Ahupe Ghat Trek

Flashback !!
I still remember it was few months back when I was planning to do this trek to Ahupe Ghat I asked my friend would she like to come to ahupe Ghat. her first question to me was Maine yeh naam suna nai...Kya hai udhar. I was speechless

because Mere ko khud nahi pata tha ki udhar hai kya. I bluffed and said arre it has beautiful scenery, waterfalls and Upar top per say view ek dum Mast.( akir me sahyadri ke har trek me itna toh hota hai ,socha aapna bluff chal jayega ).But thanks to this query by her that I started to do my research about this trek to Ahupe Ghat. However something or the other came up and I always ended up postponing this trek
The weekend was drawing close and there were numerous plans which were doing rounds in my mind.But alas !  all my plans got smashed when on Wednesday evening my motorbike skidded and I got severely injured. 

But I was still positive that I may be able to pull it off. But on Thursday morning the swelling increased so I called off all the plans and told all my co-trekkers friends that I may not be able to go for any trek.
It was Saturday evening and my friend Harikesh called me and said

Aashish Ahupe aate ho.... Ab meri ek nazar injured tang ko dekhe aur ek trek ko...as usual Trek wins hands down and I said buddy I am in, but problem is that I am not fully fit,Harikesh however very encouragingly said hum hai na, dont worry. bas ab kya tha bag nikalo,aur ready ho jao !!!

I was given to understand that Ahupe Ghat is long and strenuous trek so one must start it as early as possible, considering this requirement I took an early train at 5.18 am from Dadar to Kalyan. It was 6.30 am when we reached Kalyan ST stand.Today we were having a luxury of car to take us to the base village Khopivali however those who want to to take public transport can catch ST buses going to Murbad and from Murbad they can catch ST bus going to Khopivali.

(Lto R) Hardik,Pankaj,Myself, Harikesh and Jayesh

We were five of us Harikesh,Jayesh,Hardik,Pankaj and myself. we all jumped into the car and zoomed towards the base village. Negotiating the crazy traffic of Kalyan it was a relief to hit the NH222 what with beautiful scenery passing you, early morning breeze and the songs of Aashiqui 2.. playing.Life set hai boss..
In an hour time we reached Murbad and just as you cross Murbad ST stand take first right turn, this road goes towards Mhase. We took our first halt at Mhase village for Breakfast.How can one resist Garam garam vadapaw and Rustic village flavour of Misal.

Stop over at Mhase For Breakfast

Finishing our breakfast we moved toward Khopivali village. From this Mhase Village we took a left turn and drove for further 20 minutes crossing Narivali( Base village for Siddhgad  Trek), Dehri (Base village for Gourakhgad Trek) and just within 10 minutes of drive we reached Khopivali, a prominent signboard is there so one cannot miss this village.

A prominent signboard

 just to the right of this signboard the village is there. We have to walk through this village
and take small left and then right and you soon realize that you are on the backside of the village overlooking vast expanse of paddy fields in front of you and Machindergad on your right side.

Vast expanse of paddy fields in front of you and Machindergad on your right side.

 The start to this trek is little confusing because to find the way from the paddy field is always a task. But one thing is there, as you can see in the picture above, right in front of you is Ahupe ghat Top and on your right side Machindergad and Gourakgad. 

Following the stream

One can take the help of the villager to get initial directions or can take a local guide.  Crossing the fields we find this stream and we walk along this for some distance and enter a shady forest section. 

Water caressing you at some patches

its a pleasant walk with water caressing you at some patches, we also found quite a few villagers specially the ladies on this trail. We later realized that they were going to the stream for cleaning clothes.Stream ka naam sunte hi sab ke kan khade ho gaye , Photo session aur masti ka full mocka milta hai na. Soon we reached the point where the villagers were washing clothes

Spot where villagers were washing clothes

Ab kya tha pani dekhte hi hum sab khud gaye 

Full fun time to get refreshed, because as the weather was sunny, with no rains at all  jumping into the waters seems to be the best moment for us.Thankfully Jayesh and Pankaj had different ideas ,they didn't want to get their shoes wet...Hum log to floater wale the isliye khub maje kiye 

Seeing us wasting time Jayesh called out and said guys lets move warna late ho jayenge so reluctantly we all came out and moved further lekin yeah kya we had hardly walked 2 minutes when we came across the bigger stream and better waterfall then the one which a moment earlier we had enjoyed

This waterfall looked better, Dil toh bahut kar raha tha ki thoda masti aur ho jaye , but keeping in mind our tight schedule in mind we just took a dip (sudar toh hum sakte hi nahi na) took some pictures but with a promise ki wapas aane ke baad pakka time pass karenge. Guys remember that you have to cross this stream and the above waterfall will be on your right side and once we crossed this stream we turned right. this detour is important because one wrong turn here and whole trek can get messed up

Crossing river with the above waterfall on the right side

After crossing this river and taking right we walk through high growth shrubs and plantation which finally leads us to lovely forest which for a change was a wonderful experience . This forest cover helped us to beat the heat of the sun.

Walk in the forest

We kept walking through this forest for some time and suddenly reached a large clearing.

Large clearing  Take right side route to trek as left diversion will take you to Waterfall.

One has to be very careful here because at this point we saw two trails one was leading towards to the right side, this trail will lead you to Waterfall (25min utes walk)and the other trail on left is the trail to be followed to reach Ahupe Ghat. Our guide left us here because he said that from here onwards the trails is well marked and its very difficult to lose the way.
 

Time for real trek

If you ask me the real treks starts now because as you can see in the picture above the top pinnacle is the point where the Ahupe village is.The trek gets quite demanding here because all the time you are only climbing with no respite of flat walks in between.
 

Climbing through rocky patches

All the time when we were climbing the trek offered us beautiful view  of Gorakhgad and Machindergad from different angles.

 view of Gaurkhgad and Machindergad on the way to Ahupe Ghat

The climb is through the forest again and all the time the Ahupe Ghat is in front of you.we were gaining height quickly because of the steep ascend 

    

Steep Ascend

 There was a small stream which provided us a respite in this arduous trek we quickly filled our bottles and our tummy with water from here.

We filled our water bottles here,

we finished this continuous climb and reached the Ahupe Plateau. One look around me and I exclaimed Oh my God what Beauty !!!

and I shouted loudly yaar yeah toh pura paisa wasool trek hai. I am putting the pictures below, as they say a picture is more than thousand words put together and you can understand my ecstasy.

once on the top as you enter you see lovely valley , a gigantic plateau overflowing with lush greenery and a small village. Mind blowing breeze and 360 degree view which can leave us mesmerized. 

View from the Top

 

View from the Top

 

View from the Top 

View from the Top 

We quickly had our lunch , visited the Village Temple but it was closed. Descending from this trek was a crazy affair because the young guns were sprinting like there was no tomorrow. We reached the base village by 5 pm and started our onward journey to Home.

 

Thank You Team

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.