Panhala and Vishalgad Trek

Fort : Panhala
Base village : Panhala
Height : 3177 feet (above MSL)
Grade : Easy
Region: Kolhapur

Fort: Vishalgad
Base village: Vishalgad / Gajapur
Height : 3630 feet (above MSL)
Grade : Easy
Region: Malkapur

This was a long awaited trek from many years and came true when i was talking to Rohit and he told me that they planned to do it on the weekend of 14-15-16 August 2009. I was interested and got bookings by Sahyadri to Kolhapur and started the journey on 13th August night from Pune.

We reached Kolhapur in the morning at 6am. The trekkers were Rohit , Anu , Parag , Hemant, Pinak , Tanmaya , Sameer and me. Stuff was distributed among all of us to be carried. We walked upto the Kolhapur ST stand which is hardly 5 mins walk from the Railway station. On arriving there post enquiries we found that the first bus to Panhala was scheduled at 7.45am so we decided to get autos to Panhala at 200/- bucks per auto instead of waiting upto 7.45am. We had a quick breakfast at the ST canteen which consisted of pohe, upma and chai.

We boarded the autos and were on the way to Panhala. Panhala is about 20km from Kolhapur city and is located on the road from Kolhapur to Ratnagiri (NH-204). We need to take a diversion from the NH at a village called Waghbil. We reached Panhala without any problem by 8 am. There was a thick mist shrouding Panhala and it was somewhat cold now. We had planned to see the fort in 3 hours upto 11am and then proceed to the route of Vishalgad via the Pusati Buruj of Panhala.

Just to give an idea we were to trek the route from Panhala to Vishalgad a distance of about 65 odd kms. The significance of the route is such that when Siddi's troops laid a siege on Panhala in the 17th Century Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj had escaped from this route to Vishalgad not before losing his able aide Baji Prabhu Deshpande who fought bravely at Pavankhind (a pass in the mountains) so that Maharaj would get safely to Vishalgad. This tale of bravery and the beauty of the route spurs on many enthusiasts to do the route and thus pay obesiance to the warriors of the yesteryears.

Statue of Bajiprabhu Deshpande

Andaarbaav on Panhala

There is a statue of Baji Prabhu Deshpande at Panhala and we paid our tributes to the great warrior here. We started our tour of Panhala post freshening up and filling up our bottles with water. We first saw the Andhaarbaav , a three storeyed well type structure and went ahead. We saw the Parashar cave (guha) where supposedly sage Parashar had meditated in olden times. Going ahead we saw typical temples and bastions on the fort. We also saw the Veer Shiva Kashid samadhi , Shiva Kashid was a lookalike of Maharaj Shivaji raje and he sacrificed his life by letting himself get captured by the Siddi's troops and posing as Shivaji Maharaj so that Maharaj could safely get away.

Parashar cave on Panhala

There are a lot of temples and lakes on top of Panhala , Someshwar Talav is one of them.We could see Pavangad - sort of sister fort to Panhala from Panhala on the other side. We saw the Sajja Kothi (royal palace of the olden times) and then we went to the tabak udyan (garden). This garden is located inside the fort and was part of it from olden times. After visiting tabak udyan we visited the Ambarkhana (granary) and some other structures there. Finally we visited the Teen Darwaza a series of 3 doors through which you enter the fort from the other side. After all this we walked our way to the Pusati Buruz from where the route to Vishalgad starts. It was roughly 11.15am when we reached the route and waited for others to join in.

Pusati Buruj of Panhala from where the route to Vishalgad starts

We started on this route down Panhala with others. The first village on this route is Turukwadi as soon as you get down Panhala. From here the route gradually ascends to Mhalunge village and onto the Mhasai Pathar. Disaster struck me before Mhanlunge. While negotiating a path filled with stones my ankle twisted so badly that I could not walk without pain. I took a decision there that I couldn't walk the whole 60 km ahead without inconveniencing others so i told other to continue and i would return back to Panhala and get to Vishalgad and meet them. This was the saddest moment for me on the trek to come so far and not be able to do the famed route. Such is fate.

I returned back to Panhala limping in about 2 hours to catch a bus and the others continued on the journey. Coming back to Panhala I had lunch and took a bus to Kolhapur for the day and stayed at Kolhapur. Next day morning I decided to goto Vishalgad by bus and then meet the others who come by the trek route.

