sunrise on the way to Uttarkashi
breakfast time
local junta posing for a photo :-)
vibrant colors captured
first glimpse of snow-capped peaks on the way to Uttarkashi
Tehri backwaters
On the way to Gangotri - in Uttarkashi
A part of Uttarkashi town
towering trees
gushing Bhagirathi b/w Uttarkashi-Gangotri
Bhagirathi valley b/w Uttarkashi-Gangotri
me..
hari and sachin taking photos
pigeons on a rock in Gangotri
local boy interested in having a photo
Gangotri in morning from our lodge
Gangotri temple street
Gangotri Temple
Full view of Gangotri temple- its some 3,048m/10,000ft above sea level
The story as goes: Bhaghiratha praying to lord Shiva to hold the waters of Ganga
Karthik's solo pose
Gangotri ghat
Gangotri ghat - looking towards source of Bhagirathi ie. Gaumukh
me in front of Gangotri ghat
tele..photo
the shopping center for devotees
in front of our lodge..
Rammohan and Sachin having a breakfast
Karthik on the bridge along Gangotri river
Hari's intial words : abhe our kitna door hai ?
Rammohan: always smiling for a photo
view of snow capped peaks along the trek
one of the dangerous path
beautiful autumn colors
Macro shot
the valley where the Kedarganga river flows
long way to go ..
hari thought : mai yaha kuan aya hu ?
some special effects on the way
one of our sources of water on the way
vasanth
first glimpse of Mt. Thalaysagar at the far end. Kedartal is located near the base of Mt. Thalaysagar
Hari, Sachin, Raghu & Murali thinking of what to do next
Raghu, Sachin & our guide on the way
it's me
Mount ThalaySagar
looking back from where we came from..
atlast we reached..on first day
Karthik negotiating the risky rocky slab
one of the birds residing
a beautiful view of the mountains in front of our camping site
our camp at Bhojkharak at a height of 3,780m/12,436ft. There was one more group who were trying to find trek routes beyond Kedartal
Manda group of peaks
unknown ~6000 mts peak
looking towards Gangotri..our tents at the bottom left
The last photo taken on the first day
much awaited sun rays which increases temperature from subzero to 10-15 deg
a bright morning
our entire group excluding some porters
the second day climb
looking towards Kedarkharak. Mt.Thalaysagar in the background
bloom of the autumn flowers in the valley
KedarGanga
awesome Kedarganga valley
First glimpse of Ice
another batch coming on our way to Kedarkharak. They have gone 2-3 days before us
Kedarganga again..flowing 200mts below us. Start of most dangerous part of the trek - this landslide zone is 1 km long
the loose rocks on the top..nobody knows when they come rolling down
Murali in the backdrop..negotiating the landslide zone
and then sachin
a small Shivalinga(or Himalinga) on our way
its murali.. you can see me through the reflection in the lenses taking the snap
a bird roaming around us to get some food
looking back towards Gangotri from KedarKharak which is 12 kms away
the other batch having their camping site
I don't know the name of the bird but ornithologist call it as yellow-billed chough
A small makeshift Shiva temple with the snow-capped mountains in the background
kitchen inside a rock-shed and our cook at work
camping site at Kedar Kharak (4,270m/14,050ft)
Mt. Brigupanth & Mt. Thalaysagar now visible clearly
mix of clouds and sunlight-just enough to create beauful picture
Kedarkharak panorama - Manda group of peaks
mountain goats (Bharals) against background (12x zoom)
Raghu ready for a pose
a small weed growing out of the snow
BhojKharak Panorama
Mount Brighupanth..
frozen water..the first thing we saw when we woke up at Kedarkharak. Night temperature might have been aroun -5 degrees
starting towards Kedartal(our final destination) from Kedarkharak at 9 am
snow zone begins--its a walk on 1 feet deep snow for rest half of 5km distance from Kedarkharak to Kedartal
Our guide Tej-bahadur
me..against a backdrop of snow
Murali, me & Sachin climbing on snow
frozen water..
Guys walking like zoombies due to low-levels of oxygen
Itz only walk on snow till Kedartal
Murali against backdrop of Mount Thalaysagar
resting for a while
Hari taking a break after slipping on the snow
not so deep--my foot (shoe) prints on the snow
snowy path
walking/climbing on snow can be strenuous in thin air
the final ridg to cross to reach Kedartal
amphitheatre of snow & rocks..looking back towards Kedarkharak & Gangotri
finally arrived at 12.30 pm...Kedartal at 5000 mts above sea level. Its me and Raghu near the lake
Lake Kedartal with Mount ThalaySagar in the background. It is located at an altitude of 4,912m/16,160ft.
solo pose
lines formed on the rocks due to snow and wind
a board showing the life time of a Korean guy who died while climbing Mount Thalaysagar
solo pose ..Murali
clear water in lake Kedartal
Kedartal with Brigupanth (6772 mts) and Thalaysagar (6984 mts) peaks in the background
Group Shot
The other guys who came with us. They will be going beyond Kedartal to explore the area. They are camping near the lake. The temperatures at night may reach aroun 10-20 degrees.
KedarBymak glacier with Mt.Brigupanth & Mt. Thalaysagar at the background
huge crevices on KedarBymak glacier
While getting down me and Raghu almost did Ice skating (or sliding) which was so exiting for us
looking back towards Mount Thalaysagar..you can see some guys walking on the snow to get a real feel of the height
bright sunrays which started melting the snow around us
posing with the snow-man which me and Raghu did
the sky was so clear (without air and light pollution) that we can see a infinite number of stars in the sky
planet Venus(the bright object) against the backdrop of mountains
rainbow colors on the way down to Gangotri
View of Gangotri valley from the top
came across such hundreds of bridges built across Ganga river
Tourist map of CharDham - A visit to Gangotri, Yamunotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath
a view of local ground in the backdrop of mountains in Uttarkashi
UttarKashi temple
saw some parrots and started taking photos..
a solo pose for a parrot
got this nice moment captured..
Lakshman jula - one of Rishikesh main tourists attractions
Rafting from level-1 to level-6 are one of Rishikesh main tourist attractions. Its one of the best place in the world to do rafting
two-way bridge for both pedestrians and vehicles
local guys make arrangements for the festival of Dussera
festival mood..
who is this goddess..the pigeon wondering
leaving diyas in water in Haridwar is considered to be sacred
Har-ki-paudi at night, Haridwar
(from left) Ram, Rahghu, Hari, Vasanth, Sachin & me. The other two guys(Murali and Karthik) went to do puja..
ManasaDevi temple on Hilltop (zoom-12x)
finally.. me at India Gate, Delhi
fine architecture of India Gate
Rastrapathi Bhavan as seen from India gate. Its some 3kms away.
