Trek to Kothligad

Kothligad Fort

It was in late March that Vipul informed about this promising little adventure group called nature knights (www.natureknights.com). So after spending the week rumbling over where-to next, we went through their website and read about their plans of a night trek to Kothligad.

Kothligad Fort (2)

As usual, I was ready to chug along anywhere. Vipul was ready and Ganesh said he would come for sure. So the three of us planned of going along with this gang:

1. Of unknown people (The nature knights?)
2. To an unknown place (Kothligad, Peth?).
3. For an unknown activity (night trek???).

This is what I wanted to escape

The D-day arrived and Ganesh backed out. He was in full throttle celebrations for getting into IMT so I wouldnt blame him :-). It left me and Vipul going together.

Now I’ll be honest. We never bothered as to where we heading to as long as we were going somewhere. We boarded their bus which leaves from Andheri at Sion (Opp. Sion Lunch home). The bus got a bit delayed from the promised time of 9.20 PM. It reached the Sion Lunch Home at about 10 PM. Since we knew that it’s the knight’s bus, we got in and took our seats.

We realised that there were basically a few disparate groups of people busily gossiping amongst themselves. A few of them gave us sideways glances and we felt weird of being neophytes, in the company of seasoned trekkers, all looking well prepared for the ordeal.

For starters, I am not a trek and fitness sort of a guy. Given a choice, I would prefer a hike over a trek any given day.

The bus then slowly chugged in to the McDonalds drive-in at Panvel. We met a few of the folks. People we met were all friendly people and we realised it’s not going to be as boring as we had started to believe. Hehe.

On the way ahead, the knights (led by Asif, Dnyanesh and Nimesh) gave us a briefing on the task ahead. Now it was great to see that the group had its principles too.

They had a set of rules that everyone was supposed to follow. It felt even nice when Dnyanesh warned us not to litter around the place, consume alcohol during treks or smoke carelessly around the place (summers are also a time of wild fires). Now that would definitely curtail any rogue behaviour and people would just mean business (trek, that is).

Nimesh pitched in with his – Every one is supposed to carry minimum 3 liters of water with him/herself (Now this is funny since I called him up later asking for tips about the Shilonda trail and he said the same thing then - minimum 3 lits. I wonder why always three? nevermind! haha). Now this ensured that people got down at the next stop and fetch water to complete their quota of 3 liters).

And so we finally reached this obscure village called Ambivili (about 15 kms from Karjat). The place just had a tiny little shop/dhaba. We parked the bus next to it and got moving. There were rules here too. Dnyanesh would lead the trek and Asif would trail. People were not supposed to lead the leader or trail behind the trailer.

I don’t think it would have been possible to trail Asif anyway. He looked like he’s come there to get permanently settled. His gigantic bag was like a camel’s hump. It contained every bit of stationery you might consider taking with yourselves for a weeklong vacation. Btw, I still don’t know where Nimesh disappeared that night.

So thereby we went. The leader Dnyanesh first, followed by gang of novices and then the trailing Asif. The walk was one hell of an experience. I was entirely drenched in sweat. Lack of proper sleep the night before invited its own set of woes. But it felt great to release all the sweat and toxins from the body. If there was a shower atop, there would’ve been nothing like it!

Alas! There was nothing there except a hall which the knights booked in a place owned by a Patil (thats the name Dnyanesh kept on calling). The floor was wiped clean with - yes, Cow dung. I kicked my luck for not bringing enough change of clothes or even a bedsheet.

And it is then I understood Asif rationale behind bringing a sleeping mat. At about 2.30 AM, every one decided to call it a day. I was helped by the Patil who threw a big banner to us. It could accommodate 4 of us. We spread it out and I made my mind to sleep as if there were no tomorrow.

But that was all I would do. The people next to me kept on murmuring something throughout the night. I realized that I was awake even when it was 4 AM. To top it all, a rooster started sending its wake-up calls at 3 in the night.

I could get some sleep after it was 4. We all woke up by 6 in the morning looking for some place to wash our faces and attend to nature’s call. Again, there wasn’t any. Mr Patil gave us some water which we used to brush teeth and wash our faces clean. It was in the light of the morning sun that I realized that my feet were all drenched in red dust. And I realized how desperately I needed a shower now!!

But it was time for the next trek. We had to gather all our strengths and reach the inverted funnel atop. So be it!

Early morning at Peth. The fort is in the background

We all started slowly and after bucketfuls of sweat, we managed to reach atop! It was a great feeling to stand there amidst the clouds. Yes – there was a white cloud cover on the mountains amidst the mid-April heat and humidity. It was then we realized the sanity behind Nimesh’s rationale. Without ample water supply, things would’ve been extremely difficult. 

Clouds and the photographer :-D

Sun is shining

Lost in thoughts

Now that we were on top, I thought we’d wait there and soak in the fun. But that wasn’t the case. Asif ordered and we got ready for descend. It ascend was though, descend was even painful. My knees got twanged as I took each of the steps down. But we got back to Peth after all.

We had Kanda-Poha and tea for breakfast. The laziness in me wished this was the time when maybe the knights would sit and talk about the events and I’d sit lazily or maybe catch some sleep. But it was not to be. They asked us to get ready for the walk back to the village where our buses were parked.

Antlers'ish:-)

Asif and I had roughly calculated the distance to be about 7 Kms and I felt proud the night before; of being able to cover all the distance with a steep gradient. But all that was in the silence of the night. Now, just the very thought of going the distance in mid-afternoon sun made me give up.

It was about 11 and we all started walking on our way back. If people weren’t ready to, no one had the energy to complain. We started walking in the mid-April scorching heat of the sun along the dusty road. A few of us started suffering from sun-strokes; a few stumbled and fell but I kept my heads down and walked… and walked.... and walked….

The ordeal was over in about 2-2.5 hour’s time and we reached where it all started. It was then time to get back to our senses. We had loads of Kokam juice and mango juice. This was the most relaxing part of the journey for me. We assembled under the shade of the dhaba nearby and had lunch there. The food felt great.

We caught up with the other folks around and on hindsight; it felt great to meet a bunch of like-minded people. I would recommend a date with the knights for anyone keen on roughing it out on a weekend.

We then took the bus home. The bus was sizzling amidst the mid-afternoon heat. And when I got back home; I felt as I did throughout the journey - All drained but happy! 

The Gang (pic courtesy Asif )

Best companions for a hard day

At the fort

Never knew we got this far!

To be kids again!!

More pictures here: Kothligad