Vishalgad from Base

Steps to top of Vishalgad

Morning I got the 6.45 bus for Vishalgad from Kolhapur ST stand and it reached Vishalgad via Malkapur at 9.45am. I went to top of Vishalgad by steps. The fort is a huge place and is located in a strategic area. However people live on top of the fort making the fort dirty. There is also a famous dargah on top of the fort where people from far off places come and pay their respects. This fort contains the mahadev temple , amruteshwar temple , ganesh temple and the samadhis of Baji Prabhu Deshpande and Fulaji Prabhu Deshpande brother of Baji. After seeing all these points I came back to the base and waited for the others to join in. However they were not to be seen so I decided to get back to the point where the trek ends at Pandhrepani. I got a bus immediately from here and went to Pandhrepani. By then heavy showers had started.

I waited at Pandhrepani for almost an hour but finding no sight of the others decided to take the bus back to Kolhapur as I wasn't sure when they would reach here as there was no network too to call them up. I reached Kolhapur at 3pm and immediately visited Mahalaxmi temple and came back to the bus stand. I decided to return back to pune now as I wasnt sure when the others would come back. So leaving a message to the others I started for home by Asiad bus and reached home by 11.30pm in the night.

Although the trek didnt happen as it had to but i could do something and the views of both the regions was too good. I will do the route sometime surely.

Padmadurg - Samrajgad

Fort: Samrajgad
Base village: Ekdara (Murud)
Type : Hill fort

Fort: Padmadurg
Base village: Murud
Type: Sea fort

Had gone on the weekend of 25-26 April 2009 to visit Padmadurg (Kasa killa) with Vinay from Chakram. This was a private sort of trek and Vinay had called me if I would like to join for which I couldn't say No because I wanted to do Padmadurg from a long time and it wouldnt be easy to do it on own.

When I had visited Janjira last time , the guide had shown us Padmadurg from one of the windows of Janjira and had mentioned that this was built by Shivaji Maharaj to wage a campaign against Janjira. The fort of Padmadurg is around 4km inside the sea making it difficult to visit it and boats do not ply to Padmadurg because its too far and only on special request do boats ply there.

I started from Pune on 25th night for Murud on bike. The others would start from Mumbai for Murud. The going was easy with almost no traffic and I covered the distance upto Murud in about 2.5 hours (184km) and reached Murud at 2.30am in the morning of 26th April. The others would still take time as they would reach around 3:45am so I found refuge in a temple "Koteshwari Devi Temple" near Murud.

The others came in around 4am and we directly went to Rajpuri from where we were to get the boat. As it was 4am we slept for about an hour and a half near the temple and then everyone woke up. We had tea at the boatmans place (Kunbi koli) and it was followed by a round of breakfast , sumptous bread / butter / chutney and biscuits. After having our fill we started for Padmadurg fort visit with the boat man and his sons.

One more good thing was we had Sadanand Apte kaka with us , Kaka is learning history of forts and knows a lot about forts and its always good to know the history of forts when we visit. We finally went upto the Rajpuri jetty and the boat came in. It was a dual cylinder fishing boat and we all got inside not before everyone got their share of fright of falling into the water.

We started towards Padmadurg , in between we saw Janjira fort , the stronghold of the Siddhi's for a long time. The history states that the Siddhi's controlled the land from the Kundalika river to the Savitri river near Harihareshwar during their rule and were never defeated. Siddhi's were basically Abyssinians (current Eithopia) and had come here by sea. They built Janjira on the island and made it very strong and controlled the sea and land from here.

One history heard from Apte kaka was that Siddhi's came by sea-route to India on the west coast. However the island on which Janjira stands was occupied by Koli's at that time and it was a stronghold of Koli's. Siddhi's captured that island with treason by asking shelter to the Koli's there and then feeding them wine and then killing them.

Shivaji Maharaj waged a losing battle against the Siddhi's but he could not capture Janjira anytime. Shivaji Maharaj built Padmadurg to keep a check on Siddhi as he could not let Siddhi rule with oppression. Padmadurg was built around 1675 by Daulatkhan (an architect) and was in the control of Marathas until 1698 when Siddhi captured it and ruled it until the end.

The main fort of Padmadurg

The boat was rocking and we were approaching Padmadurg. The fort is divided into 3 parts. The main fort , the padkot (or the supporting fort) and the retaining wall of the fort. We reached Padmadurg and got off , the boat was rocking strongly as high tide was setting in and we got down with difficulty.

