Fort : Purandhar
Base village : Narayanpur (Saswad)
Height: 4520 feet (above MSL)
Grade : Easy
Fort : Vajragad
Base village : Narayanpur (Saswad)
Height : 4444 feet (above MSL)
Grade : Easy
This weekend (14 March 09) Purvesh was to come to Pune. So we decided on a trek to Purandhar and Vajragad near Narayanpur (Saswad). So we (me,purvesh,sharayu,vikram and chaitanya) decided to go for that. Purvesh and Chaitanya were to come from Dombivali on Saturday morning. Saturday morning as usual was 5.30 am wakeup and then left for Chaitanya's place in Kothrud at 6.45 as Purvesh promised he would be there by 7.15am. Reached Chaitanya's place but no sign of Purvesh and Chaitanya so picked up Chaitanya's home keys from a friend of his and went into his home. Purvesh called up saying they were at lonavala at 7.30 so they would take around an hour to be here. Damn! these guys never follow the time. So waited for them. They arrived around 9am and we started for Purandhar around 9.40am via Chandani Chowk - Katraj - Khed Shivapur - Kapurhol - Ketkawle - Narayanpur.
We could see the fort coming into view from before Narayanpur and then turned to go up the fort from the Narayanpur temple. The road ahead was very bad with stones lined up and steep however we made it and that too pillion. The bike rocks. :), the weather too was cloudy today and the sun was obscured due to this so it was perfect trekking weather.
We first saw the Bini Darwaza on the Purandhar machi and stopped there for photos. Then we parked our bikes near the Purandeshwar temple and went to see Purandhar first. Vajragad was visible from here. The route to the top of Purandhar is easy , we did shortcuts and reached the door quite fast. The first door is known as Dilli Darwaza. There are 2 more doors ahead. We first took the left side of the fort which is a passage to the Khandakada (on the left end). There are huge cacti on the fort due to no maintenance there. The views from the Khandakada are amazing. Coming back we entered the right portion of the fort where many remnants are situated and many water tanks. We visited the Balekilla of the fort which is supposed to be the birthplace of Sambhaji Maharaj. Coming back we went to the Shiv temple which is on the topmost part of the fort, on the way we saw Kalyan Darwaza , another entry into the fort from the Konkan region.
Once near the temple we had a nice lunch of theplas and parathas thanks to Vikram and Chaitanya. Once done we started back to the base for Vajragad. We were at the base in around 10-12 minutes and after having Nimbu sarbat started for Vajragad.
In between we saw the statue of Sambhaji Maharaj. Going ahead we took the route to Vajragad. The route to Vajragad is simple and we reach the main door of the temple in about 20 minutes from the base. Once there we sat for around 5-10 minutes and went inside. Vajragad is small as compared to Purandhar. Once inside on top we saw the Balekilla. In good times it must have been amazing, now there are only huge rocks there and broken. Going ahead we saw the 2nd level of the fort where there are 2-3 potable water tanks full of water and 2 temples one of Vajra Maruti (Hanuman) and the other of Shiva. Going ahead we have the bastion of the fort and at the end another bastion from where the views are awesome around. We can also see the Mastani Talav (Lake) far off.
Coming back we started for the base and came down in about 20 minutes. Again had a glass of Nimbu sarbat and started back for Pune around 4.30pm in the evening. Again post the bad road we hit good roads and with that good speeds came on. We were in Kothrud around 6.10pm. Nice trek and amazing forts.
Some history of the fort
(History)
Vajragad was one of the 23 forts given to Mughals in Purandar treaty in 1665. It was won back in 1670. After Shivaji Maharaj’s death, it was lost to Mughal and they named it as “Ajamgad”. Again in 1695, Shahu Maharaj won it and handed over the control to Peshwas. It is also called “Rudramal”. It’s height from sea level is about 4444 ft (~1355 m). Vajragad and Purandar are sibling forts very near to Pune (about 30-35 Kms). Its mythological name is “Indraneel Parvat”. As per Hindu mythology, when Lord Hanuman attempted to carry “Dronagiri” mountain range, a portion of it slipped off his hands and fell down to form “Indraneel Parvat”. There is a Siva Temple in the base village of these forts, “Narayanpur”, called “Narayaneshwar”. This temple is said to be from the days of “Pandavas”. Purandar and Vajragad always had a demanding place in Maratha Empire as Purandar was Capital of Peshwas for many years.
