Sahastra Tal Trek:

Sahastra Tal trek is a lesser known, although a pristine and fascinating journey amidst high Himalayas. Famous travel writer and mountain lover Bill Aitken described this area as “Lake district of Garhwal“. Rightly so, due to multiple lakes in this area. This trail runs northerly between Bhagirathi valley in the west and Bhilangana valley in the east. Sahastra Tal lake (also referred to as Shastru Tal or Sahasra Tal) a medium size alpine lake situated at an excess to 15,000 ft/4600 m. According to legend a king performed a ritual on the shores of this lake by offering a thousand (Sahastra) Brahma Kamal flowers to Lord Vishnu.

sahastra-tal-in-autumn — Sahastra Tal: During autumn in mid October (PC – Clint Kaul)

sahastra-tal-frozen-in-summer — Sahastra Tal: Semi frozen in early June

Wilderness and vastness of Himalayas will surely delight you while hiking on this trail. Primarily its a fantastic walk on the rolling meadows and ridges for quite a length. Kush Kalyan and Kyarki, two vast and beautiful alpine meadows, called Bugyal in Garhwali dialect. Far flung rich shades of green is an eye soothing experience in summer. In contrast yellow and brown dominates in autumn.

green-meadows-and-yellow-flowers — Kush Kalyan meadows (PC – Anomit Roy)

kyarki-meadows-brownish-yellow-during-autumn — Kyarki meadows

From Kush Kalyan a ridge continues towards north. This ridge walk is scenic and offers outstanding panoramic views on both side. Some small and medium sized lakes are located on both side of the ridge as we go ahead of Kyarki. This ridge walk if Sahastra Tal is situated at the head of this ridge.This rarely visited trail is a wonderful opportunity to shepherds for grazing their cattle. You may also meet semi nomadic Van Gujjars around Kush Kalyan area.

ridge-walk-between-kush-kalyan-and-kyarki — Looking back towards Kush Kalyan: A pretty ridge walk

panoramic-views-from-the-ridge — Panorama during walk from Kush Kalyan to Kyarki

The walk starts from Bhagirathi valley following a switchback climb to Sila village, the last on the route. From here another climb takes us to an opening inside forest, called Gairi. This is temporary summer-monsoon settlement, Chhaini in local dialect.

bhagirati-river-valley-at-the-beginning-of-the-trek — Trek starts from Bhagirathi valley at Bhatwari

High Himalayan ranges and peaks including Bandarpunch, Black Peak/Kalanag, Jaonli, Srikanth, Draupadi Ka Danda along with Gangotri range. Another major highlight is the high altitude lakes of varying size and depth. The panorama of Western Garhwal range awaits at Kyarki Khal. Sunset views are particularly mesmerising.. During monsoon the route blooms with thousands of Brahma Kamal and Fen Kamal.

To sum up, Sahastra Tal is indeed a rewarding and offbeat trek for experienced hikers.

Brief Itinerary for Sahastra Tal trek:

Day 1: Drive from Dehradun to Bhatwari – 175 Km – 8/9 hours. Lodge accommodation.
Day 2: Trek to Gairi – 8 Km – 4/5 hours. Camp.
Day 3: Trek to Kush Kalyan – 10 Km – 6/7 hours. Camp.
Day 4: Trek to Kyarki – 12 Km – 6/7 hours. Camp.
Day 5: Trek to Lamb Tal – 6 Km – 3/4 hours. Camp
Day 6: Trek to Sahastra Tal and back – 12 Km – 7/8 hours. Camp.
Day 7: Trek to Kush Kalyan via Kyari Bugyal – 18 Km – 7/8. hours.
Day 8: Trek to Sila village – 18 Km – drive to Bhatwari – 1 hour. Lodge accommodation.
Day 9: Drive from Bhatwari to Dehradun – 175 Km – 8/9 hours.

Note:

You need to reach Dehradun on your own latest by 9 am , Day 1. Similarly you will return to Dehradun again by 6 pm, Day 9. Arrange your tickets to and fro Dehradun accordingly.
Trek base Bhatwari has one SBI ATM. Though we advice that you withdraw any cash well in advance, probably from Dehradun or in Uttarkashi.
All major mobile networks work at Bhatwari. After that you will not get a mobile signal. Inform your family/friends accordingly.
From Kush Kalyan there are routes via Belak or Pinswar village and finally to Buda Kedar and Ghansali. However logistics movement becomes challenging and hence costlier too.

Access to trek base (Bhatwari, 30 Km ahead of Uttarkashi town):

We will arrange a pickup and drop from Dehradun to Bhatwari and return. This will be shared by the team members on actual basis. A Tata Sumo/Mahindra Bolero charges ₹ 5000, one way . You pay directly to the driver.

Otherwise, if yo like to reach Bhatwari on public vehicle/independently then below is the option:

1) You will get morning bus to Uttarkashi both from Dehradun and Haridwar. These will leave latest by 7 am. It will take around 7/8 hours to reach Uttarkashi. From here you will get a shared Jeep to Bhatwari which is 30 Km up, on the Gangotri road.

2) Take a shared Jeep to Uttarkashi from Rishmina Pul (bridge), Dehradun. You will get vehicles in the morning.

3) While returning from Ghansali there are direct busses for Rishikesh/Haridwar in the morning.