The sea door (darya darwaza) of Padmadurg

We came to the door of Padmadurg known as Darya Darwaza (or the door facing the sea). We could see what the sea had made of Padmadurg by lashing its waves on the structure but the cementing material keeps the wall still intact after so many centuries. We went around the fort to the main door and to the padkot where Apte kaka read out a letter from Shivaji Maharaj to Jivaji Vinayak who was responsible for providing logistics for building Padmadurg. The fort of Padmadurg is still in somewhat intact condition.

The padkot of Padmadurg

The main fort of Padmadurg (inside)

The route to top of one of the bastions of Padmadurg

We then saw the retaining wall (the 3rd part of the fort) which has withstood the ravages of the sea and protects against lashing waves. There are some barracks in here constructed by the indian customs dept who had their base here until some years ago. We then went inside the main fort area. The fort area consists of many structures and 3 water tanks and some store rooms.We made a round of the inside of the fort first and then went to the top bastions. There were a lot of cannons lying around the fort, a total of 47 in rusted state. This showed how the protection of the fort was carried out.

After visiting almost all parts of the fort and post some photosessions we started back our return journey. The return journey was uneventful and we came back safely to Rajpuri. We then started off towards Samrajgad , a relatively unknown fort built by Samraj Pant the lieutanent of Shivaji Maharaj. This fort was built to carry out planning of the campaign of the capture of Janjira which was never done. This fort fell to the Siddhi's in 1675 and that was the end of the Janjira campaign.

Part of retaining wall of Samrajgad

There is a small double wall showing that Samrajgad existed sometime at this place. From the top we can clearly see Janjira to the left and Padmadurg to the right. No notable structures exist on the top. After doing Samrajgad we came down to the base village of Ekdara and started to Murud for lunch at Patil's inn. After a sumptous lunch of konkani delicacies we started back. The others planned to do Revdanda fort but I planned to return home fast as I was on bike so started back at 2.30pm and reached back home by 5.30pm.

Nice trip and trek. Great history.

Purandhar - Vajragad Trek

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.

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.

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.

Chavand - Shivneri Trek

Fort1: Chavand
Base village: Chavand
Height : 3490 ft (above MSL)
Grade : Easy

Fort2: Shivneri
Base village: Junnar
Height: 3500 ft (above MSL)
Grade: Very Easy

One thing I have learnt - never plan with people. Either they fizzle out or have some reason not to come on trek. This trek was no different. I had planned to go with Vik because Deep was not there. Purvesh and Saurabh were going to Ankai-Tankai and Hadbi chi shendi.

Morning I receive a call from Vik , he's not coming. I was angry for a moment but then realized that he must have a strong reason not to come. So undeterred , I started out all alone for the trek. The initial plan was to do Chavand and Hadsar but when I reached Junnar I realized that they are way away from each other so I decide to do Chavand first.

The bike ride upto Junnar was ok on the 2-lane Nashik Highway and then the turn from Narayangaon to Junnar. Went ahead to the road towards Ghatghar after confirming with sau on which road to go over phone , some distance ahead the road deteriorated. Was broken in many places and was being laid at many. However I chugged on. Some distance ahead I could see a hill to my right but I couldnt figure out if it was a fort , Sau had said the same thing, watch out for a hill to the right.

I went some distance ahead on the road and saw a board Chavand to the right , so entered right and ahead went into the village. Post enquiry I parked my bike at a place near some houses and started on the trek. Initially the trek winds up over a small hill and goes ahead from where I could see the iron railings on the rock cut steps. Reached that place and went up on the steps.

Steps are pretty steep but thanks to the railings we can hold and go up. Once up there is a small cannon on the steps which juts out and going ahead there is a plateau from where I could see the fort walls and more steps going up. Walking up the steps is tiring but once you reach the top the tiredness goes away and the eagerness comes in to explore the unknown ahead on top.

The main door is well hidden and intact. Post some photos entered the fort. There are a lot of ruins on top and steps still surviving. Going ahead I saw two trekkers from Talegaon who initiated a conversation with me and we exchange pleasantaries and went ahead. The views from top are amazing.

Going some distance ahead I saw the coolest sight , 7 water tanks arranged near each other full of water. Nice view. Taking some photos moved towards the other end of the fort. Nothing much , all barren top. Many water tanks. Made a move to goto the top end of the fort where there is a temple. The route to the top is pretty good but dont missed the main trail , the bushes are very pricky on the sides and stick to your clothes and may bruise you.

