Book car from Gurgaon to Valley of Flowers

•   2019-09-13 04:16:47
•   by Admin
•   Chamoli

Valley of Flowers

The moment you enter the valley, you have a sweeping view of its vast expanse covered in a layer of flowers. Flowers, leaves, buds of various shapes, sizes, colors all grow together here.

The blooming of these alpine flowers come in waves. .You are sure to see Meadow Geranium, Snake Foil, Hooked Stick Seed, Himalayan Rose, Blue Poppy, River Anemone, White Leaf Hog Foot, and Dog Flower.  No wonder this valley is a botanist dreamland. Valley of Flowers is a legendary trek. It gives you a glimpse of the joys of Himalayan trekking in just a week. However, even though we have marked the trek as easy-moderate, don’t underestimate it. The climb to Hemkund Sahib is a challenging one.  You will be climbing from 9,600 ft to 14,107 ft. It is almost like going to Bhagwabasa on the third day of your trek. Prepare well.

Vegetation

The valley has three sub-alpine between 3,200m and 3,500m which is the limit for trees, lower alpine between 3,500m and 3,700m, and higher alpine above 3,700m. The habitats include valley bottom, river bed, small forests, meadows, eroded, scrubby and stable slopes, moraine, plateau, bogs, stone desert and caves. The lower surrounding hills in the buffer zone are thickly forested. The Forest Research Institute in 1992 recorded 600 species of angiosperms and 30 pteridophytes in the valley and surroundings, discovering 58 new records for the valley of which 4 were new for the Himalayan state. Of these plants, 5 out of 6 species globally threatened are not found in Nanda Devi National Park or elsewhere in Uttarakhand: Aconitum falconeri, A. balfouri, Himalayan maple (Acer caesium), the blue Himalayan poppy (Meconopsis aculeata) and Saussurea atkinsoni.

Animals

The density of wild animals in the valley is not high, but all the animals found are rare or endangered. A total of 13 species of mammals are recorded for the park by CP Kala and its vicinity although only he sighted 9 species directly: northern plains gray langur Semnopithecus entellus, red giant flying squirrel Petaurista petaurista, Himalayan black bear Ursus thibetanus (VU), red fox Vulpes vulpes, Himalayan weasel Mustela sibirica, and Himalayan yellow-throated marten Martes flavigula, Himalayan goral Naemorhedus goral, Himalayan musk deer Moschus leucogaster, Indian spotted chevrotain Moschiola indica, Himalayan tahr Hemitragus jemlahicus (VU) and serow Capricornis sumatraensis (VU). The tahr is common, the serow, goral, musk deer and bharal, blue sheep are rare.

Best time to visit Valley of Flowers

In the entirety of the season of Valley of Flowers,  the flowers you see are never the same.The first set of wildflowers come in the beginning of monsoon in July, and then in August, and then changes in relatively drier September. So plan your trip accordingly.

How to reach

By Air

The nearest airport is in Jolly Grant, Dehradun, 295 kilometers (183 miles) away. Next, you've to take vehicles. You may find local transport or hire a cab from here onwards.

By Rail

The nearest railway station is in Rishikesh, 276 kilometers (171 miles) away.

Next, you've to take vehicles. You may find local transport or hire a cab from here onwards.

By road

The closest you can get to The Valley of Flowers by road is Govind Ghat. This requires around an 11 hour drive to Joshimath from Dehradun, then another one hour to Gobindghat. From Gobindghat it is a 13-kilometer (8.1 miles) trek along a steep, narrow, but well-defined mountain trail to base camp at Ghangaria. This will take between 4 and 8 hours. From Ghangaria, another 3 km trek leads to the valley.