Jolly Miles

October is a great time to do Himalayan treks. As the monsoon winds gives way to the frigid breeze, there is a brief hiatus of autumn when everything falls in place – clear skies, cool weather, bright sun and great landscapes, an ideal setting for a trekking adventure. We had the opportunity to embark on a beautiful trek in the Himalayas which was an amalgamation of divinity and adventure, the Gomukh-Tapovan trek.

The Gomukh trek is a moderate level trek which commences from Gangotri. We had an eventful journey reaching Gangotri from New Delhi which I have chronicled in my previous blog post – An eventful journey from Haridwar to Gangotri

After reaching Gangotri, we waited till the next weekend to start our trek. October being an offseason for religious tourism, Gangotri was largely devout of tourists. We found a nice wooden cottage with Bhagirathi river gushing in the backyards at an affordable rate. Wake up – have breakfast – office work – evening stroll by the river – Ganga aarti – Sleep; this was pretty much the routine for 3-4 days and it was an absolute joy.

One needs to apply for permit from the Forest Department before venturing into the “Gangotri National Park”. We applied for the permit at the Forest Department office in Gangotri itself and the permit was signed off on spot. There is a capping on the number of tourists permitted to enter the Gangotri National Park. October being offseason, permit was never going to be an issue. However, guide is necessary to get permit for “Tapovan” for which one has to cross the Bhagirathi river at Bhojbasha. We were not aware of this, neither we wanted to pay for the guide !

Next morning, we started the trek around 6:30 AM. We had already been at Gangotri for 3-4 days and had built some rapport with the locals who rightfully advised us the previous night to pack some parathas for the trek. Shops usually open before sunrise so we had our breakfast and packed stuff for the trek in time for an early beginning.

The trek starts from the Gangotri temple. After walking about 30 mins, we reached the entry gate of the Gangotri National Park where our permits were checked and plastic wrappers and bottles counted. There is a security amount which the trekkers need to deposit that is refunded while returning after counting the plastic items again, which I believe is a nice way to nudge the trekkers to keep the national park free from plastics. The actual trek starts from here. With the Bhagirathi river flowing on the right, wind gushing across the face and snow-clad Himalayan peaks leading your way, the trek route is as enchanting as it can get. The landscape keeps changing at every turn, some sections are alpine pastures, some are rugged with large boulders, some rhododendron forests and some loose sections with warnings against rolling stones.

Next point on the way is Chirwasa which is a sort of pitstop where refreshments (read Maggi and tea) are available. The route from Chirwasa to Bhojbasha is difficult due to the steep & desolate terrains as well as exhausted legs, so better to relax, have conversations with co-trekkers and eat well before trekking ahead. Bhojwasa is another 5-6 kilometers from Chirwasa. This is the most challenging section of the trek – falling stones, steep climbs and sections with large boulders which one has to navigate quickly. We managed to do pretty well and reached Bhojwasa around 3 PM. We were among the earliest to have reached the Bhojwasa campsite. At Bhojwasa there is the Ram Baba ashram that provides night accommodation, food and bedding to the trekkers against a small donation amount. There are camps available for those trekking with trekking agencies and GMVN guesthouses which needs to be pre-booked. The GMVN guesthouse is the most luxurious option with private rooms/ bunker beds and good food but it is costly and needs to be booked in advance.

We obviously had only one option – the ashram. We were provided a 6X6 room with a candle, a shredded blanket and bedding on the ground. At 8 PM, just after the sunset, everyone staying in the ashram assembled at the courtyard for dinner – daal, roti, sabji and hot water. Far away in the laps of the mountains, this ashram is a reminder of how little we actually need to be content in our lives. It was a dark night and the sky was filled with stars, the sort of that I had never seen before. We also met few folks who had travelled all the way only to see the galaxies.

Next day begun with a breakfast of daliya and tea served in the ashram. This is when it hit us that we wont be able to see the Gomukh snout as we did not have a guide and without guide we were not permitted to cross the river at Bhojbasha. Without crossing the river you only get to see the glacier from a very far distance and from that far it looks just like any other mountain gradient. We had travelled far navigating too many difficulties on the way to give up at the last moment. We tried approaching other groups asking if we can merge with them but the problem was the guides had a permission mentioning the number of folks in their group and this was being checked by the forest department official near the river crossing.

We kept trying and then chanced upon a group whose 1 member had returned midway due to mountain sickness. So we now had 1 vacancy but we were 2 people and if we were to cross the river it had to be both or none. We requested the guide and he agreed to give it a shot. The idea was to sneak one in the crowd while the permit was being checked. I don’t think the forest officer would have refused had we requested him but that was a risk, if he refused there was no way in. As luck would have it, or as Ganga maiya wished, we succeeded and crossed the river in a mechanical pulley which had to be manually pulled across the gushing river.

After crossing, its another 4 km trek to the Gomukh. This stretch is absolutely beautiful with the river now on your left and lofty snow-clad peaks on your right and front. Trekking ahead against the cold mountain breeze we finally reached Gomukh. It was an absolute bliss after what had been an extremely enervating journey. Watching river Bhagirathi flow out through glacier snout will remain etched in the memory for ever. While crossing the Farakka barrage in West Bengal in 2012, I was amazed by the vast expanse of river Ganga; similar was the feeling when I saw Ganga at Prayagraj Sangam – the confluence of Ganga and Yamuna. Now here it was at the extreme opposite, a small stream of few meters gushing out from the dark into the sunlight. This small stream will meet many other streams and rivers on the way to form the mighty river which will perhaps again amaze some other guy when it reaches Farakka.

Gangotri-Tapovan trek has everything – greenery, snow peaks, landscapes changing colour at every turn, river crossings, camping and also the starry nights; all on top of the blessings of Ganga maiya. Of the numerous Himalayan treks I had done, this one will always have a special place. Hope you liked this post. Please share your feedback and queries in the comment section below.