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Monday, March 09, 2009
Ghargad - Bahula Trek
Fort1 : Ghargad aka Gadgada
Base Village: Ghargad Sankshi
Height: 3180 ft (above MSL)
Grade: Difficult (need technical climbing)
Route:
From Mumbai - take mumbai nashik road - ghodbunder - kalyan - kasara - igatpuri - vadhiware phata - vadhiware - ghargad sankshi (approx 150km)
From Pune - take pune nashik road - sangamner - bhandardara - ghoti - (join mumbai nashik highway) - vadhiware phata - vadhiware - ghargad sankshi (approx 220-240 km).
Fort2: Bahula
Base Village : nearest is Ambe Bahula
Height: 3120 ft (above MSL)
Grade: Easy
Did a trek with Chakram Hikers on 7-8 March 2009. Saurabh and Purvesh had done a trek previously with them and reported good feedback so decided to go for Ghargad and Bahula with them. They are offbeat forts located near Nashik. We (me and Sau) decided to goto Dombivali and join Purvesh and then go for the trek. Plan was to go on bikes from there.
Morning we woke up at 5.15am and post freshening up and calling up Mangesh Deshpande (the leader) that we would meet at the main junction at Kalyan - Nashik road we started at 6.15am only to find Sau's rear tyre punctured. We decided that Sau would take the jeep with the others and me and Purvesh go on the bike. We reached the junction at 6.45am and found the others waiting. Sau then went into the jeep and we went on our bikes. This was NH3 with heavy truck traffic and many diversions as it was being converted into a 4 lane highway.
The going was good as we were on bikes we could easily manuevor between trucks and vehicles fast ahead. It was decided to stop at Latifwadi post Kasara for breakfast. We reached Latifwadi at around 8am and had a nice breakfast of paratha , misal and chai at the same time i got to know the Chakram members.
Post breakfast it was the bad kasara ghat where it was a jam of slow moving trucks and 4 wheelers. But being on the bike has its advantages of going fast bypassing these slow guys. Post kasara ghat the highway was a beauty and I reached igatpuri in no time and further to Ghoti phata. Waited for the jeep to catch up and then trailed the jeep to Vadhiware phata and then to Ghargad Sankshi village. It was 11am now. We parked our bikes at a tree some distance ahead and took water and only pouches and kept the bags in the jeep. The route to the fort was easy and going ahead we reached the first part where there was a well with a shiv temple under the tree. Post some water break we started ahead to climb , Ghargad is a rocky fort and the route to the base is very easy. The sun was shining hard now. Post going to the base we had to traverse to a point from where the rock climb was to begin. Ghargad steps are blown off hence around 125 feet of rock climbing needs to be done to climb to the top. Rope needs to be fixed there for safety.
Reaching the point of the climb we stopped there listening to anecdotes from Vinay, Kiran , Sachin, Uday et all and laughing. Zahir , Anju and Mangesh lead the climb to the top to fix ropes. One by one all of us started for the climb. The climb was not so easy. The first patch is of around 10-12 feet and easy. The 2nd part is a little dicey where you need to get on top through a crack and holds are less, you need to press both ur hands to lift your body up. Here i wasted around 10 mins getting up and realised that I need to reduce my weight if i need to do such climbs easily. Going ahead there is a vertical rock with good hand and foot holds about 20 feet high , climbing that I almost reached the top where Zahir was belaying and Sau,Purvesh, Vinay were there. The top of the fort is almost barren except for some remnants. There are about 6-7 water tanks on top out of which only 4 hold potable water. There are some remnants of structures on top and nothing else. The fort offers a good view of Dangya pinnacle , Pahine pinnacle and some other unknown forts from top.
There is a old entrance below which there are steps ending in mid air. This must have been the actual entrance in old days before the retreating British devastated them. Everyone was on top around 4.30pm and we had our lunch on top comprising of theplas, chapati bhaji, chunda, humus (arabian dish thanks to sachin) and others including sandwich.
