Gorakh No. 4

13-14^th Dec 2014

Gorakhgad No. 4

One would question as to why do I go to the mountains? And more so, repeatedly to the same venues? Does he have no other work in life? Well, I definitely do! But once you connect to the Mountains, you sort of befriend them and when they call you, you have to go! As simple as that, isn’t it? It surely is, especially after grinding your self down at the workplace for the entire week, this ‘urge’ to attend the call of the mountains strengthens even more. Go to the Mountains and they will tell you your true worth. To me, The Mountains help me discover myself, they let me feel the freedom which I so yearn for.

Being Sir Phadke

Tandulwadi Fort

27^th July, 2014

We had a Super Duper Trek Yesterday! We kept up the PHC tradition of increasing the difficulty level of simple treks (4 hrs of ascend & 4 hrs of descend). By no means can Tandulwadi be considered an easy grade trek. It was a Palasdhari (Part-II). None of us knew the proper routes here and our selection of the guide was incorrect too. But on a positive note, we got to traverse longer routes and that added to the excitement & sweet agony. It rained from the very beginning and that made the terrain all the more slippery, but the climate was awesome! It was a thrilling experience to lead the students at the rock patches and slippery paths.

Heavenly Hills Of Bhimashankar

Mystical Bhimashankar

19-20^th July, 2014

With just 4 odd hours of sleep the previous night, I was glad I found an empty seat to take a nap for some part of the local train journey. I reached Karjat at 7:45 am of Saturday (19th July), where the entire group assembled and then left for the base village. We reached base at 10 am after having breakfast at Khandas village.

After a round of introduction & instructions, we started the trek amidst a light drizzle at 10:30 am from Kathewadi village which is a little ahead of Khandas village. Seeing half the mountain range hidden in the clouds, I already knew what to expect! It was a good sight to witness a dozen waterfalls bisecting the huge wall of Bhimashankar. And just above the jungle in the front, one could spot a distinct line, slanting to the left – that was the ladder we were soon going to ascend.

1 Tree Hill With 1 Best Friend

MATHERAN via One Tree Hill

It was beautiful to witness the silhouette of Irshalgad and Matheran against the night sky, with the entire area drenched in the soothing light of the moon. The roads had good tree cover on either side and later bordered the huge dam of Morbe. We passed by several hamlets, with a few villas nestled cozily in the area, on our way to Borgaon. The bumpy ride from Karjat took us approx. 30 minutes in his tum-tum.

In The Footsteps Of Shivaji

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            M       A       T       H       E       R       A       N

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       Via

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 -|--S---L--|-

 -|--H--A--|-

 -|--I---D--|-

 -|--V--D--|-

 -|--A--E--|-

 -|--J---R--|-

 -|---I------|-

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As they say in Hindi, “Waqt se pehle aur Kismat se zyada, kisiko kuch nahi milta.” I got to know from Vikas Kavle Sir that Girivihar was planning a hike to Matheran via Shivaji Ladder on 22^nd July 2012. He invited me and I replied in the positive. My good friend Jay also decided to join me. I was very happy that I’d be undertaking this challenging trek. I was relaxed as I was going to do it under the leadership of experienced climbers/trekkers from Girivihar. This was to be my first trek with GIRIVIHAR!

Le Pradakshina De Mountains

Prabalgad via Poinje
July 2012

After last month’s successful trek to Matheran via Garbut, I had planned to explore Matheran from the Shivaji Ladder route. I gathered information about the route and the plan was in place. We were all set to do this trek in the first week of July but I later learned that it is risky in the monsoon, so we opted for Prabalgad via Poinje village instead. Initially, we had thought of combining Prabalgad with Irshalwadi or Thakurwadi but considering the limited time, we decided to return back via Poinje village only.

Prabalgad is a good trekking spot mostly visited from Shedung Phata