Rajgad to Torna, November 13 & 14, 2015

Lots of good blogs are available about this Rajgad Torna ridge trek*. So as usual, I will focus on my experience - a rather unique one this time. Treks seldom go as per plan. This trek was no exception. Normally Pune to Pune route is made up of 7 steps / 2 days in this sequence - Pune à Gunjavne à Rajgad à Torna à Velha à Gunjavne à Pune.

Based on estimates, Gunjavne to Velha, the trek part, takes approximately 9 to 10 hours. Remaining part in a vehicle takes 4 hours. Add another hour or so rest/breaks. So Pune to Pune done without a night halt should take approximately 15 hours. A majority of trekkers prefer to halt at Rajgad for the night. Very few trekkers do the reverse, Torna - Rajgad.
For those who don't know, Rajgad is pretty much a tourist spot attracting hikers and revelers in equal measure. But Rajgad to Torna ridge is isolated. At best one or 2 groups pass the route during weekends.

* It is actually a hike but we are so used to using the word Trek, can't do without it. 

The plan

We planned to follow the well-established itinerary. Camp atop Rajgad and start early morning next day for Torna over the ridge that connects the 2 forts. We started from Pune for Gunjavne village at Rajgad base after Diwali lunch on Bhaubij. We were a group of 8. We were carrying home-made ready to cook khichadi and curd for dinner. Also, there was cooking apparatus with us which we were not sure of carrying all the way to Torna via Rajgad. So immediately after reaching Gunjavne, we were looking for cooking help atop Rajgad. We met an enthusiastic Santosh (97627 49143) at the restaurant at Gunjavne who promised to cook our khichadi using his utensils on the fort. He also carried our tent just in case there was no room to sleep at the Padmavati temple. He proved to be very helpful as you will read ahead.

Gunjavne to Rajgad (Padmavati machi)

Gunjavne to Rajgad Padmawati machi is an easy climb. The weather during Sun down was just perfect. Padmavati temple was occupied by a few other groups. We managed to get space to lay our sleeping bags bang in front of the main deity of the temple.

We started with some yummy kanda-bhaji (not bhaaji) and plastered it with dahi-khichadi. Attempted to sleep but it was crowded, suffocating & warm inside. Among the other people in the temple, 3 of them were consistently coordinating their snores. Pretty loud. Couldn’t even take the proverbial 40 winks whatever they are. Had to be content with 5 or 10 :-) that too after midnight when it became cooler.

Back to Gunjavne

We started for Torna next day at 530 am. The core of the trek. 10-15 minutes into the trek one of our group members was unwell and decided to abort the trek before it was too late. 6 of the total 8 continued with the trek as planned. 2 of us, the unwell member and I, turned back after ruling out all other possibilities. 

On the slopes while walking back to Gunjavne, bumped into a chatty tourist guide by the name Rasal (forgot his first name). Without any context, out of the blue, he told me that it takes about 5 to 5-1/2 hours to reach Torna from Padmavati temple. I don't clearly remember how it started but I surely didn't ask him this question. Why could he have told this to me? I didn't pick any signal then and left it at that. Reached Gunjawane at 830 am after an easy descend. Either gave away or finished most of the food - boiled eggs, bread, fruits etc - which we were carrying with us as it was no longer required. 

Leap of faith

Started driving back to Pune. While in the car, I started thinking when would it be next that I will get an opportunity to do this trek. It was on my mind for very long. Next month, may be next weekend?? With whom? The trail is isolated. This is not a trek which you can do on the fly. Glanced at the car clock when realised we have reached Pune in an hour. It is only 945 am and the whole of Saturday is ahead of me. Why leave the agenda unfinished then? Why not do the trek today itself?

Did quick calculations based on Rasal’s estimate of 5 hours to find out that if I walk really fast, I should be able to finish the trek by 6 pm when it just starts getting dark. Worst case add a buffer of 2 hours. 8 pm. Also, since Torna is visible all along the trail and I am walking in broad day light can be done all alone. Within 5 minutes of this thought entering my mind, I decided to turn around on a lark. Sounds a little crazy but certainly doable! 

Dropped the unwell colleague safely home and without even switching the car ignition off started driving back to Gunjavne. 10 am. This node was of highest resistance. Had I stopped to think as to what to do, I would never have completed the trek.