We were to rappel down from the entrance. The rappel session was also exciting and we reached the base by 5.45pm. Going down the sun was just setting and we went to our bikes and post everyone coming and getting into the jeep we started for Ambe Bahula village. Reaching Vadhiware phata we had a break of chai/cold-drinks and we needed to go ahead 4-5 towards Nashik to get to Ambe Bahula village. Some 4-5 km ahead there is a right which had a board proclaiming "Ambe Bahula" getting inside around 1-2 km we reached the village and found refuge in the school thanks to a kind villager who offered us water too.
Post settling down we had a nice dinner of khichdi thanks to Mangesh / Anju and Nitin. The night was uneventful and sleep came easily , it became a little cold towards the morning and we all woke up at 6.30am and post freshening up had a nice breakfast of upma/chai and started for the base of Bahula Fort. Some one from the village volunteered to get us to the phata from where we had to turn for the fort. We again go onto the highway and went towards Mumbai and some 3-4 km ahead there was a left turn of kaccha road going in. Some 2-3 km of road was no-road and the bike lurched but carried on. Some distance ahead there was a tar road! we went ahead and post some investigations put the bike into the no-road , off roading was nice and we kept our bikes and the jeep just in front of the fort some distance ahead.
Going up the fort was very easy but there was scree in the middle but there wasnt any problem.There was a water tank just from where the climb path started. We went ahead and the sun was shining now but the going was easy. We had to get into the col and turn right for the fort. Going ahead we had a tricky rock patch which was small. Some distance ahead we could see the massif of Bahula and a cave. Going ahead there were more caves where one can stay. The cave was clean. Some distance ahead there was a crack in the wall which had steep steps going up. There are good handholds to hold while going up. Going up we were on top. The top is very small with 2 dry water tanks. One interesting thing is that this fort is in the firing range of the army at Devlali who practice artillery and gun firing here so army permission is needed but we didnt have any such thing but there wasnt anyone who stopped us. We also found a big artillery shell on top which was unexploded , everyone was posing with the shell and we had group photos and introductions with everyone there.
Post that we started descending down ,the going over the steep steps was slow but we anyway made it , going ahead over the scree was slow and me and purvesh were last climbing down. We were down by 11.20am and had biscuits and jaljira and started back. We had to do Kavnai fort now but I opted to go to Pune skipping it. Took Kiran pillion upto the highway and stopped for 5 mins and then everyone came. Going ahead I took leave after talking to Mangesh I started back to Pune via Ghoti - Bhandardara - Rajur - Kotul - Bhramanwada - Bota - Alephata - Narayangaon - Pune. I took a lunch break before Narayangaon and reached home by 5pm. Nice trek and ride. But missed Kavnai though.
Base Village: Ghargad Sankshi
Height: 3180 ft (above MSL)
Grade: Difficult (need technical climbing)
Route:
From Mumbai - take mumbai nashik road - ghodbunder - kalyan - kasara - igatpuri - vadhiware phata - vadhiware - ghargad sankshi (approx 150km)
From Pune - take pune nashik road - sangamner - bhandardara - ghoti - (join mumbai nashik highway) - vadhiware phata - vadhiware - ghargad sankshi (approx 220-240 km).
Fort2: Bahula
Base Village : nearest is Ambe Bahula
Height: 3120 ft (above MSL)
Grade: Easy
Did a trek with Chakram Hikers on 7-8 March 2009. Saurabh and Purvesh had done a trek previously with them and reported good feedback so decided to go for Ghargad and Bahula with them. They are offbeat forts located near Nashik. We (me and Sau) decided to goto Dombivali and join Purvesh and then go for the trek. Plan was to go on bikes from there.
Morning we woke up at 5.15am and post freshening up and calling up Mangesh Deshpande (the leader) that we would meet at the main junction at Kalyan - Nashik road we started at 6.15am only to find Sau's rear tyre punctured. We decided that Sau would take the jeep with the others and me and Purvesh go on the bike. We reached the junction at 6.45am and found the others waiting. Sau then went into the jeep and we went on our bikes. This was NH3 with heavy truck traffic and many diversions as it was being converted into a 4 lane highway.
