Himalayan photo stories: Roopkund

Shon
Shon
Sep 3, 2018 · 4 min read
“There is nothing like traveling and going beyond that makes us better people.” — Borrowed

In early months of 2015, a few friends and I decided to trek up to Roopkund. The plan was to trek to the high altitude glacial lake that lay in the lap of the Trishul massif.

Me! :)

A few quick facts about the trek

  • Organised by Trek the Himalayas
  • Difficulty: Moderate to difficult
  • Max altitude: 5,029 m or 16,499 ft

The mystery of Roopkund lake (skeleton lake)

A history lesson

Famous for the many human skeletons found at the edge of the lake, there are a few theories of how these skeletons found themselves in Roopkund. Here’s one such theory:

  • Dated somewhere between 850-900AD, the human remains belonged to a group of pilgrims from out of state and local porters. This is assumed because of the difference in height. One set of skeletons is comparatively shorter than the second, which is believed to belong to the local people.
  • The deaths of some group members seems to have been caused by a fatal throw/blow of a hard solid material on the back of their heads and shoulders. Researchers have verified that the deaths were not due to injury or hurt caused by a weapon, avalanche, cloud burst or landslide.
  • The sharp marks observed on the skulls and shoulders indicated that they were smashed by a round object, similar to a leather ball. It is believed that these objects fell from above, perhaps from the clouds or mountains.
  • Most members of the group seem to have died from the deadly blows while the rest froze due to snowstorm.

Information sources: Quora, Wikipedia

A top view of Roopkund lake.

The trek begins

We met these beautiful girls in a village on our trek route.
Our trek group making its way up the trail.

The meadows we crossed in Auli and Bedni Bugyal must be the most beautiful I have seen till date.

Our campsite
The view from our campsite at Bhagwabasa
Unbelievably magical sunset magic at Bhagwabasa

The Summit Day

At 3 or 4am on day six, we started our trek for the summit — Roopkund lake. Thankfully weather was good. Though, the batch before and after ours wasn’t as lucky.

Lucky again

JB — a close friend, who had done the same trek in the past, suggested we visit Junnargali which was approximately a 20 minute climb from the lake. It wasn’t a part of our itinerary, but we convinced our trek leader to take us there and boy was it worth the effort. At the top, we were presented by a magnificent view of the valley. While the peaks remained hidden behind sparse clouds, the cover cleared in five minutes and the sight of the mountains was simply incredible. So much so, that some of us couldn’t hold back tears.

Views from Junnargali

It was quite cloudy when we reached Junnargali, but the overcast weather didn’t last for long, thankfully.
Clouds part to give us a glimpse of the Nanda Ghunti and Trishul peaks.
A closeup of the Nanda Ghunti peak.
Scene from Patar Nachauni Campsite

Trek Itinerary

Kathgodam to Lohajung | 10 hrs drive | 210 kms
Lohargunj to Didna Village | Trek | 6.5 kms
Didna Village to Ali Bugyal | Trek | 10.5 kms
Ali Bugyal to Patar Nachauni (via Bedni Bugyal) | Trek | 7 kms
Patar Nachauni to Bhagwabasa (via Kalu Vinayak) | Trek | 4 kms
Bhagwabasa to Roopkund to Patar Nachauni | Trek | 10 kms
Patar Nachauni to Lohajung | Trek | 15 kms
Loharjung to Kathgodam | Drive | 210 kms

This is the third story (of many) in my trek journal series titled Himalayan Photo Stories.
Here are all the stories in the series:
Trek to Pindari-Kafni glaciers
Trek to Goecha La Pass
Roopkund
Trek to Sandakphu

Shon

Written by

Shon

Aspiring Programmer. ♥ open source especially Python. Hiker.

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