Trek to Ulhas valley

Another sunday was approaching and my desperation for the trek was gaining momentum and upon that this awesome delayed monsoon was making it mandatory for me to be among the nature,luckily I had an invitation to go to Harishchandra gad.A dream trek for any trekker but it was my bad luck that instead of being in the mountains I was sitting in a courtroom attending the judicial proceedings(my occupational commitment).

If its Sunday you will find me here 

Kya kare kabhi kabhi kam bi to karna padta hai...waise hi sab logo ne mujhe puch puch ke badnaam kar diya hai...yaar tum to hamesha trek per hote ho kaam per nahi jate kya...well this explanation is for them and agar phir bi koi shaaq hai to bol deta hu...Bhai mujhe maf karo...me toh sirf Sunday ko trek per jata hu , jab aap log maje se sunday ki neend nikal rahe hote hai toh mai 3.30am uthkar trek per jane ki tyari kar raha hota hoon. 

Anyways lets move forward from here as now I had to compromise on a day trek so this invitation to join Ulhas Valley came as a whiff of  fresh air for me and I  jumped the band wagon and was on my way to Ulhas valley.

The program was such that we were all suppose to meet at Dadar at 5.30 am. I called up Subhashji and Sanjeev ensuring that everyone of us is on time and we all reached Dadar at 5.20am .Walking out of the station at such wee hours has its own share of activities with newspaper vendors unloading the newspaper to be sorted, vegetable sellers arranging their wares etc...really mumbai never sleep. after walking a little distance we reached Visava hotel where we saw a motley of few teenagers with bags behind their back   I jokingly commented subha subha jute pahan kar ,piche bag dhalkar aise khali sadak per koi trekker ke sivaye doosra nahi ho sakta ,lagta hai apne log hai . and I was right !! .

our organiser..trek suru hone se pehle hi iske kapad uttar diye

As Our trekking group Trek O Phy had arranged for a pick up vehicle so all of us moved towards the bus but as few of the people have not reached so we had a delayed start.Our bus left Dadar at 6.30 am and we were now on the way to Lonawala. As I had slept very late at night so I thought I will catch my cat nap till we reach Dadar but hardly my eyes were closed when I was woken up by Rugved with a steaming hot Poha. How I wished ki yeh scene ko thoda aage fast forward kar do yaaro...mere ko thoda sone do... per breakfast time hai toh hai ...so I had my breakfast of Poha.

Lovely ghats !!

Our bus kept moving through the lovely ghat sections and just when we were approaching the Lonawala intersection we could see a lovely waterfall in the distance we were informed that is the place where we have to go...Bas aur kya excitement begins...

we got down here(outside Kamat resturant)

Our bus stopped just outside the Kamat hotel under the expressway.Everyone quickly got down, here few people had come from Pune they too joined us.




 and we all started moving back from where our bus had come and took the first right turn which took us to the compound of St Mary's church

Ground outside St Mary Church

where we had a brief Introduction and instruction round.

Introduction Round

Finishing with the intro round all of us started moving to Shooting Point from where we have to take a right turn.But seeing such a lovely valley in front we all first went to have a glimpse of the lovely Ulhas valley.

Photo session ki inning 

 and then followed first photo session...Photo session ki inning shuru hi sehwag style hui..instead of sixers idhar photo pe photo ke shot liye ja rahe the,Ab mere se bhi nahi raha gaya akhir me insaan hu na ...so kuch pose maine bi mar liye auro ke sath Ab hona kya tha  Amol sir and Gaurav has to literally drag people out from here..I was wondering Bhai abhi to poster dekh kar yeh haal hai...picture dekhne ke baad kya hoga 

Lovely view of Valley..ab koi aage kaise baade !!

In any other trek the process is clear that one has to reach the base village and start ascending,reach the Top and then descend   but this trek was unique because here as we were going into the valley so first we had to descend and then ascend to come to the top from where we actually started our trek.I have given below a diagrammatic explanation (please excuse my amateur attempt as I am not good at drawing) of the route taken by us after doing our intro round outside the St Mary Church ground via shooting point to our mini nalachi vat should I say.

