A complete guide to the Chopta-Tungnath trek up to Chandrashila with winter tips after surviving a -15-degree snowstorm myself.

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Tungnath, one of the highest Shiva temples in the world, is also considered the highest of the Panch Kedar temples (Kedarnath, Tungnath, Rudranath, Madhyamaheshwar, and Kalpeshwar – five temples forming Panch Kedar temples). At an altitude of 3650m, the Peak stands as a snowbound sheet on a bed of stony surface and inexplicable beauty.

The trek can be undertaken by first-timers, as it is considered an easy trek. One can either take the stipulated trail or go for the steep stone-heaped way for a more adventurous experience. Both are in the same direction. It’s just that with snow, you can take fun shortcuts with snowy grips!

Winter Tips for Tungnath Trek

Before you delve more into the itinerary, entry fee, and how to reach the base Chopta, read a few winter tips I have accumulated from my experience.

• Wear enough padding to keep yourself warm and durable (something I did not do, hence the impending snowstorm took a significant toll on me).

• Keep a steel water bottle with you that you can refill. Please do not buy plastic bottles.

• Make sure your shoes are compatible with the snow-covered path and can provide a firm foot grip (finally something I did do, but my socks were too small).

This being my first-ever snow-trek, I had my share of initial disorientation. But with the help of a fellow trekker, it transformed into one of the most beautiful adventures I had undertaken so far. The journey I started out alone, ended up in sixteen (another solo-traveller-blogger-trek-guide joined along with ten trekkers).

The Peak is garnished with the architectural splendor, Tungnath Temple, the yellow door of which adorns itself with red-yellow-white-blue borders. Men meditating around the temple despite the seasoned crowd has an extraordinary sense of reconciliation in it.

There’s an entry fee of Rs. 150, just so you know.

Also read – The Loveliest Valley of Flowers Trek in the Himalayas

How I Reached Chopta for Tungnath Trek

Before all about the snowstorm at Chopta-Tungnath-Chandrashila Trek, let’s see how I actually reached Chopta!

A Little Bit About Rudraprayag

Rudraprayag is generally entangled with the iconic confluence (sangam) of rivers Alakananda and Mandakini forming one of the birthplaces of the Ganges. Yet Rudraprayag, like most treasures in Uttarakhand, can give you an acute direction through its compass to exciting treks and exemplary notions. In Rudraprayag, I have had an amalgam of experiences, the qualitative aspects of which I am not ready to evaluate, mostly because they are too sensitive (not in an emotional sense) to land on the concrete. So I am leaving them the way they should be, undiscovered yet explored.

The Local Bus Ride from Srinagar

How did I travel to Chopta for the Tungnath Trek? Keeping my 70-litre backpack in Toliyon Village and exploring Garhwal with the company of my dear waistband has taught me one thing – my summer necessity can be minimized to a waistband. It’s light, it’s handy, it’s hitchhike-friendly, especially since I love to explore a place on foot.

Coming down from Toliyon takes quite some time. So instead of hitchhiking, I decided to take the local bus from Srinagar to Rudraprayag. Passing side by side with Dhari Devi Temple and the mud-coloured river, the sudden change in the surroundings struck me as a ruined picture. After the landslide and rockfall zone, the landscape drastically changes to naked mountains and dry structures with fewer and fewer trees. The mountains change their clothes and aura. Maybe they were twinning with the still water.

The moment I landed on Rudraprayag I saw a monkey stealing a bunch of bananas from a local shop. Monkeys are everywhere in Rudraprayag. On the roof, on the wires, even in the gutters.

Also read – Panchachuli Base Camp Trek – Camping in the Rain

Koteshwar Mahadev Bathing Ghat – A Stop Before Tungnath Trek

A quick dip at the Bathing Ghat in Rudraprayag can be a nice detour before trekking to Tungnath. A one-hour walk away (3 km) from Rudraprayag is a tiny town Koteshwar, mostly famous to the crowd as a pilgrimage to Koteshwar Mahadev Temple and the adjoining Koteshwar Mahadev Bathing Ghat. The mythology has it that Lord Shiva meditated in Koteshwar Temple on his way to Kedarnath.

