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Night passed without any major incident. I really had a sound sleep in the night and later in the morning came to know that right in the middle of the night, couple of trekkers had come to the temple for shelter but seeing us they decided to look for other shelter.
"Did you meet trekkers that had come in the midnight at Pant Sachiv palace" Sagar enthusiastically asked our group who assembled early in the morning in front of Bhorai Temple. Sagar looked frantic when he got the answer in negative. As Bhorai Devi Temple and Pant Sachiv Palace are only two places for accommodation, we got worried about the whereabouts of these two trekkers. Fortunately, as we were about to leave, we spotted these two trekkers sleeping peacefully in the tiny Hanuman Temple just near to Bhorai Devi temple.
Ghangad with its adjoining mountain range just before the sunrise:
Bhorai Devi Temple:
We had to curb our temptation to visit Sudhagad to avoid the excessive heat later during the day and decided to march ahead towards Telbaila. This time, we chose to hike through Savashni Ghat which joins plateau of Telbaila.
There was some confusion whether to descend from Dhondse route or Pacchapur route. Guide suggested to descend from Pacchapur route to join start of Savashni Ghat but due to suggestion from few members, he agreed to descend from Dhondse route having good quality water at two water cisterns.
Descending was easier as we were quite fresh in the morning and weather was pleasant. During our descent, few members decided to have some breakfast near the first water cistern while some members including me preferred to have some light breakfast at second water cistern.
Ishwar Kaka, the man of steel on the way of Dhondse route:
After having some light snacks, I stacked up all the water bottles (almost 4 lit). Not to repeat last day's mistakes, everyone stacked up sufficient water and we moved forward.
Priest of Bhorai Devi temple met us at the base and showed us a shortcut for Savashni Ghat. But few of the members led by our guide were already ahead and reluctantly even knowing the shortcut, we trudged ahead to join other members. When we asked about the shortcut, our guide said that that he purposefully avoided it due to a lot of scree.
Though yesterday Puneet looked totally exhausted and worn out due to excessive heat and humidity, a night's rest really helped and he looked ready to take on today's challenge head-on.
Sanjay Amrutkar (Nana) taking a small break in the dry stream:
Aniket Nemade, trying to capture some moments; his camera with a lot of zoom capacity made him capture some wonderful photos of birds on the trail.
Some bird photography done during the trek by Aniket Nemade:
Though we were able to see the hill where we had to reach, our guide seemed to take us far away and with the longer route. Seeing this, few members ventured on their own taking the shortcut. I was not too much amused with these members as they were trying to explore on their own instead of trusting the guide. As a result, we were divided into two groups each group taking the different path.
Our guide took us on the wrong path for few meters but soon realizing his mistake, he rectified his mistake and took us on one of the hills. Seeing this, I, too, lost some confidence on our guide but still as he was the one more knowledgeable about the terrain, we had no option but to trust him.
On coming top of the hill, we heard some shouts from our second group. Initially we thought they had lost their way but after shouting for 10 minutes, we realized that they were on the right way, too and they would soon join us on other hill which we had to ascend now. Our guide's knowledge really seemed poor as he was confident that they would not reach to the hill as there was a steep valley in between. But guide was proved wrong by our second group.
Finally we all emerged at the same place though we took different paths. I requested all members to be with each other so as not to lose trail of each other. It had become exceedingly hot and we perched in the dark shade gulping water and other energy drinks. Once the temperature of the body came back to normalcy, we started ascending another steep hill.
We were in for a great surprise when our ascent started through a dense forest. It reminded us of the Andharban trail. We remained protected from the scorching sun for nearly an hour but humidity and lack of breeze drenched us with sweat while ascending this steep ascent. After a while, fatigue really started setting in and we had to take frequent breaks to replenish our water levels and cool the temperature of the body.
With two large breaks and start of plain walk along with some cool breeze brought some cheerfulness to our faces and we started enjoying our remaining walk.
On the way, we heard shouts coming from a remote distance and when we looked up, we saw couple of guys from our group at the base walls of Teilbaila. One of them had stood on the rock waiving to all of us. It turned out to be Sandeep Kakad from Jallosh Group, Nasik who was one of the fittest members of our group. He along with Pankaj Ghuge went ahead and decided to explore Teilbaila till the time others reached to Teilbaila village. Amazing fitness considering the overall heat and humidity!
Few of the members were already lunching at Rokade family's home when we reached there. After lunch, we gulped on refreshing Jaljira juice fondly prepared by Tushar.
Finally it was time to say goodbye to our Nasik group and we left for our respective cities reminiscing the memories of exhausting yet satisfying trek.
Reflecting back on the trek memories, it was definitely not the wise decision to trek on such a long trail in Summer with heat as well as humidity in Konkan region. Also, another lesson learnt was not to take along novice members or irregular trekking members for such a gruelling trek. Nevertheless, with all precautions and new lessons learnt, we hope to continue such difficult treks in next season as well.
Appeal: No litter; no plastic; no wrappers; keep the mother nature clean!
Night passed without any major incident. I really had a sound sleep in the night and later in the morning came to know that right in the middle of the night, couple of trekkers had come to the temple for shelter but seeing us they decided to look for other shelter.
"Did you meet trekkers that had come in the midnight at Pant Sachiv palace" Sagar enthusiastically asked our group who assembled early in the morning in front of Bhorai Temple. Sagar looked frantic when he got the answer in negative. As Bhorai Devi Temple and Pant Sachiv Palace are only two places for accommodation, we got worried about the whereabouts of these two trekkers. Fortunately, as we were about to leave, we spotted these two trekkers sleeping peacefully in the tiny Hanuman Temple just near to Bhorai Devi temple.
