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THE TREKKING REGIONS OF GARHWAL AND KUMAON

© Ashish Kaul

Garhwal and Kumaon together constitute what is known as Uttarakhand. This is a high mountain region in northern Uttar Pradesh from where the sacred Ganga River originates, draining into the fertile Indo Gangetic plains of North India. Of the two, Garhwal is the western region of Uttarakhand and Kumaon is its eastern neighbour. The hills and peaks are sprinkled in the region in a state of pleasant chaos to such an extent, that the orientation to this region is perhaps the most difficult to describe amongst all in the Indian Himalayas. Even the roads here form such a complicated web that hardly any hill station or village in the region is linked to just a single neighbour. It is indeed a web of high mountains where the Great Himalayan range is its backbone. The exception to which is perhaps the west extremity of Garhwal, above Mussorie town. This is where the Swargarohini and Bandarpoonch massifs lie and have been the centre of a debate regarding the range they belong. One school of thought puts them squarely in the Dhauladhar Range, while the other equally popular theory puts it to be the Great Himalayan Range. Furthermore, the network of rivers too is almost as complicated as the roads. Then the luxury of a border region defining its terrain a la Himachal Pradesh, is also conspicuous by its absence. There is just one clear demarcation that one can hazard making. That Garhwal is a more rugged region and Kumaon is a less rugged region. But of course there are exceptions to prove this rule !

As far as the orientation is concerned, then to the west of Garhwal ( which is west of Kumaon ) lies the state of Himachal Pradesh. Tibet is the North Easterly neighbour of the Garhwal - Kumaon region and to its Southeast lies Nepal. Along its length run four main pilgrim centres and the travel to these goes by the popular name of Char Dham Yatra. They are Gangotri, Yamunotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath. Each of these are located below a concentration of great peaks and each in its own right has trekking routes in the vicinity.

The Garhwal and Kumaon Himalayas have always attracted a lot of attention. The region finds a significant mention in Hindu mythology and it is replete with temples. Sights of naked sadhus on glaciers are not uncommon ! It is also a region famous for Gaumukh in the Gangotri glacier from where the Ganga river gushes out and takes birth.