From LET'S SEE! to LET'S GO!

While driving back alone in the car, my rational brain engaged my mind in a duel. My mind was hell bent on doing the trek today itself and the brain had a lot of valid reasons to call it off - Walking all alone on an isolated trail, wild animals, physical fatigue of going back & forth, scorching heat, running out of time and getting stuck for the whole night in the middle of nowhere etc. Those who knew I am planning to start the trek NOW were vehemently supporting the brain. The minds’ drive was only getting stronger. It had only one answer to all these doubts. LET’S SEE!

By now, I had crossed the second point of no-return - the toll gate at Khed-Shivapur. I bought a return ticket resolving that I am not going to let it go waste come what may. It means finishing the trek and secondly returning on the same day. Return toll tickets are valid till midnight on the same day.

The reasons to call it quits were still streaming in. Finally my mind lost it and told my brain to SHUT UP but relenting on the idea of going solo. It would be utterly stupid to walk all alone for 5 plus hours on an isolated trail. So I am going to try to get a guide but if I don’t get one, plans don’t change. I still start walking towards Torna. As I was still in the car, in between the dissuading phone calls from well-wishers, managed to call Santosh to check if he can organise for someone to walk with me till Torna. NEGATIVE. He told me Saturday being rush hour, no one would be interested. While I was holding the line, he even checked with a couple of his friends around. “Sorry. Bad luck. Can’t help.” He suggested I go to Velha and climb Torna. Thank you! But not something that I wanted to do. I was well past my final point of no-return. I told him not to bother and that I was coming anyways.

There is only one likely worst case scenario - running out of time. So for an emergency situation of having to spend the night on the way, I retained the jacket in the bag. I was hoping the walking pole should be good enough to deal with the other unlikely emergency - wild animals if any.

No more discussions. Enough! LET’S GO! 

Gunjavne to Rajgad again

I was doing Gunjawane – Rajgad route for the 3^rd time in the past 16 hours - climbing for the 2^nd time. Some familiar faces - People whom I had met on the fort the previous day and the limbu paani vendor started asking me “What’s wrong? Why are you going back?”

Little after I had started climbing, Santosh called back and told me that he can join me up until Torna. He had managed to rope in someone to look after his business in lieu of a cut in the money I had agreed to pay him. GREAT! All set. The trek was mentally over. Now, only the grueling physical part. Reached Padmavati temple in an hour of starting at 1220 pm. Had pithala bhakri and a large bowl of curd with lots of sugar to tank up for the long haul. 

Rajgad to Torna

1255 left Padmavati machi. It was a rather easy trek. Plain and downhill at the beginning. We walked very fast. Crossed Sanjivani machi rather quickly. Torna looked not very far. Sanjvani machi (Rajgad) to Budhla machi (Torna) is apparently only 8 to 10 kms from Rajgad over the ridge. Most of it is a cake walk. Around half or even more than half is tree cover, so the sun didn't bother much. When it did, it was burning though. We didn’t take even a single break despite Santosh suggesting more than twice to do so. In the process we disappointed the owner of the only house that’s near to the second pass where you have to cross a tar road which we did at 245-3 pm.

Sanjivani Machi, Rajgad

Torna as seen from Rajgad & the ridge connecting the 2. Spot the Budhla machi.

As we were nearing Budhla machi, I suddenly started feeling hungry. VERY VERY HUNGRY. The non-stop fast walk under bright sun had taken its toll. I had preserved an apple to be had before beginning the final climb for Budhla machi. I was so terribly hungry that I started mis-stepping. It was then we decided to halt and finish the apple, the only food item in my bag. To my surprise there was no apple. Probably, the bag had eaten it. Luckily, I had packed limbu-paani at Rajgad in one of the water bottles. The two of us finished ½ liter between us in one or 2 swigs each. Still hungry, I slowly dragged myself up the budhla machi. Yippie. 430 pm, we were on Torna – 3.5 hours after starting from Rajgad. The rock patch was much easier than what I had heard about it. It was then I realised that Rasal had estimated 5 hours to reach Torna, Budhla Machi and not 5 hours to finish the trek at Velha. Alright! No gripe to bear. After all, it was because of him, I was doing this trek.

