An attempt to visit Pancha Kedar and Pancha Badari! Day 3.

Day 3: 01/08/2025 – Rudranath - our First Trek Beckons: 

Rudranath - Fourth of the Five Kedars

Waking up early on this morning (as will be our routine for the rest of our tour), we all had coffee/tea while breakfast was prepared, and so was our lunch, packed in boxes for later, during the trek. With Suma around, I never missed my morning cup of coffee, as she is a coffee aficionado. Radha and Sujata are tea buffs, while Vidya enjoys her glass of milk. Sujata and Radha prepared individual packs of snacks for munching during our long trek.

The Rudranath trek is considered the most difficult of the Panch Kedar treks. The route passes through dense forests, rocky paths, and high-altitude meadows, and continues through scenic paths and streams. On clear days, the trek offers views of the Himalayan peaks, including Nanda Devi and Trishul (though we weren’t lucky enough to sight these as the rains and mist hampered the visibility). We were surprised to note that the distance from Sagar Base Camp to Rudranath was not correctly represented anywhere. The correct distance is close to 23 km.

Leaving behind our main luggage with Mukesh, to be secured in the vehicle, we started off with our backpacks and a few other bags. From the roadside entrance to the trek, we had to walk up a few hundred meters to reach the place where we had to mount the horses. 

We had planned to start by 07h00, but were a tad late and reached Sagar village (the base camp to Rudranath) by 07h30. Then there was a long wait for the horses (mules) to be readied. This delay exasperated the members of the group and reminded me of the Samskruta proverb 'प्रथम चुम्बनम् दन्त भग्नम्' meaning 'First Kiss Broke The Tooth'! The height of it was when the handlers started mending the horseshoes of a couple of mules, in front of us. Suma lost her cool, and so did all of us, and we were wondering how good the trek would be!?

Finally, we started off at around 08h30, and despite our enthusiasm being dulled by the incidents, we carried on with the trek, muttering to ourselves about the delay, etc. 

This was my first trek on a mule (horse) back, and so was it for Sujata. Suma had agreed with the person who supplied the mules that there must be a handler for each of the mules. However, this wasn't so. While our first two mules had one attendant, Bijay, there were two attendants for the other three mules. Bijay was effective in handling both our mules, Tikki, which Sujata was riding, and Kaali, which I was riding. But he was very harsh and caning the mules. A couple of times, I, too, got a beating when he mis-hit the mule. 

                  

We soon reached the entry check-post at Sagar Forest Office, where our IDs were recorded, and since all were senior citizens, we had a discounted entry fee of Rs. 100/- each.

A point to note here is for the riders to be aware of the thorny plants that jet out of the fences of the agricultural fields by the side of the trekking track, as the mules tend to go near the fences. 

Another point to note is that there is no record of those returning from the trek, while there is a record for those entering the trek.

As we trotted along, I was amazed at the mules’ keen sense of synchronising their 4 legs, even on such uneven tracks. This was my first observation of the equine, and I had all the time in the world to focus on its trotting behaviour. Another characteristic  I noted about the mules was the way they climbed in a crisscross pattern, and particularly when the tracks were a bit wider. Suma had mentioned using this pattern while climbing up and down during our climb to the Bhadrakali Temple in Kashmir. More on this temple in my blog https://mycentortwo.blogspot.com/2023/11/my-trip-to-srinagar-day-2-22-nd.html.

Moving ahead, we could feel the strain the mules went through. The trekking path was strewn with stones of all sizes and haphazardly laid out (if at all). It appeared that no maintenance had been done since the time these stones were strewn across to make an apology for a trekking path.

The redeeming factor of the trek so far was the lush green forest area, as a significant portion of the trek goes through the dense vegetation of Rhododendron, Oak, and Pine trees, which can be slippery and tricky to navigate, especially after rain. Watch out for the leeches during the rainy season. The dense forest also limits visibility during rain, requiring careful attention while maneuvering the path. The gradient, at times, was almost 45°, and even the mules struggled and strained as they negotiated this.

Trotting along, the path was quite strenuous to mules too, as a kilometre into the trek, they were puffing and panting furiously while they took the liberty, eating grass and bush weeds along the sides of the path. Mountain streams across the trekking path, gave them the necessary liquid to hydrate. On one such occasion, Sujata’s mule stood in the stream to drink water, and as it came out of the water, it started struggling. Bijay soon discovered the problem and found that it was a leech that was stuck just above the hoof of its foreleg, and he got rid of it quickly. Also, one has to watch out for the tree branches or bent trunks that could hit your face or head. The mule will jolly well keep going, but you have to duck and take cover. Don't expect the handler to warn you if he is busy minding the mules.

The lush meadows of Pung Kharak (a distance of around 4 km into the trek) gave some respite to both the mules and their handlers. By the time we reached this place, the mules’ hearts were racing, and we could feel the beats when we touched their backs. It appeared that the mules weren’t well fed or well trained to listen to their handlers. Neither were the saddles softly cushioned nor the holding grips cushy enough to hold. By the time we completed our journey at Rudranath, we almost had blisters on our hands. 