Diagram depiction of route 

From the diagram given above you can see how we moved from the Intro round site to shooting point and then into that slit in the mountain.

Mano Dharti Fhati..aur hum sab andhar

Now here a very interesting thing happened as we were walking some one asked from  where will be starting the trek,Pat came the reply 'woh samne jo jhadi dikti hai na usme se neeche jana hai " and then I heard a loud cry from some female member behind me "are you kidding...chal kuch bi bolti hai, woh to nalli hai " and I thought "Bingo!!!, of course woh nalli hi thi aur hum ko wahan se hi uttarna ha hai lady" 

Well one look at this start point of the trek reminded me a lot of the Amar chitra katha comic, read by me in my childhood where the earth split opens into two and Lord Rama's wife Sita walks into the earth. "Hum logo ke sath bi kuch aisa scene tha" only difference was we were suppose to come up again.

Descend is full of rocky section

Making our way through the bushes we started to descend through this waterfall route. The descend is full of rocky section and one can see the steep slope of rocks, as it was raining getting the grip on the rocks were getting tricky. One has be be very careful so as to avoid from slipping,getting down was indeed becoming a task specially when few of the group member is having a tough time negotiating the the steep slope it leads to all others stopping behind that person aur pata chala ki subah station per ticket ki line toh nahi mili per yahan uttarne ke liye line zaroor lag gayi.

Lo ji uttarne ke liye line zaroor lag gayi !!

Ab ek musibat khatam nahi hui ki saamne doosri pehle se se tyar thi, But for few trekkers its a delight that we encounter such rock patch and agar usme rappelling kar ke uttarne ka maaja mile toh we say...Pura paisa wasool !!!

Yes atlast we came across a rocky patch where getting down without rope was not possible.I loved this part with one hand holding the rope and our feets finding the holdings in the rock to balance our body and above that the waterfall water hitting you...
Wow!! What a feeling.!!.. Dil bole OLE OLE ...

Paisa Wasool !!

This whole rocky section seemed to be endless but Maaza bi to endless tha.we kept walking until we reached a small area where this small waterfall was there so I stole an opportunity to have a Nano photo-break.

Nano Break

Here I wanted to add a small incident took place. When I was posing for a click someone mistimed his footing and a loose rock came tumbling down kissed the ankle of Sanjeev who was clicking my picture and next to Sanjeev at that very moment Subhashji had bent down to pick up something from the ground when this same rock brushed his cheeks..Phew !! that was really close because had that rock not kissed Sanjeev's ankle it would have definitely stuck Subhashji on his face. We were all shaken for a moment but moved on from there.

Walking further the descend was getting more trickery. I too had my fair share of slip and fall.Perhaps that is the reason I think Munmun Meenakshi named her photo album of this trek as Gharsar patti Trek..LOLZ. but all this was a fun and before we knew Gaurav declared that we have reached our Water fall.

The Water Fall

The Word waterfall was was like a magic potion for everyone  because it just lit up the faces of participants they just dumped their bags and jumped into the refreshing natural massage machine.

Everyone had a whale of time at the waterfall splashing water on each other,getting clicked, standing on each other's foot without realising ki neeche patthar nahi pair hai ... Bas ek hi dhun thi PHOTO !!!PHOTO!!!.

But in the end we all enjoyed.. woh ab kisse ke pair par khade ho kar tha ...ya phir kisi ke khande par... KI Farak Phanda ...kyo sahi kha na dosto !!!

Once the waterfall fun was over everyone had lunch and now back to the same treacherous climb.Few girls were finding the climb difficult but then there is always trekker funda of Sathi hath badana where everyone takes care of each other and we all emerge winner.

It was 4.15pm and half of the trekker have reached the base while the other half struggled to reach the base and made it by 5.30pm.

