Torna (Prachandagad)

This trek was different as the whole responsibilty lied with me. I didnt knew the path, place nothing. Actually the problem started when I had to select a place for the weekend's trek. I had missed Torna last month. So as the decision was mine I selected it. Took some tips from Vaibhav n Shrikanth. By Friday EOD I had 9 names with me for the trek. The interesting part was my brother and his 9 frnds joining for the trek Saturday morning. So total 20 people. But they were supposed to arrive from Mumbai at around 1:00 a.m Saturday. But the logistics went totally wrong.

Saturday 13th Sep :-

I got a call from my brother at 3:30 a.m. He said he has alighted at some place which seemed as Vishal nagar and was asking for the way to my home. I was in very bad shape as my sleep wasnt complete and had some stomach acidity problem. But again they had came first time in Pune though they were 10 together. So instead of leavin them on their way I got ready and picked them up (I mean met them and showed the way). They were pretty sure that they are not coming for trek. Saurabh had already intimated his denial last eve. So at the end (I mean for the trek) we were total 7. Vaijan, Pushkar, Pawan, Aditya ,me with Parin and prashant joining us at base village.

So, out of the 10(my brother's frnds) of them 5 immediately went to sleep with a plan that having a quick nap and then get ready for Dagdusheth Ganpati. Rest of us decided to pass the time playing cards. I too joined them as I also had to leave for the trek. I started following up for people from 5:15 a.m. Everybody was awake by the time and did reached well ahead of time for 7:30 a.m bus to Velhe - base village for Torna.The extra time was well utilised for introduction. Aditya, me n Vaijan were together for Bhimashankar. Pushkar and Pawan were the new comers. The journey till Velhe went very nice narrating previous trek experiences of Pawan and Pushkar.

We reached Velhe at 9:30 a.m. We had just started our brkfast when Parin and Prashant reached. Pawan had really dressed up for a picnic rather than trek. We started our trek at 10:10 a.m. As per the logistics from the previous trek we were targeting the 4:30p.m bus back to Swargate. The path towards the Tornagad is pretty straight. Just you have to take care to reach a water stream which you come across at start properly. Its about 10 mins from the village. Rest you can never get lost; except if you are too enthusiastic to try something new. Usually there are lots of groups going for trek over there on weekends. A small group of 5 people were visible ahead of us when we strtae for it.

The initial climb of 45 mins is very steep and it takes hell out of your body. I was literally praying for rain out of the exhaustion. After half an hour we just looked down to check the height and were awestruck to see a big flock of people marching down the same route towards us. I called for our people to just run ahead as we would have been easily got lost in such a big group if we separated. Some of the leads and the fit ones from that group soon caught us. They informed us that they were from a near by college and full college had came for the trek with around 100 people.

Some intersting twists:-

Later on the race continued between us the whole trek. Sometimes they used to go across us and sometimes we backed them off. But we managed to stay together. And I think GOD did answered my prayers and it started raining. But I am not sure it was a boon or punishment as the rain drops were falling just horizontal to us at that particular height due to strong winds. The wind was so strong it would have surely carried away a lean person with it. The rain was slapping hard on our faces. Really yaar .... I didnt got slapped so much even in my school days ...... Neways we were trying hard to walk straight in such severe conditions.

The record :-

I dont know but just to escape from this conditions or what we were pretty fast during the climb. We soon arrived at the so called railings. They were really helpfull as the rains had made the steps and the path very slippery. We sometimes had to hang on to the railings to get support. Ohh ya I forgot to mention the special travellers with us. Usually during the trek there are atmost couple of dogs following/leading us. But here there were around 6 of them with us. The path at the end is very narrow and slippery. These dogs were really irritating us by getting in our feet in such narrow paths. Neways that made it funny and interesting. Also the college group was also with us to add spice with their own youth comments and jokes - Not that we are old but just that we are now trained to behave decently with responsibilty ;-) while the group was just like a free flowing river without any fear and worries.

As we were reaching the top the force of rain reduced. At the top what remained was just a dense fog where you were not able to see even at a distance of 4 feets. There was a single hut on the top where we ordered for some tea and then did proceed towards the temple. We were surprised to see one of the college guys in the temple. We had passed all of them behind but didnt even noticed when this guy went ahead of us and reached so early. We then noticed that we were also pretty fast and instead of reaching according to the schedule in 3 hours we reached by 12:15p.m in just 2 hours. Now the situation was we had lots of time and nothing to see as everything was covered in fog. So after visiting the temple of Lord Tuljabhavani we came back towards the hut and had tea. Each of us took around 3 cups of tea each.

After warming up with cups of tea we just roamed around the place without any intentions.By the time the college group had also arrived. When we reached back the hut we were greeted with a group of 15 other guys and soon with 50 youngsters of MIT Pune who with them had bought all the equipments of camping. We were just relaxing when we saw that the college group had started leaving. I just thought of the way ahead - very steep and narrow. It did strike me that if we didnt went ahead of them then we will sure get stuck. So we just started running ahead of them. And soon it happened. There was a patch ahead where the girls just couldnt get down comfortably and it created a hellava traffic. It really reminded me of our Hinjewadi traffic. :-). Just to add the delay we came across a small waterfall. But that was enough for us and me and parin entered removing our clothes. A quick bath and by then the college group went ahead of us. Prashant had sprained his leg so was a bit uncomfortable.

Record Again :-

Later on it was pretty steep path down the hill. Vaijan, me, pushkar and Pawan were together moving ahead while Parin adn Prashant were busy cliking snaps with Aditya. But then what happened I didnt know but me and Vaijan just ran away down the hill. Soon we came across the harsh rains once again. Then we realised that we were actually above(maybe in) the clouds so didnt got the rains up on the fort. But we were just running down the hill going past the college group.In that fast run I did fell once and became a reason for laugh of the college girls walking besides. I felt real embarassed. But then they assured that they too had fell down before twice . :-).We reached down the hotel pretty early and noticed that we did broke the record again. We reached in 1.5 hours compared to 2 hours as scheduled. We were down by 3:15 p.m.The hotel person was so surprised that he asked " Didn't you completed the trek? Did you backed off in between?" :-) :-).