The temple is a small one with some remnants on its sides and a small idol of devi inside it. Post darshan I climbed down the hillock by a non conventional way and had a bad time in between the bushes but anyhow came down fast. I reached the door side once again. Post some photos and some lunch which my aunty had given and some self timer shots because I was alone started down to the village.

It was around 1pm now and the heat was searing , post some slips on the scree I came down safely into the village and to my bike and started back to Junnar. Gave lift to an old man enroute who had to go to a village around 5 km ahead. Going ahead I saw the Shivneri fort again so I thought why not visit it too so that this part will be done now.

At the Shivaji statue in Junnar I took the right and went ahead on the route to Shivneri. Shivneri is the birthplace of the great Maratha warrior , Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. Post some ghat road I reached the entrance and parked my bike.

The time read 1.30pm and it was very hot now. The initial climb onto the steps was torturous but I anyway made it to the main door and ahead it was flat plain walk for sometime. Going ahead more steps and stuff later reached the top of the fort. Looked like many people had come being a sunday and a weekend.

The top of the fort is renovated now leaving all old structures as it is and new pathways have been reconstructed. There is a new structure for a light and sound show on top. The water tanks Ganga and Jamuna are awesome and have amazing cool water. The heat on top was unbearable thanks to the sun beating down but however i went ahead.

Going ahead I came across the birthplace of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. This place is well known and seen by almost everyone in their history books. This place has a special aura around it. Something mysterious. Entering the building there is a narrow alley to get to the top where there is a small room and a balcony. Coming down just in front of the entrance there is a locked room , supposedly the place where the legend was born. I became emotional at this place. This is the place where the great warrior was born and spent his initial years.

Post that I went to see the kadelot tok where prisoners , thieves , murderers were pushed down the cliff as a punishment. The view from there is indeed heartstopping. Coming back , I came back to the parking took my bike. The heat had taken a toll on me now. Riding the bike and getting hit with some air gave some relief.

Started at around 3pm from there and post joining the highway reached home by 5pm. Nice day and nice trek indeed.

Rohida aka Vichitragad Trek

Fort: Rohida aka Vichitragad aka Binicha Killa
Height : 3650 ft (above MSL)
Base village : Mankarwadi / Bajarwadi (near Bhor)
Grade : Easy

Deepak and me were deciding on a 1 day trek to some good place and we instantly said "Rohida". Rohida is a fort near Bhor and a nice one day trek. So it was decided we leave at 6am from Pune on 15th Feb 2008 and do the trek.


Started at 5.40am from home and picked up Deepak at IT park near Bopodi and went ahead to his friends room at Swargate. Vikas (Deepak's friend) joined in here and Tushar (old acquaintance from the VOF trek) too joined in. So me and Deep on my bike and Tushar and Vikas on Tushar's bike.

Tushar wanted cash so he was searching for an ATM but we didnt get any until Katraj and there we learnt that the old Katraj ghat was under repairs so we had to take the new bypass and backtrack upto the new bridge and ahead via the new Katraj tunnel. So off we went. The morning was chilly but not very much.

Going ahead and making good time we refueled and stopped at Natraj for breakfast. Breakfast was good with tea and I was full. Starting ahead we reached Kapurhol (the turn to Balaji temple) and turned towards Bhor (leaving the NH4 just after the HP petrol pump) and then we reached Bhor in about 20 mins. Wading through bad roads and narrow bylanes in Bhor we arrived at Shivaji Chowk from where we had to take the road to Mandhardevi enroute Mankarwadi the base village of Rohida.

Going ahead about 6 km there is a turn to the right through an arch clearly specifying Rohida 5km. The roads here are good. In some time we could see Rohida from the back, looked imposing now, post some photos went ahead. We passed Bajarwadi. Going ahead we found a small bus-stop for Mankarwadi and turned left from here , there are signboards here for Rohida fort.

Going in the village we kept our bikes at a villagers place. We also found out that there is ample place to sleep there in the temple if need be and we do a night trek.

We started climbing keeping the fort in the front , there is a clear path to climb up. After some distance we need to climb up a small hillock, do not climb from the side, make it on top of the hillock. We could see the front fortifications and the front door clearly now and the bastions on either side. Continuing ahead over loose stones and scree we reached the main door.

