In the Realm of Harishchandra

The Fort.

Harishchandra Gad a vastly built fort in the Malshej Ghat of Maharashtra is an exotic place. It’s a huge fort with many spots of fascinating attraction and many mythical stories around it. The fort combines myth and reality and is wonder of nature. The fort is named after a renowned King Harishchandra; who after sacrificing his Kingdom had sent his wife and son in south. The wife and son had lived on this fort as servants.

The Forts View from one of the 7 hills.

It is one of the most difficult trek in Maharashtra and tests patience of a person. As a goal of taking people on adventurous path, Small Steps had planned this trek from Khireshwar-Tolarkhind route.

The other routes are Nalichi Vat which is more difficult than former and truly needs expertise in trekking and lots of stamina. The other route is from pachne village. It is quite easy and one reaches top in no time also scenic beauty along this route is great, with ponds and waterfalls on its way.

Journey till Base Village

Starting in the morning of Saturday from Thane station in Mumbai at 7, a private bus was arranged. We reached Ahmednagar district where we took a turn from Khubi Phata. As our route was from Khirshwar-Tolarkhind. We reached Khireshwar village in around 3 hrs. at 10 am. Khireshwar village is situated at the foothills of fort. The skyline view of the fort and hills is visible from here. Delicious breakfast of kande-Pohe was served ‘speciality of small steps.’ We got introduced to each other. For me a frequent trekker with Small Steps; there were many new faces. With introduction done we got set and ready for climbing the mountain.

The Skyline view of the fort from base village.

Breakfast and Introduction

                      

Delicious Breakfast

                                         

The Trek
The trek from Tolarkhind is a difficult one, no sooner than we started ascending everyone felt breathless and tired. The cool breeze in midst of daylight was a relief. There are 7 hills that need to be crossed to reach the top. On the way ahead the villagers have set up huts that provide refreshments on every base. Believe me one needs them as you are exhausted. The refreshments energised us to continue ahead.

Climbing the mountain

Refreshments and break from trek

We were also carrying tents for camping; it added weight to our baggage. There are steep rock patches in between and also an opportunity for enthusiast climbers to climb them. Many of us did climb; the rocks had crevices to grip our hands. Others took safer way up. The mountain has abundant flora and fauna. Greenery is spread all over them. Amazing blossomed flowers also can be found on the way.

Amazing flowers 

Blossoming flowers

It took nearly 4 hours of trekking to cross the 7 hills to reach the top. We were divided into three groups with as usual Sagar leading, Chaitrali (also a frequent trekker with Small Steps) and me in between connecting the groups, and at the last Yogi with dawdling trekkers. After reaching top we had to walk for nearly one and half hours further to reach an ancient temple. We had started approximately at 10 am and reached temple at around 3 pm. Still Yogi’s group hadn’t come.

Reached the top but still need to walk.

Way towards the temple.

The exploring of fort and architectural Wonders.

The temple is carved from black stones a typical architecture from ancient India. It is temple of Shiv linga. Inside the temple there are 2 caves and 3 more small temples of other Gods. A Nandi is carved in front of Shiv linga at the back there are 2 caves and 3 water tanks. I have always said that the in the forts of Maharashtra   this is a major trait; one finds abundant water supply from ponds, lakes and water cisterns and tanks. No temple is complete without Ganesh and so Ganesh sculpture is carved on one side of the temple and painted saffron. In front of temple there are 2 reservoir one small and

one big. These reservoirs were also built in olden times. The reservoir at one edge has a short wall and is carved inside with different deities.

If we walk further right to this temple and descend for a while one finds an amazing cave carved from in rock with a Shiv Linga at centre of it. It is filled with water till waist height. The water is perennial in it. The cave itself has four pillars of which 3 are broken and now is supported by just one. Here the myth of fort starts; it is said that 4 pillars represent 4 Yugas of Hindu Scriptures and as 3 are over they are broken when the 4^th breaks the last Yuga will end.  Keeping aside the myth it is a wondrous cave and looks beautiful; the water inside is ice-cold and teeth chattering.

Shiv linga Cave, amazing.!

