Kedarkantha roughly translates to the "Throat of Lord Shiva". It is a mountain 20 kms from Sankri village, standing tall at a height of 12,500 feet. According to a legend, the Pandavas went to Lord Shiva to ask for his blessings after the Kurukshetra war. Lord Shiva refused to meet them and guised himself as a buffalo instead. Bheem noticed something strange among the herd of buffalos and refused to let the disguised buffalo pass. This led to a fight between the two. Bheem is said to have ripped the buffalo apart and the Pandavas are said to have built temples wherever parts of his body fell.
Kedarkantha was apparently where his throat fell. The Kedarkantha trek covers a total distance of 20 kilometres, and takes a period of four nights and five days to cover, making it a beautiful and adventurous way of spending a week away from the hubbub of city life.
Camping on the way to Kedarkantha peak is dreamlike in the lap of the snowy landscape, and a thrilling experience on its own. However, one can embark on many other activities like skiing at Kedarkantha, a relatively new feature of the area, stargazing and landscape photography.