Uttarkashi by winter

Uttarkashi by winter
25 December 2003

The Himalayas by winter! It sounded at once daunting and fascinating. A few days ago, we decided to take the plunge, and make a cautious foray into the Uttarkashi area in late December.

Ganga is formed of the merger of Bhagirathi and Alaknanda which takes place at Devprayag. Upstream of Devprayag, the left fork is Bhagirathi, but many people seem to treat her as Ganga. A beautiful road runs all along the river from Tehri upwards, all the way until the source - at Gangotri. (Yes, even though the river is called Bhagirathi (and not Ganga), the source is called Gangotri).

It is one of the most interesting roads in India, and makes for a great road trip. The road is spectacular, and there is something intangibly but palpably special about going up to the source of the Ganga. One can't help admire the engineering challenge that the Border Roads Organisation fights against, in building and maintaining this road. In winter, the road is generally closed at Harsil, and sometimes before that also. So you can only go all the way to Gangotri in summer.

Here is an overall map of the region. Click on the map and you'll get a high-res version.

Starting up

We drove up from Delhi to Rishikesh one afternoon. We stayed in the GMVN place named `Rishi Lok' at Rishikesh. It's a good place. There were 65 rooms, roughly all empty at this time. There is good cell phone cover at Rishikesh, but not beyond. Beyond Rishikesh, there is BSNL cell cover at Chamba and at Uttarkashi, but BSNL doesn't seem to have roaming contracts with anyone else.

From Rishikesh, the road goes up to Chamba. There is an excellent small GMVN place at Chamba, which has just 6 rooms. Chamba is at a decent altitude, of 1524 metres. (It is at the bottom of the map above). Chamba is also accessible from Mussoorie, where you'd drive from Mussoorie to Dhanaulti and beyond to Chamba, but that's the longer route.

From Chamba, the road goes up to Tehri, where we get the first glimpse of the river.

First glimpse of Bhagirathi (looking upstream)

Looking downstream at Bhagirathi

Uttarkashi town

The town of Uttarkashi is right under big hills. It is low for the region - only 1158 metres - but all around it, there is sharp height-gaining. This lack of altitude also makes Uttarkashi relatively warm, and a decent choice for a base where you can spend nights and explore the region.

A few months ago, there was an avalanche here, which wrecked the building on the left. A tenuous road had been recreated in the centre.

Road through avalanche rubble

This isn't much of a road, but it's used by all the traffic, including pedestrians and horses.

Road through avalanche rubble

Here you see one of the big boulders which smashed into the building. It must have been quite terrifying, when the avalanche came in.

Boulder smashed into the building

At a point 13 kilometres upstream of Uttarkashi is the town of Maneri. At Maneri, there is a dam, which captures Bhagirathi. This water is sent down through pipes to Uttarkashi, where there is a hydel plant. In the middle stretch - after Maneri but before the hydel plant - we have effectively killed off Bhagirathi. I couldn't help feeling this was a sad thing to have done.

Uttarkashi town, with hydel plant in foreground

Nachiketa Tal

At a distance of 29 kilometres east of Uttarkashi, there is a village named Chaurangi Khal. From here, a short walk of 3 km takes you to pretty but small lake named Nachiketa Tal.

Chaurangi Khal is at 2310 metres altitude, so this is a steep climb out of Uttarkashi, on a road full of hairpins that could make you seasick.

Snow-capped mountains, above Uttarkashi, on the drive up.

Looking down on Uttarkashi on the drive up to Chaurangi Khal

Here, on the right, you see the near-zero flow of the Bhagirathi river that now comes down from Maneri. It merges with the flow out of the hydel plant, and then we get back the full flow of the Bhagirathi.

Bhagirathi, reborn out of the hydel plant

Terraced fields

Chaurangi Khal is a friendly little village. There isn't much to do for the locals, so they serve up astonishingly cheap and nice meals.

Cooks at a little dhaba at Chaurangi Khal

Main Street is lined with little dhabas on both sides. In the centre, there were children playing cricket with a plank for a bat and some sewn rags for a ball. If you're going there, try to take a cricket bat and some tennis balls - they will love it!

