Nature Trail & Trek to Nakhind, Vangani

Hi Fellow Nature Lovers….

This year Monsoon had disappointed us and we were not able to do much exploration of the wild.

Even then, had kept NAKHIND in my Mind since long.

So… one fine Sunday, gathered my Trek-mates and left for this trek.

Only 1 of us, Hemant Narkar, had visited Nakhind before and we were unaware of the route ahead, thus.. he proved to be a helping hand for us.

Nakhind is a small hole (Nedhe in marathi) formed on a narrow ledge that is a part of the Matheran range.

Continuing the same route ahead, goes to the junction of Vikatgad/ Peb fort.

So we all took the Karjat local and alighted at Vangani. Since others stay far and had started their day early…. Desperately needed something to eat

We sought a local IDLI wala and had our tummies filled before we started.

Vangani is the station from where one can go towards Chanderi Fort, Mhaismal, Bhagwati Waterfall, Nakhind etc… but NO basic facilities like a small hotel is available.

Local vendors will assist you with temporary snacks.

Base village of Nakhind is BEDIS gaon which is almost 4-5kms from station.

Nature lovers can do the trail walk as the road is serene and crosses through the villages with farms on both sides… awesome and refreshing view.

Since we were already late for the trek, we took the Autorikshaw till base village at nominal cost.

A typical monsoon weather greeted us with cool breeze, sun behind clouds and drizzle.

Adrenaline Rush gasped us and we were off with our walk.

Rain getting heavier, we quickly had a change of costumes and Cameras packed in – for protection.

Moving alongside green farms and some streams route started getting steeper.

It gave an awesome Jungle feel to keep walking amidst such a place. 

Nilesh and Vikas taking a Breather

Within an hour we reached another village situated at half the height on the plateau. The village had hardly 10-12 houses, but the sad part was, these houses didn’t have any power source L

Vangani chi Wadi

After a small halt and Group pic….. the Caravan moved ahead.

cool greenery acted as Energy boosters

Hemant dada leading

the Climb

Nilu experimenting his Skills to catch a Crab

Now the real trail started… route was getting more steeper than earlier and we couldn’t stop as insects were on their hunt for fresh blood.

After an hour of climbing… we reached the tip of the plateau from where we could see the Nakhind site Face to Face but not the Nedhe.

Another photo session and halt as we had conquered a little earlier than expected.

a Group Selfie at the Tip of the range

From here one can have an entire glimpse of the Sahyadri range starting from Malang-Gad, Mhaismal, Chanderi, Vanar-udi, Nakhind, Peb, PRabalgad, Kalavantin in a semi-circle arch.

from L-R: Vanar-udi - Chanderi fort - Mhaismal

The route from plateau to Nedhe was simple but slippery due to banana leaves and shrubs rooted out.

We spent quite some leisure time enjoying the cool breeze which was stronger than expected. The Nedhe can accommodate around 10-12 people, but its not safe to camp or stay at night.

Me at the Nedhe

Suddenly the climate and breeze turned chill and rain started. Thus we departed from this wonderful place and reached the base within 1 hour.

Black spotted butterfly

Everyone was sweating and desperately needed some refreshment…. Enroute we had spotted a small manmade pond created to collect sand. A good 3-4 feet water and within seconds… we all were into it enjoying and swimming. Didn’t notice that we were into the water for around an hour. 

Finally all refreshed, we moved towards Bhagwati waterfall. It’s a small waterfall with a good overhang and height of 70ft. alas, easy accessibility has spoiled this as well. Smokers, drinkers, lovers all in their own world destined to dump their eatables and plastic bottles in the fall itself. The scene was pathetic.

Bhagwati Waterfall

A small "Bandhaara" constructed to hold back water for future uses

Took the Auto-rikshaw and reached Vangani station. Had tummy full of Chaat and Vadapav accompanied with Cutting Chai.

Inshort…..wonderful memories of a Wonderful Small but tiring trek.

See you soon with another adventure and some new Trek

A Wanderer: 

Sumeet rao a.k.a "SUMYA"

Peb Fort / Vikatgad Trek

Hello Everyone...Greetings from Sumeet Rao…(Sumya)

Since Monsoon has had its Quota of Rainfall… we decided to fulfill our Quota of Treks.

September: a super pleasant month, where all the festivals are almost done, Monsoon is almost approaching its end, Winter slowly trying to peep in, Flowers in blossoming mode… A perfect time for a Small Jungle Trek.

We were planning for some Small-time. Less tiring trek. And it Struck…Lets try Peb, also known as 

Vikatgad Fort.

About:

This fort lies in the Sahyadri’s connecting to Matheran. Vikatgad is a small hill type fort with numerous adventures enroute, we will get drenched in Waterfalls, walk on Grassy plateaus, climb rocks patches, get on to a Ladder, enjoy the breath taking 360 degree view of Matheran and adjacent areas, again walk on a ledge with cool breeze feeling all over your body, move ahead onto the Toy train route.

A Medium grade trek, but full on thrill & Adventure and most important: Heaven for First timers.

The day arrived and My old fellow colleagues took the Karjat bound train from their respective station.

Getting down at Neral, we had a pleasant Misal Pav breakfast with Cutting chai. (Nothing can match this Deadly Awesome combination)

Moving ahead we started the trek… Sun god was all set to hold us back from doing it, but all were so excited that they ain’t gonna listen.

With a short round of Introduction and Instructions the true TREK starts. Walking along a trail through overgrown bushes and shrubs.  “FLAME FLOWER” caught our sight and amazed us with what powers nature possesses.

A short break of 5 mins on grassy plateau and a Group pic, 

we continued, now the trail was getting a little tougher since it was from dense jungle where there are frequent chances of getting Mis-route, 

However, we had a clear picture of the route in our mind, but just for thrill, we intentionally led the group a little onto the dead end way. We had hardly walked for 3-4 minutes and the group was really frightened, so we calmed them by taking them ahead onto the rightway (which was glued in my mind and not even 0.5% of getting misroute). Finally we reached the Spot – a WATERFALL. Much to our dismay, there wasn’t much waster but was enough to charge ourselves and fill up our Waterbottles.

Then the tough part starts with boulders and to climb them alon the route. Some girls were hesitant, but managed. Cripping started when all started sweating…. But it was short lived. We reached the mid spot on the Ledge that divided the mountain range. Cool breeze and shadows refreshed our mood and started to climb the Rock Patch. Girls were unknown about this and when they heard that “this is the route”, they almost abandoned the trek there itself. So we gave them a little “Gyaan” and then informed about we running behind the schedule. So they gathered up their might and climbed the patch much easily than their expectations… within next 10 minutes, we were at the Cave “PEB KILLA” (PEB fort).

It is said that this cave was built by the Saints that used to travel frequently and used this cave for resting. The cave here can accommodate around 70-80 people. We had carried our lunch and had it here.

Furthermore moved towards the Ladder which is held along a straight wall of around 40 ft. Next 10 minutes of Walk took us to the Top of Vikatgad. Little Photography sessions and Personal Clicks for Facebook/ Whatsapp DP (Display Pic) we moved to-wards another ladder that joins 2 cliffs.

Getting down was easy but tricky and led us towards the famous “V” Ledge which joins Vikatgad to Matheran. Alongroute we clicked many pics of Flowers without plucking them and preserving them in their Habitat.

We trailed for some 20 minutes and were on the TOY TRAIN route. We halted for all the group to come and moved towards Dasturi Naka onto the Tracks.

“Ohh no… the Train is coming, what shall we do Now?”… panicked the girls, but it was way too far from them as they were away from the tracks.

Note: This train is not for passengers, it’s for the Railway staff that works along the route and in Matheran.

Reached Dasturi Naka, took Taxi’s and reached the Hotel in just 15 minutes.

As soon as we got onto the train to CST, those who got the seats were almost asleep even before the train started. All were tired, but did enjoy a lot.

“All’s well… that ENDS well”

More such treks to come that had been done earlier but still afresh in my Mind

-     Regards,

Sumya (Sumeet Rao)