As Yogi’s group arrived; Sagar the lead took off with Chaitrali. Yogi and I waited till last group rested and had their lunch. It was around 4 in the evening. We started our journey to most awaited spot of the trek, ‘Konkan Kada.’ Walking further one arrives at a small heighted temple of Sage Vishwamitra. It is said that in that here he used to meditate.

Konkan Kada, Nature is inexplicable.

As we walked for an hour or so Konkan kada came into our sight. We reached the very end. Konkan kada is an inexplicable place. It is a flat surface and shaped like a curvature. Vertically flat and has height of about 3000 ft above sea level. It is called Konkan Kada because from here you can view Konkan on other side. A view that exhibits personified nature and leaves your head spinning. To have a thrilling experience; we slept on our bellies and looked down, and the depth never ends. The villages far away seem tiny toys like. Activities like rappelling also take place here but strictly arranged by professionals. After watching for quite some time and not feeling fulfilled; we got up and had some tea sold by villagers. The selfie’s and photos followed as they always do.  The tents had to be pitched. Sagar had reached earlier and pitched most of the tents with his group. We erected reaming few. It was around 7 pm.

Konkan Kada;Down we look into the valley.

View from Konakan Kada.

Stay and Camping

Tents pitched on camping site.

The Fort has many caves, mostly people stay in caves during dry seasons. But we had brought tents and so had many other groups.

The night was covering sky under its shelter and the darkness was underway. Torches were getting lit up; many trekker groups were camping on Konkan Kada, so in the lights of torch one could see many tents pitched in circles. The villagers set up their huts also nearby in dry seasons. One peculiarity is that the villagers of base village or of fort are of great help during trekking. They live so simple life although having their own set of problems. Sometimes I wonder it will be so peaceful to live in such villages. Well not to digress into my personal trail of thoughts; the villagers provide meal and water.

Campfire

But we had brought our own set of ingredients to prepare food, the locals gave us their utensils and materials to use. Some of us who were good at cooking stayed in the hut and cooked the meal. Rest of us set the campfire and near our tents. We actually tried to roast potatoes on the campfire, but only few succeeded to properly roast it.  After some time meal was ready. A great Masala rice was served; it was delicious and tasted awesome served with pickle and I remembered home. We ate stomach full.

Delicious Masala Rice..!

Tents lit up at night.

Done with the dinner we retired to camping site. Some of us went to Konkan Kada, it was a cool night and cold breeze was flowing from kada. Engaging in our own activities, at last we slept at around 12 or 12.30 am. The tents provided a warmth from outside cold. Keeping in mind my last experience of Rajgad to Torna trek where; I had brought a shawl with me. I was awake by 4.30 am and so were many; campfire which had extinguished was lit up again.

Climb to see the Sun rise

Now the plan was to trek to other great spot Taramati point and watch the sun rise. Taramati is a name of the wife of King Harishchandra. We were taking warmth from the campfire as it was chilling in the early morning; after sometime we started our trek. Some decided to enjoy the sleep as it was Sunday morning. The trek to Taramati is ahead of Konkan Kada parallel. We walked for few minutes and then ascended, and reached to another plateau, again walked and again ascended another small hill, again a flat surface and again a hill. This continued for 6 such hills. In between I felt tired and thought of not continuing, as the ascending patches were steep. But in our group; a married couple had come and they had a young kid of 7 to 8 years. He was enthusiastic about trekking from the start. He had been in lead’s group. Now also he was not walking but running and jumping, taking inspiration from him, I thought I have come this far and should continue and reach the top. So finally after 6 ascensions we reached top at the Taramati point the saffron flag was furling further hoisted near a Buruj. The sky was uncovering from the shelter of night, Sun before rising had spread a saffronish mixed with blue colour gradually the sun was rising. Down on the earth we could see small villages and river flowing by; hills and mountains all around us. It was the perfect beginning of the day; we were on the top of the mountain, at bottom calm and serene river was flowing sun had risen announcing his appearance, birds flying away from nest and flowers blooming in his direction. What a picturesque view. You only see such things in paintings. Well click, click and click many cameras captured the scenes, even the cell phones were out and clicks being taken; soon the trend of selfies followed and the dp’s for social networking sites. With lots of such clicks we started descending back to camp site. The descension did not take much time and soon we had reached our camp site near Konkan Kada. Taking a glimpse of kada for the last time and of course a group photo.