Main Street, Chaurangi Khal

From Chaurangi Khal, it is a pretty walk up to Nachiketa Tal. It is a steep climb, and the destination is probably 2750 metres high.

Forests on the way up to Nachiketa Tal

Views on this walk

At Chaurangi Khal, which is 2310 metres of altitude, there wasn't ground-level snow. But a little height gaining put us in the snow.

Looking down on path to Nachiketa Tal

Nachiketa Tal itself is a rather small lake, with a temple on one side. The water is shallow, but extremely clear and attractive.

First glimpse of Nachiketa Tal

The lake was teeming with fish

The water was clear enough so that one could easily see the fish swimming in the lake :-)

Fish in Nachiketa Tal

There was ice on the far bank, and one could see clear reflections of the clouds in the water.

Nachiketa Tal

Ila by the lake

Cold path back from Nachiketa Tal

Back to lower altitudes on the walk back from Nachiketa Tal

Chaurangi Khal is so cold, the stray dogs have to have a healthy coat of fur.

Street dog at Chaurangi Khal

At Chaurangi Khal, there is a PWD bungalow, which could fit into certain travel plans. It was roughly Rs.200 a night for fairly tacky rooms, with reservations (required) from Uttarkashi.

PWD bungalow in the background

The locals were fascinated by the digital camera

Sunset colours on the way back from Chaurangi Khal

Maneri

As mentioned earlier, 13 km. upstream of Uttarkashi is the village of Maneri. Here, a beautiful lake has been formed by damming Bhagirathi. The waters of the Bhagirathi are taken through pipes to the hydel plant at Uttarkashi. The most remarkable thing about Maneri is the colour of the water. The pictures here don't quite capture it...

Ila by the Maneri lake

Sunlight and the lake

Ila by the Maneri lake

We probed north to find a way to access the shore of the lake.

On the lakeshore

Upstream beyond Maneri

At this time in the winter, the road stops at Harsil; it does not go all the way to Gangotri. We were able to ride up till Bhatwari.

At many points on the river, there are pretty suspension bridges.

On a suspension bridge north of Maneri

As you can see, the winter flow of the river is much smaller than the river-bed. One can visualise how big the river would be, at this point, in summer or in the monsoons.

Bhagirathi

Upstream of this, there are places where the road soars very high above the river (while always hugging the river's flow). This waterfall was photographed using a tele lens, from a point roughly 1000 feet above it (on the road, looking vertically down).

Waterfall on the Bhagirathi

It was a beautiful day, with a dramatic interplay between clouds and sunlight.

Clouds and light

Clouds and light

Every few kilometres, the road offers breathtaking views of the river and the mountains. Having the clouds and the sun on that day was just a bonus.

Bhagirathi valley

Clouds and light

Bhagirathi valley

Chilla

Our last stop was near Haridwar: the village Chilla, which is adjoining Rajaji National Park. It is just 220 km from Delhi, and hence works as a good last-night-of-the-trip.

This is dreamy winter fog terrain.

Ganga canal in front of Chilla

Traditional Gujar huts

There is a network of dirt roads in the park, and 4WD is not required to wander in them.

Chital

Vulture

Rajaji Park is an impressive array of 820 sq.km. of biodiversity, including tigers, leopards, elephants, etc. We did not put in time on this trip to do these well.

Overall

Uttarkashi is generally a way station on the way up to Gangotri. In winter, you can't do Gangotri anyway. But it's worth visiting Uttarkashi in some such visit. Apart from the things described above, there are a few additional things worth doing:

Visit to the museum at the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering (NIM).
Day hike to Dayara Bugyal.
Drive all the way up to Harsil.

In short, Uttarkashi by winter seems daunting, but it's worth doing. The world feels different in winter. The hotels are cheap and empty, and the paths are uncrowded, for the religious folk are absent. It's possibly the best time of the year to be with Ganga.

