Trek to Karnala (Third time)

This is my third trek to Karnala, 19^th overall and the first trek that I had organized on my own. Already experiencing the terrain and tracks of Karnala fort I persuaded my friends to accompany me o this trek. I had started organizing and informing my friends about this trek a week before. I got nice response as well but it was short lived. With varying reasons many of my friends backed out and at last the only 4 of us were still at the wicket. Me (but obvious), Tej (my trusted lieutenant), Ninad (my brother), Mayur (College friend) were the only remaining for the trek.

Ninad met me at Thane station around 6:45am. It was very much unlike him to be on time but surprise he was on time. We moved on to the ST stand. We were chatting and Ninad was really excited as it was his long found dream to do this trek. We enquired at the ST stand as to when our bus would arrive and soon voila! The bus was before us. We boarded the bus and soon started our journey to Panvel. This was the first time that we were both going there together. The weather was really pleasant and we were having a good time in the bus chatting continuously and making plans for future treks. Suddenly my phone rang and Mayur was speaking. He was to meet Tej at Wadala station and then come to Panvel ST stand. He informed me that he had no contact with Tej and he was soon boarding the train without him. I was really disheartened but decided it was wise not to show it. I told Ninad about this and he also felt a bit sad.

By now we were very close to our destination. Our bus was just entering the bus stand when Mayur called again and said that Tej had called him and they both had already boarded the train. I was happy but still we had to do the huge daunting task of WAITING! This was not new to us, even during the Raigad trek we had to wait. So we enquired with the nearby rickshaw about the cost of going to Karnala fort. They told that it would take Rs.150. I was told that it won’t take more than Rs.25 each. We now enquired with the ST stand. The person sitting at the counter looked as if he was answering one word questions. He was least bothered about our questions. Our conversation was as follows :-

Question: Where would we get ST to Karnala fort ?

Answer: Here

Question: Which bus goes there?

Answer: Local.

Question: When would the bus come?

Answer: Very Soon

Completely disgusted by the way we left him and started roaming in the bus stand. Soon we got all the info that we needed from “here and there”. I called Mayur as to know where he was. He said that he was very near and would be meeting us in 15minutes. Soon after they met we boarded a bus which took us to base of Fort Karnala.

In next ten minutes after paying the toll we were on our way to the top. The way that leads to the fort had a huge board displaying the history of the fort. The jungle was lush green. There trees were dense. I had used this route a couple of times before and hence was familiar with it. Mayur was awestruck as this was his first trek. There were spider webs in our way and they were really difficult to handle. They were transparent and could only be seen if they were seen against sunlight. After negotiating this patch we were soon out of that patch but still the forest was present. I just love this feeling. It’s like going back to your origin. We are completely at nature’s mercy. We took some beautiful pictures of the spiders in there webs. They had really nice colors unlike the spiders we see in our house. They were not only beautiful but big too.

On our way we had a group ahead of us. They were very noisy and so we decided to overtake them and be at peace with our self. While doing this we climbed the first patch very quickly-this was the plus point. In doing this Ninad who is very careful climber tired himself. He was climbing really fast and was almost running.

By now we were clear of the group. Tej was leading with Mayur covering him. While was looking after Ninad. We took some snaps of various fascinating things that we encounter only in the forest. One such thing was a black leaf. I don’t know what it was for sure but it looked like it had survived a wild fire. We heard monkey calls at regular intervals. We took our first break after climbing for 30min. We had decided that we were going to do the trek in 1hour flat.

We were on level ground if you could really call it that. It was plain but with deep valley on either side. There was dense vegetation in the valleys below us. We could see some other forts around us. There were small villages in the valley too. After reaching the temple of Karnai Devi we prayed there for sometime and offered a coconut. It was really a nice coincidence that it was navratri. After paying our homage we left for the further climb. This was the only part of Karnala which can be called as difficult. I asked Ninad to be careful. He seemed exhausted by now. The sun was shining and we could feel the heat taking its toll. I had a vomiting sensation due to it. Carefully and slowly we completed this part and were just below the Pinnacle of Karnala.

We were not going to do it as rock climbing equipment and proper training is required to reach to the summit of the pinnacle. Tej was childishly asking us that we should give it a try! There are small water tanks carved in the base of the pinnacle. These tanks belong to the period when Satavahana dynasty’s rule. We roamed around the fort for another hour. The fort is very small and was used as an observation center during those days. We did some photography from here too. We could see Manikgad fort, Malangad fort, Dukes Nose Mountain and also the Matheran mountain range. The scenic beauty was breathtaking.

After wandering around we were soon looking for a cozy place to have dinner. Soon we discovered that it was a very daunting task. The afternoon sun was in its full glory and we could not find a single suitable place. So we settled near a wall of the fort. There were steps leading into the valley below. This was quite a desolate area and we laid our lunch here. After having lunch and chatting for another hour we started to descend.

We had just started and were still inside the fort when Ninad fell. His leg got entangled in something and he fell. Due to it he twisted his ankle. This was not the first time that this has taken place. Even during the Garbate point trek, this same ankle had twisted due to a fall. He was in quite a bit of agony. First we laid him down. Then I gave his ankle a rub and some basic first aid. After some rest he was again ready and raring to go. Again carefully we moved downwards. By now we were used to the sun. Descend was easy but still we had to be careful. When we reached down we were very much tired and had some beautiful memories.

During our trek we had kept nothing behind but our footsteps and brought along nothing but sweet memories.

lp