Difficulty
Easy-Moderate | Level 2
Duration
10 Days
Highest Altitude
12,083 ft
Age
12 to 15 years
Duration
10 Days
Age
12 to 15 years
Difficulty
Easy-Moderate | Level 2
Highest Altitude
12,083 ft
Trekking Summer Camp | Level 2
Trek For Age Group 12-15: Deoriatal-Chandrashila Trek
Deoriatal-Chandrashila is our go-to trek for slightly older children. It’s a trek set in the heart of Uttarakhand, taking children through a few of the densest jungles of the Kedarnath Musk Deer Sanctuary, a picture-perfect lake (Deoriatal), which serves as a birding hotspot, the world’s highest Shiva temple, and finally, a high summit climb to Chandrashila. The 360 degree views that children witness from the summit leave a lasting impression on them.
On the trekking summer camp, children go on a trekking adventure and climb a high summit in the Himalayas. Over the period of 10 days, they trek from camp to camp — backpacks on their shoulders, trekking poles in their hands — and explore the outdoors at close quarters.
Not only do they go on a trek, but the program is also designed to impart rare life skills. We bring these learnings through methods of experiential learning. These life skills are otherwise difficult to imbibe in regular school life.
Top Skills Children Learn from the Trekking Summer Camp
Our summer camps are a mix of fun, adventure and learning. Through the course of the trek and the program design, children learn the basics of trekking, camping and wilderness survival.
- Building a shelter out of bare minimum resources
- First aid skills through mock drills
- Navigation skills using maps and GPS tools
- Skills to identify and set up campsites in the outdoors
- Cooking in the wild
- Learning to cross streams
Given that children are in the heart of some of the richest biodiversity in our country, they learn first-hand about forests, plants, birdlife, animals and all natural elements around them.
- See and feel the rich biodiversity of Himalayan forests
- Learn about birdlife and animals endemic to the region
- Learn about the stars and the Milky Way by experiencing it in real-life
- Nature journaling
- Experiencing the forest
- Witness big Himalayan ranges at close quarters and learn the stories associated with them
At Indiahikes, we are very conscious about how we trek and how we treat the outdoors. There’s a certain spirit of trekking we believe in — a minimal and sustainable way of trekking. These are imparted by our Green Trails initiative, which inevitably has a big impact on children.
- Learn a minimal way of living by exploring lifestyles in remote villages in the foothills
- Clean trekking trails and leave mountains better
- Understand the importance of saving natural resources
- Learn the basics of waste management — segregating and composting waste
- Understand how to make composting toilets in the outdoors
Finally, the program design imparts priceless personal behaviours and skills among children. Within a week of our trekking summer camp we see remarkable changes in children. Children start displaying life skills that usually take years to develop.
- Gain life-long confidence after climbing to a high mountain summit
- Get accustomed to hardships
- Build resilience through overcoming difficulties
- Learn how to work collaboratively with a team
- Learn to own and share responsibilities
- Understand how to deal with healthy conflicts and resolve them
- Learn interpersonal communication skills
Deoriatal Chandrashila Videos
Recommended Videos Before Going For The Trek
Quick Itinerary
A trek map of the Deoriatal Chandrashila trek
Day 1
Reach Rishikesh from Delhi
Reach New Delhi and take an afternoon train to Haridwar. (15:20 hours train) Drive to Rishikesh by Tempo Traveller.
Day 2
Drive from Rishikesh to Sari
Departure time: 6.30 am | Approx arrival at Sari: 3-4 pm
Reach the Indiahikes community campus at Sari by vehicle (Non-AC).
Day 3
Trek from Sari to Deoriatal
Trek Distance: 4.1 km | Trek Duration: 2.5 hours | Altitude Gain: 6,560 ft to 7810 ft
Day 4
Trek from Deoriatal to Syalmi via Rohini Bugyal
Trek Distance: 9.10 km | Trek Duration: 6-7 hours | Altitude Loss: 7810 ft to 7600 ft via 9,020 ft
Day 5
Explore Syalmi
Day 6
Trek from Syalmi to Baniya Kund
Trek Distance: 5.40 km | Trek Duration: 6 hours | Altitude Gain: 7600 ft to 8,520 ft
Day 7
Trek from Baniya Kund to Chandrashila via Tungnath and back to Baniyakund
Trek Distance: 13 km | Trek Duration: 7-8 hours | Altitude Gain: 8,520 ft to 12,083 ft via 11410 ft
Day 8
Explore Baniyakund. Drive back to Sari
Day 9
Drive back from Raithal to Rishikesh. Onward to Haridwar. Board an overnight train to New Delhi the same night.
