Alang - Madan adventure

Fort : Alang
Region : Igatpuri
Height : 4500 ft (above MSL)
Grade : Very Difficult

Fort : Madan
Region : Igatpuri
Base Village: Ambewadi
Height : 4842 ft (above MSL)
Grade : Very Difficult

I wanted to do these dream forts from a long time. Dream because they are the toughest forts in the Sahyadris to climb , involves rock climbing with ropes and they command an amazing view of the surroundings from their top.

We had a week off thanks to the company yearend off policy and trekdi co-incidentally scheduled a trek to Alang-Madan and I immediately jumped on it. Earlier I had thought of going for this trek with Nisarg Bhraman but as the schedule was cancelled by NB had to jump onto trekdi.

We started from Pune on 24th of Dec 2008 in the night at 11pm towards Ambewadi the base village or rather the base camp J, the route read Pune-Nashik Phata-Chakan-Rajgurunagar-Alephata-Narayangaon-Sangamner. We stopped in the night at Sangamner for tea and to relax our stiff limbs as the bus wasn’t so comfortable. Post that we turned towards Ghoti road from Sangamner town via Rajur – Akole - Shendi – Bari and ahead. We stopped at Vasali phata where 2 people from Mumbai had to join in with us as they were coming from Mumbai. The two guys joined in and we road on towards Ambewadi. The road to Ambewadi is narrow and steep at some places and the bus ambled along. We reached Ambewadi at 5.45am in the morning and took our sacks and started. The view of the 3 forts Alang-Madan and Kulang is amazing from here. They look daunting and formidable.

First we decided to get out from Ambewadi onto the track towards Madangad (the climb for the day) and stop at a popular odha for breakfast. I helped the experts to carry the sacks (equipments) some distance. We stopped but wait, there was no water in the odha, Shridhar kaka and Bhau expressed surprise at this as they had always seen the odha full. So we stopped there and collected water from everyone’s bottles into a pateli and Shridhar kaka made tea. Some guys went back into Ambewadi with the empty bottles to refill them. I started some photography there J

After sometime tea was done and prepared and we got our cups filled and drank hot chai and refreshed ourselves, breakfast of bread-butter-jam was out and we enjoyed ourselves. Until then Shridhar kaka along with Datta went to the village to get some porters to carry the luggage for the next 2 days. Villagers from Ambewadi usually volunteer as porters for a fee to carry luggage and show the way to trekkers as the routes to the top are quite confusing sometimes. They also stay on top for 2 days with the trekkers and guide them.

After breakfast we had to get to the route to Madangad and that involved walking for about ½ a km on the tar road, a boring task. Just as we were about the start walking a tractorwala came in and asked us if we wanted a lift , he had a trailer too so in we jumped and the ride was one of the most adventurous one as people were holding on to dear life as the tractor wala merrily drove the tractor like he was driving a sports car. Finally after the roller coaster ride we got down onto the path towards Madangad and waited for Shridhar kaka and Bhau to join us with the porters. They finally came and we started on towards the col of Alang and Madan to climb onto Madan our target for today.

The route was initially via a well trodden path amidst huge bushes and trees in the jungle and then via a water fall route of big rocks, loose scree. I managed to reach the col in good time and everyone else came in soon. The col is a small place from where if you go left you get onto the Alang traverse and if you go right you get onto the Madangad traverse. We had lunch of packed theplas at the col and batches of 4 people were going ahead to the Madan steps ahead. The traverse to Madan included walking round towards the other side from where there was a small rock patch of broken steps, finally going on to good steps and a clearing above where everyone was sitting. I got onto the path along with the last of the participants and reached the clearing. The steps were damn scary and narrow but I got on ahead.

The experts had already gone way ahead and fixed the ropes on the rock patch where rope was needed and people were slowly going on top one by one over the patch and finally over the top of Madangad. We sat at the clearing waiting our turn to go ahead to the rock-patch. The time ambled on, I reached the clearing at 2pm and it was 5pm now and im still at the clearing !! The rock patch was being negotiated slowly by some people and as the batch was huge (35 people) it took a lot of time for everyone to get up. Finally we got into our harnesses and given a go ahead to goto the rock patch. The path from the clearing goes ahead to a scary traverse where the rocks are broken and you need to hug onto the rock to get ahead, but a rope was fixed in here so we could go ahead safely. Ahead there are more narrow steps and then there comes the rock-patch about 30 feet in height. The place where the patch is had steps before which were blown off by the British troops who destroyed many forts and didn’t want people to go up that time. So if they hadn’t blown off the steps we could have easily gone up the fort but then the adrenaline wasn’t coming right ?

