by 
Trek date during Har Ki Dun winter trek: 25th January 2015 (Sunday)
Trekked villages: Sankri, Taluka and Gangad
Trek distance: 10 to 12 Kms.
Time taken: 5 to 6 hours (It depends on the group)
Difficulty level: Moderate
Highlights during the trek:
- Sankri, Taluka and Gangad villages of Govind Pashu National Park of UttarKashi District.
- High altitude snowy mountains on both sides of trail.
- Trails full of snow.
- Har ki dun naala(stream) and Supin river.
- Duryodan temple at Gangad village (As per information gathered from villagers).
- Challenges: Steep ascent and narrow trails at at some part of the trek.
Day in brief:
All of us got up around 6:30 AM in the morning and freshen up. Had morning tea and our trek lead Saranbir Singh briefed us about How to pack Rucksack? Session went for 45 minutes and all of us learned lot of information about Rucksack from this session. Meantime we had breakfast and packed our lunch.
After distributing Gaiters, Micro Spikes, Eco bags, Sleeves and Sleeping bag, we all left for Taluka village around 9:30 AM on Jeep.
As per Itinerary, we have to reach Taluka village on Jeep but we witnessed landslide near Taluka village and road was blocked. First glimpse of snow on land all of us witnessed during our jeep drive to Taluka village.
Time was 10:20 AM, when we reached landslide point. As per trek lead instructions, we started our trek for the day from landslide point which is just 1 Kms. from Taluka village. Took little break then started trek around 10:45 AM. It was bright sunny day with Har ki dun naala (stream) was flowing left side of the jeep trail.
Reached Taluka around 11 AM. After brief instructions about how to use Trek poles from our trek lead Saranbir, we all started our trek to Gangad village around 11:30 AM.
It was continuous up and down trails on the banks of Har ki dun naala and good amount of snow on the trails hinted us memorable and lifetime experience awaiting us in next few days time.
After reaching Bidaka at 12:30 PM, took much needed break. It was campsite location and one of the best locations En route Har Ki Dun. Captured lovely snaps at this location. Around 12:50 PM, stared from Bidaka after 20 minutes of break.
Stopped for lunch break around 1:45 PM near bridge. We all had lunch and started towards Gangad village around 2:15 PM. All of us had memorable trekking experience during this part of the day with continuous steep ascent is in offering.
Took much needed break around 3:30 PM. We took 20 minutes break here and moved towards Gangad village home stay.
After nearly 5 to 6 hours of trek, we all reached Gangad home stay around 5:00 PM in the evening.
All of us had tea and rested for few minutes. We have enough time available before sun set so few of us decided to visit Gangad village.
Explored Gangad village for half an hour and gathered lot of information about problems and difficulties villagers facing during Monsoon and Winter sessions.
It was already dark at 6:30 PM and started towards home stay. Had dinner and rested for the day.
Population of Gangad village: Around 750 in numbers
Difficulties of villagers:
- First remote village of the valley without jeep trail and one has to use trails to reach the village.
- Due to winter session at valley between November to mid April, they store ration for 6 months.
- Villagers were completely unaware of medicines and tablets. I have seen villagers begging for tablets and medicines during village exploration. Feeling sad for them.