Most of the fort walls are gone but the bastions remain. The Raireshwar trust is rebuilding this fort with donations from many people to restore it to its past glory and also making people knowledgeable by distributing small books (Rs.10 each) about the history and stuff. Going inside the first door we found a second higher door ahead. The 2nd door is intact and has some carvings.

Entering the 2nd door and taking a right we can see the 3rd door and then we enter the fort. There is a flag fluttering bang in front of the door ahead. The 3rd door has some inscriptions on top of it.

Going ahead we have a board giving some information about the fort , on the left there is the Rohideshwar temple. Work is going on here to restore it and also create a garden in front and construct rooms on top to woo tourists. The area on top of the fort is quite small.

There are in total around 6-7 water tanks on the top but none of them is potable. All have green algae moss cover on top of them. On top it takes a max of 30 mins to roam about. Having done that and post some photos we came to the temple had darshan and came back to the 2nd door at about 11am to have some snacks. Post that we started climbing down to the base.

The climb down was uneventful and the sun had started burning but we made it in good time about 30 mins to the base and sat for some time had some more snacks and started for home at about 12.15pm.

Reached home about 3pm after having lunch on the way. Nice ideal 1 day trek!

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.

Kavlya Trek

Fort: Kavlya
Place: Varanda Ghat
Base village: None
Height : ??
Grade : Easy

Me,Sau,Chaitanya,Deepak,Purvesh,Shailesh,Sharayu,Bhavin,Deepak ,Pankaj did this trek on 9th Nov 2008. Kavlya is a virtually unknown fort on top of the Varanda Ghat some 33 km from Mahad and 80km from Bhor. Last time when I did a ride on the ghats I spotted the Bhagwa flag on top of this hill and asked the locals there as to whether this was Kavlya and they said YES, I had known of the existence of the fort but didn't know its location , now that I knew we decided on a trek to the fort and add it to our existing fort list !

The initial planning by me of the timings was like , we would be able to complete the climb (initial) in 20 mins and time to view around would take around 1 hour and back to the base in about 2 hours and back to Pune by 2pm but that was not to be , read on.

We started from Pune at around 7am post meeting everyone at different points and then a fiasco on the road to the new Katraj tunnel with truckies who with double the load trying to overtake another truck at speeds of 20kmph and blocking the fast lane , they never learn.

Post that it was fun riding on NH4 over the smooth tarmac and broad roads. Stopped at Natraj as everyone was showing signs of hunger, had a nice breakfast of upma and tea and post some entertaining photosessions from Chaitu, Saurabh, Deepak and some timepass left ahead.

Reached Kapurhol (from where we turn to Bhor) in no time. Found out that the others stopped just ahead of the turn as they were unsure as to whether this was the turn or not , and I confirmed that this indeed was the turn to Bhor , as there isn't any sign board on the NH to tell this people do get confused. Got onto the 2 laned road to Bhor and went ahead , roads were good. Entered Bhor at around 8.30am and there was road work going on , asked everyone to follow me as we were to pass via the city and one missed turn could cause confusions, and the last thing we wanted was lost bikers trying to find out the way...:)

The city road was empty in the early hours so we managed to get smoothly out of the city and touched the road to Mahad which was to take us to the Varanda ghat. The roads out of the city were also good for about 5-6 km before the bad roads started , bad as in typical country roads with potholes greater than tarmac, this reduced our speeds but it was not so bad. Amidst cool views of the backwaters of the Nira we went ahead and touched the ghat, the ghat ride was uneventful with good roads and nice twisties beckoning.



We made good time and reached the point on top of the ghat at around 10.15am and stopped for the others to come in. In the meantime ordered chai and bhaji from the stalls there. Others came in 10 mins and we waited for Purvesh who was to come in from Mumbai via the NH-17 and Mahad. Everyone had their share of tea and bhajis and vada paav and post enquiries we set for the fort. It was 11am , the schedule already screwed :)



We got onto the path , thankfully the sun was shining from the opposite direction so we had nice shade all the way but the path was very slippery and sloping downward, but not so dangerous. It was a nice payvaat all the way , we reached the top of the fort in about 20mins and then I realized that the fort expanse on top was way too huge to be completed in 1 hours time. Post some photo sessions on a rock at the extreme end. The fort top is covered with knee lenght grass and 6-7 feet tall karvi bushes.


