The Auden’s Col Pass is the most challenging pass in the Garhwal Himalayas and the twin pass expedition of Auden’s Col and Mayali Pass via Khatling Glacier connecting Gangotri to Kedarnath is one of the most challenging expeditions in the Indian Himalayas. It’s a 13 day expedition starting from Gangotri and culminating at Kedarnath and promises to be a “once – in – a lifetime” adventure! Although the maximum altitude reached is 5490m, this one is not for novices. The Khatling Glacier is infested with crevasses and moraines and it requires an experienced expedition leader to guide one to traverse this. Needless to say, as one descends via the Vasuki Tal to Kedarnath, the sense of achievement is like no other! ETH has conducted a successful expedition in 2016.
Itinerary
You will arrive at Gangotri Dham today and check in to the hotel. In the evening, visit the temple and witness the Ganga arati.
We take acclimatization very seriously and believe that it is a major contributor for the success of any trek. So today, you will acclimatize yourselves. We’ll take you on a short hike to Pandava Gufa. We encourage you to walk around in and around today.
It’s a beautiful trek today through the forests of the Gangotri National Park. We pitch our tents at Nala Camp for the day.
It’s a steep climb today to Rudugaira BC. Once you reach Rudugaira, you’ll be rewarded with stunning views of the Gangotri Group of peaks and the Rudugaira peak.
Acclimatization day at Rudugaira Base Camp
Rudugaira BC to Auden’s Col BC (6-7hrs)
The trail is marked today with steep ascents and descents amidst moraines. One has to be very careful in negotiating this.
Auden’s Col Pass to Khatling Glacier (8-9hrs trek)
Today is the longest day of the trek. It’s a steep ascent to Auden’s Col Pass and the trail is marked with many crevasses. There is no fixed path and one has to fix ropes in certain areas to dodge these crevasses. The descent to Khatling Glacier from the pass is steep and one has to rappel down almost 300m to reach the Glacier. This Glacier is infested with crevasses and again it takes an experienced lead to negotiate this. The camp for today is fixed on a flat area on the glacier.
Khatling Glacier to Zero Point (6-7hrs trek)
There’s a lot of boulder hopping today and we reach Zero Point which marks the end of the Khatling Glacier. We will camp here for the night.
Trekkers proceeding towards Kedarnath will camp Chowki whereas the others can go towards Ghuttu where the trek will end.
The first part of the trek is climbing through meadows and the second part is climbing over a rocky surface. This brings to our camp site at Masara Tal which is a beautiful emerald lake.
The first part of the trek to Mayali Pass is a steep ascent through boulders. Before reaching the pass, one has to negotiate an ice wall too. From Mayali pass, it’s a steep descent to Vasuki Tal.
It’s a relatively easier descent today to Kedarnath. We stay here today and experience the evening arati here.
Today, one can directly trek down to Gaurikund or reach Guptkashi by helicopter from Kedarnath.
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