Bhadraj

Nothing can match that wonderful feeling of trekking in a hill-station. More so, at the foothills of the Himalayas.Trekking on the outskirts of Mussoorie through luscious oak forests, with mild sunshine and pleasant breeze is every bit as romantic as it sounds.Throughout the trail, mountain ranges lie calmly around you – prominent in the forefront and fading into a bluegrey haze towards the horizon. On the morning of 17th September 2016, a group of 37 enthusiastic trekkers departed for Mussoorie from Roorkee at 4:00 am. The most extraordinary feature of this trek is the freakish contrast between the thickly forested northern slopes and the totally bare grassland. Adventure started at the very early stage of the trip due to a tremendous rainfall which thrilled everyone and prepared them to face the escapades ahead. The group reached Mussoorie by 7 a.m. After having breakfast, the trek started from cloud’s end at 9 am. Around after half an hour, the group reached a vast meadow. Though the trail is not tough, the fear of leeches made everyone walk with cautionary steps because the leeches, if once get clung with the human skin, suck the blood without causing any sensation of pain. After 3 km the trail took to village Dhudhli. This section was a refreshing downhill walk. Dudhli is also known as milkman’s village because most of the buffalo’s milk is transported from this village to Mussoorie. The weather was perfectly pleasant and mesmerizing. Local bhaiya provided cucumber to each and the taste was really awesome. After about an hour the trail turned to little steep but zigzag and further an hour took to reach the base of Bhadraj peak (8038ft) around 3:00 pm. As most of the students were exhausted after 10 km of trekking, a few started setting up the tents. The weather was foggy and it felt like each became part of a cloud. Everyone was busy in capturing the beautiful moments and exquisite scenery. After witnessing an astonishingly beautiful sunset, the group relished the dinner. Moments after having dinner, bonfire was lit and everyone enjoyed by engaging in conversations about Bhadraj temple and ghost stories. Next morning everyone went to Bhadraj temple and there was huge idol of lord Balbhadra (Lord Krishna’s brother). This temple is famous for an annual fair which is held from 15th to 17th August. Around 8:00 am the trekkers started to descend after packing up the tents and other belongings. This time weather was sunny so everyone enjoyed the distant greenery view which was not visible during the ascent because of fog. After descending 3 km everyone took rest around the pond. The presence of algae in the pond rendered it green color. Finally by 5:00 pm the group returned to cloud’s end where the bus was to be boarded. It took half an hour to reach Mussoorie and main market was full of crowd. After wandering for an hour in the main market of Mussoorie, the group made the return to Roorkee.