Taramati Point

Sunrise at Taramati

Time to Descend the fort.

Time to go; Packing tents

We packed the tents and our bags. We were ready to climb down now. Having a little breakfast and some tea from villagers, the trek back towards base started.

We reached the temple and the arched cave of Shiv Linga, from nowhere everyone decided to jump into the lake of cave, and I joined too, my teeth chattered as soon as the cold water hit me and for a moment I couldn’t bring words out of my mouth. It was shivering but after few minutes the initial coldness went away. Plunging into the water and swimming for a while, we came back. I felt great calmness after that, all the exhaustion, tiredness and aching went away, I felt refreshed and re energised. Changing into dry clothes we continued climbing down.

Plunging into the lake.

Finally a group photo, at reservoir

The descend was steady and fast, around 10 am in the morning we started. Again the same pattern of grouping followed, while descending now knowing everyone we chatted and sang song and made fun of each other remembering the moments of camping and the night spent. Refreshments were available frequently from villagers. It took about 3 hours to descend; reached around at 1 to 1.30 pm.

Descending the Fort.

After reaching the base village and looking at the skyline of fort every one of us had sense of accomplishment. Again the last group was yet to come. Until then we had our lunch at Khireshwar village same place from where we had started. After that we put ourselves under a tree and relaxed, so serene it felt.

So Calm.

Nature's Son.

Till the last group arrived and had lunch it was tea time. So our trek ended on the tea note.

Back journey in the bus was lively no one slept; maybe tea’s effect. The journey completed in talking with each other, sharing of pics, sharing of past experiences and etc.

Finally at around 7 pm in the evening we reached Thane station and from here every one bidding adieu dispersed. It was an end to great joy ride and thrilling adventure.

Cheers; ending on a Tea note.

Small Steps

Group of five (Sagar, Yogi, Ravi, Prashant and Sushant). They created Small steps to take people out from their comfort zone and give them experience of adventure. They have amazing coordination and management. Being a frequent trekker one could easily trust them with the trek and feel secure about trekking. In this trek only Sagar and Yogi were present and even though being only 2 they managed batch of 35, it shows their strength of organising and event.

Technical details:

Location: Ahmednagar district, ahead of Malshej Ghat.

Base village: Khireshwar village.

Distance: around 180 km from Thane.

Transport facility: State transport buses from Thane – Kalyan till 
                               Alephata. From here local transport available.                                    

From the Plateaus of Prabal to Pinnacle of Irshal.

So another weekend and another great adventure planned by 'Small steps.' A trek from Prabalgad to Irshalgad. Trekking in the mountains of Sahyadris has become a hobby for me now and with great friends from Small Steps I enjoy more and cherish every moment.

This trek from Prabalgad to Irshalgad is a trek organized rarely and not with group of 40 people.
It’s an adventurous trek with dense forest on all sides. The Prabalgad was built as a watch tower for Panvel-Kalyan region. It has a huge area nearly about 8 square km. Besides Prabalgad there is Kalvantin Durg with valley in between. The shape formed is like impulse of a triangular wave and then constant from second peak. 

Ascend to Prabal Machi.

We reached the base village which is called Thakurwadi at around 5.30 pm and started ascending which took about one and half hour to reach Prabal machi, which is a base to the fort. There is a small village situated where they provide food and shelter to trekkers.

The night trek was fascinating as after sometime it went completely dark and we were under starry night. The torches were lit some had even brought head lamps and ahead we went. Trek to Prabal machi is easy, it has normal rocky patches and some slippery slopes but none too difficult as the treks I had done before. Basically it’s a walk. As we reached Prabal machi everyone had enjoyed the trek and were little tired. We all started interacting with each other and intermixing into groups sharing our own stories and experiences of past trek. The village people had built a proper dining place to provide meals; as we started getting hungry the meal was ready. So the Vegetarians and Non vegetarians were divided and as a vegetarian I followed veg group, the meal was awesome; the hot rice bhakris and alu bhaji with rassa is a wonder treat after trekking add to it with achaar and papad you have feeling of home! 

