Bhimashankar

This is my 25^th trek overall. I had been waiting for this trek for a year. At last Baba told me that we are going to Bhimashankar on 24^th of January. But alas due to some problems it was still postponed to 30^th and 31^st of January. From my usual group Ninad and Prasad were going to be a part of this trek. Prior to the evening we were leaving Prasad said he was not coming. Ninad was not sure. But still I was in high spirits. On the night of 29^th I hardly slept in spite of the long day I had on the next day. This was due to the excitement for the trek.

Early in the morning of 30^th I was busy with my morning rituals when my phone rang and Baba picked up. It was Ninad at the other end. He said that he was game for the trek. This was the best possible start for the day. Along with Baba I left my house at 05:30 hours.

The morning was chilly and we were decked up in sweaters and monkey caps. After walking from my house till Kalwa station we had enough heat in our body and removed our sweaters. We were ready with our train tickets to Karjat. We were going to board the 06:14 hours train to Karjat and now we were half an hour early. I was anticipating the route and the fun that we would be having. I had not met Ninad since Visapur trek and was looking forward to meet him now. Ninad called me at 06:10 hours to report that he had boarded the train. This reminded me of some of the previous treks that I had organized. Everyone reporting about their progress energizes us. This time Baba was worrying about it all.

Train reached Kalwa on time. Ninad-as expected was at the door-waving at us. Soon we boarded the train and met rest of our group. It was after a long time that I was meeting them all- Garbat point trek was the last I had done with this group. No formal introductions were required with this group. Once train crossed Kalyan the weather started becoming more and more cool. Soon we again wore sweaters and were ready to face anything. We reached Karjat at around 07:50 hours. A walk of 10 minutes took us to Karjat ST depot. On enquiry we came to know that the bus to Khandas-Our base of the trek- was no longer available. The guy at the enquiry counter was much better than the one’s we had experienced at Lonavala and Panvel. He even gave us a suggestion that we should take bus to Kasheli and from there we could get another vehicle to reach Khandas. The next bus to Kasheli was at 08:30 hrs. That means we had a nice half hour in our hands. We had some breakfast from whatever we had brought along. Soon the bus arrived at 08:30 hrs and left after 15 more minutes.

The journey was long and boring. To compensate for last night’s sleep I slept for that half an hour duration that the bus took to reach Kasheli. From Kasheli we hired a van and a rickshaw ‘tum-tum’. In this rickshaw we met a local school boy named Siddharth Jadhav! We had a nice time chatting with him. He was so open minded that he almost told us his family history, background, academics and also confessed some his mistakes and wrong doings. He did this in just half an hour. It took us half an hour to reach Khandas.

We started our trek from Khandas at 10:30 hours. The group was highly energetic. Walk through the village was on tar road with houses and plantations on both sides. Everyone was having fun. There were two small girls in our group. Sakshi was the elder among them studying in 4^th grade while Shrusthi studied in 2^nd grade. They were at the front and didn’t want anyone to go ahead. They looked nice wearing some cute miniature rucksacks and shoes. They were having fun on their own right. We stopped in our way for a formal introduction. This being just a formality everyone was fooling. We even had a wooden stick which we supposed to be our mike (microphone)! The walk here was very pleasing. There was wind blowing here. It was nice to have it. The strain was very much relieved. We had not entered the woods even after a walk of around 45 minutes. Ladies in our group-we had four ladies with us- seemed to be tired. But this usually happens as we are not used to do this sort of physically taxing work. Getting acclimatized with this takes some time. So we were not worried about this.

Soon we entered the woods. There were tall trees over here. We could see Khandas situated far away now. The climb was smooth and easy. No one had any problem doing this part. This was our first phase which was supposed to end at the Ganapati temple in the forest. The route had a gentle steep. To get such patch so early in the trek was enough to enlighten us about the things we would have to face later on in the trek. It took us an hour to reach here. The sight of the Ganapati temple was relieving. The temple was newly renovated. The idol was orange in color due to the ‘shendur’. After offering our prayers we began the second phase.

