AwesoMahuli Rerun (Kille Mahuli Trek - Dec 2011)

Ever since I have been telling my college mates about my trekking experiences they have been saying we should go for one ourselves. We had even planned well for a trek in September 2011. But it didn't happen, people backed out last minute, other stuff went wrong, just like it always does with our group. We had just got done with our Sem 5 exams on Friday, 23rd December, 2011. Next day on a lazy Saturday afternoon I got a text from Chirag. He wanted to trek on Sunday. I agreed, inside I knew the plan would eventually get cancelled. In fact I hadn't even packed my stuff till 10pm that night. As it turned out this one worked, we trekked to Mahuli.

Trek to Mahuli, 25th December, 2011:

Mahuli Range as viewed from base village

This was the first time I was actually planning a trek and going without the Rangers. On all previous occasions I would simply be following instructions. I got up at 4.40am on the Christmas morning and left home by 5am. We were supposed to take the 6.28am local from Dadar to Asangaon. The attendees for our 1st trek together were Amey, Ashay, Chirag, Nilesh, Me, Parag & Vallabh. Amey, Ashay & Chirag were on their very 1st trek. I was to meet Chirag and Amey in the 5.47am train from Andheri to Dadar in time & that we did. But the customary screw up this time was Vallabh. He not only missed the 6.28am train but also had Chirag and Amey travel ticket-less as he was supposed to get them. To top that we realised no one had brought a camera. So we were left with Amey's phone, NO DIGICAM!

Newly built welcome sign

We reached Asangaon at 8.15am but had to wait another half an hour until 8.45am for Vallabh to turn up. That meant we missed the 8.30am ST Bus from Asangaon to Mahuli Mandir, the base village for this trek which is about 6-7km from Asangaon. After having a few VPs each for breakfast we decided to start walking towards Mahuli, since there wasn't any bus until 10am. hardly few minutes into the walk we could see the beautiful Mahuli range right in front of us, tall and mighty. We could clearly see the pinnacles resembling Navra(groom), Navri(bride) & Bhatji(minister) and also Bhandargad and Palasgad on either sides of Mahuli. Luckily half way into the walk we found a tum-tum that was ready to drop us up to Mahuli Village.

We started the ascent by 10.15am after confirming the directions and the trail from a villager. At the village we also saw a few kids practicing karate. Later I learned they were on a camp organised by close friends of my fellow Sahyadri Rangers member, Vishwesh. Unlike my last time at Mahuli which was in the monsoon, this time there were no clouds and the sun was scorching. Hardly half an hour into the trek we had a few of them gasping for breath. Amey was panting like a dog and Ashay was sleeping on the ground every 5 minutes. About an hour into the trek and Chirag started feeling nauseous. After a little rest we continued with Parag holding two bags, his and Chirag's. The stamina he has is amazing, impossible for someone like me to do it. 

On the trail with pinnacles in the background

As we continued I was enjoyinng the dead silence in the jungle and an infrequent call of a bird neardy. You can never experience such silence in the city. The sun was getting higher and Amey & Ashay had started cribbing about their Woodland's not providing enough grip. Typical! They kept asking me "aur kitna hai?" and my standard reply was "thoda hi hai 30-40mins :P". Nilesh and Vallabh were busy clicking photos of each other while Chirag and Parag were moving ahead quietly. It was now Ashay whose health deteriorated. While at the same time Amey's pant and my bag gave way giving me a double facepalm moment. He didn't have another pant so there were a few embarrassing moments while passing other groups throught the trek. I was starting to get worried because we had taken about 90 minutes and weren't even halfway up. I quickly emptied my bag, removed the heavy stuff from my bag and had Chirag hold it. I took Chirag's bag while Parag held his as well as Ashay's. 

Ghodyachi maan

En-route we met a group of helpful people who had stayed up there for the night. They were from the BMC and were seasoned trekkers so they asked us to be careful in the exposed section of the trail. As we moved on we reached the spot they call the ghodyachi maan for it resembles a horse's neck when looked upon from above.We could clearly see the pinnacles on Bhandrgad from here. Its this patch from the ghodyachi maan to the ladder that is a little exposed. That meant the first timers had started to freak out a little, especially Amey. Yet in good spirit we crossed this as well as the ladder to reach the top Mahuli. 

A little distance on the trail from the ladder we found a water tank. The water was unbelievably cold. It wasn't clean enough to drink but the feeling of splashing icy cold natural mountain water on your face after a tiring climb cannot be expressed in words. You have to experience it to feel it! Everyone had a smile on thier face. The area at the top of Mahuli is a little confusing. But we had no problem reaching the Devdi since I had been there before and knew around. Devdi is a spot that has a small shivaling a fresh water spring that fills a tank, 4 small caves and a kamaan which are ruins of the fort. 

Chirag on the exposed trail

It had taken us a marathon 3hours 45minutes, about an hour more than what it took for me last time with the Rangers. This was mainly because of the frequent halts we were taking, almost every 10minutes After brief sight seeing we literally crashed into an unoccupied cave and got our food boxes out. Trust me, I have never seen so much food on a trek Eggs, 2 packets of bread, jam, cream, patties, pulav, tomato omelette, chakli biscuits, puri, bhaaji & enough rotis for the entire village  It was one hell of a feast. Finally we celebrated our 1st trek together with a glass of, well... orange juice! Since it was getting late, about 3pm I quickly refilled everyone's bottle from the spring and rushed them to start moving quickly.

In hardly any time we reached the ladder. From my previous experience, I knew the part of the trail from the ladder to ghodyachi maan is going to be a little scary for the very first timers. Chirag did well, he sat through the ladder and used the 'keep calm, carry on' funda well ahead. Ashay though initially scared, got a grip of himself and went through the section easily. But Amey, he totally freaked out. So much that Parag literally had to hold his hand get him down for about half an hour. But later, as he started  getting a hang of it, he walked confidently enough. Got to give it to him. Ever since he said he was coming to the trek I was really concerned about him able to do it. It takes balls to overcome your fears and weaknesses and that he definitely did!

Board at the top near Devdi

The rest of us didn't have much of a problem except for the cramps I was catching constantly right from the beginning of the descent. That was mainly because I hadn't been drinking enough water during the ascent. As we were nearing the base the temperatures had dropped and chill in the forests felt magical! We reached the base by about 5.30pm. We walked ahead to to the Bus stand only to know that the next & last bus was at 7pm. So we decided to walk to Asangaon but again luckily, we found a van guy who was ready to drop us. On reaching Asangaon we had tea & biscuits and went straight for the train home.

Cave atop Mahuli

I reached home at 9.40pm. I was very happy. Unlike last time the exposed section of Mahuli hadn't scared me the slightest bit. Its amazing how drastically different the Sahyadris are in each season. It felt like a completely different place from what I had seen in the monsoons. Also the company I had this time made sure it was going to be amesomahuli. I'd certainly like to trek more with these guys in the future.

Signing off now and wishing you'll a Happy & Prosperous New Year!

P.S.: Apologies for the substandard pictures. We had no digicam on us as I have mentioned earlier.