By Abhigya Verma.
Nestled in the snow-capped Himalayas of Garhwal in Uttarakhand, Auli is a scenic weekend getaway along slopes dotted with green coniferous forests, offering panoramic views of the Nanda Devi & Mana Parbat peaks. Abhigya takes us on a virtual trek to the Gorson Top from Auli:
The Ganga is a constant companion on the road to Auli. National Highway-58, which leads to Joshimath, is built on the sides of the valley carved by the Ganga and the Alaknanda.
For more stories off the beaten path in India, visit www.indiauntravelled.com or join India Untravelled on Facebook and Twitter. To contribute guest posts / photo essays to this blog, please send your story ideas to shivya@indiauntravelled.com.
Nestled in the snow-capped Himalayas of Garhwal in Uttarakhand, Auli is a scenic weekend getaway along slopes dotted with green coniferous forests, offering panoramic views of the Nanda Devi & Mana Parbat peaks. Abhigya takes us on a virtual trek to the Gorson Top from Auli:
The Ganga is a constant companion on the road to Auli. National Highway-58, which leads to Joshimath, is built on the sides of the valley carved by the Ganga and the Alaknanda.
Devprayag is a settlement on the way to Auli. It is situated at the confluence of the Bhagirathi (left) and the Alaknanda (right). The river assumes the name Ganga here.
A few kilometres beyond Chamoli, the road drops in altitude to be almost level with the waters of the roaring Alaknanda. A nice place to take a break after a back-breaking 7 hour drive.
The objective of our trek – the snow covered Gorson Top, as seen from Auli. The trek took us through a dense coniferous jungle of Deodar and Oak which gave way to an Alpine meadow (Bugyal in local parlance), with the meadow finally giving way to the snow field.
The guardian Goddess of the Uttarakhand Himalayas - Nanda Devi - as seen
from Auli.
After a long and taxing trudge, we finally made it to the beautiful
meadow. Looking down from our position presented us with some of the most
beautiful scenery to be found anywhere.
An ibex skull reminded us that a grim battle for survival rages even at this seemingly heavenly place.
Nanda Devi from Gorson Bugyal. The scale of the Himalayas
suddenly dawned upon us!
The Trishul group of peaks from Gorson Bugyal.
We were almost there when…
…the weather changed suddenly. Weather in the high Himalayas can
change swiftly and unpredictably. So without wasting more time, we decided to
head back to our hotel in Auli.
During the descent, we came across a shepherd settlement. Life at high
altitudes is harsh, yet the hill folk go about their chores with an alacrity
that is both baffling and infectious.
Looking back up from Tapovan validated our decision to head back. The
clouds seemed to have been descended on the mighty Himalayas.
The Bugyals received a fresh spell of snow. The magnitude of snow that
fell upon the meadows in just 4 hours was incredible.
The following morning presented us with a wonderful view at sunrise. It
was time to wind up our Auli trip and head home. The people, the mountains
and the rivers of Uttarakhand have left me with some indelible memories to cherish.
The author is a software engineer by profession. He loves to go on short impromptu trips whenever he can find the time. He blogs at http://abhigyasblog.blogspot.
For more stories off the beaten path in India, visit www.indiauntravelled.com or join India Untravelled on Facebook and Twitter. To contribute guest posts / photo essays to this blog, please send your story ideas to shivya@indiauntravelled.com.
Thank you for this post! I had done the same trip back in March 2010 with some college friends and the experience of trekking in the ice through the forest between Auli and Gorson was majestic - we saw a couple of Igloos built by army folks as well! And the view from the top when we reached the snow covered meadows was the best I have ever seen. Thanks for making me remember that trip!
ReplyDelete