Pratapgad Via Bhimachi Kathi

Kudpan- Bhimachi Kathi- Pratapgad Trek. This trek was long due. I had been planning for it for the last two years, but somehow it did not materialize until now.  A bit of research showed that a visit to Kudpan village was a high point. The village consists of three separate wadis, the first of which itself is about 6 kms from Kshetraphal.

We decided to board the Bus at Thane and reached Poladpur at 3 AM. The First bus to Kudpan which is the base village was at 8:30 AM. Me and Utkarsha asked some local guy for private vehicle but no one agree to drop us at Kudpan. No other option left. We have to wait at ST Depot till the bus arrive. We done our breakfast and Catch the bus for Kudpan at 8:30 Am.The morning shone through cloud and mists while our sumo roared away into smoky bends. The whole time went in gasping and gazing at the sudden mountain beauty.

We reached the first wadi of Kudpan at 10:15 AM.   We met one villager who offer us tea and then we proceed to भीमाची काठी with him. A kilometer of walk on the tar road and we could see the भीमाची काठी and also the Gigantic waterfall. Outside the village, past the rice fields we walked to a gloriously scenic valley; this is where the Mahipatgad range joins the main Sahyadri range. At this valley lies a beautiful waterfall from where water crashes down, carving out a gorge in the steep valley. From the same valley rises Bhimachi Kathi – a tall column of rock that rises from the valley completely detached yet close to the main wall of mountains. These were sights to remember; absolutely breathtaking!

Then we came back to the village. Villager show us route and from here on the real trek started and it was a steep climb through jungle for almost 30 min before we reached a plateau. The ridge continued up to a high point where another route came from an adjoining mountain. Here we met one villager, we asked him about route he said “Jaa hya rastyane saral..”  We continue with that route and after 15-20 mins came to realize that we were on wrong path. Somehow we manage to come back on right path.Now we could see a long ridge that connected to the far-off citadel of Pratapgad which was obscured in misty clouds. However it was to be clear day; no much more rain but endless views of valleys on either sides. The route is clear cut but very slippery and hence a bit tricky.

We walked for almost three hours on the grassy ridges as they meandered towards the fort. After this all beautiful ridge walks and hence tiring walk on the tar road after we reached Kumathe Village. The next stop was the base village of Pratapgad with historical significance Pargaon. From here we started our final climb to Pratapgad base was just about to 1/2 hrs walk.The walk through the jungle is easy to remember. Just follow the pipeline till top. Here we had to detour as there was Police Bandobast near Afzal Khan's Kabar. For obvious reasons.

After 6 hrs we reach to Pratapgad was engulfed in thick fog which was melting into heavy downpour every now and then.Due to very very thick cloud cover it was impossible to view the fort properly. We had to contend with Bhavani Mata Mandir and Majestic statue of Shivaji Maharaj.

The return ride back was mostly uneventful because everyone was dead tired and asleep and mainly Paranomal. but thankfully there was nothing major and though very late ,we reached safely back Mumbai late night.

Epic Trek Ratangad to Harishchandragad

Every trek I go to has some interesting experiences, some beautiful landscapes and each one adds to the memories. Some trips are more memorable than others and that's what contributes to my decision about blogging about my latest trek.Trek Ratangad- Harishachandragad; An epic trek to remember, an unforgettable journey. 25^th Jan to 27^th Jan 2013 this was the long weekend and I just wanted to be out for a long trek. Initially we planned AMK (Alang-Madan-Kulang) trek but because of our friends personal problems and commitments we postponed it and planned alternate trek so that we can climb AMK altogether some other day. Two days, me and Amit were keep thinking on whether to do it or not & finally we made decision “Jo hoga so hoga…Risk lete hai aur yehi trek complete karate hai.” Accordingly planning was done hardly 2 days before the plan execution. As usual, I Begged, Brainwashed and even threatened my friends to come with me on this trek (To whom it may concern). As usual, my friends didn’t disappoint me! Some went absconding, some got deadly diseases, and some went to coma! But 2 came forward! Utkarsha Sawant and Sagar Rane. My Bro Onkar Bhosale is always ready to give me a company. My Cousins Saumil, Poonam, Pooja, Balaji all were excited cause it was their first trek. We excepted at least 5 people for this trek & 9 names finally became clear and the fog of uncertainty over the trek went clear, and the vision of trek became more prominent.We catch Kasara Local at 12:00 am. Here we met our trek mates Amit, Utkarsha and Sagar. We reached Kasara around 1:30 am and move towards Ratanwadi by Private vehicle. And I tell you guys the condition of the jeep is damn poor. All the doors are break and no lock system, back door of jeep is tight with the rope. (Bichare back seat wale full time vo rope pakad kar hi baithe the) we joined the long queue in the Kasara Ghat, owing to the ghat being closed for traffic in the night for widening work. We breezed past the waiting vehicles to reach Ghoti near Igatpuri, to be caught in traffic jam. A brief retreat to another road saw us at Vaasali phata in no time, with Kalsubai towering above us. Finally we reached Ratanwadi around 5 am and Amit and Onkar were sleep and all other guys making funs around them. At morning 8 o’clock we finish our breakfast and prepared for trek. This preparation took almost one hour. God knows what we were doing…all stupid and non-sense time-pass.Finally we started our trek at 9 o’clock. 