Rajgad as seen from Torna

Got slowly to the other end of the fort. We knew there was a shack there and I was longing to have a double kanda-pohe and 2 cups of tea. But to our dismay, the shack was in shambles - broken. No kanda-pohe, No tea. Gulped a lot of water instead and started descending the mighty Torna at 515 pm. Though hungry and dog tired there was a spring in my step. After the rock patch, we were almost running downhill towards Velha - as if approaching the finish line of a marathon.

The finish-line

I now started thinking about the most difficult part - the logistics to get to Gunjavne from Velha in a vehicle. It is a 45 minutes drive. And where would our 6 "Sahayadri scalers" who had started in the morning be? They must be on their way to Pune. I knew, I was trailing them but didn’t know from so close until I got a call from them telling me that they were waiting for me at our regular restaurant at Velha. And waiting for not an atrociously long time. In fact the last member reached just about 10 – 15 minutes before I did. So nice of them. I felt relieved to have company all the way to Pune. The spring in the step got spunkier after hearing from them and I literally jogged down the last 500 meters or so. Finished the trek at 630 pm.

My step counter read about 51,000 steps till then. For a perspective, approximately 65,000 steps make a full marathon. 

Ordered the customary Missal signifying the end of a trek but couldn’t eat it as the Adrenaline pump was still whirring even by the time the jeep arrived to drop us back to Gunjawane. Drove back to Pune. All this effort to utilize a humble toll -ticket. At the end of the day, was glad that I didn’t waste it.

PS - Read the "About me" page. Each and every learning applies to this experience. 

K2S (Katraj to Sinhagad), May 1, 2015

K2S (Katraj to Sinhagad) Night Trek, May 1 2015.

Having done K2S during the fag end of monsoon last year in daylight, the night trek was always on top of our list. There are a lot of good blogs about this trek which one must read to get a feel of the trek. On this short post I will focus on our experience and certain takeaways.

Safety: Right before we begun, we had this question playing on our mind. Is it safe for a small group made up of 3 couples only to walk down all by ourselves? Safety from animals & anti-social elements? The answer was a resounding YES from the few professional trekkers I spoke to. However, a slightly bigger group is advisable in the event of injuries or other emergency. Despite of being a weekend closer to a full-moon night, there were only 2 small, all boys, groups we came across. For safety we were carrying a garden sickle just in case we are in a scuffle situation. Luckily we didn't even have to think about it.

Scree: When we had done this trek during monsoon, going up and down the hills was relatively easier because the gravel layer was tighter as it was holding water. In summer, it is loose & very slippery taxing your feet and thighs. Good shoes and at least one walking pole comes handy. The gradient is medium to steep particularly on 2/3 hillocks. Darkness adds to the above 2 factors resulting in a much slower pace.

Drinking water: There is no water on the way. 3 liters per person is recommended in this season.

Mental toughness: Even in day-light, this trek is mentally taxing especially as you get closer to the destination. Going up and down the slopes gets on to your nerves. Earlier when we took our first break we were debating what % of the distance we have covered by now? The answers were all different using different yardsticks like looking at the tower decked by a red lamp on Sinhagad, or by bench-marking it with the 6 hours we took while we did it in day-light or depending simply on how sleepy you are. Walking in the dark adds to the mental toll. The destination is a mirage. During the last couple of hours the tower seems nearer when suddenly we start going away from it. Just slightly but this is good enough to break your morale. 

Directions: It is easy to find your way. There are only 3 rules. 1) Keep walking towards the top of every hill on your way. No traverse to be taken. 2) Never leave the beaten track. Keep following the arrows. 3) Keep going in the direction of the light house. I guess it would be difficult to trek S2K as there is no lighthouse to guide you. 

City lights: You are indeed in a very inaccessible place isolated enough to scare a lone trekker but never far away from civilisation. City lights from Pune on your right and hamlets around Khed Shivapur on your left give you company all throughout. There was blaring music annoying us from one disco source from the Pune side and there was some devotional music (bhajans) from the hamlets which was definitely loud but not annoying. Animals emanate loud noise to intimidate the opponent and allay threat. I guess humans do it for a different purpose – to attract attention. "Hey look at me, I am cool, I have arrived". I am sure this music must be disturbing the wildlife on these hills. We are encroaching on their territory. Should I still say you are never far from "civilisation"?

