Wednesday 24 September 2014

Mesmerising Trek to Bhimashankar via Shidi Ghat with YatriSahyadri

Hello Folks...

Since Time has permitted... i am hereby going ahead with one of the Memorable Treks with my Group - YATRISAHYADRI. I really feel "Proud" to be an Active Member of such a Magnificent Group. 
YatriSahyadri has and will always strive to preserve NATURE at any cost.

Going back to 2010, A Trek was announced for Bhimashankar. Fortunately the rains had taken a break, but little drizzle was ongoing.
we started from Dadar towards Karjat by the "Last local to Karjat". Participants boarded the train as per their convenience.
we reached Karjat (KJT) at around 3.00am. moved towards the KJT ST Depot nearby. took rest for about 2 hrs. had our breakfast and moved towards Khandas (base village) by Tum-tum.
once we reached Khandas, a walk of 30 mins took us to a point where the route diverts.
The route on the Left goes for the Shidi ghat and the Right goes to Ganesh/ Ganpati Ghat.



Note: While ascending via shidi ghat, you save around 2 1/2 hrs as compared to Ganesh ghat, BUT. Decending is 100% "NOT RECOMMENDED"

So we walked and reached a small WELL (Vihir/ Kuwa/ Baavdi) and decided to have a small round of Introduction and Instructions. 

Once done, the Batch was divided into 3 groups. Lead - Middle - Trail

with all the Greenery around, all were busy with their Camera searching for a Better frame of picture than others.


Enroute there is a small waterbody with varying flow. so the Volunteers built a bridge by holding hands and asked the participants to move forward taking our support. some of them decided to enjoy and sat there itself.


after such enjoyment, the jungle started to look scary as the denseness of the forest increased. one has to keep in mind to keep walking on the trail towards the right, and in next 5-10 mins, our eyes spotted the ladder. initially it was just a single ladder that is been used on building rooftops, but later on, taking into consideration the amount of Treks people do, the ladder is been upgraded to a better & Strong one. 



a few tricky rock patches and you reach a spot where you can have a breath taking view of the Sahyadri's and Padargad... 

following the route we reached the junction of Ganesh ghat and shidi ghat. from here the route is just zig-zag. and in monsoon, the route gets too slippery. for around 2hrs it goes the same and then leads you towards the Dense forest atop the mountain. 


Now at this point there is no Rain, but the Fog & Mist blocks your way. while walking, the fear in you is ready to pop out with scary voices of birds and animals around and creepy looking trees. 
since this forest is the only way to go round the mountain to reach the top.
here there are few stalls of 'Bhutaa' (Corn) beside a small pond. the Water here is ICE-CHILLED. 

Wait.. we are not there yet.! another walk for 10 minutes is still left. 
you really feel relaxed to see Civilization around you after such a long trek.

We moved towards the Temple of Bhimashankar, but were not able to go in due to time constraint. (Best time to visit is before the month of Shravan)

After having lunch, we moved again from the same route to decend, as we had to hurry to reach the base village before dusk. and you won't believe, in a matter of minutes, it gets dark here.
We managed to reach the base village, where all arrangements for dinner and travel was done.
It was one of the AWESOMEST Trek with these guys, and this tempted me to join them. and today, feel proud to be one of them.

Hats off to YatriSahyadri....!!!!

Route:
1. Mumbai - Karjat - Khandas - Bhimashankar (93 kms)
2. Pune - Chakan - Rajguru Nagar - Bhimashankar (110 kms)
3. Nashik - Sinnar - Sangamner - Narayangaon - Manchar - Bhimashankar (204 kms) 

1 comment: