Sahyankan 2015 - Part 2 (Garjaiwadi-Thipthipya Ghat-Kurdupeth)

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Before the crack of dawn, there was a wake up call from local camp leaders of Chakram Hikers. Hustle and bustle inside the temple prompted everyone to get up. Yesterday’s stretches had really done wonders and our legs were ready to take on gruelling hike ahead. Hiking on the virgin route with a lot of unknowns brought smile to my face and with the feeling of happiness, I got up.

Warm up sessions were followed by sumptuous breakfast of Upma and Tea.Today as per the norm, few local camp leaders were going to accompany us till Thipthipya Ghat. I hardly had done any study on the route map as I wanted to experience the sheer bliss of ignorance and soak in the excitement of unknowns.After instructions from the trek leaders, we started our hike.

Aniket providing instructions before the hike:

We walked on the dirt road for 15 minutes before venturing into the woods. It was a descent through woods and some of us thought that we already had started descending Thipthipya Ghat but after some enquiry, we realized that Thipthipya Ghat was still quite far.

After a small descent, we came across a dry stream full of large rocks. In monsoon, this stream runs with full gusto and is one of the main attractions of Konkandiva trek via Ghol route during monsoon.

We were elated to see first occurrence of few huts when we entered Ghol village.

We stopped in front of cluster of huts to have some water. It was a quintessential village setting; few cows tethered to the ropes; old village ladies and small kids sitting in front of the house; muddy shacks and few unmortared houses ; hens and cocks chasing each other. We rested in front of these huts for some time before marching further.

Paresh Amrutkar posing for the portrait:

After leaving Ghol village, there was a flat walk for few minutes and after that we had to climb a hill.

Middle of the hill:

Wisp of clouds in blue sky - a photographer's delight! More you wander, more you get opportunities to capture some breathtaking shots! Nature is always unfolding a lot of surprises and you just need to observe around! No nature frame would be the same the next time!

Everyone posed for the group photo once we reached on a plateau.

After further walk of about half an hour, we entered the woods and we had to negotiate a lot of scree while descending through the woods. We managed to control our balance while holding onto the branches of trees. Once we came out of woods, we reached to another plateau from where descent to Thipthipya ghat was about to start.

Plateau after coming out of the dense woods seen in the below picture:

On the western side of the plateau, vast expanse of Konkan was visible and seeing the enormous depth, we realized that we had to descend at least for few hours to reach to the base.

Rahul Sonavane and Rajesh Nagre; two of the finest trekkers from Nasik.

Prasad Mhatre, one of the eminent members from Chakram Hikers ready to help us descending Thipthipya Ghat:

We were instructed to fill water bottles from the drums of water arranged for us on the plateau at the start of Thipthipya ghat. We were warned about the presence of honey bees in the ghat and were asked us to cover ourselves properly so as not to leave any opening for the honey bees to attack directly on your skin. We were also provided with mittens to protect our hands. We were warned to maintain total silence during the descent to avoid disturbing honey bees in any manner. These instructions and warnings made everyone frightened to the core as if honey bees had already attacked.

We started our descent with a quite frightened mind. Initial descent was tricky especially for new hikers and it consumed a lot of time for all the members waiting behind. As per instructions, all had to remain with their own batch and follow the sequence of the batches. Milind Kulkarni, my regular trek mate and marathon runner even had a peaceful sleep on few rocks and when he thought he was really late and started descending, was able to catch his batch within few minutes.

Being the sincere participants, I followed all the instructions from the trek leaders and did not bring out my camera. Sanjay Amrutkar (Nana) being more influential, managed to click few photos during this frightful descent.

Descending Thipthipya Ghat; no overtaking; no noise; patient waiting for others to move forward:

Slow movers in the first batch were moving at the snail’s pace and other batches had to wait which seemed like an eternity. Only pleasant aspect was because of the dread of honey bees’ attack, everyone was silent and we were experiencing sheer peacefulness. Cry of some remote animal made us guess name of the animal and we silently whispered “bear”. Chirping of birds, noise of the footfalls and occasional noise of rock rolling down were the only other noises.

Finally we came out of the woods. This made us relax a bit and noise level increased a bit. But on seeing nests of honey bees clinging below the overhead cliffs, silence again prevailed. Right under the cliff, we saw drops of water dripping and filling a small pond. This water drips throughout the year since many years; may be centuries and hence the name Thipthipya.

We saw Sayali who was in first batch cramping and batch leaders were helping her to get her on to her feet. After this point, leaders from Garjaiwadi were returning back and hence the restriction of 7 members per batch was lifted and fast movers quickly moved ahead leaving behind the slow members. There were marked arrows along the route initially to help all the trekkers.

Because of different walking speeds, for 28 members, multiple groups were formed. Problem was that there were only 2 leaders for 28 participants; first leader Aniket was supposed to be in front and Alok was supposed to be with the last members. All the members in the middle really had no one to guide but to rely on their own ability to spot the markings and proceed accordingly.We reached to first plateau during descent quite comfortably.

First plateau while descending Thipthipya Ghat:

We again entered the woods. I was somewhere in the middle and walking with Pradeep Kulkarni Uncle when I heard the shouts from someone in the forest. I was not sure who was shouting for help but I replied to his shouts and asked him to come in my direction. We were shouting to each other for almost 10 minutes but still there was no sign of that person coming out of the woods. Finally I decided to ascend again and went towards the sound and after hiking up for 10 minutes, shouts started appearing louder and finally I saw DK (Dinesh) coming out of the woods. He had lost his way while walking alone from the group. Happy to see me, he perched on the rock and decided to rest as he was perspiring heavily. I requested him to accompany me further but he said he would join the group coming from behind. I explained him the correct route and proceeded further where Kulkarni Uncle was waiting patiently for me to join him again.

We were proceeding nicely as per the directions of the arrows when on one of the descent with the scree, Kulkarni Uncle had a bad fall and hurt his knees and twisted his ankle. He was visibly in great discomfort and massaged his legs for some time before getting up. After that his progress was very slow. I did not wish to leave him alone and slowed down my pace to be with him. Finally we reached to a place where other members were waiting for us. They already had finished their lunch and resting. It was decided by Aniket not to hike further till the arrival of the last member.

Members resting till the arrival of last member; some of the members even started snoring despite the hard beds and pillows:

I, too finished my lunch and lied down waiting for others to join. Finally last remaining member Sayali arrived with Alok and we all heaved sighs of relief. Once last group finished their lunch, we marched ahead. Now, the walk was through the jungle. After coming out of jungle, we were greeted by spectacular views of Kurdugad.

Intensity of the sun had reduced as it had started its western journey. All the surrounding mountains were looking imposing in the clear weather. White clouds along with the blue sky had created perfect ambiance for photography. With all this perfect setting, Kurdugad was stomping its presence with its thumb like shape over surrounding mountains.

We had a break at water source just before starting final hike towards Kurdupeth. After getting to know the water scarcity on top of the fort, we made sure to fill our empty bottles and marched ahead.

Initially we assumed that ascent to reach to plateau of Kurdugad would be very small but we were wrong. This final ascent drained all the remaining energy from most of the trekkers. On reaching the plateau of Kurdugad, we were greeted by Parag Oak Sir, main camp leader from Kurdupeth Camp and main organizer of Sahyankan event.

As we were counting our final steps to the camp, sun now was making great strides to the west and its crimson rays falling at slanting angle had created a sublime effect. These are really precious moments in the life of a trekker when nature unfolds its beauty rewarding him for hard day’s toil.

Camp-site was away from the village at the lap of Kurdugad. Everyone was excited to see tents for a change. Two big tents were arranged for the trekkers and smaller tents were arranged for the camp leaders. Everyone got settled into the tents as per the preference. I was still lingering outside capturing last few shots before it became too dark.

After stretching exercises, we were served with hot tea and taken on a small walk to show us some important site. Important site was later revealed as site of makeshift toilets. Though there was plenty of open spaces near the camp-site, villagers had instructed to keep the sanctity of the place and had advised to use these makeshift toilets. Only problem with this arrangement was that it was almost more than 200 metres from the camp-site. So for any urgent nature’s call, it would have been difficult to reach in time to the destination. Nevertheless, all followed the instructions and there was no case of urgency that broke the rule.

Also, we were shown the place to wash our utensils. To save water, smart arrangement was made where small holes were pierced at the base of water bottles limiting the flow of water to minimal. This smart arrangement really helped in saving a lot of water.

When the night arrived, it arrived with millions of stars twinkling gleefully in the black sky. Lack of pollution and clear weather enabled us to see this spectacular display of nature. Silhouette  of Kurdugad on the background of bright stars made me forget all the worries of the world. Sadly, I was not carrying the tripod to try my hands at Night Photography but nevertheless, I allowed myself to get lost in the splendour for a while.

Everyone retired to their tents after feasting on sumptuous dinner. Exhaustion took over and many of the tent mates fell asleep immediately. I waited for some time and after enjoying Hot Chocolate outside with other members, too tucked inside the sleeping bag.  As I had selected my place at the last, I had got the worst place and there was a large rock protruding from the earth below the tent. Also, I only had the place which was right at the feet of others. Despite these small hiccups,with a lot of beautiful memories of the day flashing before the eyes, I drifted off to a peaceful sleep.

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