Stay at Prabal Machi

The view from Prabal machi is awesome; the tiny city lights are visible and somewhere flares of certain company can be viewed. We all sat on the ground in the cold breeze and were enjoying; as usual the singing of Bollywood songs followed. Then we retired to the quarters that are built for resting. The quarters has a large open space in front (aangan), we decided to sleep outside in pleasant climate; thus we took our shawls and mats set them up for sleeping. Actually nobody wanted to sleep early many people were trolling around, selfie’s, funny pics and dp’s everything was going, finally after sometime everyone retired to some sleep and as were deep in dreams dogs started shouting around at the exact moment that we were supposed to get up (3.30 am); and everyone’s  alarms went going. Eventually in 45 min everyone was awake; after getting ready and having some breakfast and by the way thank god this time there were toilets and bathrooms near the quarters otherwise nature calls and the forest is your home..! :P.

Prabalgad to Irshalgad

The journey to Irshalgad started at around 5:15 am. One of the village person we called him mama guided us till the end of Prabalgad (his stamina was the best being the local person that too with wearing simple chappals). It was still dark and it was going to take around 2 hours to cross the Prablagad area. Prabalgad is big fort area wise and we had to cross it and then go round about it to get into the region of Irshalgad. The trek was as such we never had to descend completely to the ground; cutting across the hills and forest we were going to reach Irshalgad. It was just walking around the forests for most of the part; with in between waterfalls; but many of them had little water as it hadn’t rained much. Everyone was a fast trekker in this group so we completed one patch of Prablagad in about One hour which takes around two and half. We came across a Lord Ganesh temple and had some hot breakfast (delicious poha);

took some rest and started the journey again; and to mention the breakfast in large box was carried by one of the group leaders in his rucksack. The forest was dense with different flora and fauna around. (No wild animals but wild insects can be found). The forest looked just like Forbidden forest of Harry Potter if one can imagine, big old trees with branches as thick as stems towering above us and sunlight coming from slits formed between the leaves of trees at the top;

the anthills looked like small castles, gives you a sense how hardworking and creative ants are..!

Walking further one reaches kala Buruj (watch tower) of the fort. But to reach Irshalgad we had to take different route. Some people went ahead to see the watch tower; so till that time we again took rest.

The way to Irshalgad is a little descend from Prabalgad the route is clearly visible as there is a really big old tree that separates it from the way to watch tower. As we started descending Prablagad we came down through stone steps that may have been built in the same period as the fort. But a little further and the stones were loosely held to ground, so we had to be careful, we were slipping through the soil and making the stones roll down. This part of the trek was little adventurous and also tiring. The leaders of the group asked us to walk cross foot so that we will get grip and won’t fall down; oh that worked well many people got confident about getting down with that trick. The descension was for about 45 minutes, the trees were mostly wild banyan trees and hence had roots upside down. So it had a feeling of Mowgli’s Jungle; as we too were taking the support of those roots while trekking. After sometimes we came across a waterfall, refreshed ourselves and started again. As we walked further a lush green farm came into view from where we could see the pinnacle of Irshalgad which was still far away; but till then everyone was like “we have to walk till there OMG.”

With the encouragement of group leaders everyone just moved forward without thinking of how much more we have to walk. As it was the walking round the mountain we could chat around more with each other. While trekking we had discussions on various topics. We had one guy who was a singer and also had been to Indian Idol but for some Personal reasons withdrew from it; also he is a great cook and works in VFX; wow great you never know whom you will meet in these treks. Once a CEO of some well-known firm had also trekked with us. We further descended to a flat plateau from at the centre from which on one side we could see Prablagad and on the other Irshalgad and down there was a river flowing parallel to the mountains. The scenic beauty was breath-taking. The huge Prabalgad looked like a giant rook; we were surprised to realize that we had walked the whole area of it. 

We were on the ridge now and could straight up see Irshalgad. The ridge has wild Banana trees with big leaves that actually provided some shade; as at this point the clouds had cleared and the sun was shining bright that too at the noon hour. The ridge was also a little slippery, so had to walk slowly on it. The trees around the ridge can be give you grip to hold but some had leaves like blades and pointed spores on them; which can give cuts on skin, many did get cuts on their palms and fingers. These leaves are velvety and so you don’t realize at once. In this patch people were really tired and their energy levels had come down to 50% because of sun and sweat. But somehow to reach our destinations we carried ourselves. As the ridge ended we had to climb down for several minutes and again climb up to enter in Irshalgad area. So we descended and ascended into Irshalgad The ascension was vertical and had to climb with taking grip of hands on rocks.

