According to legends, Lord Ganesha chose Dodital as his abode. There is a temple devoted to the Lord Ganesha here. Another name for Dodital Lake is ‘Dhundital’ meaning “Ganesh ka tal” or Lake of Ganesha. Dodital is a freshwater lake in Uttarkashi District, Uttarakhand, India, situated at a height of 3,078 meters (10,100 ft.) and the Darwa Pass Top is at 4,150 meters (13,615 ft.). Assi Ganga rises from Dodital and joins Bhagirathi. The confluence is at Gangori.
The Trek to Dodital is one of the picturesque in the Himalayan region of Garhwal. The captivating natural atmosphere surrounding the serene Lake is ideal for camping overnight. There is an opportunity to explore the Valley of Assi Ganga. The Dodital Trek, which is also one of the winter treks in the region of the Indian Himalayas, which is untouched beauty by trekkers starts from Sangamchatti and heads to Aghora village situated at a height of 2,256 meters. The trail goes through the river Assi Ganga and is followed by gentle ascends and descends and goes through a detached town, Bebra. From Aghora, the trail passes through the beautiful forest of Rhododendron leads to Manjhi, which is tucked at a mighty height. It offers such an environment that forms a sanctuary for trekkers to camp overnight. The trek from Manjhi to Dodital Lake is approximately 6 Km which takes about 2-3 hours to reach there and is located at a height of 3,078 meters. The sprawling natural beauty, reviving atmosphere and peaceful water of the freshwater lake make outdoors here a flat out ecstasy. Further, a trail of 5 kilometers to Darwa Pass Top that passes through narrow gorges, birch forest, rocky colonies, and involves a series of rivulet takes you to the stunning Bandarpunch peak and Swargarohini range.
Best Time to Visit: Dodital Trek is best for all the year to visit. Best seasons include December to March, Expect hiking on the snow in the mid of December. During winters, Dodital covered in the thick blanket of snow ideal for skiers. Best time in summer to experience Dodital includes April to June.
Day 1 is reserved for the participants to make their way from Dehradun to a picturesque village in the Bhatwari Tehsil of Uttarkashi which goes by the name of Agoda and doubles up as the base camp for this trek. If you have signed up with Bikat for transportation from Dehradun to Agoda, we assemble at the designated meeting point in the early morning hours.
The route to Agoda offers rustic mountain views through and through. The divergence towards Dhanaulti on the Mussoorie road takes you towards the Garhwal interiors. A jade-shaded Bhagirathi river becomes prominently visible from Chinyalisaur all the way up to a small town of Maneri. The way is bordered with conical pine trees. A smaller route from here diverges towards Sangamchetti on the left, parallel to streams of Assi Ganga River. An uphill dirt track from Sangamchetti, the confluence point of Assi Ganga and Varna river, leads us up towards our basecamp village.
Once settled and well rested in the homestay, we conduct our formal briefing about our trek schedule, know-how, basic do’s and don’ts and environmental conservation practices.
We start early in the morning today. Post a healthy breakfast, we follow a small passageway upwards to move away from Agoda and towards Dodital campsite. We camp halfway between the two, at Manjhi. The route opens up into an oak forest which is followed by a few thousand steps on the side of a huge rock face. A small patch of silver oak jungle follows, taking us into the deeper pockets of Uttarkashi. The pleasant fragrance from the oak trees gives out a soothing vibe all the way up to Bhebra village.
Gurgling streams collect into a translucent green pond which makes for a fascinating sight. On crossing a bunch of streams and a boulder zone, the trail gets a bit steeper in ascent for the next 4 km which brings us to our campsite for the day.
We start the day at leisure, after breakfast. From Manjhi, the curvy pathway is comparatively levelled in gradient. Small streams amidst dense forests add to the charm of this trail today. For the last one hour, the path descends smoothly towards Annapurna temple that finally leads to the ground surrounding Dodital via the Lord Ganesha temple.
The campsite for today overlooks the Dodital Lake; the setting is gorgeous to say the least. We reach here well before sunset which leaves us enough time to explore our surroundings. Snacks and dinner follow in the dining tent. Since it has been a long day, we tuck ourselves in right after dinner to get the much deserved rest. Night temperatures at this campsite can go as low as -15°C in mid-December.
Today is the longest day of all. We start early to make our way to Darwa Pass. It is quite an undertaking since it requires us to gain approximately 1,127M of vertical elevation from our current campsite. After a good breakfast, and double checking if we are properly layered, we leave for the pass which is covered with snow for most of the year.
Since we have to come back to the same campsite, we only carry essentials for this journey in a day pack and leave the backpack behind in the campsite.
The trail from Dodital to Darwa Pass is heavily guarded with golden oak trees and a thick coat of vegetation. Multiple streams formed from the melting of the snow over the pass are encountered on the way early on. As we move higher up, the views shift from a backdrop of lakes to accommodate large mountains of the Garhwal range into our field of vision. Availability of water starts to get scarce as we go up.
The last stretch of Darwa Pass is a steep ascent. Darwa Pass offers mesmerizing views of Mt. Srikanth Peak, Deoli, Bandarpoonch, DraupadikaDanda and Hanuman Ganga Valley.
After spending some time on the pass, we start our long descent down to make it all the way to Bhebra. We cross our Dodital campsite on the way. It is quite a long way down but there’s no rush. We take frequent breaks to rest and to eat our packed lunch and snacks along the way.
We should be able to reach Bhebra before dusk. After a heavy and much-deserved dinner, we call it a day.
We continue our descent through familiar territory today. Once again, we pass through the dazzling trail via forests and little streams of Assi Ganga river reminiscing about our mountain experiences and sharing our personal adventure stories from the trek in the company of woods. The short distance between Bhebra and Agoda goes by in a jiffy!
Once at Agoda, we get into our cab which will drive us to Dehradun. Since it is a 7 hour long drive, we might stop on the way for lunch.
If you have booked your trip back to Dehradun with Apeksha Adventure, we leave around 10AM in the morning. Expect to reach Dehradun by late evening. You may make arrangements for your journey onward accordingly. Given that journeys on mountain roads are rife with unpredictability, we would recommend you make your bookings out of Dehradun for the next day.
Mobile network is available within an hour into our drive from Agoda.