Day 10
Reach Delhi by 6 am
Please note: The distance between campsites may vary by 100 meters depending the weather conditions and the route you take. The altitude may also vary by 100 feet for similar reasons.
IMPORTANT POINTS
➤Documents required: It is mandatory for trekkers to carry a copy of their photo id along with the mandatory documents of the Medical Certificate and Disclaimer form. This is required for trek permissions. The medical certificate along with the disclaimer form will be part of the Safety Check-in done by the trek leader when you arrive at the base camp.
➤Basecamp of Sari: There are no facilities at Sari. Do not leave getting your gears or anything else till the end. Do not bring any packaged food, tags from your new clothes or any waste with you. We follow a Dustbin Free Zone and No Wet Wipes Policy at our base camps in line with our spirit of Green Trails.
➤Stay facility: Please note that you will be staying at Indiahikes Campus at Sari. At the Deoriatal campsite, it would be a Swiss Tent and has to be shared according to the number of beds in each tent. On our campsite of Syalmi and Baniya Kund, you will be staying 2 in a tent.
➤Cloakroom facility for excess luggage: We have a Cloak Room facility at the campus for excess luggage. You can collect this after your trek at Sari. Do not leave behind any valuables in the cloakroom.
A trek map of the Deoriatal Chandrashila trek
PRO-TIPS
Onward Travel
The journey is picturesque, as you pass through Devaprayag, the confluence of rivers Alakananda and Bhagirathi to form river Ganga. The entire journey traverses the mountainside, with the river flowing below you.
Return Travel
The return journey takes you through the same places which you had taken during your Onward journey to reach Sari.
Download the GPX file for your Deoriatal Chandrashila Trek
We go to great lengths to ensure you have a safe trek. So here’s a GPX file to help you navigate without getting lost.
Deoriatal Chandrashila is Best Discovered Through Pictures
Deoriatal, pronounced as 'Dev'riyatal has multiple legendary stories connected to our epics.
Picture by: Rupendra Yadav
Deoriatal Lake with Mythological Stories
Why Deoriatal Chandrashila Is A Great Summer Camp Trek
At Indiahikes, we have always been on the lookout for a good trek which are children friendly. Very few Himalayan treks are suitable for this, given the long distances, altitudes and tough terrains. But Deoriatal Chandrashila creates the perfect atmosphere for slightly elder children. Here is a small photostory
Trekking inside the dense forests of Kedarnath Wildlife Sanctuary provides perfect atmosphere for children to connect with nature. Picture by Jothiranjan
The campsites on the trek are so beautifully placed. They help the children to safely step outside and bond with others. Picture by Jothiranjan
Unlike most of our other treks, on Deoriatal Chandrashila, you get the mountain views from the Day 1 of your trek. Here's a child stunned by view of the Chaukhamba Massif on the first day of the trek. Picture by Jothiranjan
Know Your Trek
We have always wanted trekkers to be well-informed before they go on a Himalayan trek. Knowledge is the difference between a safe trek and a dangerous one. It’s also the difference between a wholesome experience and a superficial experience.
Use this section to learn about the Deoriatal Chandrashila trek. It has in-depth information about each day of the trek, what to expect, and how you need to prepare for it. Many years of expertise have gone into this content. Trekkers find that extremely useful.
PRO TIPS
How We Keep Children Safe
Indiahikes Safety Mechanism
Indiahikes stands for safety. Indiahikes is the largest and the safest trekking organization in India. Over the past few years, we have had over 8000 students from schools across the country with us on treks.
We have had no untoward incident on these programs. This is because of our robust Risk Assessment and Management System that rests on the 3 pillars of our three pillars - people, processes and equipment. And we constantly work on them.
Our Trek Leaders are certified mountaineers with a Basic Mountaineering Course or Advanced Mountaineering Course. Trek Leaders assigned to lead student treks are Wilderness First Responders (WFR) and NOLS certified. We have constant refresher courses and specialized training for them year-round - towards building capacity to handle any risks.