Ascension to Irshalgad

Climbing a further we entered Irshalgad. As we climbed up into the Irshal the lush green farms and trees welcomed us we sat underneath the green earth and rested for a while. Different flowers were blooming in them just like our Bollywood movies. The fort was clearly visible now. But people were thinking more about the meal that was going to be served after some time. So walking further and the pinnacle of Irshal constantly with us; it was like Pinnacle was seeing us rather than we seeing the pinnacle; we reached Irshalwadi a village in the fort area. The Irshalgad is not a fort as such, more of watch tower from which the region could be viewed. Now the time for pinnacle but as I had already visited the top of the fort in my earlier trek I decided I would stay back in the village. Many people stayed back. Few with one of the group leader went ahead to the tower. Please read to climb the tower you need trekking equipment, it is vertical climb and quite dangerous the other members of our group also went till the tower and not climbed it actually.   At the top near the tower there is a Rock which carved like a gate which has a needle hole in centre and two Rocks like poles are naturally built at two sides of it. Making a shape like |0|. There are several naturally formed water cisterns in the rocks, while climbing to the needle hole of Irshalgad. The water is cold and it is percolated from the rocks. 

One of the group leader had directly come to Irshal with lunch; wow what a management! We were served with mutter “Paneer and Puris” it was heaven meal. The meal was obviously limited but no qualms about it. It was about 3 pm till we had finished our lunch and were waiting for the people who had went up. We rested till then. As the other group came we started descending and they had their lunch.

While descending the climate was awesome, cold breezes, little rains and green earth on all sides and at the bottom one could see the Morbe Dam. The climbing down of the fort did not feel like trekking at all. Descend was easy and without realizing we had reached the base village. The bus was waiting for us organized by the trek group. We put our bags and waited for rest of them to come down. Till then we watched the game of marbles that village children were playing also participated in it. 

We had started our trek from Thakurwadi a base village at Prabalgad and we were now at the base village of Irshalgad. It was a great experience in many ways the trek gave us our first time experiences like best ever “Jungle trek”.

Small Steps – Organizers

Small steps is group formed by Sagar, Yogendra, Ravi, Prashant and Sushant. They had named their group Small steps because during treks to cover long distances it is generally asked to take small steps and also for safety purpose. I had in my previous blog described about them and their great coordination to hold the trekkers together. The specialty of this group is that, it never feels like you are trekking with some organized group but with friends that you know from long time. I would like to appreciate Small steps for their time management & caring of every trekker and perfect coordination. Thank you Small Steps once again for a great experience.

Technical Details
Prabalgad

·         Built For: As watch tower for Panvel-Kalyan region.

·         Area: 8 sq. km.

·        Height: Prabalgad is situated near Panvel in Raigad district and is 2030 ft. from sea level.

Irshalgad

·         Built For: As watch tower for Panvel-Kalyan region.

·         Area : Not quite large (exactly not known)

·         Height: 3700 ft. from sea level near Karjat, Chowk village.

  

When Sahyadri Comes Alive…..!!

||Jay Shivaji||
||Jay Bhavani||

It is said that Sahyadri’s of Maharashtra are queer than Himalayan Ranges. When you are in Sahyadri one need to watch every step otherwise you may get lost and end up nowhere far from the place you are supposed to be. But that doesn’t take away the beauty of it. Ranges personify beauty in monsoon. They cover up with lush green trees and waterfalls falling at every turn. The Scenic beauty is picturesque, as if someone has painted it on canvas. Thus our journey began in these great Ranges of Sahyadri on the two Forts built by great King Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. These two forts actually began his journey of establishing Swaraj against Adilashi and Mughals. The two forts were very first to be captured by King Shivaji and his companions for life called Mavale.

Rjgad to Torna Trek Route

The Trek.

Ascend to Rajgad.

