Kohoj Trek

Ah yes. I do know I'v been coming up with some crazy titles, but hell!

To start with this was supposed to be a perfect week. 2 back to back long weekends. And great trekking plans for each of them. Monday, 15th August 2011,  Independence Day, and we were up for a trek to Kohoj, near Palghar. And the week was supposed to end with a HARISHCHANDRAGAD trek. I was totally psyched about Harishchandra. To give some more background, it is one of the best, a dream trek in Maharashtra.  To top that up, one of my college mates had been there just a few weeks back. All the pictures and stories about the place meant I had gone all crazy, just couldn't wait for Saturday. I had even decided to give some important college duties a skip (worth the risk, I thought). More on this later.

Trek to Kohoj, 15th August, 2011 :

I got up at 4, left home by 4.30 since I had an half hour to walk to Andheri station from where we were to take the 1st fast train to Virar which departed 5.04am from Dadar. It was a small group for Sahyadri Rangers this time. Just the 4 of us Maulik, Me, Vaibhav & Vishwesh, in alphabetical order. :P

View from Vaghote (Base Village)

The train was a little late and reached Virar at 6.15, we knew the connecting shuttle was also at 6.15. So we got off the train and started running with the crowd to take the shuttle, we just ran, no idea where we were heading. We did get the 6.15 shuttle and reached Palghar in about 40 minutes. From there an ST Bus to Mastan Naka (Near Manor) and a 6-seater tum tum(packed with a dozen of people) from there to Vaghote. We had Bhaji-Pav enroute at Mastan naka(big mistake, avoid). Vaghote is the base village, on the Manor-Wada road, hardly noticeable except for a few heavy construction vehicles parked in the village. Kohoj would be to your right throught the ride from Manor to Vaghote. Although what was visible right in front us wasn't Kohoj. Kohoj was behind this hill which we had to go around.

Shelta Lake & the small dam

After some directions from locals we started moving at about 9.30am. Within 5 minutes we realized the trail was full of marshy soil and with every step our feet were going deeper into the soil. The trail initially passes through paddy fields. We then passed a small pond on our right. A little later we had to take a sharp right turn that would took us into thick bushes. There are ample arrows thought the route. There is a small hut on the opposite side of this turn which can be used as a landmark. After walking a while, still on plain land we reached a big heart shaped lake, called Shelta Lake by the locals. It is used for irrigation as well as fish culture we learnt from them.

A colourful spider

Once we passed the lake,there was a small dam we had to cross. The actual ascent begun here. We had to first go around this hill and the trail went on Kohoj. What looked like a simple straightforward climb up a small fort was turning out to be quite tasking. It was about now that the Bhaji Pav started taking its toll on Vishwesh. He was struggling with severe acidity, as we weren't even half way up. He still decided to go on with it. The route now was geting quite steep. Constant sound of waterfalls, birds, butterflies all around were soothing. Crabs were here a plenty, all kinds of them, brown, black, white. There are many waterfalls enroute where we refilled our bottles. The forest is considerably dense throught until the top is reached. 

By about 12 we reached a large plateau on the top. It has a small temple(1/3), few tanks with not so potable water and a small lake as well. The wind here felt amazing. The grass felt like a velvet bed sheet spread all over. Slight drizzle, gusty winds & dense clouds meant perfect weather. Was not helping photography though, nothing could be seen beyond the clouds. The only spoiler here was the marshy soil again. From this plateau it is a steep & slightly exposed yet simple climb up to the infamous pinnacle that looks like a king seated on a throne or as Vaibhav pointed out, a scare crow! Once the fort entrance is passed we reached another set of cave like tanks filled with water, again not potable. A little distance from this these tanks is another small temple(2/3), this time of Lord Hanuman.

Temples atop Kohoj

By about 12.35pm we reached the absolute top, a small ridge between the man-like pinnacle on the right and another one on the left. Took us close to 3hrs to reach here from base. The wind here was so gusty, at a point we had to kneel down so that we don't get thrown off the hill. Since it had stopped raining we sat down there to eat first, explore later. As I started to take my first bite of the sheera I had got that day, I realized most of it had got blown right off my spoon by the wind. Amazing! Totally worth all the pains taken to reach there I thought at that moment. Breathtaking views of the plains on one side and an opaque white screen of clouds on the other. Breathtaking! This is what we trek for. 

As we explored, towards the right behind the man-like pinnacle there is a way to reach the third and final temple on the fort. It was a Ganpati Temple there. By then the other side had cleared up and we could see the heart shaped lake as well as the Manor-Wada road from the top. We could also see the back side of the hill/rock visible from Vaghote.

Man-like pinnacle from 2 different angles

By 1.30pm we started the descent. It was now that the slippery loose rocks, lack of grips to hold and slippery mud  was making it difficult. Unlike other treks, a speedy descent was impossible here. It was turning out to be a little frustrating. By about 3.50pm we reached the heart shaped lake where we decided to rest in a small shade. By now Me and Maulik had registered a fall each, he got a little bruised & I was doing just fine with a few soiled clothes. A few villagers we met there gave valuable info about Kohoj. We gave them banana chips. :P

Tanks at Kohoj

As we continued we got lost in the fields which wasted some time but eventually we found our way. This walk  on plain marshy soil is the single most irritating part of the trek. We then took an ST from Vaghote to Manor, and another from Manor to Palghar, standing all the way. Reaching Palghar at about 7pm we had sandwiches while waiting for the 7.25pm shuttle. Again no seats, 40 more minutes of pain. 

We at the top :)

Moments of the day were the wind at the top and a crazy baby crying in the tum tum(that got us ROFLing). With fresh air in my breath and sweet pain in my feet, I was back home by 9.40pm. This trek was different, it was frustrating, yet so fulfilling. This is the thing about Sahyadris. They never run out of variety. Every experience is different.So until next time, Ciao! :)