Hike: Deoriatal Chandrashila, Uttarakhand

Date: May 4th - 9th, 2025

Since Warangal experiences extremely high temperatures (40 - 45°C) in May and June, I wanted to visit a cooler place. As I haven't been working out lately, I decided to spend the entire month of May hiking. By June, I'll return to Warangal to enjoy summer treats like mangoes, jackfruit, and watermelons. I registered with indiahikes.com to embark on my first group hike in Uttarakhand. I usually prefer solo hikes or going with one or two friends, rather than with a group.

I selected the Deoriatal Chandrashila hike as my first trek because it is considered easy, and the indiahikes team advised against tackling a more challenging one immediately. The entire journey lasts 6 days, including 2 days of transportation. The hike covers approximately 32 kilometers, passing through a village, a forest, some small meadows, and the Tungnath temple, finally reaching the summit at around 3800 meters before descending. The total elevation gain ranges from 8000 feet to 12000 feet, which isn't significant, with the steepest part being the last 200 meters. The group of hikers consists of about 20 people, including a kid, teenagers, and adults.

First day (Drive from Rishikesh to Sari): On Friday, the transportation team picked us up from Tapovan, Rishikesh near the Live Free Hostel at around 7 AM. By the time everyone had boarded, it was approximately 8:30 AM. We then drove for about 6 hours to reach the base camp at Sari. During the journey, we stopped for breakfast and lunch, which were at our own expense. The road was winding and not in great condition. It reminded me of riding a motorcycle, as it had been a long time since I had traveled on such roads. Along the way, there were some scenic stops like the confluence of the Bhagirathi and Mandakini rivers, which are tributaries of the Ganges, providing nice photo opportunities. We arrived at the base camp around 5 PM, where the company served us a drink called AamPanna as a welcome drink, which I found to be one of the best I’ve tasted. During the ride, I met Samiul, a kidney specialist doctor, who was a quiet and cool person to hang out with. We ended up spending most of the trip together with another friend. After a short break, there was a long briefing, which was hard to fully absorb, followed by dinner served around 8 PM, which felt late since I usually sleep between 8-9 PM.

Second day (Sari to Deoriatal): This marks the first day of the hike and is the easiest section of the 4-day trek. Each morning, we wake up at 6 AM, perform joint movement exercises, have breakfast around 7:30, and begin the hike at approximately 8:30 AM. The route is about 4 KM, passing through the village of Sari, around the mountain, visiting Deoriatal Lake, and then camping at a spot overlooking Sari village. It's a smart decision by the company to keep the hike short and simple, as this helps motivate the hikers, acclimate them to the climate, and prevent exhaustion on the first day. Deoriatal Lake is a tourist attraction; the lake is small but deep. Along with another hiker, Sachin, I later spent time with him, walking around the lake, which was quite pleasant. After each hike, we do muscle-relaxing exercises for around 10 minutes, which is also a good idea to eliminate lactic acid from the body. There is another briefing at 6:30 PM, followed by dinner at 8:30 PM.

Group photo near the lake:

Third day (Deoriatal to Syalmi via Rohini Bugyal) : This day marks the longest stretch of the hike, covering over 11 km. As usual, we completed our morning drills, had breakfast, and started around 8 AM. We packed lunch this time due to the long hike. The trail goes through a significant section of the forest area, offering great views of the Chandrashila peak at the end. Unfortunately, the red flowers were dried up, so we couldn't see the forest in full bloom. Nevertheless, the walk was enjoyable. The guide explicitly reminded the group to walk quietly and appreciate nature, which is quite wise given that Indians tend to talk a lot. Midway, we took a lunch break and then continued to the campsite, which was about 4 km downhill. As you walk along the forest you will notice lot of herb plants, edible plants, birds, etc. Unfortunately no wild animals. Overall, it was an easy hike with decent views. Fortunately, I got a single tent this time, so I had a good night's sleep.

Our handsome guide, Surainder:

Fourth day (Syalmi to Baniya Kund): Once again, this is a shorter day with the usual drills, breakfast, and a trip to the mountains. An interesting aspect of this day was that the company guide allowed a few hikers to take on the roles of leader, moderator, and sweeper for the entire section of the hike. They excelled in taking care of the group. One suggestion would be to let the forest lead the way, allowing hikers to focus more on the forest path rather than their maps. Overall, it was well done, and I encourage more people to trek alone as it helps sharpen focus and observation skills. In the group, there was an 11-year-old named Aryan who did an outstanding job, which is very commendable.