Lamps: We trekked just 2 nights before a full moon night. We could manage a good part of the trail without having to use artificial focused light. In fact lamps turned out to be a nuisance at times as one had to continuously adjust to the artificial sharp light, dark shadows there of and natural soft moon light.

Sleep:  While we were resting after hill number 8 or 9 or 10 - difficult to tell what number – one by one each one of us pulled out our sleeping bags and decided to take a 15 minutes power nap. Probably because of the rest, a few of us started feeling very cold and feverish. 15 minutes got snoozed to another 1 hour. I too slid in my sleeping bag. I have slept during treks but it has always been in some shelter like a tent or a temple or a cave. But this was right in the middle of no-where, under the open sky, on a slope that blew cool breeze. We could hear an animal barking not very far away from us. It was certainly not a dog bark. A nocturnal bird too was making its presence felt. The sky was clear but not pitch dark for the stars to shine brilliantly. I spotted shooting stars on more than one occasion. Someone made a wish to take us to our destination but it was turned down looks like. The sleeping bag can be cozy even when the day temperature is in the 40 degree range. The warm surface below the sleeping bag was ironing out the strained back. I thought I am here lying down half awake-half asleep for the last 15-20 minutes when we suddenly heard a commotion. A group of 4 trekkers came up the hill and were startled to see 6 people crouching as if waiting to attack them at an isolated point. This straight out of a “just for laughs” show minus the laughs woke us all up. It was then I realised that we all have been sleeping for the last 2 hours. I was not only sleeping but snoring too. Emitting noise to allay threat. Now I know why were we not attacked by that barking animal. 

Post sleep trek: It was 415 am. After watching the moon set, we embarked on the final phase in pitch darkness. We were dependent on the lamps completely now. Reached the destination immediately after sunrise. Hitched a triple seat ride on a motorbike up to Sinhagad parking area to return with a jeep. In case you are looking for transport at an odd hour, may try reaching out to Yogesh Khatpe (98504 56039), the jeep operator who dropped us back to Pune. Reaching home in the morning, I had another weekend duty waiting. Taking my 11 year old son to the swimming pool. I volunteered to join him. 35 minutes in cold water did magic in healing the broken furniture. All major pains were scrubbed off. 

All set for another experience.

"Sahyadri scalers" at the destination. Sinhagad in the background.

Harishchandragad via Nalichi vaat - 22/23 Feb 2014

I had camped at Harishchandragad, Kokan-kada in Nov'13 and since then Nalichi vaat or maakad naal had captured my imagination. As usual the number of enthusiast dropped down to just 2 of us on the day before the trek started. My co-trekker from Mumbai joined me at Moroshi on the Kalyan - Nagar SH near Malshej Ghat where we took a turn towards remote Belpada village, the starting point of the trek. Moroshi-->Belpada is 10 kms.

Route

Pune --> Alephata --> Otur --> Malshejghat --> Savarne --> Moroshi --> Belpada (Aliware) <-- Moroshi <-- Murbad <-- Kalyan <-- Mumbai. Total odo from Pune is 170 kms. We synchronised time to clinical precision to reach Belpada from different directions in different cars at 10 am.

Preparation

1. Guide: Kamludada Pokle (+91 92253 47757) is a local expert who has been thru the gorge (nali) many times.
2. Tent & food: Prakash or Bhaskar. Bang on Kokan-kada. It is crowded near the temple. 

What is this Nali chi vaat?

It is one of the 3 or 4 routes to summit Harishchandragad. Arguably the toughest. The other 2 routes are via Pachnai, the easiest and Khireshwar.

Pic 1 - This snap is taken on my way back just before malshej ghat begins on the Mumbai --> Ahmednagar SH. The arrow points to the 4th gorge (nali) in a series goes up to the right most end of the Kokan-kada.

Pic 2 - Starting point of the trek. Markings are indicative and not accurate. Kokan-kada is our destination.

False start

"Putting your best foot forward" - We use such idioms without thinking about it but this trek made me realise what it means. Immediately after this pic 2 was taken and within 10 minutes of starting the trek, I sprained my left ankle badly rolling over a large pebble culminating into a fall. It would have been a sure fracture were I not been wearing ankle length trekking shoes which almost came off because of the impact. My colleagues helped me settle down and assess the damage. Luckily it was bearing the load albeit with pain but I was not able to flap the foot so I was not able to shift my weight from the ankle to the toe as we do while walking. This meant I will have to land it exactly horizontal position. Longer strides were ruled out. My right leg will have to do all the hard work and the left leg can only be in supporting role. The swelling was considerable & internal bleeding clearly visible. I decided to push against obvious common sense decision to turn back.