This phase was through patches of dense forest and grasslands. Formerly the route was through dense forest very much similar to the route we had faced till now. After some time we entered grassland. Fading winter grass was yellowish-golden in color. The black rock under of feet was hot due to the afternoon sun. To our right we could see the peak of ‘Padargad’. It appeared like the draping of a sari. In front of us we could now see the mountain of Bhimashankar. It was like a huge piece of solid rock fallen from the heavens. The sides of the mountain appeared to be chisel cut. It looked unconquerable. The terrain was certainly not friendly or pleasant over here. Half of the team had emptied their water resources. This was not at all a good sign. Soon it was decided that a group would move ahead towards the summit so that arrangements for the rest of the group could be made. I and Ninad were a part of this group. Soon we reached the end of our second phase. This phase took us an hour and half to complete. There was a small well over here. The water contained some of the dust that falls from the trees above, dried leaves and such other dust. Mr. Nakashe told us that the water in this well was potable and that villagers from the nearby region used this well for their water purposes. The very next moment we were filling of our empty bottles. We decided to wait for the rest of the team. When they reached here everyone was happy to know about the well. The water was cool and had a very different taste. We quenched our thirst here and had some biscuits and small cakes. End of the second phase gave us the gift of water. The group was energized again.

The third phase consisted of dense forest. The route was plain and simple. There was no climb in here. Walking in such conditions was an experience to be cherished for a long time. Again our group was in fore front. The dense forest prevented the sun from reaching us. It was a nice experience. Everyone was in their elements by now. We were able to hear sounds of birds and monkeys over here. We also saw some monkeys. They were white in color but their face was black in color. They seemed to be afraid of us and we were afraid of them. So it was mutual. We reached a place were there was a small roof constructed. This signaled the end of third phase. We waited here for rest of the group to arrive. On their arrival lunch boxes were opened and lunch was served. It took us almost an hour to finish our lunch. There was a guy selling buttermilk out there. Everyone enjoyed the cool drink and even got some in a bottle. From here we started with our fourth stage.

Fourth stage was also through forest, but here was a gentle climb over here. In the further stages the tree cover started becoming lesser. Now I was leading the way with Mr. Naik, Sakshi and Shrusthi. Those two girls wanted to be in front. So they were sticking with me. It was nice to see them take tiny steps. Their small quarrels were a constant time pass for me. This phase was the shortest but due to the afternoon heat and lack of water it took us almost an hour to complete it. But we never knew that fifth phase could be worse.

The tree cover was almost gone. The route was narrow. There were steep rock on one side and deep valleys on the other. I had to be careful and at the same time take care of those two girls too. In spite of these conditions the scenic beauty was fascinating. Below us we could see many villages and farmlands. We could also see the jungle through which we had come up. On glancing in upward direction we could see the huge rock face above us. Storing this beauty in eyes and capturing the same in lens of the camera I moved on. During negotiating difficult patches I took one of the girls ahead first and then again came back to fetch the other. This was tiring but it was very much necessary in such places. After sometime we waited for rest of the group to arrive. The group behind us arrived on this spot. We were short on water and girls were in dire need of it. I had two bottles-one was half filled and the other was in case of emergency. I gave the water to both of them and still carried half of what was formerly present. Other group members had some oranges and some chocolates. These rejuvenated us. This was the only spot in the complete trek where we could catch some shade. When rest of our group arrived we left. By now Ninad had gone ahead of us with Baba and some other members while I was tending to both these girls. Soon we left this spot. After more half an hour we reached end of this phase. It took us an hour and forty five minutes to complete this phase.

The final phase was through dense forest. The sun was on its way down and we were being relieved. But final patch had some decent climb in it. This was very much tiring. Girls were exasperated and I was afraid that they would ask me to carry them. But thank goodness they didn’t ask anything of it. We could hear noises of some monkeys too. The same like the one we had seen before. We could hear the noise of the group ahead of us. The energy in their voices said that they were on the summit. Right from the beginning of the trek I was telling both the girls that we would be reaching in half hour more! This time they didn’t believe me but it was the truth now. Another twenty minutes and we were on the summit. Eagle had landed.