My turn came at 6pm and I removed my shoes as I wasn’t sure of my grip. I was clipped onto the rope and started climbing. I tackled the patch gingerly and went up the patch easily. Then stopped and took photos up and went ahead depositing the harness. The traverse ahead was easy but scree laden. The view from the traverse is amazing. Alang stands in front and the whole C shape of alang is visible from the traverse. There was a rope-line attached for help ahead at the end of the traverse because of scree and ahead there are rock cut narrow steps to get on top of Madangad. There are more and more steps until you come to the broken entrance of Madangad and a small cave there.

Climbing more steps ahead we got on the top of Madangad. There are 2 water tanks here out of which one is dry and the other is used for cleaning utensils. There is one more smaller tank which has potable water for drinking. We went ahead to the cave where everyone was sitting our shelter for the night. The cave is a big one which can house 40 people easily. Putting our baggages we sat down with relief. It was already dark and then we had hot tea and biscuits. A chilly wind was blowing and everyone got into their warm wear. I was talking to Aviram on a host of topics ranging from fitness to Everest. Sometime later we went into the cave and took out our sleeping mats and laid on it for some time to get some rest.

Dinner was called for now and we took out our plates and spoons and got hot steaming bhaji rassa thanks to Kadam Kaka and chapattis with that. Everyone formed groups and had their fill after which we immediately came inside and sat in the cave. The temperature in the cave was more hence we weren’t having any problem. After some more timepass almost everyone hit the sacks as everyone was tired. The night passed uneventfully except for occasional cold gusts of wind.

Got up in the morning at 5.30am and went to the top of Madangad to view sunrise. The horizon was aglow in orange and it looked awesome. The sun took its own time in coming up and the views were excellent. Kulang was bathed in golden rays of the sun and looked amazing. Kulang is the third fort in the region and offers the highest climb (6+ hours) in the Sahyadris, we weren’t going to do Kulang. After doing some photography we went over for breakfast of poha and chai and had a nice breakfast. After breakfast I went down to the water tanks to fill the bottles and came back and packed my stuff. In the meantime everybody was packing I took the opportunity and went down with my cam to photograph the Madan stairs and the entrance and get a self timer pic clicked on the Madangad stairs J, came back and saw everyone was ready to leave so took my bags and we started climbing down Madan

Everybody started getting down as we had to rappel down Madangad go over the whole damn steps down and through the col go ahead to the Alang climbing point. The initial rock cut steps were daunting and I climbed down ladder style as getting down normally wasn’t possible due to the sack and the inclination of the steps. Got down upto the scree patch and went ahead holding the small patch of rope and got to the rappelling point where there was a huge crowd of people waiting to rappel down. We sat down there as it was going to take time. Me and Rasika were discussing weird topics and laughing away. Finally my turn came about 1.5 hours later and I rappelled down the patch .Sridhar kaka was taking photos of everyone who were rappelling down and took mine too. I came down without any incident and went down the steps and gingerly tackled the scary traverse and came to the clearing and told everyone to move down as I was among the last of the participants. We went ahead again ladder style over the stairs down and then the final rock patch and to the traverse and the col. We started towards Alang climbing point from the col and went ahead.

In the middle there were amazing rock formation at Alang base , we reached the Alang climbing point in about 30 mins. The alang point has 2 patches, the 1st broken steps patch which is small , there is a iron wire the length of the small patch holding which we can go on top. Climbing to the top with a heavy sack is little dicey and you need to be careful even though it’s a small patch of broken steps. Once on the steps we went ahead to the main alang climbing point. This patch is around 45-50 feet in height and with very small holds , the experts had already fixed the rope upto the top and here as the holds were small the participants would be pulled up on a pulley but not altogether but the participant must also pull up and get holds on the rock to keep their legs so that it can help a person pulling you up because pulling up a person is difficult just like that.

People were slowly climbing this patch. I made the first mistake here of removing my shoes as I thought they won’t grip the small holds and then I volunteered to pull up some participants. During one such thing I hit my right toe hard against the rock ahead and immediately felt a jab of pain. My stars were good that I didn’t break the nail halfway or whatever else it would have been a very painful exercise for me and as I pulled up participants I was slowly losing my energy as pulling up something in weight requires a lot of stamina and strength. When my turn came , I eagerly climbed up to go but in a few seconds felt like my energy was gone and really it was gone. I couldn’t pull myself up on the rocks and couldn’t help the people pulling me as I lay still on the rope hanging. I however brought out my last ounce of my strength and pulled myself up on this patch with the help of the pullers down, mainly the experts Bhushan etc. I reached the top of the patch bruised and tired and sat down there for some time.