We went to the right side of the fort , climbed via the payvaat via thick bushes and went ahead towards the extreme end of the fort, passing remnants of some old structures and finally reached the extreme end of the fort which had a bastion and a flag. Post some photosessions , I went towards the other end from there to just explore as in what is there but didnt find anything of interest so came back. Had nice lunch of theplas and thaali peeth thanks to Purvesh and Sharayu and we started back. The sun was at its peak and we felt the heat , in the middle me , Chaitanya and Bhavin slided down over a particularly steep stretch of descent , me for the sheer fun of it did it.





Reached back to the place of descent from the fort , Purvesh,Sharayu,Sau and Deepak decided to try the difficult left hill part and we decided to stay put and climb down as we didnt want to try stuff in the sun that is. We started climbing down and got onto the narrow path , slipping and struggling over scree we made it down to the road and to the stall and gorged on glasses and glasses of nimbu sarbat and taak and waited for the others to return. The time read 2.30pm and we needed to start fast for home. The others came in by 2.45pm including the adventurous bunch and then they had their share of nimbu sarbat and taak and bhajis.

We finally started back at 3.15pm parting with Purvesh who had to go via Mahad to Mumbai and we started back for Pune via Bhor. The ride back was uneventful with stops at the back water views of the Nira and photos with Sharayu deciding to let her legs in water at a bridge and enjoy the coolness. We hit the NH-4 via Bhor at 6pm and came home by 7.45pm thoroughly exhausted with the riding. Nice trek!!

Sagargad

Fort: Sagargad
Height: 1357 feet (above MSL)
Grade : Easy
Base village: Khandale
Region: Raigad

Missed posting this one from a long time. This was done on June 8th 2008. Myself, Vindya, Addy and Anup did this trek. Pune was as usual climate with the rains just set in with an occasional drizzle or two or drizzling throughout the day.

The monsoons just started so we thought we should do some trek and zeroed in on Sagargad a fort near Alibag. We were expecting heavy showers to hit us there so that we would enjoy the trek thoroughly and we got lucky later!

We started in the morning at 7am in a hired Sumo with Vindy, Anup and Addy picking me up at Chinchwad and we sped towards Khopoli. We took the e-way and stopped at a food mall enroute to have breakfast. Done that we started again. The climate was humid with occasional rains here and there but not much.

We turned off at Khopoli towards Pen and Alibag and went ahead. The roads were quite good all the way. Finally we crossed Pen and got onto the road connecting to Alibag and crossed the NH-17 turn at Vadkhal and went ahead.

There is a toll road ahead here and the road is OK-OK. There was no sign of rain here too but the clouds seemed looming , a sign of rain but when!

We finally reached near Khandale village near Alibag from where to the turn to the fort goes in. We went into the village and went ahead via a kutcha road and ahead. We could see a big waterfall there at a distance. This place also houses the Siddheshwar Math.

We finally got off our vehicle and went ahead on the path to find the steps that lead to the Siddeshwar Math and Sagargad Machi (village) and finally Sagargad ahead. The climb was uneventful but the humidity was at its peak and we were profusely sweating and due to that it made the climb tiring. Anup as usual was the ben johnson and sprinted ahead.

We stopped in between to view the nature around and after having some water to drink we went ahead. Some distance ahead we could see Sagargad Machi a small village at the base of the fort.
We could see Anup also waiting for us. We went ahead from here asking the path to a villager and came across a path via slush and mud. It started raining here.

The rain came down in torrents and went away as soon as it had come. We took the steep path ahead and reached some point where there were some stones indicating the fort entrance or something. Stopping here we took photos and followed the path ahead which got us onto some section of the fort maybe the initial part, we followed another path ahead and went ahead via a narrow ledge like path with a steep fall on the right side. Going ahead we came across a plateau and heard sounds of toads and frogs on top. We could see a huge pool of water formed there and toads were creating a racket there!

We could see the walls of the fort clearly from here and one of the doors of the fort. We could also find karwandache jhaad here and took fancy to it as we all liked it , Anup was collecting them for taking them home and we were eating the fruit like they were peanuts. Going some more distance ahead we went into the fort via a beaten down path and got onto the top. We could see a small temple on top and some remnants of the wada on the fort. There was heavy cloud cover on top of the fort with the rain falling in torrents in between. We went to (or rather thought) to most of the parts of the fort and came to a place which had tree cover and had a great lunch brought by us - discussing stuff of interest while having lunch. Finally winding up we started back down , missing one path while coming down but finally coming back to the plateau and then the path down.

