Roopkund Skeleton Lake Trek

Start your journey from Lohajung; take the trail that takes you to Raun Bagad. It is a fairly marked trail that descends through mixed forests. It is a moderate trek and you would take around 2-2½ hrs to reach the Ruan Bagad, which is an iron bridge across the famous Neel Ganga River. The climb to Didna starts once you cross the bridge. It is a difficult climb and you may get tired pretty soon. With a relatively tough time in the beginning, you would reach Didna in about an hour and a half’s time. Overnight at Didna/Tolpani.

Today from Tolpani, you take a trail that climbs to Tolkaan in the northern direction. The meadow trek goes through a series of switchbacks and grassy oak mountains. From Tolkaan, you take a sharp left towards the south and steer through the ridge to come out of the forest at Ali Bugyal. It takes nearly two and a half hours to reach Ali Bugyal on this route. Overnight stay in tents.

Trek from Khobal Tal to Patharnachuni is an easy trek and follow a straight line ahead of you for about 4 km. On your gradual increase to the slope, the trek brings you to the other side of the ridge. Enjoy the marvellous sight over the ridge. Patharnachuni is a brilliant campsite and offers you great views all around. Overnight at Patharnachuni in tents.

Start your trek through the steep dash to gain altitude and finally trek in the snow line. The day’s snow trek will bring you to an altitude of 14,500 ft from 12,500 ft. It is a high altitude trekking. You would have to start your day early as you would like to reach Bhagwabasa as early to acclimatize to the weather. Continue to climb to Kalu Vinayak, which is a steep and zigzag way to take you up the mountain. Go through this section carefully and slowly. It takes around one and a half hours to reach Kalu Vinayak. The route from Kalu Vinayak to Bhagwabasa is simple and gradually sloping downwards. Bhagwabasa is 2 km away and you can have a view of the Bhagwabasa huts from here. Overnight in the tents at Bhagwabasa.

Start the day as early as 4 AM as the snow is still hard, while later in the day, it would get soft and your feet would start sinking in. Roopkund is a 5 km gradually uphill climb from Bhagwabasa. You will have a steep climb towards the end of the trail to reach Roopkund. It would take about 3 - 3½ hours to reach Roopkund. Once you climb to Roopkund, you must climb up to Junargali. The climb to Junargali is not long. It is around 200 ft and doesn’t take much time. It is hardly a climb of 25 - 30 min. You can start off early to return back to Patar Nachuni via Bhagwabasa.

Enjoy your journey back to Lohajung via Wan. The path is fairly simple and you would not feel any distress throughout. You would cross the oak forest as you go and the scenic beauty is just mesmerizing. You would see the end of the meadows after a few minutes. Get astonished by looking at the Trishul on your way back from Bedni Bugyal to Wan and pass the Rhododendron forest. This will be a steep descent for the Neel Ganga. Faster trekkers reach there in approximately one and a half hours. However, you should take your time and enjoy the beauty as you go by. From the river, it takes about half an hour to climb to the ridge above Wan village. Overall it takes about 6 -7 hours to Wan. Drive back to Lohajung.

Drive from Lohajung to Kathgodam.