By the time me n Vaijan had couple of Wada pAv's. Pawan, Aditya and Pushkar arrived at 3:45p.m. We waited for Parin and Prashant till 4:10 p.m and then started for the lunch. They also arrived soon and joined us. We took a jeep (the press waali). We reached Swargate at 6:30p.m.We did scattered to our places soon with promise to meet on the next trek.

It was indeed a short trek but did consisted of all the adventures and thrills which a trek should have. This is why I think everybody likes to visit Torna again and again.

Details:

Team : 07

Route: Swargate > Old Katraj > Bhor > VelhI village > Torna

Distance: 65kms

Altitude: ~4,600 FT above MSL

Time : Uphill: 2hrs Downhill:2hrs [Monsoon]

Transport: Swargate - VelhI [ ST: 06:30am, 07:30am ] VelhI - Swargate [ ST: 04:30pm, 05:30pm ].

Expenses: Rs 150 Approx.

Stay: One day / Overnight [ Accommodation available in temple - Believe you've got to take the keys from the base village] - For us it was already open.

Best time to visit: Monsoon!

Endurance: Medium Difficulty : Medium

Misc. Details: Torna aka Prachandgad is believed to be the first fort conquered by Shivaji after he vowed for swaraj at Raireshwar. The vastness of the fort led to it being named Pranchandgad.

Bhimashankar

After doing these many treks I can surely rate this the best one. You come across risk to loose life, on top there's Lord Shiva's temple where you feel satisfied and complete about the efforts you took to reach there. There you can find all the arrangements for lodging, eating etc. Its a pilgrimage where you can go through proper private transport. The route which we took was through Shidi Ghat which is a risky one while there's another one known as Ganesh Ghat which is a simple walk without any risks.

30 Aug - Saturday (Early Morning mess-up)-


It was the usual day for me - going for another trek after Night shift. I was bit uncomfortable this time as I hadnt slept properly on Friday and did hurt my leg when I dashed my bike on some idiot biker. Neways this I reached early at Shrikanth's place. All I got was " Just sit outside I will not open the door, I am sleeping". :-( But somehow I got him to open it for me. Then started the scene. I literally got "rattofied" Rahul's caller tune but he wasnt just picking the call. He had the reservation tickets and we were like ......... Finally we started for Khadki at 5:15 when Ashutosh arrived. Later on we decided that Shri will go to Shivaji Nagar and pick others as he had the contacts and Ashu n me will board at Khadki.

But at the end me, Vaijan, Ashutosh,Parin,Prashant,Sourabh went ahead with Anup joining in Pimpri and Aditya in Chinchwad. Trupti and Shri went to get Rahul who were supposed to meet us in Khandas.


As the march started my sole aim was to complete my sleep whichever way it could be and the situation really helped me. As we boarded the train Vaijan notified me that he has a window seat reserved in another bogie. I immediately grabbed it and finished around 1.5 hour of my sleep. We reached at 8:00 at Karjat. This has become quite a familiar route for us after so much time. The bus from Karjat bus-stand to Kasheli was at 9.45 . Woww 1 more hour gained :-).


Its aound 45 minutes journey (Actually I am not sure - I slept again). From Kasheli we took a jeep to Khandas which is around 13 kms from Kasheli. We had a quick breakfast(poha) and a tea. The localites were insisting to take a guide if were going thr Shidi ghat as its is very risky for the ones who dont know it or go through the Ganesh ghat as its a way simpler. But we also remained stern to go through Shidi Ghat without guide.


Walk towards Shidi Ghat -


Just 2 Kms ahead from Khandas you find a Literal "T". The right goes to Ganesh Ghat while the left towards Shidi Ghat.
Again one more important thing to note - As you follow left just after 5 mins walk you will see couple of wells on right off the track. You have to leave your normal path and actually go besides the wells to go towards shidi ghat. Around half hour walk and you will come across a nice big stream. There we came across another group who were planning to go and come back the same day. Quite optimistic though. The localites did scared us so much about the route that I gt very enthu to see the particular path asap. So after a small rest I suggested others that we will move ahead slowly. But it was very hot on that day and water seemed too soothing. So we decided to wait for Rahul, Trupti and Shri. By that time they had started from Karjat. Another 2 hours to take a nap. Seriouly yaar after this nap I felt really refreshed. Now I was ready to face anything :-).


We resumed our trek when they arrived at around 3:00 pm. It was a pretty decent 1 hour walk where on the way we met Tukaram. We really felt him like an angel when we came across the most awaited shidi ghat (the patch). We came across the first shidi which was quite interesting. But the most intersting was a patch whr you have to cling on to your fingers to get on to the next rock. And the risk is you dont have anything below to rest your foot upon - just a straight rock whr you hang-on and a deep valley beneath. Very rarely you can see such a small bifurcation between life n death. You just cross it to get to the ladder n woww the ladder itself hangs beteen 2 rocks beneath which again there's nothing. Some how you cross the ladder to get on the rock. You again have to crawl over it to get on proper pathway.You have to be extra carefull over wet areas on the rocks. The way to the third ladder was also awesome though not that life threatning. The third ladder is almost of bamboo(small part of it is steel) and is quite slippery.