A few suggestions

The best maps are produced by `Nest & Wings'. Survey of India trekking maps are the closest competitors. It's nice if you have both, but if you must have one, then Nest & Wings wins.
If you venture forth from Delhi in the morning, then Chamba is a good place to spend the night.
The GMVN places will rent you a heater if you ask for one.
Uttarkashi is generally above freezing, except for one night when it rained, and the next morning, there was frost on the trees.
Even if it's very foggy in the plains, the fog tends to fade away above the altitude of 1000 m.

Ajay Shah
ajayshah at mayin dot org

From Chamba, the road goes up to Tehri, where we get the first glimpse of the river.
	First glimpse of Bhagirathi (looking upstream)

A few months ago, there was an avalanche here, which wrecked the building on the left. A tenuous road had been recreated in the centre.
	Road through avalanche rubble

This isn't much of a road, but it's used by all the traffic, including pedestrians and horses.
	Road through avalanche rubble

Here you see one of the big boulders which smashed into the building. It must have been quite terrifying, when the avalanche came in.
	Boulder smashed into the building

Snow-capped mountains, above Uttarkashi, on the drive up.
	Looking down on Uttarkashi on the drive up to Chaurangi Khal

Here, on the right, you see the near-zero flow of the Bhagirathi river that now comes down from Maneri. It merges with the flow out of the hydel plant, and then we get back the full flow of the Bhagirathi.
	Bhagirathi, reborn out of the hydel plant

Chaurangi Khal is a friendly little village. There isn't much to do for the locals, so they serve up astonishingly cheap and nice meals.
	Cooks at a little dhaba at Chaurangi Khal

Main Street is lined with little dhabas on both sides. In the centre, there were children playing cricket with a plank for a bat and some sewn rags for a ball. If you're going there, try to take a cricket bat and some tennis balls - they will love it!
	Main Street, Chaurangi Khal

From Chaurangi Khal, it is a pretty walk up to Nachiketa Tal. It is a steep climb, and the destination is probably 2750 metres high.
	Forests on the way up to Nachiketa Tal

At Chaurangi Khal, which is 2310 metres of altitude, there wasn't ground-level snow. But a little height gaining put us in the snow.
	Looking down on path to Nachiketa Tal

Nachiketa Tal itself is a rather small lake, with a temple on one side. The water is shallow, but extremely clear and attractive.
	First glimpse of Nachiketa Tal

The water was clear enough so that one could easily see the fish swimming in the lake :-)
	Fish in Nachiketa Tal

There was ice on the far bank, and one could see clear reflections of the clouds in the water.
	Nachiketa Tal


	Back to lower altitudes on the walk back from Nachiketa Tal

Chaurangi Khal is so cold, the stray dogs have to have a healthy coat of fur.
	Street dog at Chaurangi Khal

At Chaurangi Khal, there is a PWD bungalow, which could fit into certain travel plans. It was roughly Rs.200 a night for fairly tacky rooms, with reservations (required) from Uttarkashi.
	PWD bungalow in the background

We probed north to find a way to access the shore of the lake.
	On the lakeshore

At many points on the river, there are pretty suspension bridges.
	On a suspension bridge north of Maneri

As you can see, the winter flow of the river is much smaller than the river-bed. One can visualise how big the river would be, at this point, in summer or in the monsoons.
	Bhagirathi

Upstream of this, there are places where the road soars very high above the river (while always hugging the river's flow). This waterfall was photographed using a tele lens, from a point roughly 1000 feet above it (on the road, looking vertically down).
	Waterfall on the Bhagirathi

Uttarkashi by winter 25 December 2003

Starting up

Uttarkashi town

Nachiketa Tal

Maneri

Upstream beyond Maneri

Chilla

Overall

A few suggestions

Uttarkashi by winter
25 December 2003

It was a beautiful day, with a dramatic interplay between clouds and sunlight.
	Clouds and light

Every few kilometres, the road offers breathtaking views of the river and the mountains. Having the clouds and the sun on that day was just a bonus.
	Bhagirathi valley

This is dreamy winter fog terrain.
	Ganga canal in front of Chilla

There is a network of dirt roads in the park, and 4WD is not required to wander in them.
	Chital