So Our Trek started from base village Gunjavane of Rajgad. We had a nice hot meal there, villagers provide the meal at reasonable rate. Trek from here takes you to Chor Darwaja of Rajgad. This route is little difficult as there are steep patches in between, but if you are up for adventure then go for it.
As we started climbing we were already in dense forest. Trees were all along aside us and nothing else. Wherever we looked we had a sense of wonder. As we climbed up, we were surrounded by dense fog, fog that sometimes even makes person in front of you invisible. Somewhere as we were climbing the fog cleared and it was surprising to realize how much height we have covered. From there the huts in villages looked like tiny pieces, and the water that is flowing like a line.

There are railings constructed at some very steep rocks, so it helps you to climb. The spot of railings tells that you are closer to fort. A little further, or say a little higher and the Chor Darwaja came into sight. It is built exactly as it says, very small in height, we had to duck to enter it. The purpose of it was to escape if enemy attacks on the fort. Also one other purpose was; the informers of King used to come through this door. Thus we entered the fort and as we walked into it a beautiful lake built by King Shivaji came into view ‘Padmavati Lake’. The lake is always filled with fresh water and is never dried out. It is well constructed and has rectangular shape also it has steps to descend and fetch water. It is advised not to jump into lake as it is deep also water is very cold.

Stay at Rajgad.

There was dense fog on the fort. As we crossed the lake we came across few stonewall rooms which were built in those days. They might be living rooms or storage rooms, purpose is not known. There is temple of ‘Padmavati Devi’ in front of these stonewall rooms. 

The temple was also built by Shivaji Maharaj. Straight in front of temple is Saibai, Shivaji’s first and most beloved wife’s Samadhi. We had started around 3 pm and reached the fort around 6 pm. It was heavily raining. The temple can accommodate around 60 people, also the rooms built in temple can accommodate people for staying overnight but they leak and are not maintained properly in rainy season. We stayed in temple for the night. It was tempting to go outside for a walk on the fort as it is so greatly built but because of dense fog and heavy raining the group that led us advised us to stay in temple only. Although we had fun in temple, we did aarti in the evening at around 7 pm, shared ghost stories which really scared hell out of some people :P, some also had deep conversation about King Shivaji and his times, it is hard not speak about him when you are trekking on his fort and staying there. There are some beautiful paintings hanged on the wooden columns of temple and Marathi shlokas about King Shivaji and his first son Sambhaji are written on it. Again the villagers provided us diner, and after that we immediately slept as next day a long trek was to be done.  So we slept in biting cold, at least I did; forgot to pack my shawl. Next day we got up at 5 in the morning had hot tea, warm breakfast and packed up to enjoy best part of the trek. There is a Well besides temple with fresh water in it, we filled our water bottles from there. Wow imagine the resources that were planned in those days..! 

Rajgad to Torna.

So now comes the most exciting part of the trek Rajgad to Torna….!! In morning around 6 we started onwards Torna. Whilst walking we got to watch remains of Sanjeevani Maachi, and from that door you exit Rajgad.

This trek is full of adventures, there’s rock climbing, descending, steep slopes, zigzag ways, narrow pathways and sometimes you slip on muddy earth Oops..!!. It became difficult as we moved forward, but we had great organizers with us; guiding all the way through. As we started descending Rajgad there are remains of big rock walls guarding the Fort. As we descended further there were steep rock patches and the view in front was awesome. You are in midst of Sahyadri ranges with mountains on every side, waterfalls falling from them some from very high altitude. After descending Rajgad you come across a tar road that separates two mountain ranges on which forts are built. Now we started ascending for Torna, but to reach Torna we had to cross 15 to 20 hills till we reached Torna,

there was ascension and descension, again and again. While trekking here we saw endless variety of plants and trees, on some of which flowers were blossoming, some having thorns, some plants had so strong branches that we used to hold them and climb. We came across few straight ridges on some of the hills, the wind on these ridges blew our minds, and the rains slammed us across, because you are not walking under the clouds, but besides them, right through them.

After sometime the fog cleared and we felt as if nature had come alive Sahyadris have come alive, a breath taking beauty that leaves you speechless. We felt as if nature was in conversation with us, telling us tales of its existence over the years and inviting us to experience it. The Sahyadris you realize are not mountain ranges that throw you off the cliff, but are built as if to guide you and take you in its arms to give you sense of wonder. While looking at its great beauty I realized how much time I have spent worrying about unnecessary things and how much can be achieved in life without such qualms and how much nature is left to be explored and understood.