The going was good as we were on bikes we could easily manuevor between trucks and vehicles fast ahead. It was decided to stop at Latifwadi post Kasara for breakfast. We reached Latifwadi at around 8am and had a nice breakfast of paratha , misal and chai at the same time i got to know the Chakram members.
Post breakfast it was the bad kasara ghat where it was a jam of slow moving trucks and 4 wheelers. But being on the bike has its advantages of going fast bypassing these slow guys. Post kasara ghat the highway was a beauty and I reached igatpuri in no time and further to Ghoti phata. Waited for the jeep to catch up and then trailed the jeep to Vadhiware phata and then to Ghargad Sankshi village. It was 11am now. We parked our bikes at a tree some distance ahead and took water and only pouches and kept the bags in the jeep. The route to the fort was easy and going ahead we reached the first part where there was a well with a shiv temple under the tree. Post some water break we started ahead to climb , Ghargad is a rocky fort and the route to the base is very easy. The sun was shining hard now. Post going to the base we had to traverse to a point from where the rock climb was to begin. Ghargad steps are blown off hence around 125 feet of rock climbing needs to be done to climb to the top. Rope needs to be fixed there for safety.
Reaching the point of the climb we stopped there listening to anecdotes from Vinay, Kiran , Sachin, Uday et all and laughing. Zahir , Anju and Mangesh lead the climb to the top to fix ropes. One by one all of us started for the climb. The climb was not so easy. The first patch is of around 10-12 feet and easy. The 2nd part is a little dicey where you need to get on top through a crack and holds are less, you need to press both ur hands to lift your body up. Here i wasted around 10 mins getting up and realised that I need to reduce my weight if i need to do such climbs easily. Going ahead there is a vertical rock with good hand and foot holds about 20 feet high , climbing that I almost reached the top where Zahir was belaying and Sau,Purvesh, Vinay were there. The top of the fort is almost barren except for some remnants. There are about 6-7 water tanks on top out of which only 4 hold potable water. There are some remnants of structures on top and nothing else. The fort offers a good view of Dangya pinnacle , Pahine pinnacle and some other unknown forts from top.
There is a old entrance below which there are steps ending in mid air. This must have been the actual entrance in old days before the retreating British devastated them. Everyone was on top around 4.30pm and we had our lunch on top comprising of theplas, chapati bhaji, chunda, humus (arabian dish thanks to sachin) and others including sandwich.
We were to rappel down from the entrance. The rappel session was also exciting and we reached the base by 5.45pm. Going down the sun was just setting and we went to our bikes and post everyone coming and getting into the jeep we started for Ambe Bahula village. Reaching Vadhiware phata we had a break of chai/cold-drinks and we needed to go ahead 4-5 towards Nashik to get to Ambe Bahula village. Some 4-5 km ahead there is a right which had a board proclaiming "Ambe Bahula" getting inside around 1-2 km we reached the village and found refuge in the school thanks to a kind villager who offered us water too.
Post settling down we had a nice dinner of khichdi thanks to Mangesh / Anju and Nitin. The night was uneventful and sleep came easily , it became a little cold towards the morning and we all woke up at 6.30am and post freshening up had a nice breakfast of upma/chai and started for the base of Bahula Fort. Some one from the village volunteered to get us to the phata from where we had to turn for the fort. We again go onto the highway and went towards Mumbai and some 3-4 km ahead there was a left turn of kaccha road going in. Some 2-3 km of road was no-road and the bike lurched but carried on. Some distance ahead there was a tar road! we went ahead and post some investigations put the bike into the no-road , off roading was nice and we kept our bikes and the jeep just in front of the fort some distance ahead.
Going up the fort was very easy but there was scree in the middle but there wasnt any problem.There was a water tank just from where the climb path started. We went ahead and the sun was shining now but the going was easy. We had to get into the col and turn right for the fort. Going ahead we had a tricky rock patch which was small. Some distance ahead we could see the massif of Bahula and a cave. Going ahead there were more caves where one can stay. The cave was clean. Some distance ahead there was a crack in the wall which had steep steps going up. There are good handholds to hold while going up. Going up we were on top. The top is very small with 2 dry water tanks. One interesting thing is that this fort is in the firing range of the army at Devlali who practice artillery and gun firing here so army permission is needed but we didnt have any such thing but there wasnt anyone who stopped us. We also found a big artillery shell on top which was unexploded , everyone was posing with the shell and we had group photos and introductions with everyone there.