There are many misconceptions about this trek as being 'very tough'. Graphic details about the injury is only to highlight the fact that it is not as bad as we read on the net. Yes, it is not recommended for freshers but someone who is physically fit and used to basic trekking can complete it easily.

Pic 3 - The initial part is made up of smaller stones. Not much trouble. 

Pic 4 - The stones get bigger as you go further. Our destination at the top corner. 

Pic 5 - First snack break at this point. Our destination is now looking daunting.

Pic 6 - The gorge begins. Last chance to turn back. You are entering a zone of no return. We had lunch somewhere here.

Pic 7 - You get tired of scaling so many heaps. The guide tells us picture to abhi baaki hai mere dost.

Pic 8 - The gorge looks like this after some distance. We heard calls of another group trailing us. They could probably see us but we couldn't see them. We responded back but the connection didn't happen owing to wind direction. More later. 

Pic 9 - My swollen foot posing in front of a channel just crossed. Jackie Chan would have climbed up like spiderman.

Pic 10 - Walk in the park for our guide.

Pic 11 & 12 - First vertical rocky patch from each sides. Impossible without this man (our guide) who could face the camera while climbing up. Note the ground floor at tree level.

Pic 13 & 14 - Rock face 2. Cliffhanger.. Our man in fielding position waiting for the catches. Had he dropped one, I would not be writing this blog. You have to dig your toes horizontally into the face to push yourself up.

This is where you take a traverse. The group trailing us missed and went straight. More later about this group. 

Pic 15 - The gorge from the second rock face.

Pic 16 - Killer climb. No better than the rocks. In fact riskier because of the scree @ almost 70 degree incline for good part of the last 90 minutes after crossing the rock patches. Endless torture. You have to pull yourself up with the help of shrubs. 

Pic 17 - Too happy to be on the plains. You can see the swollen ankle thru the shoes now after so much abuse. 

Pic 18 - Finally, our destination in within reach. Kokan-kada from so near. It took 7 hours. We could have done better on the speed.

Prakash was there ready with a 5 man tent. We settled down. I crashed into the sleeping bag trying to forget the pain while my colleague made an excursion to the temple after watching the sun set from Kokan kada. Dinner bhakri, pithala, bhaaji and bhaat was just perfect which bought some much needed normalcy. 

It was pitch dark and we enjoyed the starlit dome yet again sitting on the Kokan-kada. Far in the jungle on our trek route we saw lights flashing. Suspecting sos signals, we flashed back from the Kokan kada. They were moving very fast when we realised they are on the plains already. Bhaskar, the other shack owner had gone to fetch them without even a light. This was the same group that was trailing us earlier in the day. They had been thru harrowing time as they had run out of water at around 6 pm. It was too much given that they had started walking from a farther point than we had since 9 am. They were a group of seasoned trekkers with 2 of the 6 people being qualified well equipped mountaineers but they were first timers in the gorge and hence lost the way. They reached at around 10 pm. Hats off.

Bhaskar offered me boiling water laced with some medicinal leaves to dip my foot into. It was soothing.

Pic 19 - Spot the Belpada hamlet in this picture taken next day morning. My colleague took 7 hours to trek back there via Pachnai and Sadhale ghat. After a 2 plus hour trek downhill, it was impossible for me to even limp any further. After reaching Pachnai, I took a jeep to Belpada via Brahmanwada and Otur. 150 kms approx. Reached at 4 pm where our cars were parked to be received by my colleagues who had reached about 15 minutes before me on foot.

Late lunch at Kamlu's house, rice bhakri, fresh vegetable and rice was equally satisfying as the dinner previous night was. 

Another 4 hour uneventful drive brought me home. 

Some takeaways,

1. Camp at Belpada the previous night and start early in the morning. We started at 1045 am and the sun sapped good amount of energy.
2. Go well equipped for climbing the rock face. Though it can be done even without ropes, proper equipment like Carabiners, harnesses reduce the risk significantly. 
3. Carry a lot of water. 
4. First timers - Take a local guide. It is very easy to get lost on the way. 
5. While going from Pune, park your vehicles at khubi phata/Khireshwar and travel by alternate hired vehicle till Belpada. Coming back to Khireshwar via Tolar Khind is much easier and saves time. This way, the trek can be completed in one day as well. 

