The tarmac road follows an attractive valley. Before long it starts climbing, and you soon arrive at Ghansyali.
There are a couple of basic places to stay here. We spent the afternoon cleaning our bikes.
Notes: We stayed at the Uttarakhand Lodge. Overnight we suffered a third mishap to our collection of altimeters when someone prised the computer off Colin’s bike.
Drinking tea |
Chirbatia crossing | ||
Gaurikund | Kedarnath party | |
We left Ghansyali in a sour mood. The morning was misty, but as the sun broke through the road showed the loveliness of the Garhwal hills with the usual mix of terraced fields, villages and trees. Chirbatia, the village at the pass, is slightly scruffy but the people are friendly; we stopped for tea. There are views of the mountains to the north, dominated by Kedarnath Peak. But the views are better still at the next village down.
The descent, like all such descents, was a joy. We stopped for lunch at a village just before the Mandakini valley. The lad who served us had perhaps never spoken to westerners before, and told us how happy he was that we were eating there.
The resthouse at Tilwara is a collection of wooden huts in well kept gardens: a pleasant place to spend a lazy afternoon.
Bangles |
The road at first climbs gently towards the bridge at Kund, sometimes giving fresh views of Kedarnath Peak. Then it rears up to the drab town of Guptakashi on a shoulder and follows an intricate route along valley slopes, still climbing gently until 5 km from Gaurikund where it again becomes steep, now abetted by a badly broken surface.
Gaurikund, the roadhead, is a remarkable place: a maze of alleys. It is another small town existing to serve pilgrims and travellers, most of whom here are intent on following the trail to Kedarnath.
Notes: We stayed at the GMVN resthouse, a collection of buildings of which the oldest is a wooden lodge which seems to provide the cheapest as well as pleasantest accommodation. The GMVN have a posh new hotel a few km. lower down between Rampur and Sitapur. We arranged a porter, Ganesh, through the Gaurikund resthouse for the following day.
Tues 25: Gaurikund–Kedarnath (14km, 1430m)
Ganesh |
We stomped up in 4 hours, but the afternoon was indeed cloudy and cold. Kedarnath comes to life for the few hours around lunchtime and is otherwise quiet.
Notes: The Lonely Planet assigns 7 hours to the walk. There are plenty of tea stalls on the way. We had lunch in the Tiwari hotel (signposted in Devangari) and stayed in the GMVN resthouse, the gaps under whose doors allow convenient ingress for rats. Our bikes were left in the cloakroom of the Gaurikund resthouse.
Kedarnath | ||||
Weds 26: Kedarnath–Ukhimath (14km on foot, 34 km/315m cycling)
Chopta descent |
Chopta descent |
We took photographs in the clear morning light and walked briskly back down to Gaurikund where we had lunch. Then we got back on our bikes, rode down to Kund bridge, and ended the day with the stiff short climb to Ukhimath where we stayed in the GMVN resthouse.