You need to come down a number of stairs from the main gate to reach the temple and the Ghat. Colourful depictions of the ancient yatras (Kedar Dham, Nanda Devi, and others) are inscribed on the sidewalls. Again monkeys are everywhere.

The mud-coloured still water that was not leaving me behind takes a stronghold at the Bathing Ghat. Huge formations all around and the bits and pieces of wood lying in the water – you can sit in the stillness forever.

Hitchhiking in Rudraprayag

14 km away from Koteshwar is Chopta. Apparently, there’re two Choptas in Rudraprayag district. The one I am talking about is not the one that is famous for being the base of the Tungnath-Chandrashila trek. This one is a small cluster up in a mountain en route to Koteshwar. I hitched a bike ride and only midway I realised I was riding towards the wrong Chopta. Then I had to hitch two more rides to come down to the centre of Rudraprayag. After confirming the road to the ‘real’ Chopta, I had to stand by the road for an hour with the honest intention of hitching a ride, but no vehicle was ready to take me.

Since we are on the topic, booked jeeps go to Chopta from Rudraprayag. Plenty of jeeps are parked near the pool.

Coming back to hitchhiking, that day I got no ride anymore. The last ship to my rescue was the local bus again. From Rudraprayag, regular buses run up to Ukhimath, a quaint town I set foot on during sundown.

Spending the Night in Ukhimath

I would say Ukhimath was my last big halt before Chopta. Ukhimath is situated at an elevation of 1311 meters and 41 km away from the town of Rudraprayag. Omkareshwar Temple is the most revered site here, as the idol of Kedarnath is brought down from Kedarnath to Ukhimath to keep in this temple.

GMVN Rest house is only 2 km away from the main bazaar of Ukhimath. You can get dorm beds there. Other rest houses are right beside it.

As the dorm was already full, I took shelter for the night at a roadside rest house for Rs. 600. From the balcony the view looked like a live picture only blinking at times. It stayed that way till 7 am in the morning.

Also read – How to Spend the Best Time in Munsyari

Chopta: The Base of Tungnath Trek

Chopta, a part of Kedarnath Wildlife Sanctuary, is located at an altitude of 2680 meters. It is also the base for the trek. From Ukhimath the distance is 29 km. One can easily access Chopta through the Rishikesh-Devprayag-Kund-Ukhimath route. Known among tourists as ‘the Mini Switzerland of India’, it has nothing to do with Switzerland. The combination of the elevating roads and snow-laden meadows and sidewalks can only be what it is, Chopta, not Switzerland or any other land for that matter.

Only booked jeeps go to Chopta from Ukhimath now (Rs. 1500-2000). Shared jeeps or local buses are not available. At 7:30 in the morning, I got the fortunate ride in a car (four tourists from Delhi were also going to Chopta), a roadside Paratha breakfast, and their company all the way. That’s the beauty of hitchhiking. You meet lives from each corner.

How We Survived a Snowstorm at Chandrashila Peak

Chandrashila, the ‘moon rock’ of Uttarakhand, is the second tier in the entire trek. Around 1.5 km away from the Tungnath temple, the trek becomes moderate (grade-wise) towards the peak, as the steep peak propels without a proper trail.

Chopta – Tungnath – Chandrashila. The route.

The weather was already deteriorating when we were at Tungnath, but we didn’t take heed. The trekkers coming down the Chandrashila peak warned us against the unforeseen contingency, but we didn’t take heed. Mild snow began falling down, but we didn’t take heed. I remember asking another trekker, ‘Should we go?’ In my mind, I said, “Yes, yes, yes’, he also said, ‘yes, yes, yes’. That decided it.

And it was the wrong decision.

Can you imagine trekking through a white sea with white snow sliding through the surface of your jacket? (Which is ironic, given that after a few minutes, we would slide as well, won’t feel like such a romantic experience then) On the way, I kept shouting random phrases, which is generally the outcome of the highest level of contentment in my world.

I trekked to Chandrashila Peak with the dire help of my newfound trek-guide-friend, sliced in frostbite. My legs were already completely frozen (since I did not have enough padding, snow frosted inside my shoes) and my fingers were almost gone. My lips were struggling to curl up while forming words. On top of it, the sprinkles of lightning and thunder were burning through our hair-strands. We could feel the lightning the way you can feel your skin.

