This is my ninth trek of my short trekking life. This was a very instinctive trek as had no idea of this group or any person related to this group. I came to know about this trek from an advertisement in the newspaper. This trek gave a new dimension to my hobby of trekking and I experienced many things that I had never done before. This was going to be my first independent trek. In all the previous treks that I had done my father was my constant companion and my guiding light. This was my very first night trek as we were going to complete almost half of the trek during the night.
Onset for the trek began on Friday night. I met up with the leader of our organisation Mr. Shriram Kohli. Slowly the other group members also gathered and we set off for Karjat from Thane. We boarded the local which was very much crowded and we had a very bad time getting into the train. We along with our big heavy rucksacks looked like the terrorists from Taj! Our fellow passengers were very much interested in what we had in our big bags and why we were carrying them. The local being a fast one halted only and dombivli and kalyan. After these two stations we ruled the train as there was no one except us on the train. We got down at karjat and had a head count. We were 19 people at the station and some more were to join us at various points.
From karjat we boarded a passenger which was to take us to Lonavla. The same story continued in this train too. But this time the climax was changed as we had to stand all the way to Lonavla which was by no means a short distance. We reached Lonavla at around 1:30am in the morning. Till now we had made quite a good number of friends. I was almost acquainted with most of the guys in our group. At Lonavla there were two jeeps waiting for us. In one train we all guys got in while in the other jeep there were all girls. In the jeeps we were cramped up owing to our big sacks and the number of people we were. We were chatting and joking all the way. After sometime we played music in our phones and tried to entertain ourselves. Even though it was past midnight no one showed any signs of sleepiness or fatigue. After a ride for an hour and half we reached a point from were it was impossible for the jeep to go. So now our trek had officially started. This was my first night walk. In the dead of night, we couldn’t see a thing. We had only our torches to guide us in that night. The sky had a beautiful sight to show. The stars shone like diamonds layed out for sale. It was sight to behold and to have it in your first night walk itself was I believe it was my good luck that I had an opportunity to have it for my company. Till now my friends list on this trek included Pradeep, Saket (socket), Pratik and Rohit. In the midst of night we all were joking and enjoying our trek. The onset of winter had begun recently and it was taking a toll on us. I was wearing a halfsleave T-Shirt over which I had a thick fullsleave T-shirt. To top it all I had thick woolen jacket and a woolen cap too. But still I would have liked to have something more on to keep the chill away. We walked through dense forests with only darkness and the cold breeze as our companion. Now we were accustomed to the road and were chatting about lives when not trekking. After walking for about two hours we reached our destination for the night. At 4:00 am in the morning we reached a temple. We had to stay there till morning. We had only two hours to rest. Soon we layed down tired bodies on a mat and soon we were dreaming.
We had our wake up call at 6:15 in the morning. In the morning we realized that we were in outskirts of a village. We got some water from villagers and we filled our bottles with it. Soon we were off. We marched our way into the jungle. After walking for sometime we halted at a place and soon preparations for the breakfast began. We had sandwich for our breakfast. After spending close too an hour there we had our formal introduction. After it we proceeded towards our destination for the day Kondeshwar. The climb was not very difficult and it went along the edges of the mountains. We could see the huge mountains of the sahyadri ranges sprawling till the horizons. We could also many hill forts. On this way we had our first glance of our final destination of our trek-The Dhak fort. It stood as a stalwart of the region and appeared like a shepherd looking over the entire region around. We could also see the pinnacle of Kalakrai. This pinnacle was camouflaged among the rock walls of the fort behind. We could also see the Bhairi caves which were our numero uno destination on that day. As we proceeded now the way was through forest and owing to the winter season the greenery of the mountains had been transformed to the wilderness of dried grass. The way was descending and the soil was almost next to none. Our path was from huge rock boulders arranged by the Mother Nature in those formations. The boulders are very difficult to traverse through as you don not get a firm grip on the ground. Slowly and steadily we climbed down that hill and landed up in front of the Kondeshwar temple
The temple looked very old and had very typical style of architecture. We were to have our lunch here. Meanwhile till the lunch was being prepared we decided to do rappelling on the nearby rock face. So everything was set for rappelling. Those who were interested did it one by one. This was my second time that I was doing rappelling. There were many who were doing it for the first time. It was very difficult for some of them to do it. But all in all it was fun and there were no injuries other than minor scratches. We had our lunch and rested for sometime. Then we again started our march towards the Bhairi caves.
It was around 2:30 in the afternoon and the sun was in its complete fury. Add to that the rough terrain that we had to maneuver through and it becomes a hell of a combination. During such conditions the risk of sunstroke increases. There were not many trees now as we were on the top of the hill that overlooked the Dhak fort. We had to climb down in the valley between the hill we were on and the Dhak fort. Descend was comparatively easy as the way was through dense forest and owing to the lush greenery around the walk was very pleasant. At around 4:00 in the evening we reached the base of the Bhairi caves. From here onwards only those who were interested in going to the caves were going forward. This was a precautionary measure as the way to the Bhairi caves goes through a rock patch of 70degrees inclination overlooking the valley. Those people less on confidence were advised against going there. Those who were not coming proceeded towards our stop for the night.
For reaching the Bhairi caves, the path was very difficult. First obstacle was a tube like formation at the descending path leading to the cliff of the Bhairi caves. There was no room for error at this point as one mistake would end up in a fall of around 200-300 ft in the valley below. Slowly and steadily being fully focused on every hold and ground grip we managed our way through this region. But till now the job was only half done. We now reached at a point from were the path was plain but it was very narrow. We were told to wait for sometime as our group seniors were making some safety arrangements.
The wait didn’t seem to end at all. We could see them doing something on the rock face but we could not see it very clearly as it was quite a distance away from us. Over here we were very impatient to go to there. The place we were sitting on was only 3 ft wide and overlooked the deep valley below. Even though it was daytime we were unable to see the base of the valley. At this point I could feel my existence in this world. I could feel being alive. Death stood just inches away from me. At this point of time the rush of adrenaline that runs through your veins is the rush we trekkers do these crazy things for.
Soon we were signaled to come near the rock face. Over here one of our senior briefed us on how to be on the rock face and what one should avoid there. A piton was fixed in the middle of the rock face with two snap links at each ends and an anchor rope was passed through these pitons and snap links. Only one person was supposed to cross it at a time. So we eagerly awaited our turn as one by one people were crossing that region. This wait seemed as if it would never end. Now we realized that in about an hour the sun would set. This was a very bad thing as light was of utmost importance on such rock patches. So we had to speed up.
Now it was my turn. I was a bit nervous certainly not afraid. I had utilized the waiting time for strategizing my way on the rock patch. I had also revised through the dos and don’ts that I had read and learned during my previous treks. I was fully focused on the path ahead as one mistake would spell doom. Taking one step at a time I moved ahead. Made sure that every foot hold and hand hold was strong enough to take my body weight in case of a fall. At places I spent quite sometime in deciding which step was the best at that point of time. I even stopped for sometime to relax and relieve the excitement that was taking over me. In the same manner I traversed the rock patch and reached the other end.
From this point the view was amazing. The sprawling sahyadri range below us seemed terrifyingly beautiful. The sun was beginning to turn orange which indicated that we should move away from this region at the earliest or we would be trapped in this place for the night. So again slowly and steadily we crossed back. Till we reached the point from where we had started the sun had already set
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