A walk in blinding rain with my wife from 6000 ft at Gaurikund to Kedarnath at 11750 ft over a period of 6 hours covering fourteen kms over a punishing uphill terrain unfolded a mountain vista so close that it all seems in touching distance. The mountain ranges visible to the naked eye from the temple area and the Kedarnath village are from the valley's true left to right are Sumeru mountain, Hanuman, Mahalaya, Kedarnath which resembles a sloping back of an elephant and a sinister craggy looking Brahma Gufa. This valley that was hidden in the folds of the middle Himalayan ranges was a veritable treasure house of alpine flowers, mouse hare and the elusive snow leopard.