What next? AMK..

Kalsubai - 8th Feb 2014

We left Pune at 545 pm and after picking up the last member at Chakan, it was a long frustrating drive negotiating the narrow, busy Nasik highway. After a quick dinner at Daulat, we reached Sangamner at around 930'ish. Took a left towards immediately after Sangamner bus stand to Akole --> Rajur --> Shendi. The last part was really lonely, no one to ask for directions and no GPS. Reached Shendi at 1130. Stayed at Yash resorts which we had booked a day before. Decent clean place.

8th morning: Started off with cold, probably stale kande-pohe in the morning. While driving towards Bari village the terrain keeps you guessing which one is Kalsubai. While driving in the previous night we didn't realise that we are gaining height. Once the pinnacle is spotted, it doesn't look like 1646 m at all because of the fact that Bari itself would be at approx. 500 m.

An enthusiastic guide Kiran caught hold of us even before we parked the vehicle. School-going sharp kid. The other Kalsubai temple you reach almost immediately after starting is in a nice location. We met an English speaking gentleman who was a sort of care-taker at the temple.

It is an easy climb up.

Pic 1: The steel ladders are something different that help you navigate some difficult patches. Total of 4 of them. The 3rd and 4th one nearest to the peak is steep. It must be fun when its raining.

The 2 camping spots are one each near both the temples. There is a well just before the peak so one good itinerary could be reaching up there, almost up to the peak in the evening. Pegging your tents there. Summit the peak next day morning, hardly 10 mins climb. Pack up and leave by 9 am.

Pic 2: A clear day that it was, the view is 'Top of the world'. Bhandardara reservoir, the AMK range and far-away in the horizon, Harishchandragad.

The small pinnacle gives you a summit feel. 2 hours 20 minutes was the time taken.

 Pic 3

Pic 4

Some uncalled for histrionics make the descent interesting. Pic 3 and Pic 4.

Lunch at Hotel Anandwan was good. The local fish was different. We took the other route via Bota avoiding Sangamner. Dont think we saved on distance. Definitely didn't save on time..Took 5 hours to reach home in Pune. Total odo was 420 kms. How apt.

Korigad - Jan 18th/19th, 2014

Giving the kids a taste of camping was the simple purpose of this trip. So here we were, 2 families off to Korigad accompanied by Mama-Mami from Mumbai. Korigad is an easy trek for kids, not far from Pune, not remote in case of emergency, ample water up there etc. Just ideal for the purpose. The winter chill is gone but it is cold enough to enjoy a camp fire.

We had to discourage the youngest one (3.5 years) out of the plan by describing the place with exaggerated details but the elder two cousins (10 years old) were all enthusiastic.

Route

Pune --> Lonavla --> INS Shivaji --> Bhushi dam --> Amby valley --> Peth Shahpur. Our total odo from home to Korigad and back was 177, so not very far as you can imagine. After a little confusion the 2 cars took separate routes, old highway and the expressway. We reached exactly the same time, so no value in paying extra for the Expressway. Lesson No. 1.

Pic 1 - Getting ready. The white structure you see on the left is amby-valley. The heaviest bag seen in the boot is left for the guy not seen in the picture. Seriously considering an alternate career.

Pic 2 - Initial portion is a bullock-cart road (gaadi rasta). This was followed by a jungle patch and finally the last portion was about 500 plus steps. Simple and easy. 60 minutes approx. The kids started picking up firewood as soon as we started and when it got too much to hold in the hand, we emptied a bag for the purpose. Anvit started feeling like an early man for whom firewood was the most important asset. And we haven't changed at all. Have we? Even today for the modern man, fuel is the reason to wage wars, albeit we have hopelessly complicated things.

Pic 3 - It was my turn to feel like an early man now. We had the whole fort-top for ourselves and it was a problem of plenty. Selecting the best spot to peg our tents. No constraints at all. I am sure it was the same question that haunted early settlers. And possibly like early man again, we had to get the ladies to approve the location. We pegged our tents on a flat area a bit away from the main darwaza to stay as far as possible from nuisance of others on the fort if at all. But not far from the pond.

