Roop Kund Hiking

 Roop Kund Hiking

Roop Kund is known for its numerous legends and tales. Remains of people and animals were found at this lake, after which it became very famous. We don’t know for sure, who these people were and how they died. There are some theories behind it, though. According to some people, these are the remains of the troupe of General Zoravar Singh of Jammu, returning after a raid, from Tibet. Another theory points out that these could be pilgrims who became the victims of a storm. It is interesting, but more than that, you will fall in love with the scenery here. At an altitude of more than 5000 meters in Trishul (a mountain feature) in Gharwal area, Uttarakhand, Roopkund is extremely lovely with its grasslands, dense jungle area and numerous mountain streams. You may not find the trek to be very tough but since the altitude is very high, and we have a lot of walking to do, some previous mountaineering experience will surely come in handy. Snow is common in this region.

DAY 1: From Rishikesh to Mundoli 

From Rishikesh we go to Mundoli, a village and go through landmarks like Rudraprayag, Devprayag, and some other villages, and settlements along the way. We will have to drive for about 9 hours. Though we will take one or two breaks for breakfast, lunch and rest.

DAY2: From Mundoli to Bedni Bugyal via Wan

After driving for 10 kms today we come to Wan. We begin our trek from here. We take our backpacks and go to the trail to reach our destination, Bedni Bugyal, at 3350 m altitude. . This trek will take 11 km and about 4 hours or so. On reaching Bedni, your tiredness will vanish as you will see that this place is amazingly beautiful with grassy slopes for long distances, laced with lovely flowers and the trees are so dense it looks like a jungle. This site is great for camping. This is also the place where locals feed their livestock. Spending one extra day here becomes necessary as we also need to acclimatize ourselves as we prepare for higher altitudes on the next day.

DAY 3: From Bedni Bugyal to Bagubassa

BaguBassa (altitude 4100 meters) in local Gharwaali dialect means place of flowers and reaching there you’ll realize why. There are dozens of species of wild flowers in the place including the rare Brahma Kamal (a type of lotus) which grows only at this altitude. Due to the increasing altitude, trekkers will begin to feel the effects of rarefied air and each step will require more energy. We’ll have to walk around 10 km on this day to reach our next camping site. Altitude will keep on increasing till the rest of trek till Roopkund, so we’d like to reach Bagubassa as early as possible to get acclimatized. We’ll stay there for 2 or more nights depending upon the weather.

DAY 4: From Bagubassa to Roopkund

Trekking begins to Kaluka Vinayak Pass and we pass through Pathar Nachwani. Early morning start is a must or else, the snow gets soft and it gets very hard to climb upwards. The exceedingly beautiful views of the Himalayan peaks like Badrinath, Trishul and Nanda devi, are seen from here. We will, on our way also pass through high altitude green pasture lands. These reamin covered with snow for most of the year . Near Roopkund, we may also view the remains of the horses and humans that died centuries ago.

You should climb the peak on the ridge, known as Junargali, for about 100 meters. Unless the weather is not suitable, you will be able to climb it on most days. From here you get an amazing view of the lake and surrounding landscapes. Soon after, we trek downwards to the slope of our camp at Bagu Bassa, or Bedni Bugyal. Her we take some rest, have dinner and end our day.

DAY 5: From Bedni Bugyal/Bagubassa to Wan

Going back to Wan we will again pass Bedni Bugyal if we have spent the night in Bagu Bassa. This path is easier compared to previous uphill trek. The air also gets thicker and the altitude also becomes lower. Lovely Rhodederon forests cross our way and we climb a ridge, and reach Wan. We camp in this village for the night.

DAY 6: From Wan to Rishikesh

A breakfast early in the morning and we bid adieu to the beautiful scenery and head back to Rishikesh.