Deoriatal Chandrashila Trek – A weekend trek with grand views

Usually, there are treks on which you begin with normal views and the views start getting better as you move further. There are also few treks that excite you from the very first day of the trek and the excitement remains the same till the end. One such trek is Deoriatal Chandrashila. It is one of the rare treks that offers amazing views and experiences each day. On the first day, the scenic Deoriatal lake amazes you, the 14 km trek through the forest gives you an opportunity to experience the nature in its raw form on second day and finally the third day, on which the Chandrashila peak pumps up your adrenaline along with Tungnath temple which makes you more devoted and rejuvenates your faith towards almighty Shiva.

In terms of difficulty, it comes between the band of easy and moderate treks but as the fact says that no trek is easy, each trek requires a certain level of fitness. Deoriatal Chandrashila trek acts as a complete movie in which the first day gives you the trailer, second shows you the full movie and the third day shows you the climax of it.

The trek starts from a small and quaint village called Sari which is situated at a distance of around 200 km from Rishikesh in the Rudraprayag district of Uttarakhand. The trek terminates at Chopta which is a small settlement situated near Sari village and is a famous tourist as well as a pilgrimage spot.

Start of our journey

Day 0: Drive from Delhi to Sari village via Rishikesh

As the trek duration is of 3 days, we decided to travel to the starting point of the trek by taxi. Also in Uttarakhand, Volvo bus services are available only up to Dehradun, Haridwar & Rishikesh. So to travel ahead of these places in the state, one has to take the ordinary bus or a taxi. We all gathered at Akshardham metro station and from there we began our journey.

The route was

Delhi – Ghaziabad – Meerut – Roorkee – Haridwar – Rishikesh – Shivpuri – Devprayag – Srinagar – Rudraprayag – Agastyamuni – Guptkashi – Ukhimath – Sari.

We had our dinner amidst the way near Modinagar at a restaurant called Saini Hotel. The food was good and tasty. If you are driving through this route, I would recommend this restaurant. Paneer Paranthas are quite good here.

After having dinner, we resumed our drive and reached Rishikesh by 3:30 am. The drive till Rishikesh was smooth as the road was good. We reached a bit early and the barrier was still closed. The opening time of barrier was 4 am. We had around half an hour so we decided to go on the Laxman Jhula and spend the time there.

Read Also – Hampta Pass Trek: A Trek Full of Scenic Landscapes

Day 1: Reach Sari Village and Trek to Deoriatal

We started our mountain drive towards Sari village. Sari was 200 km far from Rishikesh and it took us around 8 hours to reach there. We had to drive through Shivpuri, Devprayag, Srinagar, Rudraprayag, Agastyamuni, and Ukhimath. We had our breakfast at Muni Ki Reti and then enjoyed the view of the confluence of rivers Alaknanda & Bhagirathi at Devprayag. After crossing Devprayag, the drive was along the Alaknanda river. We crossed Srinagar and Rudraprayag and then had some tea & refreshments. The road further from Rudraprayag was more scenic and narrow too. We were driving on the Kedarnath Temple (one of the Chota Chardham’s) route.

We reached Sari at 1 PM. The village was small and had less population. The good thing was that there were mobile signals available so I called at my home and updated them. We had our lunch cooked by one of the locals and then began our trek.

We had to trek from Sari to Deoriatal and it was 2.3 km long. We began through the main entrance on which it is written: “Welcome to Deoriatal”. The initial trail was through the village and it was through the stairs. Though the distance was quite less, it was completely uphill. After 20 minutes of walking, we arrived at a cafe and a small temple. Beyond this point, there were no shops and houses on the trail. We continued our trek and took a stop at a shelter. It was our first as well as last stop. We then resumed our trek and were welcomed by fresh Rhododendrons. The trail was looking beautiful. In the starting, it seemed a normal trek with not such great views but now we were enjoying the trek. We walked further and after half an hour, we started seeing shops of Deoriatal. While we were approaching towards the lake, we were passing through the shops in which pakodas were being cooked. Though we had lunch but still we were feeling hungry and the smell of pakodas made our hunger strong. We decided to have pakodas first and then visit the lake. The taste of pakodas on the mountains was quite different and I loved it.

Read Also: A Failed Trip to Deoriatal Chopta

It took us less than 2 hours and we reached the lake. The lake was scenic as we saw in the photos. The surroundings were also pleasing as there were fewer people. Still, something was missing there and it was the peak of Chaukhamba. The Deoriatal lake is known for its grand views of Chaukhamba massif. We were unlucky as the peak was hiding behind the clouds. It was a moment of disappointment but it got vanished when our guide advised us to wake up early in the morning. During the morning, the sky remains lucid and one can get a clear view of the surroundings and mountains. Though it was a tough decision for us but we decided to wake up early.

Read Also: 5 Easiest Treks Near Delhi for Beginners

The lake and the mountains have become my landscape, my real world. 🤗 #travelwriter #travel #instatravel #travelgram #passportready #travelblogger #wanderlust #ilovetravel #postcardsfromtheworld #traveltheworld #igtravel #igwriters #travelpics #worldcaptures #instagood #photooftheday #instadaily #wravelerforlife #travelphotography #wanderer #lakes #deoriatal #chopta #uttarkhanddiaries #uttarakhandheaven

A post shared by M A N U (@indian.backpacker) on Sep 22, 2017 at 8:20pm PDT

After all this, we were served Maggi and tea and then we went to explore the lake and nearby spots. The weather was getting cold as the evening was approaching. Later in the night, we had dinner followed by a dessert. The night was calm and starry. The sky was brimmed with stars and we did not want to go inside our camps. We just wanted to sit and see the sky whole night continuously. But for the sake of Chaukhamba, we had to go inside and sleep.

So this was about the first day of our trek. Our further days were more exciting. Will be uploading the second part soon in which I will be detailing about the second and third day trek.

Stay Tuned. 🙂