Trekking in the Gangotri National Park

Walking in the mountains has always felt so therapeutic. The only thoughts that run in my mind are things like where to walk, where to step (need to watch my steps, as I’m prone to accidents), and other such things which compel me to be present, to be there in the moment. There’s absolutely no place then for any of the big worries in my mind.

Walking inside the Gangotri National Park in Uttarakhand, one such time, I was absorbing the surrounding beauty while trying to not get too distracted. As the trail was full of either deep snow or scree and my trekking shoes were torn, so I had to be extra careful. The previous day I got distracted by a herd of blue sheep or bharal (as they are called locally) hopping closeby and almost slipped. This post is just a snippet of memory from one day of week-long trekking inside the Gangotri National Park. Our team was camping at the gorgeous Tapovan campsite (my favourite one on the Gaumukh-Tapovan trek) overlooking the handsome Mount Shivling.

Suggested read: Top Three Himalayan Campsites

Take a look at what a walk inside the Gangotri National Park looked like. From Tapovan onwards, Bhagirathi 1,2,3 peaks, Mt. Shivling, Mt. Meru are invariably in sight all the time. A trek further towards Kirti Glacier on this day gave some grand views of Vasuki Parvat (we couldn’t visit Nandanvan & Vasuki Tal around it, as per the original plan since the weather didn’t permit) and a lot of other unnamed/unexplored/inaccessible peaks. You can hear me point out some of these peaks in this video.

Suggested read: Walking on the Edge of Meru Glacier