The feel of Heaven and satisfaction:-


We took our leisure to cross that patch and later on it was just a picnic walk over the edges and forest. Atleast on this trek it is advisable to always follow left if you always want to be right. :-) But due to Parins's insistance to follow a water way we went towards Abhaya Aranya (wild life sanctuary) instead of Bhimashankar town. It already was around 6:45 pm and fog was becoming very dense. We took a right after coming out of the forest towards a plateau. Just 5 mins walk and everybody was just amazed. It was a dead end with dense fog. Nobody spoke for a couple of minutes. All of us went to our own direction and sat alone. I am sure everybody must have thought about their best times ever and compared it with this. At least I did so. Its was very chilling out their and very soothing after such a long walk in strong sun. And to the surprise the network in everbody's cell. SO most of us called their dear ones to describe and notify about the progress while others were happy enough to be in their own thoughts.


But later we did struggled to find the way back to town as it was very foggy and nothing was visble. I think God itself found us instead of we finding him. It was around 7:30 pm and time for Aarti. So sound of bells come from some side. We just followed the way and voice of people became louder. We just followed the voice and in 5 minutes found ourselves in a town which was deeply immersed in fog where the street lights seemed like small torches in that fog.


As it was aarti time most of us went directly to the temple. It felt really peacefull in that particular temple like atmosphere. The smoke of incense sticks, the ringing of bells, the chorus of aarti was just the next thing which you want after this much effort. The aarti was soon followed by a very appreciated dinner. Later on Shri, Rahul n Anup had a talk with temple officials to let us stay in the corridors of temple. They agrred but after 10:00 pm. So we had some time which we decided to look around the place. 6 of us me, Shrikanth,Vaijan, Rahul, Ashutosh,Anup n Prashant headed towards the a path through thick foliage which actually traverse ahead to "gupt linga" (secret linga). We walked for around 20 mins and rested in a open area. It was already an Amawasya and to add on the effect we did off our torches. Now there were only darkness, sound of night insects and we.We changed our clothes for sleeping and went back.


We were supposed to sleep in temple. Some of us also suggested to try out Dharmashala as we didnt had enough covers.But there was a stadium (small one). We cleaned the steps and slept over there. I think only Trupti wasnt able to sleep due to shortage of covers and to add on; dogs barking around and we snoring (dont count me in plz).

31st Aug, Sunday -

We were woken up by Shri at around 5:30 am. Everbody completed their morning tasks by 6:15 am and we started our way back at around 7:00. We did halt once for Brkfast. Some monkey tricks, some snaps, fun and we were on our legs again.Vaijan, Rahul and Ashutosh were in full pace leading the way while we others were enjoying each moment. Next halt was at a stream on the way were everybody freshened up and relaxed. The ext halt was drectly at base village Khandas where final group snaps were taken. We took a tum-tum to Kasheli and then other one to Karjat. Our train was at 4:00 pm but we reached at 2:00 so we had lunch and a much needed cane juice.

Back to Pune:-
As we had our tickets in waiting we had to take new ones. me, Vaijan and Aditya did wait for Singhagad while others went by Karjat-Pune Passenger.It was a nice journey sitting at doors. I was at home by 6:15 pm.

So all in all a thrilling, a bit hectic yet a full pleasure trek completed.


Details:

Team :11
Route: ShivajiNagar ->Karjat ->Khasheli ->Khandas

Distance: Karjat ->Khasheli : ~30kms Khasheli ->Khandas: ~13kms

Altitude: ~3650ft. above MSL.

Endurance: High Difficulty : Ganesh ghat -> Medium ; Shidi Ghat -> High

Time : Uphill: 4.5hrs. Downhill: 4.0hrs

Transport: Train to Karjat: 6:00am from Shivaji Nagar Karjat -> Khasheli : ST at 9:45 am or TT for
16Rs. Per head Khasheli -> Khandas: TT for 15rs per head.

Expenses: Rs 250

Stay: Bhimashankar temple / adjacent stadium(or wherever you feel better). Lodging available

Duration: Preferable opt for an Overnight stay.

Best time to visit: Monsoon!

Katrabai pass - (Ratangad/Harishchandragad)

Here are we back with a big thing this time. This week we had a long weekend 15th-16th n 17th. So we planned for a three day trek to Ratangad-Harishchandragad. Also this was the first time that all the three branches of Adventura group were coming together - namely Pune(Deccan Highlanders), Banglore(Adventura) n Hyderabad(Hydventura).Now where to start when there is so much to talk about ............ OK the plan went like this. Pune guys were to go ahead leaving a couple of us to get Banglore and Hyderabad guys which were supposed to arrive by 11 a.m. The pune guys will be leaving at 6 am in morning so that they can check all the situation, reserve space for us in caves and caution us if something is too bad.The team was supposed to be of 55 but 1 batch from banglore was cancelled considering the strenous schedule.


15th August Friday :-


On the ocassion of Independence day the Pune guys 6 of them started for Ratangad at 6:00 a.m. On the other hand Abhijeet and Srikanth went to Pune station at 10:30 a.m to greet the Banglore guys. I started from office at 10:00 a.m; went to Sri's home where Hyderabad guys had already arrived. The banglore guys were late due to some reason. So we started for Ratangad (Ratanwadi - base village) at around 1:00 pm towards Nashik. The village is in Ahmednagar district near the BHandardara dam. Afetr getting in bus with couple of talks here and there I soon went for a nap considering the situation which might get worse later on (just imagination - but YES it proved right). I woke up at around 3.30 pm when all the guys were trying to - sing and make others sing. Soon there was a serious of some gud old hindi songs sung by some of very gud bathroom singers - seemed so. But nobody had a brkfast so everyone was asking to stop the bus for lunch - but due to strict timelines we were delaying the lunch. Just for name sake everybody was given a couple of "theplas". Finally at 4.30 pm we did halt for the lunch at a hotel on the highway.