Thereafter, it was eventless till we reached Mauli Kharak for a quick tea break and relief to the mules too. When I dismounted, I couldn't walk properly for a couple of minutes as I had lost my orientation. Also, the inner thighs were sore by rubbing against the rough saddle. We tried to settle down in one of the tents for our packed breakfast and also for a cuppa. Sujatha helped me ease off my backpack, and to her horror, a leech had attached on to her index finger and tried wriggling its way inside. She panicked, and I helped release it in no time. Her quick presence of mind made her rub the salt from one of the containers on the table. Despite this, she was complaining of the pain for a long time. Thereafter, we were careful about the leeches.

We met a couple of youngsters there, one of whom had a torn shoe sole. Vidya offered him the Velcro strap that we had to hold the sole and the shoe together. We met these guys the next day, and that is the story for another day.

Continuing our journey, for most of the time, Sujata’s mule was in the front and unattended, and she was fuming at Bijay for leaving it scot-free. He said he couldn’t let my mule in the front and lead hers by the bridle, as Kaali has the tendency to kick if someone is behind her!

A lesson: We learnt the way to ride on this trek. Bend your body to the front while climbing an incline and bend backward while climbing down the incline. We felt that the climbing down was more precarious than climbing up. On many such climbing down occasions, I had almost touched the neck of Kaali, due to jerks while climbing down the rough track. What prevented us from falling off the mules was tightly holding on to the turned rod (an apology of holding grips) and our feet clasped in the stirrups.

Radha and Suma had been the worst sufferers as they had been left high and dry by the behaviour of both the mules and their handlers, while Sujata kept screaming at Bijay every now and then.

The weather was nippy, and it was drizzling most of the time. The trek path took us through many beautiful sights of mountains, valleys, streams, forests, and meadows. On a couple of occasions, the path was so narrow and the mules were taking the wrong edge of the path to eat the grass along the border, while we were left staring wide-eyed into the deep ravine or the valley below where the drop was a few hundred feet and with our hearts pounding and racing (as we call in Kannada, 'ಎದೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಅವಲಕ್ಕಿ ಕುಟ್ಟುತಾ ಇತ್ತು', meaning, 'Our heart was beating like it was pounding rice flakes'!). At times, this was on a tight slope with an ill-laid stone path, and while the mules took their step, we were short of falling off it to the front.  

At Pitrudhar, we were forced to get off our mules as there were bells hung from across a beam that was at a lower level. On crossing this, we mounted again, and at some point, further, we dismounted again as it was downhill, and walked for a few km. 

Between Pitrudhar and Rudranath, one can experience the sights of wild colourful flowers, a la Valley of Flowers! This sight is quite invigorating and can start producing dopamine (the feel-good hormone) in our bodies instantly!

         

        

Some Wild Flowers we came across on our way, and at Rudranath.

Rain kept coming down, and before I could put on my poncho, my jacket and jeans were drenched. The shoes had by now divorced from their grippy sole, and I felt that my toes were getting wet and were aching. Yet, I kept focusing on our final destination to divert my mind from the pain.

After what seemed an eternity, we could see the Rudranath settlement at a distance that lit up our eyes. By then, it was almost 17h00. We made arrangements with one of the few lodges there and asked for hot water and ginger tea. The big room (dormitory) was furnished with gaddis and blankets and a single light bulb. The toilet was a rundown tin shed, and there was no provision of hot water for bathing. Later on, we found that another lodge near this place had a hot water facility, and by then, it was too late for us to change the lodge. The argument of how much to pay for the mules, we should engage them for just a part of the return trek, went on till we slept. I kept remembering the phrase 'Till the cows came home', which was the favourite phrase in our office in South Africa.

Just before we knocked off, each of us took a tablet for relaxing muscles as our bums, sensitive areas, and legs were sore from mule-riding.

Suma recollected that she had stayed at this place during her last visit in 2015, and the facility had provided hot water. She also said that the trekking path was far better in that year, as compared to the current one.

I wouldn’t recommend this place to stay at Rudranath.

Caveat – the cell phone network in many of these places is sketchy, and particularly in Rudranath, only the Jio network could connect us with the outer world. Unfortunately, none of us had a Jio SIM, and we were cut off from the outer world for two days. Rudranath doesn’t have traditional electric power but relies on Solar power. We had carried our fully charged power bank – just in case, but never got to use it for reasons mentioned elsewhere.

We all had a quick rest and then went up to Rudranath Temple (300 meters away) in time for the evening Aarti. In the sequence of Pancha Kedar, Rudranath Temple ranks 4^th in the order Kedarnath, Madhya Maheshwar, Tunganath, and Kalpeshwar.

The idol of the deity here is very beautiful! One can see Lord Shiva smiling, and it appears that the lower lip is twisted into his mouth. It was the ‘Sundar Nath’ idol instead of the ‘Rudra Nath’! We couldn’t see the temple surroundings as it was quite dark by then.

A view of Rudranath Temple, 300 ft away from our camp.

We met the main priest (a cousin of Arun Joshi) and discussed the modalities for the next morning’s abhisheka. He suggested that we go there by 06h30 – 07h00. 

Synopsis of the day:

After a tough and arduous climb (though on a mule), and oh boy, were we happy to reach Rudranath and stretch our legs!? Visited the famous temple (one of the Pancha Kedar) in the evening, and we had the darshan of the beautiful idol of the deity. After dinner, we started our preparation for the return trek from Rudranath. 

Our next day's travelogue is in my Day 4 episode.