Our member, Mr Sachchidananda Banerjee, narrates his relentless desire and ethereal feeling of being surrounded by majestic mountains and setting feet on one of the most inaccessible places in India, with Mousumi Gupta.
“Mountains have always captivated and lured me with their utter charm and to me, trekking acts like a stress buster. So, whenever I used to manage few days off from my office, I, along with my fellow trekkers, used to plan our dose of adventure,” said Mr Banerjee.
“Once we decided to go to Gomukh or Gaumukh. The name probably was derived from the cow’s mouth shape of the mountain. With full zeal, we prepared ourselves for our trekking, got the equipment from Kolkata and started our journey.”
“The astounding trek started from Gangotri, a prominent Hindu pilgrimage destination and well known for being one of the Char Dham sites. The trek is quite hard, and only a handful of people dare to reach there, so, the whole area is the best for nature lovers.”
Detailing his trip, Mr Banerjee said: “We hired a local trekking guide from Gangotri, who knew the route well and helped us keep on track and also served us like a porter. The Gangotri to Gomukh trek, which is one of the moderate treks in the Garhwal Himalayan region, extends 19km approximately. The makeshift camps on our way made us acclimatise with the altitude. Our trek normally used to start very early in the morning provided the guide suggests that the weather is favourable for it.”
Even as he reminisced, he didn’t miss out the minutest details or even the feelings at that particular period of time: “The mystical trails through the line of trees and wilderness of cedar, poplar and pine, the course of river Bhagirathi cutting and running through the forest, everything was just overwhelming. At some point of time, our legs started screaming at us to stop the persistent uphill slog, so we paused intermittently for a little rest and to capture the beauty of the landscape around.”
“Our destination at an elevation of little more than 13000ft was spectacular with tranquil valleys and handsome mountains, all seemed to me as if I was in seventh heaven. The panoramic view of the mighty Ganges gushing out of a snout-like opening from the glacier cast a spell on us and we didn’t miss the opportunity to take a dip in the bone-chilling water,” said the member.
“The impressive backdrop of the source of Ganges in the barren and desolate landscape, the herd of blue mountain goats, constant chirping of unknown birds made our strenuous trekking a walk to paradise.”
“It was one of my best-ever trekking experiences and after many years, when I am describing the place to you, it seems that I am revisiting this abode of gods all over again,” concluded Mr Banerjee.
Pic credit: https://www.google.co.in/search?rlz=1C1NHXL_enIN737IN737&biw=1920&bih=90...