Pic 4 - The kids were super excited once we were all set up. We trekked downhill a little to pick up a ready pack of unutilized firewood left back by a previous group. They were kind enough to point it out to us. The last batch of 3 reached while we were going down. Its a good feeling when all sheep is home.

Pic 5 - The sun went out. The toil of climbing up and setting up the camp ensured that the puri's and paratha's were quickly consumed. The kids were asked a question that had an obvious answer. Maggi?? YES. Came out the stove and flame-O. Thanks Ameya. It was for the first time I learnt maggi tastes so delicious when sipped from a funneled paper dish. No fork or spoons. Some really juicy black grapes made a perfect desert.

Pic 6 - It gets chillier when your stomach is full. After wasting a few newspapers to stoke the fire, a small piece of leftover flame-O from the stove came to our rescue. It was almost full moon. Some star gazing, some chit-chat kept the fire raging. There were no takers for the ghost stories I was trying to bring in for the kids. There were spectacular fireworks blazing from amby valley. And it was fun watching them way below us. We retired to bed at 915 pm but I couldn't sleep well. The tent started fluttering vigorously after midnight and the it was too bright moonlight piercing through the tent. Till 4 am we had the whole of fort all for ourselves until a noisy group appeared. I couldn't but help compare the civilized troop of curious monkeys who bothered us a little while setting up the earlier evening but disappeared into their homes leaving us to ours as soon as it was dark.

Pic 7 - Some tea in the morning. We used the natural stove this time and the tea was yum.

Pic 8 - Packed up. The only trace of a camp left behind was a bunch of leftover unused firewood for the next group. Don't want to get philosophical but hope you get the point. I kind of gained perfection in folding sleeping bags (seven of them) and a tent (twice).

Pic 9 - We started our descent at around 9'ish followed by high drama.

Two of us lost their way and ended up in an unintentional security breach for Amby valley. Thanks to cellular network, we got a frantic call by the lost party of having reached a place that has tar roads and bungalows around but no soul in sight whom they could ask where they are. Turning back was ruled out. We asked them to stay where they are until further instructions. After painfully explaining the situation to a zapped security apparatus at Amby valley and a going thru a meticulous SOP to resolve the crisis, they finally let our car inside accompanied by a security guard. One hour lost in the bargain but happy reunion. Last lesson: Though you are in a group, remember landmarks and names of places. 

Some chikki shopping and late breakfast at Ramakrishna, we were off to Pune. This time the old Mumbai Pune highway and it wasn't bad.

Harishchandragad - 23/24 Nov 2013

Plan

It started with 5 of us. Harishchandragad was too important a gad to not have a check-mark on a reasonably decent list of treks done. 5 dropped to 3 but so strong was the purpose, to smear a humble tent with 'real' soil which was so far only used 'extensively' in a friends drawing room, that we persisted. 3 is good to go.

Route 

Pune --> Bhosari --> Alephata --> Otur --> Dont go to Khubi Phata if you are driving..bad road --> Pimpalgaon Joga (right turn) --> This patch is super. You go along the banks of the dam back-waters (first 2 pictures) --> Khireshwar. Park your car here. 142 kms was the odo reading.

Pic 1 - Harishchandragad range in the backdrop of dam backwaters

Pic 2 - Makes the 3 of us.

Start

Spent 10 minutes on finalising a guide, Sahebrao. 1030 start was good timing given the fact that we started at almost 7 from Pune and a pohe break we had enroute. We had read about 4 to 6 hours of climb but Sahebrao promised to take us thru the jungle route eliminating climbing up and down a few hills. Barely 30 minutes after the start we bumped into a group of trekkers who had started much earlier but lost their way in the forest. 

After negotiating a walk-way cut on a rock patch (pic 3), we reached Tolar Khind (pic 4). Sahebrao and the limbu-paani fellow were prompt to describe an accident that took place on this rock patch in the rainy season and what a task it was to stretcher down a thickset trekker in that slippery terrain. Stretcher a Trekker. Good rhyming.

Pic 3

Pic 4 - Tolar Khind

Rock patch immediately after Tolar Khind

Its easy. Similar to Torna.Pic 5 and pic 6. Pic 6 is a little bit of kida. It can actually be bypassed.