The route was unknown and still we decided to trek without a guide. The trail to Ratangad starts right after the temple. The first stretch is full of paddy fields. You will cross the Pravara River several times as it cuts the Trail. We lost the way in the very beginning and instead of taking the way to Ratangad but Fortunately a villager redirects us to the right path and from there on we manage to reach the Ratangad. After a short climb through the forest, and Photography, we reached the Harishchandragad bifurcation. We were excited by seeing the route of Harishchandragad. We climbed further to reach the ladders propped against the rock face below the Ganesh Darwaja of the fort. The chimney climb below the entrance had been avoided by the ladders, although the ladders themselves are decaying. The view from the ladders was mesmerizing – the Khutha pinnacle could be seen to the right with Kalsubai behind it; in the valley behind, the vast expanse of the Bhandardara Lake with Ghanchakkar rising behind it; to the left, the Agni-Baan pinnacle sticking out of the Kathra rock face. Carefully negotiating the ladders, we entered the Ganesh Darwaja & climbing a small rock patch reached the Hanuman Darwaja. Finally we reached the top. The scenic charm from this point is something that is unbelievably true and it is the ultimate experience for a trekker. With the fog covering the whole land and the strong wind blowing the experience is something that lingers in my mind still. The view is stunning and breath-taking. Worth all the 3 hours that it takes to reach the top. One can see the panoramic view of Sahyadri, an array of mountains stacked side by side, each with its own character. Wow! I must say, Ratangad fort is a place to visit during those quick weekend getaways. An ideal way to spend your holidays and a great travel destination, Ratangad is one place that never ceases to surprise the traveler. In fact, it is important to know that this is one land which would give you the ultimate tour delights and the ideal place for all those who wish to feel closer to nature.

It is said that Humans and Monkeys have a common ancestry. It is no surprise that these monkeys, seen around most of Sahayadris, are quite smart and dexterous. We dumb our bags near the door and went to photography. All the guys enjoying the scenery of Ratangad and suddenly the gang of monkeys came and tried to open up unattended baggage. I guess there should be a warning sign like airports or bus stations saying - "do not leave your baggage unattended” Some noise made by the friends and a few stones scared him off but not for long. Soon monkeys provided us a "Man vs Wild" experience. Somehow we manage to run them and then we made a halt for Lunch. We ate few cookies and again Stone war began with Monkeys in the same aggressive manners. However the monkey seemed to realize that we were threatened by them. Now as all the boys stood literally "Facing Off" Monkeys came closer and stood on his hind legs and tried to scare them. Amit figured that If he stood his ground and showed the monkey that he is bigger and unafraid, it would go away. That of course was the theory. The monkey wouldn't go away after seeing all boys stand tall. Instead they tried to scare us by opening his mouth wide and showing off his teeth.  I observe Saumil and Onkar showed him his teeth too. I was hoping eventually he'll realize that all boys much bigger and not afraid. That did happen and the monkey turned around and walked away. However the minute or so of the face off seemed like an eternity. We then had our lunch.