On the top we could see a water tank. We thought that it had water like the one we had found in the well. But this was dirty water. Some one told us that this was the place to bathe livestock. A walk for 5 minutes took us to the spot was rest of the group was waiting for us. Everyone congratulated the Sakshi and Shrusthi for their achievement. We were told to wait here while Baba and someone else were searching for a place to stay tonight. We had some eatables and soon rest of the group arrived. They were next to dead but the happiness on there faces spoke volumes. It was nice that we had completed the half the trek (ascend-descend was remaining) successfully without any casualties.

After around half an hour we had found a nice accommodation for the night. We dumped our bags there had a wash and left to visit the shrine of lord Bhimashankar. Bhimashankar is among the twelve jyotirlingas in India. The temple is huge and ancient. There were quite a few devotees in the temple. After offering our prayers we waited there for the evening ‘aarti’. It was nice experience. We reached our dharmshala-the place where we were staying-at around 20:30 hours. Over here we chatted among ourselves. Experiences of the day were shared. Aching muscles were relived. Advices were given. Planning for the next days descend was going on. We also played some games. In about an hour dinner was served. Plain chapatti, rice, dal, ‘pithla’-an Indian delicacy, vegetable and some pickle was served. Hot steaming dinner after a tiring day was simply amazing. We ate till we burst. We went out at around 22:00. Roaming in the night was a pleasant experience. Ideas about life and how to lead it were being exchanged. The cool night breeze was flowing. After roaming around for about half an hour we came back and decided to call it a night. I was woken up by aarti of Sai Baba. Ninad had set alarm of 06:30 hours and the alarm tone was the aarti itself. To my surprise Ninad was not at all affected by that aarti. He was still in his dreams. This reminded me of ‘Kumbhakaran’ from Ramayan. It took me sometime to find his phone and switch off the alarm. Everyone in our room was awakened due to it but not Ninad. I switched of that alarm and went back to sleep. But now it was hard to come. By now Ninad was awakened from his deep slumber. Still he was wrapped in his shawl and yawning like a tiger. After getting out of our beds and packing our bags we finished our morning rituals. Now was the time to go to ‘Gupt Bhimashankar’-the origin of river Bhima. Only half of us were ready to go there. Mr. Nakashe had been here recently so he was leading us. Similar to yesterday Sakshi was with me and Mr. Bane. Shrusthi was with her dad but returned back as her legs were paining. A walk of half an hour led us to the spot. There were huge boulders smoothened due to the flow of water. The water was very less as onset of summer was near. We took a few snaps here. There is a small temple of lord Ganapati nearby. We went there and saw ‘Shekru’-this animal resembles a squirrel but is larger in size. It is said to be the specialty of Bhimashankar. After trying to take a picture of it we moved on. A walk of another half an hour took us back.

We had a small quick breakfast of ‘kande pohe’ and tea. Soon we were all ready to rock.We started to descend at around 10:15 hours. We climbed down the first phase in half an hour. This was 15 minutes less than the time we had taken to climb this phase. The sun was getting up to its glory now. Heat was being felt. There was a black dog over here. He was climbing down with us. Even during my Koraigad trek there was a dog who had accompanied us throughout the trek. Ninad has a phobia for dogs. Presence of this dog made him very uncomfortable. Adding to his woes, the dog kept on following him wherever he went. Our routine was very much similar to the way we had climbed up. The only difference was that I didn’t have to back again and again. Everyone was taking pictures of the picturesque views from this height.

The speed of descending was much faster than ascending. This was due to fewer barrages from the sun’s forces. Moreover everyone had a rough idea of how long it was going to take and were mentally prepared for it. We had climbed in six and half hours but had climbed down in four hours. Reduction of two and half hours even while descending was a good score.

Once we reached the outskirts of Khandas village, everyone was looking forward to getting back home as soon as possible. We took a van from Khandas to Neral. We boarded the train from Neral which took us to our respective destinations.

Thus my twenty fifth trek came to an end on a happy note. On this trek I had some great memories and experienced moments which I would cherish for the rest of my life. As a matter of coincidence, I did my first trek with Baba and also my twenty fifth trek with Baba. Missed all my trek-o-maniac friends a lot on this trek. As always left nothing but footprints and brought along nothing but sweet memories of the trek.