We missed one path and went ahead and Anup took another route, realizing something amiss we called out to Anup who said he was on the right path so we went there and followed him down and we finally reached Sagargad machi and washed ourselves in the stream which had formed there and started to go down there. At a distance we could see the sea as the clouds had parted for sometime.

We came down without incident in about 30mins came to our vehicle and after a change of clothes started back home. We stopped at Vadkhal for some snacks and came home by 8pm.

Nice monsoon trek drenched to the skin!

Malhargad aka Sonori

Fort: Malhargad aka Sonori
Height: 3166 feet (above MSL)
Grade: Easy
Base Village : Sonori (near Saswad)

Thought of going to Malhargad this weekend(27th Sep 2008). Had got the route info from Vindy and thought would visit it anyways. Friday night was as usual fun with a movie at esquare and coming back to a friends home slept in the morning at 2am or so. Had to wake up around 6.30 to start from there!

Morning the alarm sounded but i put it to off and went to sleep again. Some time later I woke up oblivious to the fact that I had to go so saw the time and it read 7.20am. Freshened up and bidding adieu to my friend started towards Saswad.

The route read Baner - Pune Camp - Kondhwa - Bopdev ghat - Saswad. Crossing the Bopdev ghat went down and went on towards Saswad. In the middle I was somewhat confused as to whether the turn for the fort is immediately post Bopdev or what as I didnt see Vindy's mail thoroughly as I could see some hill which resembled a fort :) , so when I was around 2km from Saswad called up Vindy to confirm and he told me that I needed to go into Saswad and get onto the road which goes to Hadapsar and had to turn off right at Dive village and continue thereafter. So there were 2 ways to saswad from Pune , one via the Dive ghat and one via the Bopdev ghat and I had to go to the dive ghat road towards Pune after coming into Saswad.

I reached Saswad around 9.15am and as didnt have anything from the morning had a great breakfast of misal and chai at a hotel in Saswad. Saswad seemed like a small quiet town.

Finally satisfied went out and paid the bill and asked the hotel owner about the road to Dive Ghat and was promptly directed to a left turn ahead at the chowk. Took the bike and turned left from there and went ahead crossing the Saswad ST bus stand and ahead. Around 2-3 km ahead found the board for Dive and the primary school which Vindy had talked about where i had to take a right for the village Sonori. Got onto a bad road and went ahead and asked a local there about Sonori who said it was ahead so I convinced I was on the right road rumbled on ahead.

The road turned from bad to worse but I kept good pace and entered Sonori village and could see the fort at a distance. The fort being small in height isnt visible until you enter the village so I went ahead passing the Sardar Panse wada in between and going ahead on a kutcha road finally could see the fort in front of me. I decided to park my bike at some point and having locked it securely went ahead.

Took out my DSLR and started shooting the fort first. The climb was uneventful and it took all of 15 mins for me to get to the top via a broken part of the wall. Most of the fort walls are intact but majority of them have crumbled and fallen. I traversed the periphery of the fort and saw that the fort had 2 levels , one the outer and the second the inner higher level. I went round and saw the Mahadarwaza and the other door.

I entered the 2nd higher level of the fort and saw there were 2 temples there. One of Lord Shiva with a Shivaling and the other of some God I couldnt identify , maybe Kaalbhairav or something. Not sure. The temple's have been maintained by the locals in good shape. There is nothing much to see on top of the fort other than this and some dry wells :)

The mahadarwaza is a nice piece of architecture like other forts and the view from the top is cool with green everywhere with water bodies in between attributed to the rainfall that was active a few days ago. Now the weather was clear.

Finally done with the fort I started the climb down from the other side of the fort near the door and down going fast and coming down in like 6-7 minutes and got to my bike. The area near the fort is quite barren and occasional small flowers nothing apart from that.

Coming down took my bike and started back. Stopped at the Sardar Panse wada the outer walls of which are intact. Took a look inside, it has a crumbled wada in it and an old temple. There is a small field inside the wada now :)

Getting back was not a problem now as I reached the highway back and came into Pune via the Dive ghat which is a cool ghat with amazing twisties. Finally entered pune and into bad traffic (as usual) and came home by 2pm.

A nice small trek there!

Photos at : http://picasaweb.google.co.in/jayaramk1983/Malhargad?authkey=r2D8QsNibwE