Our actual plans were to climb Ratangad, explore it, get down, cross the Katrabai jungles, and reach Kumshet village. But now, it’s almost 2 pm so this was very hectic to execute, and therefore we had to skip exploring Ratangad fort and we started descend and at about 02:30pm we reach the bifurcation. Descended to the junction mentioned above continuing on the track taking turn to the right. We had to locate the Katrabai Pass from where we could reach the Kumshet Village. It was a difficult time getting the reference of various hills since they had all disappeared amongst the clouds. Numerous crossing trails needed to be ignored.One has to follow the nature trail going parallel to Katrabai range. Only once the route heads to left side to traverse a small hill, otherwise one has to keep right. Don't take any left! This path goes thru dense forest where sometimes you won’t see the trail just below your feet. And this is the time when we made a blunder. Sometimes some blunders ends into a beautiful result. I can say the same for this trek.  We skip one arrow mark and we lost the route. After almost 1 hr we reached to plateau. Fortunately Amit’s mobile got range and he called to his friend Subodh. According to Subodh we were on wrong path so we decided to go back to the same place from where we got last arrow mark. There were three route one goes to left side which one we already try, second one goes to right side and third one is back in right. We decided to take rest at that place and Amit and Onkar went to right side route and again they reached to the same plateau where we were before. Me and Saumil went to back in right and guess what hardly about to 3-4 minutes we got arrow mark on opposite direction on tree. Wow… It’s so relief for me. We tried to call Amit and Onkar but no reply from them. We wait almost half an hour but still no reply in return. Now this is the time when I get tense. Fortunately we got range in mobile and called to Amit to inform him come back we got the route. After 20 minutes Amit and Onkar came back and then we start towards our destination. Though, we all must admit, this path is accurately marked by directional arrows on crucial junctions. You can also see the majestic Agnibaan pinnacle on your right. You have to keep Agnibaan on your right and traverse the mountain thru to Katrabai. You have to climb the Katrabai to its “khind” (pass). This pass is at such height that once you reach the highest point of the pass, one can feel that it is one of the highest khind in the Sahyadris. It was pleasent walk till katrabai pass through that dense forest. The cool weather helped us in keeping the pace & the momentum till Katrabai pass.We reached this khind at around 5 pm  And now Amit said me Tanu I have an doubt whether it is Katrabai pass or Ghanchakkar. And this is the moment when I really feel like Chakkar. Then I called to my friend Nilesh to confirm the route. After talking with Nilesh it’s clear that we were on katrabai pass and as mention above when we lost the route and went to plateau that was the Ghanchakkargad. One thing to remember from where we reached to the top of the katrabai pass exactly opposite site route goes down to the Kumshet village. It’s zig-zag route while descending the Khind. From here the descend starts for Kumshet which is base village for Katrabai and Ajoba too. It took another 3 hours for us to get to Kumshet. We reached Kumshet at 8:30pm. We walked towards the village and after 10-15 mins of walking suddenly we heard dog bark and we followed his voice and reached to a small house in the farm outside of the Village. We took a halt in house. Everybody fresh up and goes to sleep without having food. And me and Utkarsha took charge of cooking. At 11:30pm Sagar raised to everyone for the dinner. After dinner around 12:30am everyone goes to sleep. That night no one was allow for a campfire & it was a wise decision to take rest as next day was going to be a day of long walk.

Next day morning 26^th jan 2013 I wake up at morning 5:30am. Everyone were in deep sleep so I went to the outside and seat in the aangan. From here I got the majestic views of Ajoba and Katrabai. These two are so huge that only eyes can take them in at a time and no camera in the world can. The views are such that no expressions are adequate to portray and you have to admire nature’s beauty. At 6:30am I raised to everyone.All bachha party were now recharge and fresh and start masti and time pass. Then me and Amit went to kitchen for making nasta and Masala Tea.  Everyone feed their tummy and packed our bags and went to photo session. This photo session took 1 hour.