Then we had a big announcement from Abhijeet.We had been cost a fort due to the delay.Out of three options which were feasible everybody came to a consensus. We chose to skip Ratangad; start for Katrabai pass early in morning to Harishchandragad. We went through Bhandardara dam-Rajur towards Ratanwadi. The landscape provided by the dam was just awesome in the small lights which were lit around. I was just imagining if what it would be in day. But as it was late and the fog was redusing the visibility almost to zero; we decided to stay in a colony on the way. In dinner we had just 3 theplas each. At that time itself I got a hint that the next day is going to be real tough. We stayed at some Samrad colony with only 4-5 houses of cement. We reached there at around 10:30 pm. But one thing we came across was there were some lights lit in the houses but no one came out to see if who was there. We were surely making enogh noise that anybody will get disturbed. Some of even went to couple of houses and tried knocking but to no avail. Maybe there weren't any people living over there.


We chose a empty school (dont know what it was but the corridor was big enough to accomodate around20-25 people).
6 of us - Abhijeet,Gaurav,Me,Animesh,Pashupati and Sami chose to sleep in bus itself while others took there sleeping bags & mats and went outside to sleep. The point was to start at 5.30 am towards base village Ratanwadi so the outside people have to get up by 4 and we insiders were to be up by 5 as we dont have to pack and make any arrangements as such.

16th August Saturday :-

But the people did wake everybody of us at 4:00 (Obvious you cant sleep if 17 people are making noise around you and going over you every now n then). Only me,shiva and couple of us brush our teeth.(Such bad people).We did start by 5:30 for Ratanwadi. There is a very famous temple over there called Amruteshwar. We took a guide from there as the way towards Katrabai pass is very misleading. We did skip brkfast to accomodate time for future delays.

The way towards the pass includes a bifurcation where the right one goes to Ratangad and other towards the pass. We waited for the Pune guys left earlier to Ratangad. On their arrival there was a quick small intro and a group snap. A big applause followed for the first time meet of the 3 groups for any trek. We then marched for the Kumshet village which was supposed to be our lunch point.Even after taking the guide the people who were lagging did missed the path several times extending the delay.

We reached the Kumshet village by around 3:30 pm. Everybody was in hope to get some food there. But we had crossed the timelines and the localites said it will be very difficult to arrange food for 30 people at this time.So we had to keep on walking satisfying ourselves with couple of munchies. So we started for our next destination called Pachnai where we thought will get something to eat. We came acroos a very nice stream of river flowing in the valley nearby. But to our surprise we came acroos it as a strong flowing river which we were supposed to cross to get towards our next halt. Nishant and abhijeet with Nitin did fight a much to get a proper path to cross it. Finally the 100 mtrs rope brought by the Banglore people came to our rescue. But it did cost us more than an hour. On the way we came across a village but to add to our frustration it wasnt the Pachnai and a localite suggested that we shouldn't had crossed the river cause the village is on other side. So we had to cross that river again - this time the current was not that much strong and the couple of the localites came to help us. Bur the width of river here was more than 100 mtrs. Add 1 more hour. This experience was just awesome as while crossing I did took Abhijeet with me in the stream - but we both managed somehow to get on our feet ... GOD I had prepared myself to get carried away with the stream by then.

We then climbed our way to the village on top of the hill besides it(which wasnt Pachnai again). There we got info that a short cut route to pachnai from there includes a river crossing again and the longer one is a 'proper' tar road but will take time. Just to cut down the thrills this time we chose the longer one. Just after we started I found that me in Donald were literally racing down towards the village (I never in my life was so desperate for atleast a nibble of food). Then I realised others were also racing in pairs. Abhijeet-Nikhil, Horst-Ashutosh ... rest were way back. First time in the series of trek it happened that I completed a particular patch in less time than estimated by any localite. We reached the Pachnai finally at 7:15 pm. The gang way back were confused about the path due to darknes falling fast. A river stream on the way caused the road to hide. Thanks to Nikhil n donald who went in search of them and everbody was in by around 8:00 pm.

Best time of Saturday :-

By the time everybody arrived we had ordered for a tea and dinner for all of us .. a localite had taken the responsibility for it. It was the best time to watch everybody relaxing near the fire. The Besan dal and rice served for dinner was far more welcomed than the burgers and pizza which everybody is fond of. The hot food which went in our stomach really charged up our body chilled due to drenched in rain the whole day. Soon after that everybody else went to a temple nearby to sleep. But me, Ashu n Bhabani had an excuse of not having sleeping bags. So we slept very well near the fire in a warm environment. I was really thankfull to that villager who gave us place in their small hut to sleep. On top f that they also provided a blanket to cover us.

17th August, Sunday:-

I got up by 6:30 am with the hen's shout - the natural alarm. We soon got a news that only four of us will be going for Harishchandragad and rest will march for Pune. Due to network problem we will not be abl to contact the drivers and so we will have to march till Lavaii village. We three had just waken up when we got the info that Pune folks had already started to descend and we will have to run again to catch them. Abhijeet was waiting for us and he told that everybody had forgotten us :-(. It was a straight 7 kms walk and we soon caught the others midway. All of us were just getting sick of walking when we saw our saviours - the bus and the tavera coming for our rescue from nowhere. We sent them backway to get the ones lagging behind. Later Hyderabad guys went in Tavera as they had to catch their 4 o clock train.

The luxurious journey back :-

Then started the picnic for us. We changed to our dry clothes and started enjoying the scenery in a different way. We had to keep trying for the guys who had gone for Harischandragad as we had to arrange something for them and the network wasnt available. We waited for sometime in Narayangaon for snacks where we got a call from nikhil that they are nearby the place. So finally we started with all of us by around 7.30 pm for our final march. I reached home at around 9 pm while Sri went ahead with banglore guys to seeoff them. Ya forgot to add - we ate a lot whole day to compensate for the saturdays hunger.

Really at the end the result was like most of us didnt made it to the peak. But its not always about reaching the peak - the journey which you make with people totally new to you in such a challenging environment is truly worth it.
Also during the trek only one expression was common on everyones face; as said by Robert Frost -
"And miles to go before I sleep".

