Chandrashila-Tungnath Trek

On one fine winter afternoon, I found myself driving across the valley of Chopta in Uttarakhand, India! Chopta is also known as the mini Switzerland of India. My friend told me - random places are more often than not declared as Switzerland of India. So, don’t get too excited! Excited, I was. Travel, New place, Mountains - how could I not be excited! As I started getting closer to the destination, the roads got prettier. We drove through winding roads, climbing up to the top with alpine forest forming a cozy canopy around us. And through that canopy, the snow capped jewel peaks of Chaukhamba, Nanda Devi and Trishul played a peek-a-boo enticing us the entire way. 

All smiles at the Peak!

In Chopta, I stayed at a campsite about 4km away from the main assembly point in Chopta i.e. the gateway to the Tungnath Temple aka the start of the Chandrashila Trek route. The campsite was more of a glamp site. I had a big Swiss tent to myself with an attached toilet. It had patchy clothes of different shapes and colors hanging along the walls of this tent. It was a pretty décor and the layers made it very warm and cozy inside the tent. When I arrived at the tent, a hot black tea with some hot veggie fritters right out of the pan were ready to greet me! I obliged. After the initial refreshment, I got myself cozy in the warm bed. Glamping is a luxury! You have a bed, an attached toilet, duvets, carpet on the floor! It’s royal! To add to this grandeur, when hot dinner gets served right before 8 in the night, you have no complaints at all! Content and happy, I went to bed after slurping up some Roti and hot daal in that shivering cold evening.

The following morning, I woke up with a tremendous tummy pain in the middle of the wee hour of a freaking cold morning! Oh God! It's Trek Day and I can’t even make it off the bed! I crouched in the bed in a vain attempt to sleep, reminding myself to be strong. After an hour of laying in limbo, I dragged myself out of the bed and put my gear on. Will trek only till I can. No pressure. And I set off.

En route..

This trek route in Chopta takes you to the Tungnath temple first and then from the temple, you can climb another kilometer to reach the top of the Chandrashila. Tungnath is known for being the highest Shiva temple in the world. And Chandrashila (also known as the Moon Rock) is the summit point, at an altitude of about 4000m above the sea level. At the very start of this trek route, there is a gate marking the trail head. 

First view of the snowy peak right at the very beginning of the trail.

Just a few meters into the trail, I could see a few steps in front. My tummy screamed. It’s okay, let's go till that top and then will go back. I told myself, seeing the first steep part on my way. I put my entire body weight on the walking poles (poor them!) and kept walking.

Walk along...

As I gradually climbed the steep part and stopped to look around, I stood enthralled. The four huge peaks of Chaukhamba shone right back at me in the morning light. Powered by this amazing view of the snow white peaks, I trudged along.

The Majestic Chaukhamba !

The view of the majestic Chaukhamba, Nanda Devi and Mount Trishul stayed with me the entire way as I kept climbing up the altitude. About one Kilometer into the way, there was a little food shack. It sold tea, maggie, frooties, chips, etc. This was the only place where you could get something to eat or drink on this path. After this food stall, the next place to get any fodder was Tungnath. But since the temple is closed during winter months, my hunger could only count on the stash of chocolates and dry fruits I had in my backpack.

Nanda Devi, Chaukhamba, Trishul shining in its own glory!

On one side of the trail, the valley opened an unhindered view of the beautiful peaks. On the other side, the mountain slopes filled with patchy snow and vegetation kept it interesting. Many people climbed through these slopes instead of taking the laid out path. 

Trail View

In some areas, the slopes on the sides were filled with thick, fluffy snow. But there were a few places where it was so slippery, I had no grip on my shoe. Any moment now, I would fall flat on my bum! And as I was thinking this in my head, a teenager slipped in the snow right beside me. He, however, laughed and carried on scooting around on his bottom!

Slippery snow leading to Tungnath

After about 3-4 hours, we reached the Tungnath temple. The simplicity and modesty of the temple and its surrounding made me fall in love with it. The lack of crowd (luckily) might also be another important reason. 

At the Tungnath Temple

I went outside the temple area and sat on a big rock by the edge of the mountain. I took out my bag of dry fruits and sat there munching on them whilst looking around, amused as always! Halfway on the climb, I had told myself, I will go up to Tungnath and then return to help my tummy pain. But as I sat there at Tungnath and looked at the narrow unkempt path in front of me, winding up into the sky, my heart leaped.

Will I make it or not?

After some snacking, I set off on foot again. This bit of the climb was slightly tougher than the trail till now. But the award that you get when you summit is incomparable! When I made it to the summit, it opened up an entire 360 degree view of the huge Himalayan range - all snow capped, all majestic, all serene, almost peeking from above the floating cloud. It blew my mind!

Garhwali Himalayas

On one side, was the Garhwali range of the Himalayas and on the other side, the Kumaon range stretched with equal pride. Standing on this Chandrashila peak, you could see Nandadevi, Trisul, Kedar Peak, Bandarpunch, Chaukhamba and so many other peaks that I can’t recall or know the names of! 

Kumaon Himalayas

The top of Chandrashila had a lot of cairns which made the area look prettier, if that’s possible! I sat beside a particular one I chose. I felt so lucky and so proud, having made it to the top! 

Cairns at the top of the Chandrashila Peak !

After spending a few hours, I started the descent. You just follow the same path that you take going up. I however took a few short cuts through the slopes that our guide showed us. It took only about 2hours to climb down to the base.

A little temple at the top of Chandrashila Peak

This trek - Tungnath-Chandrashila is a jackpot, I feel! It’s only a single day trek. But the summit view you get with so little effort is simply amazing! Many people prefer to halt at Tungnath for the night, so that they can catch the sunrise from the top of the Chandrashila peak the next morning. This is possible during the Summer months when the temple and a few basic homestays around the temple are open for business. But for the winter months when I visited, everything was shut. So, it's all in one day. For all of us who sometimes look for a quick win, this is definitely the trek to go for! 

Trail head & End of the Trek!