Finally at 11 am we move towards pachanai Village base of the Harishchandragad. Facing Kumshet one can see katrabai range behind, Wakdi peak on your left, Ajoba on the right & Kumshetcha Kombda infront. One can take the broad path ahead of the school in Kumshet and follow the path towards left little ahead. One can take the broad path ahead of the school in Kumshet and follow the path towards left little ahead. After walking ahead, there are trails going on left towards Rajur. One needs to walk towards the right towards the Mula river. There is a plateau where you can see Mula river down on right. One gets down to the place where 3 streams meet. We walk along the river banks with river on right. The river takes a left turn, we follow the river till a small village. On the top of hillock across the bank is the Patechi Vadi in between at an hour’s distance from Kumshet. , you have to cross Mula river and goes straight. A broad path from this village would take you straight to Pachnai. But from here we didn’t get one single arrow mark so we had a doubt but still we keep walking straight as our research on google. we move ahead towards Pachnai. Walk, Walk and Walk was the sole mantra! Not one of us is really sure if we’re moving on the right path. All that we knew was that we had to keep moving on and on till wherever the road leads. At a certain point the road bifurcates into two. Tired of taking decisions we follow our instinct. One and half hours and still no sight of any village. Every turn round the corner we hope in vain to spot a villager. And fortunately we heard one female voice from a long distance Amit and me asked her route she said to go straight and descend down. As per her suggestion we move forward but still came to the point where three routes goes down. So we all waited over there and Amit and Onkar went to find the route. We waited for around 45 minutes but no one came back. But as the time goes I get bit worried and suddenly we heard Onkar voice so we grabbed our bags and move towards his voice. Then we all follow him after walking of 20-25 minutes we reached to the corner of the mountain and We could see the Harishchandragad range right in front of us. A few more steps and we could locate a small village. We started descend and reached to the base within a 15 minutes. Cross the river and goes to village and first question we asked to villagers is “What is the name of this village?” He said “Pachanai”. Wow… We all were just about to dance now. We started trekking in upward direction and finally we reached a proper vehicular road. This was the main Pachnaai Village. Had a nibu paani break over there and moved forward. This route is the shortest and easiest to reach the top. It takes just one and half hours to get the first glimpse of the temple atop. Finally reach to the Harishchandragad by 07:00 pm. Amit went to caves to stay but caves were already full. Then we came to mandir and accommodate place in mandir’s aangan. We ordered dinner from hotel and most of us were tired so everyone headed for the bed.The weather was good and not very cold. At night it was amazing feeling sleeping under the open sky. Sterophonic sounds of people snoring and sound of sleeping bag, cough kept the atmosphere were musical. 

At morning, i could see some of people moving with torch. This was major part because everyone had to go to relieve themselves, but not it the toilet, but search a place in open. Meanwhile others were getting ready.  At 6 am I raised to everyone. Sagar and Pooja not in mood to wake up early morning. So Onkar, Saumil, Balaji, Poonam, Utkarsha, Amit and me headed to the Kokankada. At Kokan kada, the view was simply amazing. The cliff is superb and depth unbelievable and massive, fabulous as it always used to be. We spent almost 2 hours. We had lots of photography and then started to head back as we had to cook our nasta and tea. After reaching back, it was time to quickly make the fire and start the cooking.  Saumil, Balaji and Sagar went to swimming. After it a small masti and patheticness seen. Everyone had nasta and tea and started packing their bags and ready to head back. We sell our remaining maggi packets to one group and hotel and start descending via Tolar Khind by shortcut.

we reached the base where we asked the villagers to cook soup for us. We had a lunch sort of soup drinking over there. Left the place and headed towards Khubi Phata through jeep. Enjoyed singing on the entire route. Got down to Khubi phata and waited for the bus. with this we ended our trekking part but it’s not over yet, getting a bus from here is also a struggle. We had Kalyan bus going by, but no one was ready to stop. So we tried to take lift. Finally we got a lift through a Tempo who dropped us down till Murbad Bus Stop. There was a big problem with buses over there too so we decided to go through jeep. We were also accompanied by 4 other persons who climbed the same place but through Nalichi Vaat. Finally by 07:30 p.m. we reached Kalyan Railway Station. With a deep feeling we waved good bye to each other.What else trekkers want after such a great trek???? The journey to kalyan added few more kind & lovely memories & it was the perfect end....Creaming on the cake!!! Everyone was happy & full of memories.Someone Rightly said...Takeaway nothing but the memories.....leave behind nothing but the footprints..that’s what an ideal trekker do!!! This ends one of our most anticipated trek. It was a dream come true and a delight for eyes.