Raireshwar

Hi all,

Raireshwar is not a fort .. its a Lord Shiva's temple where Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj had taken oath of Swaraj and laid the base for it.
There are couple of forts on the way which you can try namely Kenchalgad and Kamalgad.
This weekend the trek was decided on Sunday as Shrikant wasnt available on Saturday and I was not well and so needed someone with me to lead.

Sunday, 10 Aug -

I woke up at 4.45 a.m but was in total disarray whether to go or not. Srikanth called at 5:00 and threatened me to come or to get shot by him as he went for water rappling to Rajmachi on Saturday and on my request was again coming on Sunday. I started getting ready but I dont know to worsen or betterment I vomitted twice and as it was raining heavily outside I was really scared to go. But again I reached late to Sri's place n started for Shivaji Nagar. There I met Sriram - Srikanth's collegemate who had came all the way thr Mumbai for the trek.Later I got to know that Shekhar had also accompanied him.

So, as guessed we got a call from one of us who reached earlier that theres no bus for Bhor from Shivaji Nagar and we have to go to Swargate. I had informed Sri earlier abt it .. but Shivaji Nagar is too comfortable a point for everyone to meet. :-). So instead of 6:30 bus as planned we got a 7:00 am bus from swargate to Bhor. We were total 12 in bus with Soujanya joining later at Bhor as he ws late in reaching. The list goes like this - Me,Srikanth,Sunil,Shekhar,Ashish,Sriram,Rohit,Soujanya,Sourabh,Akhilesh,Hitanshu,Arjun and the lone from girls side Swati. Soujanya arrived at around 9.15. By then we had hired a jeep for going till Korle village (base for Raireshwar and kenchalgad) and coming back in evening. We bargained that for 550/-. The point to worry was - how are 13 people going to fir in 1 jeep. :-o.

Towards Korle :-

We started for Korle as soon as Soujanya arrived. The ride was just awesome with couple of others hanging outside the jeep -- so space was never the issue :-). As soon as we reched the base village Korle ... with some guidance from villagers we started for Raireshwar. The route towards it was very different compared to the ones done earlier. One side there were mountains and numerous waterfalls and one side long valleys with mountains on other side. It gave a very open and frsh look. On the way we met a localite who came to take us with him. On enquiring he told that someone from base village had informed him that we are coming so he came from top to escort us. We were in a enjoying mood so asked him to go ahead and keep the lunch ready while we reach at top. We got some directions from him and continued.

The wrong way -

But the usual thing happened. He had instructed about a particular diversion - the one where we have to climb on right on the hill instead of going on proper paths.But as others didnt knew marathi they didnt undrstood it properly and we went on wrong way towards Wai. An old woman really came as angel and came us with us to show the way. But one thing ought to be noticed all the way. Due to openness in atmosphere and as it was raining full day it was very chilling throughout.

The way ahead was very interesting with stone steps initially to climb the peak. They were around 300 of them. Also ahead were some iron steps which were a bit scary as there was a deep valley on side and they 'seemed' to be shaking.Later on it was pleasnt walk thr streams and dense fog. But as we were late; the one we met earlier - Suresh sent one of his frnd to get us. We then went to the temple Raireshwar. There he explained us about the history of the temple - why Shivaji chose this place to take the oath of Swaraj; the importance of other forts around the Raireshwar etc.

We had a very nice lunch and specially the atmosphere was very cozy. It was chiiling outside and the small 'chullah' seemed enough to make us feel comfortable compared to the chill outside.Sriram was so sick of the cold that he went directly in their kitchen and sat beside the stove. The tough time started now. To leave that warm place and start again for the descent was very hard. On top of that I got a sprain in my left knee so it was very troublesome for me to get down ... specially on steps. But rather than getting slower I increased my pace so that I can finish the trouble soon .. ;-).

We reached in very short time below. Me, akhilesh,hitanshu and Swati were racing down the hill. But for a brak we arrived at a waterfall on which just took the snaps while climbing. And u know - "The trek is never completed without getting drench in waterfall". So we all three went in ... soon the others also did catch up wit us in the same. But this delay made us to get a fury of driver. He had to report his owner asap and we were taking time at our leisure. But Sriram was in full form and was pulling legs of him - n he wasnt even aware of it. :-). The journey back went quite peacefull with almost everyone half asleep. We reached Korle by around 7:30 pm. Sriram n shekhar bid us gudbye for Mumbai and we also got a asiad towards pune. The bus got full and was almost going to start when they both climbed up. It wasnt not easy to get on highway from that village to get bus for Mumbai. So they decided to get back to Pune n then catch bus/train to Mumbai from Pune.

Rest of the journey went in sleep. We reached Swargate -Pune by around 9:00 pm. I got to Srikanth's place grabbed my bike and raced back to home.

Details:

Team : 13

Route: Pune (Swargate/Pune station) -Bhor -Korle(base village)

Endurance: Low

Difficulty : Low.

Time : Pune to Bhor by S.T 1hour 15mins - Bhor to Korle 1 to 1.5 hour (by private jeep or bus). A bus is available for Korle at 8:15 am. Later on its at 9:45 am. Get back to korle village before 7 p.m as the last bus to Bhor is at 7 pm. You will be in trouble otherwise.From Bhor to pune there are quite a buses available later.

Suggestion - If you are planning to get late more than 7 p.m to reach Korle while descending better hire a jeep from Bhor to get to Korle and coming back.

Expenses: Rs 150 Approx.

Best time to visit: Monsoon!

Rajmachi - via Karjat - Lonavla

WO WO WO .... The best trek till now yaar!! Best because my K790i came back into life which was in coma after being washed with water (or else it would have cost me a bulk). It started as usual - starting right from the office after night shift directly towards Srikanths house;traversing through unknown paths;damped full day in heavy rains;going on wrong way for more than half hour n then tracking back the right one;streaming through knee-deep rivers;visting numerous waterfalls .... hussshhh - GOD so many things in one trek!