Ghangad with its adjoining mountain range just before the sunrise:
Bhorai Devi Temple:
We had to curb our temptation to visit Sudhagad to avoid the excessive heat later during the day and decided to march ahead towards Telbaila. This time, we chose to hike through Savashni Ghat which joins plateau of Telbaila.
There was some confusion whether to descend from Dhondse route or Pacchapur route. Guide suggested to descend from Pacchapur route to join start of Savashni Ghat but due to suggestion from few members, he agreed to descend from Dhondse route having good quality water at two water cisterns.
Descending was easier as we were quite fresh in the morning and weather was pleasant. During our descent, few members decided to have some breakfast near the first water cistern while some members including me preferred to have some light breakfast at second water cistern.
Ishwar Kaka, the man of steel on the way of Dhondse route:
After having some light snacks, I stacked up all the water bottles (almost 4 lit). Not to repeat last day's mistakes, everyone stacked up sufficient water and we moved forward.
Priest of Bhorai Devi temple met us at the base and showed us a shortcut for Savashni Ghat. But few of the members led by our guide were already ahead and reluctantly even knowing the shortcut, we trudged ahead to join other members. When we asked about the shortcut, our guide said that that he purposefully avoided it due to a lot of scree.
Sanjay Amrutkar (Nana) taking a small break in the dry stream:
Aniket Nemade, trying to capture some moments; his camera with a lot of zoom capacity made him capture some wonderful photos of birds on the trail.
Some bird photography done during the trek by Aniket Nemade:
Though we were able to see the hill where we had to reach, our guide seemed to take us far away and with the longer route. Seeing this, few members ventured on their own taking the shortcut. I was not too much amused with these members as they were trying to explore on their own instead of trusting the guide. As a result, we were divided into two groups each group taking the different path.
Our guide took us on the wrong path for few meters but soon realizing his mistake, he rectified his mistake and took us on one of the hills. Seeing this, I, too, lost some confidence on our guide but still as he was the one more knowledgeable about the terrain, we had no option but to trust him.
On coming top of the hill, we heard some shouts from our second group. Initially we thought they had lost their way but after shouting for 10 minutes, we realized that they were on the right way, too and they would soon join us on other hill which we had to ascend now. Our guide's knowledge really seemed poor as he was confident that they would not reach to the hill as there was a steep valley in between. But guide was proved wrong by our second group.
Finally we all emerged at the same place though we took different paths. I requested all members to be with each other so as not to lose trail of each other. It had become exceedingly hot and we perched in the dark shade gulping water and other energy drinks. Once the temperature of the body came back to normalcy, we started ascending another steep hill.
We were in for a great surprise when our ascent started through a dense forest. It reminded us of the Andharban trail. We remained protected from the scorching sun for nearly an hour but humidity and lack of breeze drenched us with sweat while ascending this steep ascent. After a while, fatigue really started setting in and we had to take frequent breaks to replenish our water levels and cool the temperature of the body.
When top of the hill was in sight, we were about to come from the woods and under the intense rays of the sun. Our guide was waiting on top and was forcing slow members to hurry. When we enquired whether there were any trees along the trail, he nodded in negative. Considering that some of the members were still fatigued, we decided to have a long break in the last shade. Seeing this, guide showed direction to one of the members and asked us to directly come to Telbaila using that route.
It was past 12.30 PM now and after getting sufficient rest, we climbed rest of the remaining hill to see few members resting under the big tree. Again, our guide had confused us saying that there was no shade on the remaining trail. We again rested under this tree and after 10 minutes, started our final march towards Telbaila.
With two large breaks and start of plain walk along with some cool breeze brought some cheerfulness to our faces and we started enjoying our remaining walk.
On the way, we heard shouts coming from a remote distance and when we looked up, we saw couple of guys from our group at the base walls of Teilbaila. One of them had stood on the rock waiving to all of us. It turned out to be Sandeep Kakad from Jallosh Group, Nasik who was one of the fittest members of our group. He along with Pankaj Ghuge went ahead and decided to explore Teilbaila till the time others reached to Teilbaila village. Amazing fitness considering the overall heat and humidity!
Few of the members were already lunching at Rokade family's home when we reached there. After lunch, we gulped on refreshing Jaljira juice fondly prepared by Tushar.
Finally it was time to say goodbye to our Nasik group and we left for our respective cities reminiscing the memories of exhausting yet satisfying trek.
Reflecting back on the trek memories, it was definitely not the wise decision to trek on such a long trail in Summer with heat as well as humidity in Konkan region. Also, another lesson learnt was not to take along novice members or irregular trekking members for such a gruelling trek. Nevertheless, with all precautions and new lessons learnt, we hope to continue such difficult treks in next season as well.
Thank you for reading the blog!
Appeal: No litter; no plastic; no wrappers; keep the mother nature clean!
Excellent writing,
ReplyDeleteExcellent photography,
श्रीमंत ब्लॉग..मस्त...
Keep it up..bhai..
Thanks Jayu Tai!
DeleteNice one ...
ReplyDeleteThanks Nanashri!
DeleteVery nice indeed Prashant!
ReplyDeleteThanks KP! You should also start blogging soon :)
ReplyDeleteNicely written. Excellent photography. Is it possible you to share Rokade family or guide mobile number? It will help us to plan our trip from Telbaila to Sudhagad through Savashni ghat planned to go on 18-Feb-2017.
ReplyDelete