Written by Kevin Sanghavi
The sixth semester had just ended and we all were geared up for a trek this monsoon. Nikhil and me had been talking about a trek during the exams and we had shortlisted Gorakhgad as the first trek this monsoon of 2k13 . As our friends from the IT Department had exams going on till the 7th of June and an IV from the 10th to 15th June we decided to make it a Comps Dept trek and set 6th June as the date for the trek. Unfortunately we had to submit the final year project topic on 6th and had to postpone the trek to an undecided date. So its the 6th of June and Nikhil calls me up in the evening to go on the trek the very next day as it wouldnt be possible once the rains start. We start calling people up and finally 7 people are ready to come, including moi(Kevin),Nikhil,Kartik,Ambrose,Simon,Preshit and Jason.
So we board a 5:50 train from Vidyavihar to Kalyan and as usual Kartik is late.Me,Preshit,Kartik,Simon,Ambrose board the train from vidyavihar and Nikhil and Jason join in from thane.We reach Kalyan and board a S.T. Bus for Murbad.Nikhil teaches us a game called Mafia that we play during the bus journey and we enjoy a lot. We get down at Murbad and have some refreshments while waiting for the bus that would take us to Dahiri(The base village). But unfortunately the bus got postponed by half an hour and we had to take a tum-tum to Mashi(sounds like fish...and boy there were a lot of fish vendors) and then a sumo from Mashi to Dahiri.
We reach Dahiri and our trek starts from a climb that starts behind a temple. (PLEASE GIVE YOUR NUMBER TO THE PERSON AT THE SHOP AND GET HIS NUMBER TOO,CAN BE USEFUL IF YOU GET STUCK).Me and Simon got tired out soon(Damn i've lost my stamina). The rest i must say were doing pretty well. Jason for the matter is a fast climber with an amazing stamina. To reach the Gorakhgad we have to climb a smaller mountain,get onto the other side of it,then walk around on the Gorakhgad hill till we reach the backside of the hill and we reach a baba's hut.The backside of the hill gives us a good view of the Malshej ghats where we had a small photography session. From theres there a series of climbing and staircases that takes us up to a rock cut gate.
From there we climb on till we reach a flat surface. There were a series of rock climbing from there to reach a Cave above and from there eventually the temple at the top(the PEAK). Preshit and Simon couldn't climb ahead because of cramps and stay there. We left our bags with Preshit and Simon and move on.Me,Kartik,Nikhil,Jason and Ambrose climb on and eventually reach the cave.We explore the cave and click some photos over there and move on .
Now we reach the most tricky part of the Trek. There is an 8 feet patch of rock climbing and then thin stairs that lead to the peak.Even the stairs are tricky as they are steep and small and theres a valley right on the other side. Kartik unfortunately could not climb the 8 feet patch and hence decided to wait there. So its Me Nikhil Ambrose and Jason who continue the rest of the journey and reach the peak.
The peak is a small area with a small temple of Lord Gorakhnath and no water source on the top. As there was no wind and it was getting hot on the top without water, we 4 decided to climb down after taking some pics.
Now the climb down from the top is tricky as theres a valley right at the end of the step at the first turn.So we climbed down slowly and reached back where Kartik was waiting.(PLEASE AVOID CLIMBING DURING THE MONSOONS,THE STEPS GET SLIPPERY)
From there we 5 got down, passed the cave and reached where Preshit and Simon were waiting for us. We had some food over there and then got down to the base in an hour or so. We drank our fill of water at Dahiri and then caught an ST for Murbad from there. The rain started after we boarded the bus (Luckily didnt hinder us during the trek) and it rained all the way till Kalyan. The bus from Dahiri dropped us to Murbad from where we got another ST to Kalyan. We got traffic when we reached Kalyan because of some tree that had fallen. Else the trek had been perfect all the way.
We reached Kalyan by 7PM and boarded a local( The trains were half an hour late) and we managed to get seats .
This ended the almost perfect trek that we had.
The Panaromas taken at Gorakhgad:
Still More Treks to be done this monsoon....
The sixth semester had just ended and we all were geared up for a trek this monsoon. Nikhil and me had been talking about a trek during the exams and we had shortlisted Gorakhgad as the first trek this monsoon of 2k13 . As our friends from the IT Department had exams going on till the 7th of June and an IV from the 10th to 15th June we decided to make it a Comps Dept trek and set 6th June as the date for the trek. Unfortunately we had to submit the final year project topic on 6th and had to postpone the trek to an undecided date. So its the 6th of June and Nikhil calls me up in the evening to go on the trek the very next day as it wouldnt be possible once the rains start. We start calling people up and finally 7 people are ready to come, including moi(Kevin),Nikhil,Kartik,Ambrose,Simon,Preshit and Jason.
So we board a 5:50 train from Vidyavihar to Kalyan and as usual Kartik is late.Me,Preshit,Kartik,Simon,Ambrose board the train from vidyavihar and Nikhil and Jason join in from thane.We reach Kalyan and board a S.T. Bus for Murbad.Nikhil teaches us a game called Mafia that we play during the bus journey and we enjoy a lot. We get down at Murbad and have some refreshments while waiting for the bus that would take us to Dahiri(The base village). But unfortunately the bus got postponed by half an hour and we had to take a tum-tum to Mashi(sounds like fish...and boy there were a lot of fish vendors) and then a sumo from Mashi to Dahiri.
We reach Dahiri and our trek starts from a climb that starts behind a temple. (PLEASE GIVE YOUR NUMBER TO THE PERSON AT THE SHOP AND GET HIS NUMBER TOO,CAN BE USEFUL IF YOU GET STUCK).Me and Simon got tired out soon(Damn i've lost my stamina). The rest i must say were doing pretty well. Jason for the matter is a fast climber with an amazing stamina. To reach the Gorakhgad we have to climb a smaller mountain,get onto the other side of it,then walk around on the Gorakhgad hill till we reach the backside of the hill and we reach a baba's hut.The backside of the hill gives us a good view of the Malshej ghats where we had a small photography session. From theres there a series of climbing and staircases that takes us up to a rock cut gate.
From there we climb on till we reach a flat surface. There were a series of rock climbing from there to reach a Cave above and from there eventually the temple at the top(the PEAK). Preshit and Simon couldn't climb ahead because of cramps and stay there. We left our bags with Preshit and Simon and move on.Me,Kartik,Nikhil,Jason and Ambrose climb on and eventually reach the cave.We explore the cave and click some photos over there and move on .
Now we reach the most tricky part of the Trek. There is an 8 feet patch of rock climbing and then thin stairs that lead to the peak.Even the stairs are tricky as they are steep and small and theres a valley right on the other side. Kartik unfortunately could not climb the 8 feet patch and hence decided to wait there. So its Me Nikhil Ambrose and Jason who continue the rest of the journey and reach the peak.
The peak is a small area with a small temple of Lord Gorakhnath and no water source on the top. As there was no wind and it was getting hot on the top without water, we 4 decided to climb down after taking some pics.
Now the climb down from the top is tricky as theres a valley right at the end of the step at the first turn.So we climbed down slowly and reached back where Kartik was waiting.(PLEASE AVOID CLIMBING DURING THE MONSOONS,THE STEPS GET SLIPPERY)
From there we 5 got down, passed the cave and reached where Preshit and Simon were waiting for us. We had some food over there and then got down to the base in an hour or so. We drank our fill of water at Dahiri and then caught an ST for Murbad from there. The rain started after we boarded the bus (Luckily didnt hinder us during the trek) and it rained all the way till Kalyan. The bus from Dahiri dropped us to Murbad from where we got another ST to Kalyan. We got traffic when we reached Kalyan because of some tree that had fallen. Else the trek had been perfect all the way.
We reached Kalyan by 7PM and boarded a local( The trains were half an hour late) and we managed to get seats .
This ended the almost perfect trek that we had.
The Panaromas taken at Gorakhgad:
Still More Treks to be done this monsoon....
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