July 25th

I called up srikanth in the evening to chk for the plan. He was following up with people as I was in night shift.I was shocked to see that he chose the difficult one to trek. As I was goin to do it after night shift and didnt knew abt the people joining I was a bit worried. But then .....

July 26th

I reached Sri's house sharp at 4.30 a.m as promised. Sunil had ariived at his place last night itself. Soon we came to know the count for the trek is just 5 which was supposed to be 9. The list goes like this - Akhilesh boarding at Shivaji Nagar while me, Ashutosh,Srikanth n Sunil at Khadki. I took a nap while Sunil n Sri got ready. We boarded Sinhagadh express at 6.20 from Khadki. The environment seemed to be promising right from start. Ashu n Akhilesh started their photography while we three preferred to sleep. We reached Karjat at 8.10; had wadapav's n started for Karjat bus stand. We just missed the 8.15 bus to Kondivde village. Rather than wasting time took a rickshaw to the "Daiwaale bridge".From there we went till Kondivde by tum-tum. We preferred to walk till Kondane village - the base for Rajmachi rather than taking a tum-tum till there.

We did take views from the localites regarding the route as we didnt knew a bit n the path we had chsen was very strenous.Each of them suggested us to take a guide as the path was very misleading - even the arrows made by past trekkers were misleading. But we made unanimous decision to explore the terrains ourselves. The main reasons were - less number of people;all guys;n pretty used to types. We didnt had any such deadlines when to be back.

But soon ahead we found a Y. Luckily a cornwaala had his stall on one of the way. He suggested to follow the left path a it is less misleading and there are waterfalls too on the way.The path ahead was full of dense forest with muddy water flowing all the way. We started the way with full of enthusiasm as the nature was inviting us with her arms open.After some walk we found a patch of stretched land with a distinct path. This ensured us we r on a right path. As instructed we soon found the most awaited waterfall. All of us dived in it ... the force in it literally massaged us. As it was raining right from start we were already fully drenched. We marched forward towards the destination :-o with heavy heart. But soon we found one more waterfall. I was just observing it when Sri, Ashu n Akhilesh started the stunt to go towards it from base. My shoes were very slippery so didnt wanted to do it. But the waterfall was too much attractive. I too started n soon slipped as expected. My cell got drenched in water n it was gone :-(. I got upset very much. But took off again n started n it didnt end till there. My trek ant also got torn while stretching on the big rocks beneath the waterfall. :-(

Neways still made up the mind removed everything; put them in bag n went wild to enjoy. Will add pics to show you the limits. We soon found out that there was a better way to reach the proper base - alas - I lost my pant;my cell was in danger. Oh GOD.There was a cave above which was built by the Buddhist's as per a guide which we met there.After enjoying a lot we started again for the supposed destination - I prayed GOD not to give nemore waterfalls or else we will never reach the fort. But this time we did managed to march properly avoiding all the distractions. Soon ahead we found Ram kaka who accompanied us till the up. Also we did met a Hydrabad grp who were more than overwhelmed to find us.They had lost their way once and then managed to reach uptill there. There were many naive ones in their grp who were totally out for the climb. But soon we reached the top (Rajmachi village) and had some snacks at Ram kaka's house.

The most awaited destination - Rajmachi fort -

Getting some tips from Ramkaka n sons we started for the final point. But while observing the scenery and doing masti; greeting people on the way we forgot to take a immediate left turn which was supposed to be as soon as we start which we remembered when we found a distinct left turn around 2.5 kms ahead where we shd have taken it. Again we trailed back whr we started and this time on a proper path. To our relaxation the path ahead wasnt that much difficult. It was a cool drizzling on the way with a small path on the edge with mountain on one side n valley on other.
It was a nice view on top of the Rajmachi ... really -- Shivaji is Great. the path was not ending even when we kept walking to the top - maybe we were too tired of surprises so might be the case.Finally we reached the top;clicked some snaps there ;emptied 2 packets of Bourbon by bought by Ashu and then started the descend.

By the time we reached the village Ramkaka had kept the lunch ready for us. We ate full to our level; promised to come back again;take their contact numbers and started on our way. The estimated time given by them was 3.5 hours.

We started the simple path enjoyingly. We tried to cover up the way asap as it was goin to be evening soon. It was around 5.15 p.m when we started. On the way we met lot of people who were coming for an overnight stay on Rajmachi. Everybody was giving their own opinion about the distance left to be covered. Soon we found a river with a water knee deep. It was a realy a nice surprise for us. Goin ahead it happened which I was fearing a long. My legs did answered and I started feeling the pressure. The unknown strenous trek that too after night shift had taken its effect. Now on it was very difficult for me to keep up the pace with all. I was very disappointed as it was such a nice climate - everybody was enjoying; with no hurry to go hme and it started. Soon I felt like I wanted to reach home asap.But my pace was affecting everyone but still I kept walking. Soon at the start of Lonavla boundary there were three bifurcation and this time we chose a wrong way. Lucky we that we got the watchmans on the round who guided us on right path.

We met several more people on the way and it was already dark. We managed to reach Lonavla city by around 9.05 p.m. On the way we got Waghole and Tungarli villages. Finally we took a rickshaw to catch the 9.45 bus as the station seemd to be 1 hr more. We got the train n I was in very much pain. We reached back at Sri's house at around 11.00. Akhilesh came to drop me at my home on my own bike ... such a pity on me.

But at the end Well ended is well done! I got well by next afternoon and my cell came to life after 2 days. Now I am feeling the trip worth enough .Really the nature,the water falls,the rain,the hills all were just awesome. Hadnt it been a bit strenous one I would have enjoyed even more.