Post that we started descending down ,the going over the steep steps was slow but we anyway made it , going ahead over the scree was slow and me and purvesh were last climbing down. We were down by 11.20am and had biscuits and jaljira and started back. We had to do Kavnai fort now but I opted to go to Pune skipping it. Took Kiran pillion upto the highway and stopped for 5 mins and then everyone came. Going ahead I took leave after talking to Mangesh I started back to Pune via Ghoti - Bhandardara - Rajur - Kotul - Bhramanwada - Bota - Alephata - Narayangaon - Pune. I took a lunch break before Narayangaon and reached home by 5pm. Nice trek and ride. But missed Kavnai though.
Sunday, March 01, 2009
Jivdhan - Naneghat trek
Fort : Jivdhan
Height : 3754 feet (above MSL)
Base Village: Ghatghar
Grade: Hard
Place: Naneghat (it is a pass)
Height: 2800 feet (above MSL)
Grade : Easy
Route: Pune -> Nashik Phata -> Chakan -> Narayangaon -> Junnar -> Aaptale -> Chavand -> Ghatghar (approx 105-110 km)
This trek was in planning for a long time. Every time someone or the other was not there and hence it was cancelled. This weekend (28Feb-1March 2009) people were enthu for this trek hence we decided to do it. The trekkers were : Me, Sau, Sachin, Chhaya, Amey,Sarang , Abhijit,Som,Sam,Vikram and Sharayu. The plan was to start at 6.30 am from Nashik Phata and I was as usual there by 6.15am. Som had arrived there by bus from Hadapsar and he was my pillion.
Vik and Sharayu arrived at 6.30 exact. Post some time Sac , Chhaya, Amey, Sarang, Abhijit and Sam too arrived at 7am. Started at 7am from Nashik Phata and we zoomed on towards Chakan where Sau was supposed to join from Talegaon.
Chakan was quickly covered. We were there around 7.30am and then post some hi etc started off towards Narayangaon , it was decided to stop at Narayangaon for breakfast. We hit Narayangaon at around 9am. Breakfast was usual fare of poha,upma and chai. Post breakfast we turned off the highway to get to Junnar at 9.30am , the road from Narayangaon to Junnar is also nice and post Junnar we went straight past the statue of Shivaji Maharaj on the road to Aaptale. The roads ahead were somewhat broken and going ahead the last 10 odd km of the roads were pure hell with only stones / mud and like but the bike went ahead effortlessly though.
We arrived at Ghatghar the base village of Jivdhan at around 10.40am and after parking and securing our bikes at a house we started off for the fort. The fort looked formidable from below and we had to traverse some distance ahead to get to the stairs on top. The sun was shining on us and it was becoming hot. The region there is devoid of any green cover hence making the progress difficult. This fort was built in the Satvahan Era and has a quite of a history too.
Going ahead we had to climb a small hillock and get into the small dense forest on a path which takes you to the top to the steps. Going up was a pain in the sun and for the first time I was getting too tired due to the sun. I took a lot of breaks and at some point i couldnt continue ahead. I asked others to go ahead and lay down for 2-3 minutes and then mustering my will power went ahead and reached the steps. Going up was a pain for the first time in my trek experience due to the sun. Going ahead the steps are broken and some distance ahead there is a rock patch of 10ft which needs to be climbed because the steps are blown off here(done by the British in 1818). There are footholds and handholds in the rock for easy climbing to the top but care needs to be taken. The rock patch will be a nightmare in rainy season though. Going ahead we passed all our bags to the top.