Pic 5

Pic 6

Jungle route

Almost 90% of the climb is thru dense tree cover. At times you have to use the camera flash for better pictures. (7 & 8)

Pic 7

Pic 8

After 3 hours, 3 breaks, 1 Chocolate bar, 1.5 liters of water with all sorts of additives (limbu-pani, electral et al....it rhymes again :-) and an apple we were at the top. Good mileage. My friends had packed enough food for all of us. We were blissfully unaware of the commercial activity there. Also, we were carrying almost 10 liters of water amongst the 3 of us. I was the lightest and had started getting a complex seeing the level of preparation my co-trekkers had done. We still decided to support the local economy by ordering some Pithala to have along with the parathas and lemon rice my friends were carrying.

After a little bit of temple and cave sight seeing (refer wikipedia), we did a recce for a tent site. Identified a couple of spots but still not happy with them, we picked our stuff and started walking towards Kokan-Kada at 4'ish. It is a 20 odd minutes walk.

Pic 9 - Kokan-kada

Its so beautiful, no wonder it incites suicidal tendencies in the sanest of insane's. 1800 feet, concave and semicircular. A notebook paper-plane stays aloft for close to 2 to 3 minutes when flung from here before landing safely on the cliff. How I wished I had a wing-suit. The concave and semi-circle is sculpted from wind gushes of the past so many centuries.

Pic 10 - Kokan-kada. Note the people standing top left corner.

Pic 11 - Kokan-kada. We are looking bored waiting 1 hour plus for the sun to go down. 

Camping

And finally the cake. We pegged our tent bang on the cliff. Just about 15 m from the edge. We were told to be careful about being blown away by the wind but thankfully it was quiet. A group of about 10 monkeys making war cries looking at us upset me a little until I realised it is an intruder dog behind us with whom they have a territorial dispute with.

 Pic 11

Pic 12 - Tent as seen from a distance

The crowd came & disappeared quickly after the sunset.

Pic 13

We were left with a group of 3 trekkers from Mumbai with whom we chatted till it was almost 730 pm sitting on the same spot pic 9. Subject was obviously experiences of various treks. The huge starlit dome was getting sharper as it got darker. Deep down 1800 feet, villages were lighting up for the night ahead. We flashed our lights to many international flights those fly bang above Harishchandragad traversing their demarcated route approach landing into CSIA. They were not very high above us as much was the artificial satellite that we faintly spotted in the clear sky.

Dinner was at Bhaskar's shack. Paratha's/Lemon rice again but this time with some mixed rassa bhaji. You can see Bhaskar on his facebook page. Kokan-kada is the keyword, I guess. +91 98818 83893 in case you want to talk to him. He comes there from a near by village every Friday evening and goes back Sunday evening.

Prakash (+91 73508 26486) was another enthusiastic & trained local guide who had escorted a group from Nalichi waat that day. He specialises this route and makes arrangements for equipment, ropes, tents et al. You just have to carry your sleeping bags and water. His wife accompanies the group and she was diligently taking care of the cooking for the group. He invited us for a camp fire and offered some 'ayurvedic' fish from the not so clean water hole nearby. I resisted the temptation after quickly realizing how difficult the descent next day would be with 10 kgs of luggage and an upset stomach. Dozed off pretty early at 930. There was a noisy bunch of people staying far-away who were pretty illiterate, English speaking illiterates at that, to differentiate between a resort and a camp site. We dreaded the fact as to how noisy it would be near the caves. Avoid weekends if you want to listen to complete silence. The wind got stronger middle of the night and while it was complete silence otherwise, the flutter of the mist wet tent was equally noisy.

Return Journey

Morning was pleasant. Not chilly at all for the warm clothes we were carrying. Got ready, packed off the tent, had pohe at Bhaskars shack which was about 25 m from where we were. Kamlu Pokla, was ready to guide us back to Khireshwar. We realised yesterday itself that its impossible to discover the forest trail back all by ourselves.

2 hrs 45 minutes later we were at Khireshwar. 11 am. After off-loading the sack in the boot of the car, it took quite an effort to walk with an upright back. The 4 hour drive back home, thanks to a jam on the Nasik highway, restored the back in that awkward position again. Misal at Rajkamal, Narayangaon was the only consolation.

Next.. Nalichi Waat and unfinished Taramati peak with similar camping. Rappelling will just make it complete.When????