Details:
Team : 05

Route: Route1 : Shivaji Nagar > Karjat > Khandpe > Kondividi > Kondane > Rajmachi village > Rajmachi fort [Relatively difficult] Route 2: Shivaji Nagar > Lonavala station > Tungarli > Pambola village >>Rajmachi

Distance: Route1: Karjat -> Kondividi:~15kms, Kondividi -> Kondana: ~2kms, Kondana->Rajmachi peak : ~14kms [Hill climb] Route 2: Lonavala -> Rajmachi : ~20kms [Simple]
Altitude: ~2100 FT above MSL

Endurance: Medium Difficulty : Low / Medium based on route
Time : Karjat-Kondividi : 20mins. [TumTum] , Kondividi - Rajmachi village : 3hrs [Excl. of time spent in Waterfalls n caves enroute], Rajmachi village - Rajmach fort: 0.5 hrs Rajmachi village - Lonavala station: 3.5hrs.

Transport: Shivaji nagar to Karjat : Train at 6:12 am. Buses at Karjat to kondividi: 8:15am , 9:45am. Or pick a TumTum to ‘Bridge’ from there another TumTum to Kondividi/ Kondane. Lonavala to Shivaji nagar: 9:45 pm, 11:00pm, Vehicles: Bikes / cars may be used to reach Rajmachi village during early monsoon - No tarred path.

Expenses: Rs 200 Approx.

Stay:One day / Overnight [ Accommodation available in base village - rajmachi ]

Suggested route: Simple: Lonavala- Rajmachi village - Rajmachi fort [ Flat path walk with shallow streams en-route to cross. To be careful at one particular spot about 2hrs from lonavala where river flow pace may increase at alarming rates all of a sudden]. Medium: Karjat - Kondividi - Kondane [ Scores of waterfalls and Kondona caves-Must see, Overnight camping possible here]
Best time to visit: Monsoon!

Accomodation / Food at Rajmachi village: Hotel Shirish [ Ram: 9881162648 Suresh: 9850104191 ]

Koraigad

Hmmm, back again with new one but with Koraigad this time n not Kalsubai as promised ... slight change in plans neways.

Americans are really gud yaar, Friday was a holiday so was frsh and sound for Saturday's trek. Earlier got a call that there are as many as 25 people for trek .... hmmm quite nice!

5th July Saturday:

Srikanth called me at 6:00a.m to wake me though I got up at 6:30. Got ready soon as we had to leave by 7:00 and then called Apeksha and to my surprise mam was still sleeping ...... Now what - as usual late! Started at 7:15 n somehow managed to reach by 7:50 for the train which was at 7:55 a.m. U know .. I always make it up :-).

The plan was to go to Lonavla by Local train and then take some transport till Shivpur village which forms the base for Koraigad. We reached Lonavla by around 9:30 a.m. We were soon greeted by light showers, had a heavy brkfast n marched for aranging some means for transport.Abhijeet,Rahul and Vaibhav with couple others tried deliberaltely with the drivers and managed to get 2 way journey for 25 people at 1.5K. Myself with Nikunj and Vaibhav enjoyed the elite ride of Sumo with the 7 girls as their caretakers :-D while the others hurled themselves in truck. Dont worry everybody got a chance for it later.

Stairway to Heaven
The base point is around 30 kms fom Lonavla- we reached there in less than hour. The way towards was just like Stairway To Heaven. The road is very nice but with n no. of U and S turns and full of clouds. You cant even see after a mere 4-5 feet distance. On the way we come across Bushi Dam, Tiger Point and Lions point. We have to take the way towards Amby Valley to reach the village. The site of the Koraigad seems to be difficult. I mean the mountain seems to be full rocky. But as we started the path was too simple. Even a primary kid can be able to do it. We reached the top in less than half hour and we were at approx. 3000 ft above MSL.

As soon as you reach the peak you will be awe struck to find a land fully stretched for about 1.5Km with 2-3 frsh water ponds which are not even minutely spoilt. The breeze over there was too strong which took away my cap right in one of the ponds. This was my first reason to enter in the water (cant go if u dont know the statistics). Soon Abhijeet n Shrikanth followed me with no reason and tried hard to dip me in but to no success. We then had a nice round along the borders of fort. The view which u get is just awesome. The rain droplets seems to come up (instead of down :-O), the clouds walk alongwith you. The walk continued till we saw a very tempting fresh water pond (tempting - in a sense to get in it). Abhijeet and Srikant went in it first this time. Rest of us soon joined - we did N number of tricks right from racing, forming pyramids,diving from each others head and so on....This was the best part of the trek. Swimming in ice-cold water with heavy rains from above was just the best.

When you go around the lines of fort - after reaching the opposite end you see a top-view of the Sahara Amby valley. the township is really nice to see - neatly planned small hut shaped houses with a lush green landscapes around, a flight runway nearby with a helipad etc. The whole area (about the peak) makes it a visit worthwhile.

WayBack:

At the base we had a quick tea session.Ya n this time I had the previlage to travel by truck. :-) This time again Abhijeet and Srikant took their standing seat :-O . We did halt at tiger point whr I exchanged the place with Srikant.We did halt at
Bushi Dam for some snacks. Most of us gave up the idea to visit the dam seeing the jammed pack crowd. We waited too long for others to come back I think coz by then our sumo had left us with no other option other than to climb the truck.As I said this time everybody got the honours to have the pleasant ride.

We just made in time for the 5:15 p.m train to Pune.But 8 of us(not me) had to remain down due to their sillyness. Some intelligent ones tore down their tickets thinking that it was one-way (it was a return journey tick). We had a nice time in train hearing some very old and some new one pj's by Bhavna,Nikunj and Vishal.

One incident I would like to narrate - NOM for Rahul. At a particular PJ Rahul went laughing so hard that he nearly fell down on a old lady's lap. She was very old and couldnt handle Rahul and abused him. But some of us due to language problem didnt understood the situation and continued to make fun of Rahul. The lady felt very humiliated. A couple of us who understood Marathi tried to sort it out. But felt really bad .. neways it happens.

All in all a short, simple and sweet trek? - OK picnic to enjoy natures beauty.