We had our evening refreshment and were ready to board the bus back to mumbai.What fun and craziness happened in the bus while returning may take one more blog from me because  Ghana ga ga kar Gale ki wat laga li....per ghane hai ki katam hi nahi hote...

I am giving below the beautiful video shot by my friend Sanjeev Tankariya which captures the entire journey and the mood of the trek.

All in all another Sunday well spent (Dosto please note it was sunday... baad me bologe kaam kab karta hai...

Thanks to all !!!

Naneghat Revisted

Naneghat Revisted !!!


It is not very often that I repeat my treks however some treks are so endearing that your heart yearns to revisit them, Naneghat is one such place which I would love to do over and over again. Perhaps this was the reason that the moment I received  invitation from Mask Group to trek to Naneghat without thinking for a second I confirmed my reservation with them.

Who needs an invitation to be here !!!

 Rains since last few days has been playing the game of hide and seek,suddenly it starts to pour and one gets the feeling that monsoon has arrived but then suddenly the days become hotter with sunlight making its uninvited presence.But still overcoming all these dilemma I said to myself rain or no rains I am going to Naneghat. So finally I was on my way.

Aaj kal pao zameen per nahi padhte mere...dying to be here

So Sunday morning as usual brought the whiff of excitement of new trek. We left our house quite early. The daylight has still not broken through the skyline and it was dark , aur hamara sath dene ke liye sirf galli ke kutte hi the. This time the rendezvous was not Railway station but 

on the Western Express highway because the organizers had arranged for Pvt bus. Once I reached the highway I called up the organizer to know the position of the bus but to my dismay I was informed that the bus is late by half an hour. Abe ek  bomb se recover kar raha tha ki doora bomb gira I was informed that some of the participants are also running late.

Trek Bus journeys are something to be experienced ...Crazy Man, You'll go nuts !!!

Ek toh bus late upar per se bus ke yatri bhi late now that’s what I call Double  Whammy. Anyway Sadhak ki footpath per baitha hua mai aur mera parivar…My what a comic sight it was ..per yeh sab to trek per chalta hi rahta hai….

The bus arrived and we moved on and just like BEST bus it kept on picking up participants at every stop and the best part is that this pick up activity went on till the Shahad Station.

The happy faces tells you all...

What I like about this pick ups is that that at each stop there is many a time the suspense that at the next stop who will be the new participants and if we are lucky many a time we meet some of our past co-trekker. School ka re union saalo bad hota hai per yahan to almost har Sunday is as good as reunion. Whenever a new trekker boards the bus he/she brings with them new happiness.Har chere me ek nayi khusi mahsoos hoti hai..one can feel the positive vibes oozing.

Everyone has a Tale to narrate!! we call it Trek Tales !!!

Once everyone was aboard the real fun began. Mask Group who were organizing this trip was very buoyant after all it was their Anniversary Trek, Some guys were cracking jokes, Om sir and me were catching up on our trek stories. The Mask gang as usual were making merry singing songs . one thing I always wonder how this Mayank and Kapil Gang manage to sing Thrash shit song and convert it into smash hit songs… crazy atmosphere ..If someone ask me how I felt I would simply say I am loving it !!!

Our team and we all are loving it !!!

We took a small break to have snacks and tea. sometimes these break also allows you the opportunity to break the ice .As there is nothing available at the base village so some of the guys packed their lunch of parathas from here.

Naneghat entrance is very much visible from the highway on the right side of the road.

 Once we reached the Naneghat entrance which is very much visible from the highway on the right side of the road.Everyone huddled into a circle waiting for the instructions and introduction round

Introductions which everyone always forget....mostly

 but what was this ..oh!! Mayank suddenly conjured a plastic bag and out appeared a cake out of it . Yes Mask was celebrating their anivearsary trek in style par yeh kya ….Breaking news !!! Cake ka full circle me se i/4 portion gayab…ek pal aisa laga jaise Mantralaya me aag lagne se files gayab ki gayi thi kahi Mayank aur kapil ne hi to nahi cake gayab kar diya..lolz.

