When I embarked on my first Himalayan trek to Kedarkantha with India Hikes in early spring this year, all I was dreaming was about 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, sliding the snowy slopes from the Kedarkantha peaks and not to forget the awesome food provided by IndiaHikes. I had read about the experiences of the Kedarkantha Trek on numerous blog. I was prepared for everything I had read about. Since a lot of bloggers had praised galore about the trek, I had set pretty high expectations from the trek. All my expectations were met much beyond anticipation but there was one thing that came as a sweet surprise for me during the trek. While I had expected to witness beautiful snow covered peaks, green meadows and gushing rivers in the pristine valleys; least did I know that the trekking trails and campsites on the Kedarkantha trek were home to the vibrant variety of flora. The trails and campsites on Kedarkantha trek are considered as some of the most beautiful in the Himalayas. Witnessing the colourful blossoms was like an icing on the cake. Here are some pics of the colourful vegetation that I captured during the trek.
Yellow himalayan flax- saw these beautiful flowers while having a stroll near Sankri.
Bauhinia- Saw a lot of these flowering trees on the way to Sankri from Dehradun
Drumstick primrose. We saw these mostly near cultivated areas. Some of them were also found on the hills.
Himalayan locoweed- these tiny little beauties were found mostly around the fallen branches
Mustard fields we encountered while descending from Hargaon campsite to Sankri
Rhododendrons. These trees were in full bloom everywhere. It was mostly the red rhododendrons that we saw. How i wish we could see them in more colours.
Himalayan wild strawberry. I even plucked a few red fruits from this plant and threw them not knowing they were strawberries. PC: Shruthi
Himalayan gentian. These lovely purple flowers were so tiny, we hardly could notice on our first gaze. PC: Shruthi
Pink Knotweed- these beautiful knotheads were mostly found amidst the rocks. PC: Shruthi
Himalayan wild strawberry. PC: Shruthi
Apple blossoms. All the apple orchards surrounding Sankri village were in full blossoms. It was a visual treat to be amongst the cute pink beauties.
Himalayan lungwort seen on the Kedarkantha trail
Maple leaves- A lot of trees had shed their leaves and were just budding. The translucent leaves oozed sparkling magic as the sun shone over them.
Wild purple primrose. These tiny purple beauties were seen in most of the places where the land was moist.
Grand viburnum. We saw many of these bushes surrounding the Juda Ka talab campsite. There were hundreds of white butterflies flying around the bushes for nectar.
Fir- found abundantly in the forests in the Himalayas
Tridax daisy. even a dead tree trunk held some life.
Pine
Dandelion- saw this tiny beauty during our descent from Hargaon to Sankri
The best thing that happened to me on the trek apart from my first encounter with snow and the camping experience was finding a little valley of flowers at every place I went on the trek. While I feel nostalgic about roaming amidst the pine woods and rhododendron forests, I am already planning to make new memories on my next trip.
After reading this post, If you think it is only the flowers that make the Kedarkantha trek special, you should check the Postcards from Kedarkantha before making an opinion. Also, read a complete account fo our trek to Kedarkantha.
PS: While I was clicking the pictures of the flowers, I hardly knew their names. It was a herculean task identifying and searching for their names online. The catalog of Himalayan flowers was of great help in identifying most of the flowers. I hope I have identified them correctly. If you notice that I have wrongly identified the flowers, do let me know and help me identify the correct name.
Love ur visual compilation!!! Great!!
Thankyou Umesh.
So you’ve got more than you ask for! Wow. Nature has really a lot to offer. If I trek a mountain in the Philippines I don’t think i would see such flora but I’ve only hiked a few… so I guess I should go out more 😮 Your photos are incredible and your photography skill is superb… what camera do you use?
Hi Erica. True that I got more than I has asked for. Nature has its own ways to surprise us :). Thank you for your appreciation of my photography. I use Nikon D3300 for photography.
I absolutely love the photos that you’d taken of the flowers. I would have stopped and taken some shots of ’em myself if I were there, they are really pretty. When I think of Himalayan I also just picture the snow-covered mountains, but now because of this I have another thing to look forward to and it’s to see these blossoms for myself. It’s great that you even put their names.
You should definitely try hiking in Himalayas Marge. I m sure you ll be surprised. But make sure you go there at the right time.
Wow. these photos are awesome. I also like that you know the names of the wildflowers. As for me, I just take a photo of them without knowing their name. Is there any website where we can check out the images of wild flowers with their names on it?
Thanks Gel. I didnot know the names of the flowers while I was shooting them. But then I used the catalogue of himalayan flowers ot identify them. I have porvided the link ot the catalogue in my post.