Details:
Team : 25
Route: Pune - Lonavala - Shivpur village - Koraigad
Distance: Approx 30kms from lonavala town
Time : Uphill: 30mins Downhill: 15minutes.
Transport: Preferably hire a cab
Expenses: Rs 150 - Rs 200
Best time to visit: Monsoon!
Endurance: low Difficulty : low

Kothaligad - Peth

This trek will be remembered for atleast 2 reasons - 1) I went for it directly after doing night shift. 2) We climbed the fort twice - the second one in record time(obviously on same day).

27th June - Saturday

I purposefully left late from office so as not to disturb Shrikanths sleep. But as I was on the way to his home - got a call about whr was I? He was standing at his door to Welcome me at around 4:30 a.m - a very warm welcome indeed.Took a nap till he got ready and left for Khadki when Ashutosh arrived; picked Amrita on the way.

Our train Singhagad Express was at 6:20 and we reached early by 6:00.Me n Shrikanth had a tea by the time. As we boarded the train found that Abhijeet n Pragnya missing. Glad to know that they had missed the train since got up late n will be coming by S.T directly to Karjat.. (Later on it went too bad). We reached Karjat in 2 hours (Bus stand is just 10 mins rom Railway Station) and then we boarded for Jamkhed S.T which left us at Ambivli which is base to start for Peth. Whole journey I was sleeping (quite obvious after night shift). We reached Ambivli in around 45 mins. There we waited for Abhijeet n Pragya but came to know that they landed somwhr else(seems Amboli) and will be joining at Peth.

So, we started our walk for Peth - its a proper pathway but a climb (sort of ghat). We explored the way a lot by trying each n every shortcut that was visible. The path was very boring to walk so it did helped. Oops forgot to mention the team - me, Shrikanth,Rahul,Kajal,Trupti,Abhilasha,Bhavna,Ashutoshand Amrita. Uwraj n Swarnika were lagging behind so as to make calls(n/w might not be available on top) with Abhijeet n Pragya supposed to be joining at peth.We did break at a plateau from whr a awesome view of Kothaligad was visible. We exchanged lot of snaps meanwhile. It took sweet 2 hours to reach Peth village - thanks to the boring path n time pass public. By the time we received an SMS from Abhijeet that they had started for Mumbai ... after further investigation found out that they had gone too wrong to make it up.

Finally as we were near to the village it rained very heavily and we all literally welcomed the rain and just exclaimed - "Here starts our Monsoon Trek !" At the village we had a tea and did ordered for Lunch and poha as per need so that we can have it after cmn down. With a word from localite we started our journey towards Kothaligad - by the time Uwraj n our future lead Swarnika joined us. While climbing we didnt even recognised whr we went wrong. Instead of going round the hill we climbed it straight. At the top (not even base of the fort) we got stuck as it was a rocky patch and due to rain it was very difficult to climb. Ashutosh Uwraj n me tried from one side while Shrikanth n Rahul from other to find a way up... but it was a very dangerous one. SO we decided to stop then n there.We rested and ate a lot over there and came down with a major disappointment.

Picture abhi baaki hai mere dost .......

After coming down one of the village chap informed us that we might have gone a wrong way .. so Uwraj and Ashutosh imediately put forth a point to start again to which a poll was taken. Me, Shrikanth, Uwraj,Swarnika and Ashutosh took the challenge to complete the trek in stipulated deadline and catch the train (seats were booked) while rest of them directly went to catch the train afetr having snacks. We started at 2:00 and completed the climb injust 45 mins - thanks to our motivator and guide Swarnika ;-). She kept on chittering the whole up and down which really helped us a lot. Ya it did took a lot of us to kept her going up at a steady pace to reach the deadline. Just at the base there is a cave whr an old woman sells lime juice - after this much effort its really worth it. We drank 1 while goin up and 2 after cmn down- each of us. We reached the top and it was just awesome. You can see Bhimashankar , Padargad and more. The view which u get is just awesome.There we roamed around a bit, took some snaps on the edge.

We started our descend at around 3:20 and reached base at 4:00. We had our lunch hurriedly and started our march downward towards Ambivli. We reached just in time before the last bus departure time around 5:30. While coming down lot of things happened. One that our faithful guide, our companion - The DOG accompanied us almost till bus-stop. If at the first time we would have followed him; we wouldnt have gone wrong way. Second due to rain my jeans got wet which made me very difficult to walk - also I changed it to 3/4 in the village but to my horror it didnt had strands :(. I really did hard to keep up the pace holding the pant in one hand and running.We did catched the bus and made in time for the train at Karjat. Tht means we did the difficult - in short We Won .Everybody else greeted the others while I was in such a diffiult situation that ran for my train. Luckily my Train to Mumbai- Koyna express arrived. I just jumped in it - didnt even bothered to buy ticket as the next train was 1.5 hrs later. Rest all went to Pune while I happily(cant explain my situation) went to my home. I reached by around 8:30.

So one more fort conquered. Next in is Kalsubai... wait for it.


Details:

Trek:1 day trek
Members: 11
Route: Karjat-Ambivali-Peth village base-Kothaligad.
Best season: Monsoon / Winter
Approximate Time : Karjat to Ambivalli - 45mins; Ambivalli to Peth village trek - 1 hr quick sprint; Peth base to Kothaligad peak - 1hr ( Subject to the climate )
Endurance: Medium
Difficulty: Easy-Medium ( Based on route chosen)
Bus timings: 08:30 am - Karjat bus stand to Ambivalli; 05:30pm - Ambivalli to Karjat
Train timings: Sinhagad Express : 06:00am ( Pune Station ) ; Deccan Queen : 06:30pm ( Karjat Station )

Important:
The transport is very infrequent as its remote village. The six-seaters are available at the max around 8:00 pm back from the village. The last S.T is at 5:30 p.m. But u can stay at village or in the caves if u want to night-out.