Arre cake pura round kyo nahi hai !!!
 Ask the Mask...Golmaal hai bhai golmaal hai

After finishing with the cake cutting ceremony and introduction round we started our trek. The initial portion of the trek is quite simple it is plain walk for about 2kms with green carpet of grass all around you and Nanecha Anguta towering above you .The climate was overcast till here.

Morning walk at Naneghat!!!

 Once this morning walk gets over we come across a small stream (which was dry this time ) crossing it we entered the forest  and after little walk through the forest we come across another stream( again dry this time too) from here we took little left and again walk into the forest. The trail is well marked so however hard you try you cannot lose your way here.

Frequent Breaks !!! highlight of this trek 

From here onwards the climb consist of mild ascent and then you come across a small clearing and after this another Plateau ( which was very fondly nicknamed as Platuuu). As there were lots of first time trekkers with us so the group was very generous at taking breaks. We were all suppose to take break at the platuuu but this elusive platuu aata hi nahi.and atlast when it did arrived everyone crashed out and relaxed as if they have made it to the top.We all broke into impromptu photo session. 

Photo at platuu

Once everyone was over with this break we all moved on. The climb from here gets steep and the stone way makes it more rigorous . Overcoming all the fatigue we halted midway to have Bird eye view  of lovely valley and from here our next halt was at the water tank. We all filled up our bottles here and moved towards the top. After trekking for another 20 minutes we reached the top. Here there is a big cave which can shelter around 50 people.Last year when I had come here the caves were in natural form but this time around they have converted it into Central jail. All natural beauty is totally screwed   up in the name of restoration.

Our hangout for the day...Naneghat caves
(should I say prison now)

We all enjoyed our lunch and then went through the famous Naneghat Pass where in earlier days of empirical raj the traders used to drop a coin in the large pot so as to pass from this route( aaj ke zamane ka toll tax) 

Man made grills and fencing..I am hating this !!!

 av

Now this is the trade route where you pay your toll

View from the caves

Toll collection Pot of olden days

 Once you come across the pass the view in front of you for a second could puzzle you because after trekking for almost 3 hrs and reaching the top if you see a bus or a car at the top you may almost utter WTF . 

WTF from where did car have come from !!!

The reason we see that bus is because there is a way from junnar which is motorable and takes you right at the doorsteps of Naneghat. There is a small hill from this point

this is the hill we have to climb to reach the topmost point or on the tip of Nanacha Angtha

 The view from this top is beyond any description of words .Each photographs has a story to tell

Do I have to say anything

Everyone enjoying the breeze at the Top

Naneghat You made my Day !!!

After enjoying and freaking out we skidded down this hill on the top and finally the time came to say good bye to naneghat and we all started our descend. While descending it started to rain heavily due to which the way became more slippery

Slippery Stone Walk

Akshita and Ketaki
( I liked Ketaki  fb update Naneghat me Nani Yaad aa gayi)

For me getting down almost became a non event because I had a wonderful company of Jay Karia and Ketaki Ambekar. and my daughter. We kept on exchanging stories and in no time reached the base. In the meanwhile there were few casualties too , though of course of minor nature. Whereby Mayank knees were giving him pain and Arpit twisted his ankle but somehow ek dusre ko sambalte hua they made it to the base.

All in all Ma(a)sk kasam bada hi awesome trek tha

Thanks to all 

Special thanks to Jijesh Nair,Kevin Disilva and Praful Patne for the wonderful photos.


How to reach:

Our bus followed the simple route from Andheri to Thane via Dahisar –Kalyan- Murbad-Saralgaon-Tokawade and you are there at Naneghat Entrance.

Another way is that one can take local train to Kalyan Station from there one can take ST bus or Private jeep. Naneghat is very easily accessible as the board of Naneghat can be easily seen from the road.