,I have always liked walking. Long walks within the city, just exploring. But trekking as I found out was a completely different experience. Its more about working together and making it to the top. It was something I wanted to try since a while now. So as soon as my cousin Vish asked whether I would like to join his troupe "The Sahyadri Rangers" for a trek to Siddhagad in the Malshej Region of the Sahyadris I took no time to reply in the affirmative.
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| Siddhagad panorama. |
The trek was scheduled on 20th March, 2011. The day the country celebrated Holi, of which I was not very fond of, blame the colours. We had to catch the first train to Kalyan from Dadar. This we failed to do as we missed the train that could get us to Dadar on time from Vile Parle, where me and Vish stayed that night at a fellow trekker Sus's place. So we caught up with 7 other guys, Mand, Maul, Ram, Vai, Ami, Mang, Tush at various stations while on the 2nd train. Sorry if I forgot any names here. :P
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| Midland Walkie Talkie |
By about 7.30 we were at Murbad, waiting for the ST Bus to Narivali, the base village to Siddhagad. The ST bus ride from Kalyan to Murbad felt amazing with the cold breeze blowing across our faces, and a picturesque sunrise pleasing our eyes once in a while from behind the hills. And with a Schumacheresque driver we had nothing more to ask for. By 8.45 we reached the base village Narivali and found our way through the village. Now could easily spot the W formation of Siddhagad. To the left were Gorakhgad and Machindragad. Somebody had brought a walkie talkie which I suppose the Rangers were using for the first time. No one then knew that would turn out to be a life saver later.
About half an hour into the trek. We had separated into 2 groups. One of them were moving slowly taking pictures and exploring. We had been moving faster, led by a half-drunk Mand who seemed confident about the route we had taken. That was a concern since we had reached many junctions where two roads met. Hardly 40 minutes into the trek we reached a dried up river, and yes, we were lost. What more, we connected with the other group behind only to realize they had taken a different route. That meant trouble since all experienced guys were on the other group and most of us were first timers. I vowed never to trust a drunk man in my life again. All confused we just sat shouting "Ayo ayo ayo" for the other group to track us down.
It took another hour of going upstream on the river to meet the other group. The river had got narrower and the forest denser. Enough to be sure we were all lost now. Since there was no other option we kept moving, wading through bushes, grass, thorns, hoping to find a Payvat (trail) somewhere. This was the toughest part of the trek, it was very difficult making way through the dry soil, loose rocks and dense vegetation and I just couldn't stop slipping and falling every two minutes. After another hour or so we saw hut at a distance. Rejoice..!!
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| The hut enroute |
An old shepherd there showed us the way that led to the top of Siddhagad. In all new spirit we started moving confident of making it to the top soon. Albeit, that wasn't the end of adventure for us. There were two trails meeting all over the place. There were so many wrong trails to take, the right one seemed invisible. After hours of ending up on dead ends, trying 'the other route' and 'lets try this ones' all but Vish and Maul sat disappointed. We all head back to the hut and tried to take an altogether different trail. In a few minutes of walking I realized it was only me and Vish. The others had taken some other trail, yet again..!!
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| Cave with fresh water |
Alas, this time I was on the correct trail. That meant the rest of the guys had to track us through the walkie and "ayo ayo's" , making way through another patch of thick vegetation, thorny bushes and loose rocks. Half way through this trail, half of us were too tired and decided to return and rest at the hut. While six of us continued. Suddenly we had gained a lot of height in not much time. At a point we reached a small disguised cave that had a freshwater spring. Refreshing ourselves and filling our bottles we continued.
Ami, with 2 other guys rested there for a while, while me Vish and Mang continued on the same trail. Eventually to reach a the Pravesh Dwara (Main entrance) to the Siddhagad fort. After a brief rest & photo time we moved on, now to reach an Orange walled Temple. The Temple had a Verandah where few members of another group were resting. We asked the about the way up the fort only to realize that we were far from the top. It would take at least 2 more hours to reach the top. And that the terrain was tough with scree and steep slopes. It was already past 2.30pm and we had to return the same day, so that was it. We met the end of our trek halfway. A semi-successful trek. We were happy to eventually find the way to the top but disappointed that we couldn't make it all the way.
After a brief period of rest, snacks and snaps we started the descent, Rested at the hut for some time and made our way back to Narivali. En route we discovered Siddhagadwadi, the village we were supposed to go through while ascending, which we never found. And we also found the spot where we took one wrong turn, near a bridge on the river. By 10.30pm I was back home, with sweet pain in my feet and a fresh air in my breath.
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| Everyone staring at a Chameleon. |
Moment of the day was when Vish leaped like a frog, trying to catch a Chameleon and epically failed. :P
Although not successful, the trek was a great experience for me. And I'd like to see more of Sahyadris in the future. गिर्यारोहण रोक्क्स..!! :-)
