Jogin Advanced Base Camp

• Rail: As Rishikesh is a relatively smaller station, it's prefereable to reach a more well connected railhead nearby, i.e Haridwar. Board the overnight Nanda Devi AC Express leaving New Delhi at 11:50 pm reaching Haridwar by 4:00am. Board waiting vehicles to be driven straight to Uttarkashi. It is a 7 hour long drive. There are frequest taxis, buses from Uttarkashi to Gangotri. It is a 4-5 hour long drive.

• Road: Delhi to Gangotri is 471 km by road and takes about 15 hours to reach.

Approx trekking distance (Both sides): 40 Km

Base Camp: Gangotri

Difficulty: Moderate

Highest point of trek: 16,732 ft

Nearest Airport: Jolly Grant Airport

Nearest Railhead: 234 km

Region: Garhwal Himalayas

Snow: Late June till July & September till first week of October, is the best time for this trek.

Starting point of trek: Gangotri

Day 1: Gangotri to Bhoj-Kadak

Distance: 8 Km,

Reach Kedartal Valley, across the Bhagirathi River via the Bhairav-Ghati. Take a left as you cross the camp with the trail proceeding upwards toward the Birch forest ahead of you.As you reach a level trail, look out for a view of Kedar Ganga Gorge and the sight of the roaring Kedar Ganga River going down to meet Bhagirathi. The trail here narrows down as you meander ahead on a rocky slope of the valley. An hour into the hike you will find the trail in a bad shape due to constant falling rocks and intense rainfall during the monsoons. You will see the first signs of a 60¡ vertical wall thatÕs part of the trail with only space for a single footing. This is located along a stream of water. Look out for spaces on the rocks where you can use your hand for a momentary grip and proceed ahead quickly. A well balanced footing is crucial here and there is no need to panic. In case there is a major problem, you can always use a rope in this section.The trail now moves up for the last 656 ft. An hour into the climb you will come out of the Birch forest and see the vast expanse of the valley ahead with a small pinnacle of Mt. Thaleysagar visible in the background. On passing this section a 10 to 15 minute hike will have you reach a small campsite spot just below a ridge known as Bhojkharak. Bhojkharak campsite is just below the mountain and so it gets very cold in the evening and night.Overnight stay.

Day 2: Bhoj- Kadak to Kedartal

Distance: 9 Km,

Start early in the morning so that you reach Kedartal by lunch time to avoid bad weather. Proceed ahead climbing up on the small ridge from the Bhojkharak camp. This will take about 10 minutes till you get a clear shot view of the Valley and Kedar-kharak campsite just above on the left side. You will also witness for the first time a clear view of Mt. Bhrigupanth and Mt. Thalaysagar in the back-drop. Kedar-Ganga River remains constant towards the gorge below your right. The birch forest disappears now as you reach 9843 ft altitude and are greeted with a radiant multi colored meadow. 40 mins of steep climb is followed with a 10 minute level walk and then a gradual descent towards a gorge leading to a stream.The path narrows down and the loose sand on the trail calls for careful footing. Keep going down towards the start of a rock-fall section. Climbing down to Kedar-Ganga banks involves going straight down via a slippery rock face where you need to be careful of slipping. This section can also be done with people roped in. Keep walking towards the ridge ahead where Kedar-kharak campsite is located.Himalayan Ibex can be seen in large numbers grazing in its vicinity. In front ahead you can see a huge ridge made of chunks of huge boulders. It is a 5 km incline hike from Kedar-khadak to Kedartal.The last ridge ahead has a 50 meter steep climb. This section can become trickier if you happen to trek here in the early summer as you will find this section of the slope under snow. Camp overnight.

Day 3: Kedartal to Jogin Advance Base Camp

Distance: 3 Km,

Follow the trail going towards Mt. Thaleysagar ahead. As you walk ahead, the trail curves towards the right side. You can now see the impressive connecting ridge of Mt. Thaleysagar running all the way towards the right finally reaching out to the Jogin ranges on the extreme right side.Ten minutes walk over the moraine will lead you to an open level ground which is covered by the small ridge and a huge face of a rocky mountain prone to landslides. This is the campsite used by Mountaineers to establish Advance Base Camp for climbing Mt. Jogin and other peaks in this vicinity.From the Advance Camp you get an unprecedented 180¡ view of the Himalayan peaks starting from Manda 1, 2 & 3 ranges on the extreme left, followed with Mt. Bhrigupanth and Mt. Thaleysagar in the middle connecting with its ridge all the way till Jogin ranges. The space between the ABC and these peaks is occupied by the Kedar-bamak glacier which is full of crevasses.You can proceed ahead from the campsite up the right side ridge to get a better view of the rear view of the Jogin ranges (Jogin 3, 1 and 2) and a route leading to campsites for those who want to summit these peaks.