I climbed on top of the rock patch quite easily and went ahead to some more steps and finally we reached the entrance of the fort where there is a big water tank inside a cave. Sitting in the shade was like heaven and venturing out in the sun was like hell but we had to get on top of the fort to the granary structure where we had to stay. Painfully trudging along I somehow reached the granary. Inside the granary it was like someone turned on the AC, it was cool and shady. The granary consists of many rooms inside but 2-3 rooms are accessible , the others are too dark to know whats in it and many openings are sealed here. Its unexplored. It was believed that it was a storehouse of grains during old days and the British destroyed this by burning it in 1818 , some inside rooms still contain a lot of ash.
Post some rest , we had a nice lunch of bread-butter, theplas et all and I lay down for sometime inside and slept for around 20-30 mins. It was decided than to take a round of the fort the see stuff. We started off for that. Some of the rock walls are amazing on top and still intact. There are a lot of ruins on top of structures. On the western side of the fort we can see Naneghat standing majestically and looks amazing. The Kalyan Darwaza (door) is on the western side of the fort and is another architectural marvel. I could only stare at these architectures which were built in the olden days when technology was not there.
Going ahead I saw the pinnacle of Vanarlingi (also known as Khada Parshi) , this pinnacle is seperated from the fort and stands at a height of 415 feet. It is an absolute delight for rock climbers and is quite difficult to climb upto the top. At its base there are many caves. This must have been part of the fort before I guess (nothing known though).
After seeing the pinnacle I could see a lot of monkeys near there hence I guess its known as the Vanarlingi. Coming back I saw Vik and Sharayu at the western side sitting on the rocks for the sunset. I too joined them and we sat staring at the amazing sunset , took a few photos. After sunset Vik and Sharayu went back via the hill and I went back round to the Kothi.
Post reaching the kothi we did some timepass and it was decided to have dinner soon as people were getting hungry. Post freshening up we sat on the open ground on top near the Kothi and had a nice time eating dinner and talking about many things. The topic veered towards animals and wild ones and how they come to drink water and they may also come here. People were getting afraid now as it was dark and the wild animal talk was going on :)
After a lot of discussions, singing and debates we finally set off for sleep inside the kothi. Post discussions everyone was in a state of fear thinking what if some animal comes in. We slept albeit that. Sleep was coming to me like anything as I was too tired. Others didnt sleep for sometime but eventually everyone slept.
Some or the other noise would make me get up and check what but it would turn out to be some one turning or some other noise. In the morning at around 5am , Vik who was sleeping by my side started shouting shuk shuk ... I saw someone standing in front and it was Som but he was having a shawl and looked at Vikram why he was shouting. Vikram was dreaming of "Stoneman Murders" before this and when he saw Som he imagined that Som was the character :). Post some laughs we slept again.
Everyone woke up at 6.30am to view the sunrise and fresh themselves. Post sunrise and snaps maggi was prepared hot and everyone gulped breakfast and packed things. Today we were to goto Naneghat and return back home. We started at 9.30am from the top , the sun was shining bright now. We got down to the Kalyan Darwaza and some others went to see the Vanarlingi pinnacle from the top. Post that we came to the Kalyan Darwaza and going ahead we started getting down. There is one small rock patch here about 8-9 feet in height but its ok. Everyone came down in about 20 mins with Sau and Sachin helping out the people. Going ahead there were broken steps and we need to turn left and go ahead on the trail.
The straight trail goes to the base of Vanarlingi pinnacle and there is a trail which goes down into the jungle below and towards Naneghat. Some enthu janta went to vanarlingi and some stopped at the turn including me. Others came in about 25 minutes and we started down via the rocky path and into the jungle below. It was still very hot and humid in the jungle even with a lot of trees. We came out of the clearing and started towards Naneghat , the sun was even brighter now and burning. We trudged towards Naneghat and reached there by 1pm and explored it.
Naneghat was a pass in the olden days where toll was collected and traders used to come into the region from Talkonkan. There is a well defined path which comes up. There are some caves with inscriptions at Naneghat and water tanks.
Post some snacks of bhakarwadi et all and drinking water we started for Ghatghar at 1.45pm , the sun was burning and we had to walk 4-5 km ahead to Ghatghar. I was tired but continued walking in the sun , we walked and walked and walked and reached Ghatghar at around 2.35pm. Post some freshening up at the handpump and collecting our bikes and some rest we started for Pune at around 3.30pm , the going over the bad roads was bad now as we were tired but we did it and when I hit the good road to Junnar it was like heaven. We stopped for 10 mins at Junnar for some cold drinks and started again at good pace for Pune. The highway was having too many vehicles on a sunday evening but we made good pace.
