Its been two years when I have experienced all these things and still I remember most of the things very clearly. It was really an amazing experience for me and probably the best ...Here are few more photographs of Shrikhand Mahadev...
Last day trek gives extremely different experince on snow covered hills with low oxygen level... I was not able to enjoy this beauty while crossing this area... Sometimes low oxygen makes you unconscious..
After reaching near Shivlingam, there is only snow and huge rocks around the place. Hard to find out grass, flowers, plants on these hills...
There is heavy cloud movement around these hills and sometimes we had to slow down our movement because of visibility issues...
Beautiful view of mountains and clouds on trek to Shrikhand Mahadev
I say it Cloud Store @ Shrikhand Mahadev :) It was a huge area between hundreds of mountains and we found it completely filled with these clouds in early morning... When we came back, there was no differences and we started guessing about the area below these clouds...
Shrikhand Mahadev is one of the adobes of Lord Shiva. People worship the natural, rock-made shiva-lingam which is approx 72 feet high. The view is breathtaking form the top. There are 2 ways to reach to the top, one is from Neermand and another from Arsu side: and we took first one. The trek from jaon Village takes approximately 38 kms one side to reach Shrikhand Peak.
Srikhand Mahadev peak, located at an altitude of 5200 meters resembles the Shivling. It is said that Lord Shiva meditated here and the Pandavas used to visit this peak. Devotees of Lord Shiva visit at the top of the mountain where there is a small shrine of Lord Shiva. Devotees trek to the peak during the main pilgrimage season of July and August.
I recommend you to carry plenty of water, energy bars, Glucose, walking stick and torch with you. These things make your trek quite comfortable... Don't forget some basic medicines by consulting your doctor by describing about this trek :)
I found ist most difficult to climb huge rocks in our final strech to Shrikhand Mahadev...
It is believed there are total seven Kailash mountains. The well known Mansarovar Kailash in Tibet, Adi Kailash in Pithoragarh district of Uttrakhand, Amarnath Kailash in J&K, Kinner Kailash in Kinnaur district of Himachal Pradesh, Mani Mahesh Kailash in Chamba District of Himachal Pradesh,Sri Khand Kailash in Shimla district of Himachal Pradesh. Seventh one is believed to be Boorha Kailash and is yet to be located.
A Lovely flower on the way to Shrikhand Mahadev...