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.

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

Mystery Mountain Songiri

ONE DAY TREK. 19th June 2011 TO SONGIRI FORT NEAR KARJAT.

We took the 6am Karjat local and reached at 8am.
Two amongst us hurried for darshan at the Jain Derasar, Karjat.
Returned back just in time to board the 8:15 khopoli local.
We reached Palasdhari station within 5 minutes.

Philosopher Trekker

Asherigad trek

A word of caution to all those who read my report - Read at your own risk! You may complete a particular hike in a day, but reading my reports is going to take a lot more time than that! I am in a crazy mood right now and I don’t know what I’ll be writing in this report. I may laugh at my own reports later, but then it’s better to write something than nothing.
Its Tuesday today & we just had a very amazing hike to Asherigad on Sunday the 27^th July 2008. It was my 20^th hike with our very own – PODAR HIKERS’ CLUB!!

            Hiking for me is now a way of life. You start from the bottom…struggle to reach the top…stay there as long as life allows you to and then eventually come back again to where you started from. This is life! But there is a lot more to be learnt from hiking. The most important lesson – to be happy always! There will be ups and downs alright, agreed. But remember “hasta hua jo jayega wohi muqaddar ka sikandar kehlayega.”  I am not writing this for anyone but simply because it helps me express my feelings. One reason why hiking has become a part of my life is because it makes me feel good and happy too. Look, it has given me so many friends!

Well, there is one interesting concept in my mind right now. Let me pen it down before I forget. So here’s it: I feel there are 3 phases in the life of a Podar Hiker: