SAHASTRA TAL

• Accommodations
• Airfare included
• Hiking
• USA

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 sahastra 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.

Wilderness and vastness of Himalayas will surely delight you while hiking on this trail. Primarily it’s 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.

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. 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.