Brahmatal has mesmerising forest walks. You get to walk through the centuries-old forests of Oaks and Rhododendrons. What particularly stays with me is the dedicated section on Rhododendrons! Just out of Bekaltal, you get a demarcated section of Rhododendron forests.

The Rhodo forests are a treat to the eyes. The trunks twist and turn in shapes and forms. The trunks are usually bare and smooth wooded. The trees are not too tall and form a nice canopy at the top. They are close enough to form a perfect green roof over your head.

This is what you see throughout the year. If you come here during March and April, you get a pink flowery roof. If you come here during winters, you get a white snowy carpet

On the second day, you climb out of Bekaltal trekking up through some of the most beautiful rhododendron and oak forests. As you near the top, you are curious and impatient to see what lies outside the tree line.

You enter the meadow on the mountain top and in front of you is a wall of white mountains. Having climbed all the way up to the ridge (which runs parallel to Ali Bugyal of the Roopkund trek), you see grand views of the Trishul range.

You know you are climbing to the top but the enormity of the mountain ranges so up close is something very special to Brahmatal.

Starting there, all the way to Jhandi top is one of the best ridges walks you will do in our mountains. On one side you have the mighty Trishul range fanning out and on the other side opens up to layers and layers of mountain ranges arranging themselves in height order going down all the way to Deval and Tharali.

These are the villages that you drove through to reach the base camp. To your right below the Trishul, the range spreads out the entire Roopkund trek. Every landmark, every campsite, and every climb on the Roopkund trek is seen from the Brahmatal ridge. I have never stood on one trek and gone through another trek, that too perhaps the most iconic trek in its entirety like this.

Be it Gui, Chilapada, Nayata or even Barnala. Enclosed by forest but in grassy clearings, with commanding views of mountain tops, I think I could fall in love with these camps.

They are secluded, with plenty of space to stretch your legs, walkabout, or take a peek in the forests, yet, you can just sit in one corner taking in the views. I have done lots of treks and have loved lots of camps, but if you ask me about Dayara, then I think it has some of the better campsites.

The Brahmatal campsite and the lake are both special to me. The campsite sits exposed at one end of the ridge opening up to layers of mountains falling to meet the lower towns below. You get uninterrupted views of almost 25 km from here.

Facing the western horizon, the colours of the sun just light up the sky at dusk. Watching the sky change colours from yellow to orange to pink to blue over more than half an hour was a surprise treat for me.

Brahmatal around which the trek revolves is not very big as a lake. It is not on the trail either. You need to go to the lake that lies bang in the middle of an undulating meadow.  A lone tree or two is the only other element in the picture. The lake is like a crystal clear blue oasis in the middle of a vast meadow.

Standing beside the lake I felt away from everything else in the world. The reflecting clear lake with nothing else in sight is the perfect place to take you into a reflective zone yourself. At Brahmatal, the experience is more of looking inwards than looking out at anything else.