The downhill-sliding experience was risky and frightening. We had to slide twice from Chandrashila Peak to Tungnath in a condition in which white fog was all we could fathom. I slid through the snow with no sense of direction, with vertigo under my armpits, keeping my eyes closed. The trek guide had to stop our undirected haphazard slides in agile trepidation until we reached Tungnath in this way. Just sliding like a blind object.

At Tungnath, they lit up a bonfire, especially because I was the ultimate food of the bait. My numb hands glowed in the kind of physical pain I faced for the first time. I owe a great deal to three individuals (Aman, Ankit, and Pramit) for their undivided attention to my well-being. I don’t know what I could have done without their kindness.

We came down from the peak two in a row struggling and slipping on the sheet of fresh black ice. The sky, like a seasoned lizard, changed its clothing numerous times. Yet I was not in a state to take in the exceptional occurrence I had the good fortune of experiencing. We climbed down to Chopta in utter darkness when the watch hit 7:30, with the help of a torch and loving hands.

Also read – Khaliya Top Trek – The Best One-Day Trek in Munsyari

Tips of the Trade for the Tungnath Trek

• Anything is possible. Anything can happen in the mountains. The trek that is considered an easy trek can be transfused into a vicious experience.

• The basis of travelling is to understand those selves which lay hidden otherwise. How you will behave during an extreme situation cannot be taught through the Discovery channel. You live the experience, you act vulnerable, you learn, and you proudly take it in.

• Physical pain is not just about the sense of fear. Physical pain exceeded any form of generality when I had no fear of the storm at the trek. The thought of death or any fatality did not even cross my mind, thanks to the excruciating physical pain I was in.

• And most importantly, always go prepared. Don’t go to a snow-trek wearing a woolen bottom, like I did (a local in Ukhimath told me there will be no snow on the trek).

Do You Need A Guide for the Tungnath Trek?

Absolutely not. It is one of the most hiked trails in Uttarakhand, the sole reason why the trail is always overpopulated, in every season (except for monsoons, of course). You will get the company of hundreds of people walking that trail every single day. You can’t get lost even if you want to. There’s no other way to go!

How Difficult is Tungnath Trek?

Tungnath is considered to be a beginner’s trek. Grade-wise, it’s marked as easy. But of course, you need a basic level of fitness to hike, for that matter.

Deoria Tal – An Accompaniment

Deoria Tal is a lake on the lap of a mountain at an elevation of 2438 meters. The base of the trek is Village Sari, from where you can solely rely on your feet for the next 2.5 km. Deoria Tal is famous for its 300° panoramic view, even though the view was foggy when I visited.

Both the Chandrashila and Deoria Tal treks are undertaken on consecutive days. Deoria Tal can be a nice addition to Tungnath, for the next day. But they are separate hikes.

The trek is a series of steps climbing up to the mountain, rightly marked all through the path. Maggi points and campsites are settled on the way. The ascent is easy but requires strength which can easily be replenished with Burans Juice from the local stalls.

Camping is not allowed near the lake, but plenty of campsites are available throughout the mountain. Also, an entry fee of Rs. 150 needs to be paid to enter the arena surrounding the lake.

Also read – The Alakananda-Bhagirathi Sangam at Devprayag

How to Reach Chopta

By bus: Direct buses from Rishikesh, Devprayag, Srinagar, or any other city to Rudraprayag can easily be accessible. The fare from Srinagar to Rudraprayag is Rs. 60. One can reach Chopta directly from Rudraprayag in a shared jeep. Or, one can take the local bus from Rudraprayag to Ukhimath (Rs. 70) and take a booked jeep from Ukhimath to Chopta (Rs. 1500-2000). And then go for the trek.

By train: Dehradun Railway Station is the nearest rail station. Follow the above-mentioned bus route to reach Chopta.

By air: Jolly Grant Airport in Dehradun is the nearest airport. Follow the above-mentioned bus route to reach Chopta.

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Plenty of homestays are available both in the main town of Rudraprayag and near the base of the Tungnath Trek. There’s no need to book accommodation beforehand.

Have you ever faced a snowstorm in the Himalayas?

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