We stopped at Chakan for some chai et all and regrouping and after that bid farewell to all and i zipped off towards Nashik Phata. Reached Nashik Phata at 6.45pm and dropped off Som there who was to take a bus to Hadapsar from here. I reached home at 7.15pm.
This trek was amazing. Nice one but the climate is too hot now.
Height : 3754 feet (above MSL)
Base Village: Ghatghar
Grade: Hard
Place: Naneghat (it is a pass)
Height: 2800 feet (above MSL)
Grade : Easy
Route: Pune -> Nashik Phata -> Chakan -> Narayangaon -> Junnar -> Aaptale -> Chavand -> Ghatghar (approx 105-110 km)
This trek was in planning for a long time. Every time someone or the other was not there and hence it was cancelled. This weekend (28Feb-1March 2009) people were enthu for this trek hence we decided to do it. The trekkers were : Me, Sau, Sachin, Chhaya, Amey,Sarang , Abhijit,Som,Sam,Vikram and Sharayu. The plan was to start at 6.30 am from Nashik Phata and I was as usual there by 6.15am. Som had arrived there by bus from Hadapsar and he was my pillion.
Vik and Sharayu arrived at 6.30 exact. Post some time Sac , Chhaya, Amey, Sarang, Abhijit and Sam too arrived at 7am. Started at 7am from Nashik Phata and we zoomed on towards Chakan where Sau was supposed to join from Talegaon.
Chakan was quickly covered. We were there around 7.30am and then post some hi etc started off towards Narayangaon , it was decided to stop at Narayangaon for breakfast. We hit Narayangaon at around 9am. Breakfast was usual fare of poha,upma and chai. Post breakfast we turned off the highway to get to Junnar at 9.30am , the road from Narayangaon to Junnar is also nice and post Junnar we went straight past the statue of Shivaji Maharaj on the road to Aaptale. The roads ahead were somewhat broken and going ahead the last 10 odd km of the roads were pure hell with only stones / mud and like but the bike went ahead effortlessly though.
We arrived at Ghatghar the base village of Jivdhan at around 10.40am and after parking and securing our bikes at a house we started off for the fort. The fort looked formidable from below and we had to traverse some distance ahead to get to the stairs on top. The sun was shining on us and it was becoming hot. The region there is devoid of any green cover hence making the progress difficult. This fort was built in the Satvahan Era and has a quite of a history too.
Going ahead we had to climb a small hillock and get into the small dense forest on a path which takes you to the top to the steps. Going up was a pain in the sun and for the first time I was getting too tired due to the sun. I took a lot of breaks and at some point i couldnt continue ahead. I asked others to go ahead and lay down for 2-3 minutes and then mustering my will power went ahead and reached the steps. Going up was a pain for the first time in my trek experience due to the sun. Going ahead the steps are broken and some distance ahead there is a rock patch of 10ft which needs to be climbed because the steps are blown off here(done by the British in 1818). There are footholds and handholds in the rock for easy climbing to the top but care needs to be taken. The rock patch will be a nightmare in rainy season though. Going ahead we passed all our bags to the top.
I climbed on top of the rock patch quite easily and went ahead to some more steps and finally we reached the entrance of the fort where there is a big water tank inside a cave. Sitting in the shade was like heaven and venturing out in the sun was like hell but we had to get on top of the fort to the granary structure where we had to stay. Painfully trudging along I somehow reached the granary. Inside the granary it was like someone turned on the AC, it was cool and shady. The granary consists of many rooms inside but 2-3 rooms are accessible , the others are too dark to know whats in it and many openings are sealed here. Its unexplored. It was believed that it was a storehouse of grains during old days and the British destroyed this by burning it in 1818 , some inside rooms still contain a lot of ash.
