TBI Blogs: Going Trekking to Kedarkantha? Keep an Eye out for These Gorgeous Flowers

The various treks and trails winding through the Himalayas are full of beautiful sights, including incredible natural beauty. A group of travellers stumbled upon some of these glorious sights on a trip to Kedarkantha.

By Interlude Journey

February 15, 2017

When we embarked on our first Himalayan trek to Kedarkantha, all we were dreaming about were snow-capped peaks, deep gorges, the company of the rivers Tons, Supin Yamuna, and Ganga all along the way from Haridwar, the night trek on the summit day, camping under the blanket of a million stars, witnessing the splendour of the Milky Way as it emerges from beneath the snow slopes and pinewoods, and sliding the snowy slopes from the Kedarkantha peaks.

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We had read about the experiences of the Kedarkantha Trek on numerous blogs. We were prepared for everything we had read about. Since a lot of bloggers had praised the trek abundantly, we had pretty high expectations from it. All our expectations were met, even beyond our anticipations, but there was one thing that came as a sweet surprise during the trek.

We had anticipated witnessing beautiful snow covered peaks, green meadows, and gushing rivers in the pristine valleys. However, we did not know that the trekking trails and campsites on the Kedarkantha trek were home to a vibrant variety of Himalayan wildflowers. These trails and campsites are considered some of the most beautiful in the Himalayas. Witnessing the colorful blossoms was icing on the cake for the trek. Here are some pics of the colourful vegetation that we captured during the trek.

Yellow Himalayan Flax: We saw them on the roadsides near Sankri, the base camp from where the Kedarkantha trek begins.

Bauhinia – These edible flowers were seen on trees scattered across the hills as we drove from Dehradun to Sankri.

Drumstick primrose: We saw these mostly near cultivated areas, and the slopes of the hills, where the soil was slightly moist.

Himalayan Loco weed – these tiny little beauties were found mostly around fallen branches and dried bushes.

Rhododendrons: These bushy trees with colorful flowers were abundantly seen all across the Garhwal ranges. Though these trees come with different coloured flowers, we mostly found the red ones during our trek.

Himalayan wild strawberries: These were found abundantly all along the trail. Unfortunately, we didn’t know they were edible when we saw them.

Himalayan Gentian: These lovely purple flowers were so tiny, we hardly noticed them on our first gaze.

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Pink Knotweed – these beautiful knotheads were mostly found amidst the rocks.

Apple blossoms: All the apple orchards surrounding Sankri village were in full blossom. It was a visual treat to be amongst the cute pink beauties.

Himalayan lungwort : These bushes with tiny white flowers were seen randomly scattered all along the trail.

Maple leaves: A lot of trees had shed their leaves and were just budding. The translucent leaves oozed magic as the sun shone over them.

Wild purple primrose: These tiny purple beauties were seen in most places where the land was moist.

Grand viburnum: These bushes were seen surrounding the Juda Ka Talab campsite. There were hundreds of white butterflies flying around the bushes for nectar.

Dandelion: This tiny beauty was seen during our descent from Hargaon to Sankri.

The best thing that happened to us on the trek – apart from our first encounter with snow, and the camping experience – was finding a little valley of flowers at every place we went on the trek. With the trail to Kedarkantha offering amazing vistas, it is very possible for trekkers to miss the amazing variety of flowers on the trail. Next time, please make sure you slow down to witness the beautiful blossoms along the trail.

Of course, there is a lot more than the flowers that makes the Kedarkantha trek special. Check some Postcards from Kedarkantha for more sneak peeks. The best season to find the wildflowers in full bloom on the Kedarkantha Trail is early spring, between late March and April.

(It was a Herculean task identifying and searching for the names of the flowers online. The Catalog of Himalayan Flowers was of great help. If any flowers have been wrongly identified, do contact the author with the correct names.)

For more information about the various varieties of Himalayan wildflowers, visit the website of the Flowers of India catalogue.

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