The route after the patch is pretty straightforward with steps going on top but the steps are huge and there’s a fall on one side so you need to climb them carefully but there are hand holds cut on each step so you can get up catching those holds, going further up there are a few broken steps and scree which needs to be negotiated carefully. Here ropes were fixed to help the participants. Once you cross the scree portion we get to a small way up and then we are on Alang. I finally got up and found that my toe was throbbing and the nail turning black. Damn!

Once on top I had to get to the caves on top which is around 20 mins walk from here. There are a few water tanks on the way and a shiva-linga. Getting up to the caves was a tedious task for me with the bruised toe and the sun was almost setting down in the west. I came to the cave weary and tired and put down my sack at an available spot and removed my shoes and rested for sometime and drank water. The caves are huge and can house around 40-50 people. There was another set of caves further ahead too. There is a water tank near the cave but it isn’t used for drinking just washing utensils.

The villagers who had come with us started fires on top of Alang saying that there are a lot of snakes on top. The fires raged for sometime and we all were looking at it and they formed rings like in the Lord of the Rings. In sometime the fires were gone and the whole place on top was black soot.

We found a dead snake in the water tank near the cave and then realized that the villagers were correct. Sometime later dinner was served, it was hot khichdi and we had our fill and then washed the plates. Tommorrow morning we were to rappel down Alang and goto Ambewadi and return back to Pune in our bus.

Sometime later I returned back to my place in the cave and put down my bedding for the night and lay down.I was just too tired to think of anything and my toe was still throbbing from the bruise it had got. I had a tablet of nise painkillers to ease my throbbing and fell asleep.

Morning I woke up at 4am and refreshed myself before lying down again till 5am when Sridhar Kaka woke up everyone. Washed my face and waited for tea , had nice garam chai and started to get onto the top of Alang , the part which I had not seen. The route goes from the right of the caves upward , there are some carved steps and some small rock patches before you reach the top. Once on top there are many fortification remnants and stones.

There was a network of huge water tanks (11 or 12 in all) on top , i climbed further to the highest point and saw the sunrise. It was refreshing. Some more people joined me there and we admired the sunrise. The waters of the bhandardara dam were visible from here and was creating a soothing effect. Sometime later the sun came out and more photos later I started climbing down taking snaps of the only wada on Alang and the views of golden Madangad and Kulanggad from the alang top. Reaching the cave below I had a nice breakfast of upma and packed the bags and went down to the other side of Alang to have views of the valley between Madan and Alang and Kulang et all. Reached that point and the view of Madan was cool and we could see the door of Madan from Alang and the nedhe (needle hole) of Madan.

After some photos I started back to the point from where we get down to the stairs and finally to the patch which we had to rappel down. I waited for a long time to get a harness and finally got a harness after 2 hours or so and slowly with the final batch of participants walked down the scary Alang steps.

Reaching the rock patch was an ordeal in itself and then I rappeled down not without my usual fears and stuff, somehow came down the patch and climbed down the remaining steps and then again climbed down on a rope from the broken steps. Once down the broken steps we go some distance ahead before turning right towards a scree laden downhill patch. Going ahead there are a hell lot of steps on the rock which have to be climbed down with more care. Salil , Datta and Atul passed us like they were climbing down stairs of a building !! I trudged down more slowly and soon they were also to be not seen ! To add to the problem my toe was paining making it more difficult to climb down.

The climb down from Alang to Ambewadi was too bad with scree and rocks but somehow I slowly climbed down with Rasika (a volunteer from trek'di) and the others were way ahead. We walked and walked and as it was afternoon around 1.30pm the heat was taking a toll on us , finally we reached level ground and saw Ambewadi at a distance.

Reaching Ambewadi we camped at the temple , I sat down and changed my shoes for floaters , washed my face of the grime and changed my clothes at a nearby house. Lunch was a simple affair of Khichadi again with pickles and bhaji which me and Dushyant (avshya) shared on the same place. I made a hell lot of friends in this trek.

The return journey was uneventful with all of us tired and sleeping like there was no tommorrow. We reached Pune at around 11pm and I came home by 11.30 pm.

The dream trek was done!

Dhak Fort

Fort : Dhak (the one above the bahiri)
Place : Lonavala
Base Village : Jambhvali (Kamshet)
Height: 3000 ft (above MSL)
Grade: Tough

The week was very busy and we had decided to meet at Avinash's place in Lonavala and carry on to trek Dhangad. Me and Rakesh reached Avi's place and were followed by Deepak M, Deepak R, Sachin,Nitin and others. Had a nice time chatting away and then had some breakfast. We were deciding on lunch after an hour or so when Avi suggested we go to Varsoli phata where there is a nice hotel. Purvesh was coming from Mumbai and Saurabh was coming from Talegaon. So we started from Avinash's home by 1pm to goto a hotel for lunch. The lonavala part of NH-4 was as usual traffic jam as being a weekend people had come there. We found Purvesh standing there trying to call someone of us and asked him to join us and found Saurabh too on the other side of the road in the jam and asked him to take a U turn. We finally reached Varsoli phata and found out that the hotel was veg and many wanted to eat non-veg too so frustation set in and after a lot of expletives we got into Tejas Dhaba and had our fill and our usual tp.