We were tired after such long trek but this ridge boosted our energy and the further hills were calling us to complete our journey, to explore them and give them a chance to show their wonders. And so we continued. Every hill showed us vast amount of nature and gave a spectacular view of Sahyadri Ranges.

Ascend to Torna.

Finally the watch tower (Buruj) of Torna came into sight, the surface is flat at the base of watch tower.

We thought adventure was over, but it wasn't; now came the real thrilling part of our trek. The rope that our organizer were carrying was to be utilised and that time had come.  We walked further the tower and there comes one rock patch which need to be climbed.

Actually it can be climbed without rope if you are a good trekker but our organizers did not wanted to take any chances. So the rope was put and one by one we climbed it. As we climbed the rope we had to further climb the rocks and at one point we were standing literally on a point. This exercise was done one at a time, and up ahead we stood on another watch tower. But the trek was still not over yet. We passed the lush green fields of plants planted on the mountain, walked further and arrived at yet another rock patch. Again with use of rope we climbed and stood on a very narrow ridge. As we were standing the view from up was unimaginable, the river was flowing; cutting across the ranges at the base and going into the villages. It looked exactly like we drew the picture of mountain and river as school kids.  Finally Darwaja of Fort came into view from the misty fogs. Entering it we walked further to reach the temple of Torna Devi. We had started at 6 in the morning and reached Torna at 5.30 in the evening.

Descend from Torna.

We had our meal in the temple again provided by villager’s who carry it up to the fort. Torna is the highest fort in Pune region and in 2^nd highest in Maharashtra, it was chilling outside also the rains were slashing hard. Immediately we started descending as we had to reach before getting dark. While descending we came across water tanks, built from those days filled our bottles and started climbing down. There were railings constructed on rock patches, it becomes easy to descend. After the rock patch descend is quite easy mostly walking down. But there are 2 crossroads where, one could take wrong route and end up somewhere else. Same thing happened with us at the last crossroad me and my friend actually went on right route, as we had seen on of the group leaders going from there. But few people took the other route ended on a constructed cement road, they thought as they have reached road they are right so they signalled us with torch as it was already becoming dark. We then again went back. It was a confusing situation. But the group leaders in the back arrived and then it was decided that some will take cement route and some will follow other as both routes intersect further at the base village. Finally we reached the base village Velhe. It was end to a lifetime experience….!

We were 37 of us lead by 5 people of organizers and it was amazing effort put by every one of us to make this trek a wonderful and adventurous experience. In the group two girls were first time trekkers and the trek is actually not recommended for first time trekkers. But with the amazing encouragement shown by everyone and especially by the organizers they were moving forward; also the climate and the all around beauty of mountains inspired them to carry on and  accomplished the trek successfully. At the end they were happy about coming to the trek and experiencing it with all of us. Truly if one can accomplish such a difficult trek in first go; it would feel easy to expedite on other such treks.

Organizers – Small Steps

The group of 'Small Steps' consisting of five individuals(Sagar, Yogendra, Prashant, Ravi and Sushant) are like five fingers of hand, palm when closed becomes fist leaving no gap in between, beholding the trekkers with them all the time. One leads in front, one at the very back and three in between, interchanging their positions as and when required. They guide on every step and are not some sort of high handed experts that pretend to know everything; but interact with you as friends and make the experience of trek most enjoyable. Also they boost your confidence and encourage you. In my various treks with them; they have befriended me and now consider me as their part. They constantly take feedback from the trekkers to improve upon if anything needs to be. At the end you feel; you have enjoyed, got thrilled, had an adventure and finally had a sense of accomplishment. 

Technical details of Trek:

Cost of trek with Small Steps: 1800 per person (included bus from Panvel to Rajgad and back to Panvel from Torna, 3  meals of both the time and 1 breakfast)

Rajgad: 1318 meters above sea level (4250 feet)

Torna:   1405 meters above sea level (4600 feet)

Gunjavane Village (base village at Rajgad): 60 km from Pune.

Velhe Village (base village at Torna): 45 km from Pune.

Rajgad to Torna Stretch: Approximately 12 km.