Apart from the Trek Leaders we have technical guides, trek guides, program facilitators and assistants who accompany all team members of the Outdoor Leadership Program. All of them are trained to handle emergency mountain situations.
Read more about how we keep your students safe here .
Ultimately, even an expert team such as ours cannot keep all students safe unless they follow stringent safety processes.
There is a process for preparing team members, a process to monitor their health 3 times a day, a process for management of accidents, a process for managing altitude sickness, and a process for evacuation. There are processes for even trekking and a separate process for difficult sections. Any potential risk is nipped in the bud.
Our extensive trek experience matters here. The trekking trails are not new to us. These trekking trails have been nurtured and developed by us for many years. We have our own base camps on these trails.
From the time the program starts till it ends, safety of all team members is our responsibility.
Indiahikes is extremely meticulous in the safety processes we follow for risk assessment and management. We draw up a Risk Assessment and Management plan before every trek - especially so if it involves children. We prepare a risk assessment and management plan for each project we take with a school. You can download our sample safety plan here.
Most of the modern safety equipment used in the Indian trekking community has been introduced by us. This has fundamentally changed how trekking is done in our country.
In all of our treks, we carry a high-altitude medical kit, an evacuation kit, a technical kit, radio equipment, and oxygen cylinders (pulse oximeters and BP monitors are standard equipment carried by our Trek Leaders, including ropes and carabiners).
Why fitness matters on the Deoriatal Chandrashila Trek
On Easy-Moderate treks, you’re likely to trek around 5-6 km each day. Expect gradual ascents and descents along the way. The maximum altitude will be about 12,500 ft. There are no technical sections on these treks, but there could be small sections of steep gradients or tricky patches that require you to be surefooted.
So, it's important to prepare your child physically for the summer camp. Refer this video where we talk about how to prepare your child for a trek.
Green Trails
Leaving the mountains better than we find them
At Indiahikes, we focus on bringing in new practices that can reduce our impact on the environment. This is done through constant R&D. Once these new practices are implemented we focus on achieving the results consistently on all our treks. You will see this as part of our G6 practices.
Golden 1: Green Sweep - Clean the trail of visible litter. We have collected more than 1,00,000 kgs of waste since 2016.
Golden 2: Segregation At Source - Segregate all waste collected so that we do not add all this waste to the landfill. We have diverted 50% of the waste from landfill through segregation
Golden 3: Food Composting - All our kitchen waste is composted into useful humus for the mountain soil. All food waste is either eaten by mules or composted at source.
Golden 4: Biotoilets - All our human waste is composted at source through our specially designed dry toilet pits.
Golden 5: Water efficient dispenser - We have reduced our waste used per trekker by 70% through specially designed water dispenser systems.
Golden 6: Save energy - We use solar panels for our energy use at our campsites. We are also in the process of redesigning our stove and menu to reduce the amount of gas used on our treks.
Our trekkers are a big part of us keeping our promise to leave the mountains better than we found them.
- Indiahikes trekkers do not carry anything that can harm the environment - be it wet wipes, or any packaged food on the trek. In fact they practice a zero waste trek.
- Indiahikes trekkers do not buy any packaged food in the dhabas on the trek - they do not take part in feeding the demand for packaged food
- Indiahikes trekkers clean the trails of waste using the eco bag as part of the Green Sweep Initiattive
- Indiaihikes trekkers carry their own backpack on the trek. They do not offload unless absolutely necessary
- Indiahikes trekkers do not pee/poop near any water source
- Indiahikes trekkers do not stray away from the marked trail
Trekkers who sign up with us pledge to follow these practices. When you sign up with us, you do too.
How you can be a Green Trails Crusader on the Deoriatal Chandrashila trek? - There are 3 major waste hotspots which you can collect and leave the mountains better. One is near Chopta before the summit climb to Chandrashila, the second would be on the summit and close to Tungnath and the third spot is Burj Gali meadows.
Everything you do on a trek creates an impact. The trail you trek on, the water you use, the waste you generate, how you poop, how you cook, what you eat — everything has an impact. The higher the impact, the greater the damage to the environment.
Yet, when done sustainably, trekking is one of the most environment-friendly sports.
When you trek with Indiahikes, you trek to leave the mountains better than we found them. This is part of our Green Trails promise.
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