Post some rest , we had a nice lunch of bread-butter, theplas et all and I lay down for sometime inside and slept for around 20-30 mins. It was decided than to take a round of the fort the see stuff. We started off for that. Some of the rock walls are amazing on top and still intact. There are a lot of ruins on top of structures. On the western side of the fort we can see Naneghat standing majestically and looks amazing. The Kalyan Darwaza (door) is on the western side of the fort and is another architectural marvel. I could only stare at these architectures which were built in the olden days when technology was not there.
Going ahead I saw the pinnacle of Vanarlingi (also known as Khada Parshi) , this pinnacle is seperated from the fort and stands at a height of 415 feet. It is an absolute delight for rock climbers and is quite difficult to climb upto the top. At its base there are many caves. This must have been part of the fort before I guess (nothing known though).
After seeing the pinnacle I could see a lot of monkeys near there hence I guess its known as the Vanarlingi. Coming back I saw Vik and Sharayu at the western side sitting on the rocks for the sunset. I too joined them and we sat staring at the amazing sunset , took a few photos. After sunset Vik and Sharayu went back via the hill and I went back round to the Kothi.
Post reaching the kothi we did some timepass and it was decided to have dinner soon as people were getting hungry. Post freshening up we sat on the open ground on top near the Kothi and had a nice time eating dinner and talking about many things. The topic veered towards animals and wild ones and how they come to drink water and they may also come here. People were getting afraid now as it was dark and the wild animal talk was going on :)
After a lot of discussions, singing and debates we finally set off for sleep inside the kothi. Post discussions everyone was in a state of fear thinking what if some animal comes in. We slept albeit that. Sleep was coming to me like anything as I was too tired. Others didnt sleep for sometime but eventually everyone slept.
Some or the other noise would make me get up and check what but it would turn out to be some one turning or some other noise. In the morning at around 5am , Vik who was sleeping by my side started shouting shuk shuk ... I saw someone standing in front and it was Som but he was having a shawl and looked at Vikram why he was shouting. Vikram was dreaming of "Stoneman Murders" before this and when he saw Som he imagined that Som was the character :). Post some laughs we slept again.
Everyone woke up at 6.30am to view the sunrise and fresh themselves. Post sunrise and snaps maggi was prepared hot and everyone gulped breakfast and packed things. Today we were to goto Naneghat and return back home. We started at 9.30am from the top , the sun was shining bright now. We got down to the Kalyan Darwaza and some others went to see the Vanarlingi pinnacle from the top. Post that we came to the Kalyan Darwaza and going ahead we started getting down. There is one small rock patch here about 8-9 feet in height but its ok. Everyone came down in about 20 mins with Sau and Sachin helping out the people. Going ahead there were broken steps and we need to turn left and go ahead on the trail.
The straight trail goes to the base of Vanarlingi pinnacle and there is a trail which goes down into the jungle below and towards Naneghat. Some enthu janta went to vanarlingi and some stopped at the turn including me. Others came in about 25 minutes and we started down via the rocky path and into the jungle below. It was still very hot and humid in the jungle even with a lot of trees. We came out of the clearing and started towards Naneghat , the sun was even brighter now and burning. We trudged towards Naneghat and reached there by 1pm and explored it.
Naneghat was a pass in the olden days where toll was collected and traders used to come into the region from Talkonkan. There is a well defined path which comes up. There are some caves with inscriptions at Naneghat and water tanks.
Post some snacks of bhakarwadi et all and drinking water we started for Ghatghar at 1.45pm , the sun was burning and we had to walk 4-5 km ahead to Ghatghar. I was tired but continued walking in the sun , we walked and walked and walked and reached Ghatghar at around 2.35pm. Post some freshening up at the handpump and collecting our bikes and some rest we started for Pune at around 3.30pm , the going over the bad roads was bad now as we were tired but we did it and when I hit the good road to Junnar it was like heaven. We stopped for 10 mins at Junnar for some cold drinks and started again at good pace for Pune. The highway was having too many vehicles on a sunday evening but we made good pace.
We stopped at Chakan for some chai et all and regrouping and after that bid farewell to all and i zipped off towards Nashik Phata. Reached Nashik Phata at 6.45pm and dropped off Som there who was to take a bus to Hadapsar from here. I reached home at 7.15pm.
This trek was amazing. Nice one but the climate is too hot now.
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