While returning back from the dhaba Purvesh suggested lets do Dhak Fort (not the bahiri) tommorrow by starting tonight and staying at the Kondeshwar Temple and starting the trek in the morning. I was apprehensive at first but said yes later. So me , Saurabh, Purvesh, Avinash and Deepak M were in for the trek.

I came home, packed a few things and started back to Talegaon to Saurabh's home at 9pm. We were to meet Purvesh and Avi at Kamshet station , Deepak M was already at Sau's place. We got a call from Purvesh at 10.30pm that they will be in Kamshet by 11pm. We started from Talegaon, the outside temperature was low and cold , we reached Kamshet station by 10.55pm and stopped outside.

Purvesh and Avi arrived and we set off to Jambhivali where the Kondeshwar Mandir is and from where we would start the trek in the morning. We reached Jambhivali around 12am in the night via bad roads and ghost experiences :)

It was decided that we directly take our bikes to the Kondeshwar Temple and not park it in Jambhivali. I thought ok lets go ahead but going ahead i could see no road just a track that too littered with stones and mud and all.

Going ahead I asked Purvesh to get down as riding pillon was impossible on such a small track and asked him to walk while we go ahead with the bikes. The distance from the road to the temple is around a km of bad , extreme roads where you go via small stones, huge ditches and things and the rear tyre slips all the time. We continued on and on and on and reached the temple in around 15 mins.

Then we realized we left back Avi and Purvesh in the dark and they could get lost, so we backtracked and found Purvesh and Avi coming mouthing the choicest expletives for us as we left them back there and they had lost their way in between :)

We went inside the mandir to find it already full but the caretaker told us that we could sleep in the main sanctum near the shivalinga. It was cosy in there and as soon as we hit the ground we started sleeping.

Morning we woke up at 6am and packed our stuff, freshened up , filled water bottles and started for dhak. The mountain of dhak was visible from here. The route is via a ridge from where we can clearly see Rajmachi and the forts and the view is amazing from there.

We stopped in between to have breakfast of biscuits , chivda and started again. The climate was cool and the sun was emerging. We crossed over to the 2nd mountain on the path and continued ahead and went into a dense jungle part from where we could see the kalakarai pinnacle too. Going ahead we started descending to the base of Dhak. In about 45 mins we were at the base of the Dhak mountain and we started up the steep climb to get to the col from where the routes to the Bahiri and the Fort diverge.

We reached the col in about 20 mins and stopped there for sometime to get the route. It was a rock face and there was a path going ahead. We werent sure so we asked the locals who said it was the right way and asked us to go ahead on a well trodden path. We went ahead searching for the way. The whole path is rocky and made up of rock patches somewhat exposed but not very difficult. The sun had started hitting us now even though it was only 10am. We went ahead carefully searching the path because it wasnt well trodden and we didnt want to lose our way and go somewhere else.

The heat was sapping my energy and on top i was not well , however we continued ahead slowly and steadily and got onto a path which lead on top of the fort. The top of the fort is a huge area with thorny bushes and grass all around from which we could understand that not many trekkers come up to this place. We roamed on top. There isnt much to see on the fort except a huge terrain. We wanted water desperately so we started searching for water and found a few shepherds who were grazing their herds there so we asked them and they led us to the water tanks on top of the fort. The water was amazing and it was like heaven. We rested for sometime near the water tanks took some photos and started back.

We came back to the way and went to the part of the top from where the route to the bahiri would be visible , we could see people going towards the bahiri and amazing views from top. We started getting down now from the fort. The rock patches were heated up and scary now to climb down but we did and came back to the col in about an hour. It was roughly 3pm now and we had some more snacks and water and started back.

Returning back was an ordeal for me as I felt that I had no energy due to the sun and my body was slowing down and slowly I was losing my energy. Purvesh , Deepak M and Sau went ahead and me and Avi trudged slowly towards the Kondeshwar Mandir. I thought as if i would fall down somewhere in between but i anyway kept walking and we reached the temple. I washed my face and lied down for sometime at the temple because I was not feeling well. Ate some biscuits and started back on bike towards Kamshet.

The return journey was as tortourous as the night one riding over the huge stones and ditches we came back to the road and started for Kamshet station. There Purvesh and Avi missed the Lonavala local by a few minutes so we left them at the highway to get a bus to Lonavala / Mumbai and started back home.

This was a really exhausting trek but nevetheless the trek was amazing.