Some hikers experienced soreness in their knees and quads, but I had brought creatine for this reason, which helped them recover more quickly.

Aditya is the trek lead on the fourth day, great work in bringing the team together kudos :)

Fifth day (Baniya Kund to Chandrashila Peak via Tungnath and drive back to Sari from Baniya Kund): This day presents a moderate to difficult trek, depending on your fitness level, covering approximately 9 km and marking the summit day. We woke up around 1 AM and started our ascent at 2 AM. The hike traverses the village section of the mountain, passing through Chopt and then Tungnath. We arrived at the Tungnath temple around 5:30 AM, but it was closed, so everyone continued to the summit. This part of the hike is the most challenging, though manageable if you are fit. It was very cloudy, so we couldn't enjoy clear views of all the mountains from the summit.

During most of the night hike, I was ahead, but then I realized there was no point in being first when the rest of the team was behind. Since Sachin was hiking slowly, I decided to keep him company for most of the hike. I considered carrying his backpack, but he managed well on his own.

With the guides Surendar and Ankush

We met a 70-year-old man hiking to the summit, who is very solute in completing the hike. Impressed with his attitude towards life.

At the summit, it was a bit cold, but we were all covered with padded jackets and raincoats. The summit is at an elevation of around 3,800 meters and wasn't crowded, so we took some time to take photos. Unfortunately, the weather didn't cooperate. From this summit, you can usually see almost all the peaks of Uttarakhand, but we weren't so lucky.

Meet Anil, the entreprenuer and photographer:

On the way down, most of us visited the Tungnath temple, which is one of the highest Lord Shiva temples, standing at around 3,680 meters. I decided not to go inside, preferring to view it from outside, as I didn't want to take off my shoes and get cold.

One good thing about this hike is all hikers are busy hiking with less talk, kind of nice to have :).

The three musketers:

Sachin ( Naradh-Muni ), Sami-ul ( The Doctor ) and Me ( The Monk )

From the summit, it was all downhill to the base camp, making it easy but tough on the knees for some. We had lunch at the base camp and then headed to Sari village to relax and have dinner.

Sixth day: We woke up on the sixth day and headed to Rishikesh around 8 AM, arriving there around 1 PM. The return lot of fun where we were playing all sorts of music of different languages based on hikers choice and it felt great. Sachin, Samiul, and I spent some time near Laxman Jula in Rishikesh, enjoying the views and the 7 PM Ganga Aarti.

Unfortunately, due to the ongoing situation between Pakistan and India, IndiaHikes company canceled my next hike, which was disappointing since there wasn't much of an emergency and other hiking companies didn't cancel. I decided to return, unsure of how many other hikes the company would cancel.

I also decided to change all my upcoming treks to hard ones to test my endurance.

Feedback for IndiaHikes:

• The guides were knowledgeable, appeared experienced, and took excellent care of the team.

• The food was fantastic, offering a wide variety, well-prepared, and abundant. In fact, I felt there was a lot of food, and I wonder if hikers would eat so much, as generally, hikers don't consume much while trekking.

• The tents were of high quality and provided good comfort.

• Ensuring hikers collect trash on the trail and maintaining the bio-hygiene of toilets and cleanliness is commendable.

• The schedule seems quite packed, leaving very little time for hikers to have personal time.

• It would have been much better if the guide encouraged quietness of hikers between 9 PM and 5 AM to allow other hikers a good night's sleep.

Feedback for hikers:

• Special thanks to all the folks who contributed for the photos especially Anil and Samiul for the great photos.

• Group consists of all ages which made it even more amazing, as young people are upbeat and old folks feeling young.

• There is some good synergy among the hikers with little to no opposite interests.

• Hiking is meant to be in nature, to observe and experience the beauty it offers. It's better to be quiet for the most part and engage in conversation in low voice during the breaks. Also another advantage is just like how curious we are as humans, other animals are curious to see us and meet us. If we make lot of noise animals shy away from us.

• Snoring is something people need to take seriously, as it tests others' patience and goodwill. There are natural ways to address this without medication, so do some research at home on how to fix it.

Back to warangal I was welcomed with these delicacies, I ate 6 of them, almost 3 kgs and plan to eat atleast 30 kgs this summer as well. Now I am confused whether to hike remaining 3 for the rest of the summer or keep eating these.