Karnala July 2010

My official trekking group Giri Shishya Hikers was formed. As the first trek it was decided that we would be doing Manikgad with baba’s Sahyadri Trekkers. Plan was relayed and army was formed. But due to some unforeseen things we decided to change our trek to Karnala! This would be my fourth trek to Karnala. But still any trek with baba is worth a lifetime. I was game and so were my friends. Tej wanted to come but alas due to some problems he couldn’t manage to do it. Ninad was absent coz he was ill. Still trek was on and we were ready to lock and load.
As similar to prior trek to Matheran via Dodhani we left our home early and went to Panvel. Reporting was still on. We reached Panvel ST stand by 6:45am. Prasad was already present there. Soon Mayur, Manali and Ajinkya arrived. The other members also arrived after some time. In no time we had boarded a bus and were moving towards Karnala bird sanctuary. We reached there in next 20 minutes.
Over here we were supposed to meet three members -the Sawant family. We took the tickets and then moved ahead to see the bird enclosure. There was a peacock and a peahen, a parakeet, a rabbit and a hare in here. We took ample pictures of them. While we were doing so baba came along with the Sawant family. We had a quick breakfast of “idlis”. Then it was time for formal introductions. Once we were done with it we moved towards the rugged way.
We could hear the sound of stream nearby. So I moved towards that direction. This was not the way to the summit. I knew this but wanted to feel the cold stream there. We were opening the route and the rest of our team was behind. Now baba moved ahead with the rest of the team and we were left behind. After spending some in the stream we moved ahead. It was hardly matter of time before we were opening the route again. We could see the pinnacle peeking through the dense trees and it was an awesome sight! We were going pretty slow this being our first phase and all team members coming after long time. Last time I did Karnala we were just four young chaps and we made it to summit in and hour flat. So this was pretty slow. I had my regulars like Prasad, Manali and Mayur with me. In addition Ajinkya who was with me during last trek was also present. Rucha who was a new entry was also with us. So we super six were moving fast and then had to stop for rest of the team to arrive. It was tedious to wait for so long but is this time we all bonded together and experiences were exchanged, likes and dislikes were discussed and many such things.
Meanwhile, the senior team was behind and walking as fast as their legs could carry. Photographs were being clicked and jokes cracked. Sounds of jungle were over powered by the loud chatting of friends. Huffing and puffing they completed the first phase. Over here we met the whole team after almost and hour. Having some chocolates and having a look at Manikgad we moved on.
Mr. Sanjay Sawant was at the forefront now. He was having some problems with his knee but was still soldiering on. His daughter Aishwarya “Isha” Sawant was accompanying him. Even she had slipped somewhere and was nursing a sprained ankle. Hats of to the courage and determination showed by father-daughter duo. He used to ask me how much more climb is still remaining. And I kept on saying, “just one more patch then it is flat all the way”. This is what baba tells, “People work on hope and they will give it a try until they have hope. Once it is lost nothing remains”. So I was here providing hope. We were doing one patch after another and still there was no sign of any plains coming up. He was teasing me that there has been some change in the architecture of the fort. Some renovations are made. Ad mist of such jolly time we were climbing ahead. During this phase we had left the seniors to open the route so that we could push them ahead and speed up the proceedings.
After climbing for around an hour at normal speed we could see the thumb shaped pinnacle in front of us. Now it appeared at touching distance. Sighting of this pinnacle pumped new zest in the team. Everyone got charged up and we were moving ahead at express speed. Now everyone could see the hope staring in their faces. From here it was almost plains-ALMOST. We could see the surrounding nature and the valley below. Forts like Malangad, Manikgad and Prabalgad were playing hide and seek ad mist the black rainy clouds. The land was all green as long as we could se. It was a panoramic view. Nice cool wind was blowing. We were filling our lungs with as much oxygen as they could take. In today’s world, during our hectic schedules and polluted city air it is very difficult to breathe such pure air. Briskly walking for another half an hour we reached the Korlai Devi temple. It’s the resident deity of the fort. This the actual base from where we enter the fort. Once here casualties were attended. Mr. Sanjay Sawant decided to sit here and look over the operations. So to reduce our load some of us kept our bags with him.
First thing over here is a small patch. This was the first “so called” difficult patch in the whole trek. After negotiating it easily everybody was in high spirits. The second patch was done in the inertia of the moment. After entering the fort we had a small photo session. Then we moved on towards the stairs. This is where the difficulty came. While climbing the stairs there were a couple of stairs missing and so it created a huge void between two stairs. We guys were able to do it easily. But the problem was with the ladies department. They had a rough time negotiating this patch but soon we all were through. As a celebration we had a group picture here. Rest of the steps were cake walk compared to the previous. So in no time we were in the fort reading the grammatically wrong history of the fort. After this we sat near the huge caves dug in the base of the pinnacle. Some singing was done and I being no connoisseur of old songs moved on towards the edge. Soon we all super six were on the edge and facing the huge bouts of wind. Once singing was done we went to see the whole fort. Every view was awesome and every moment breathtaking. The greenery below was mind blowing. It was an awesome sight. I could have wished for nothing more. Father, friends, and peak of a trek what more do I need. This was heaven. We had some ladoos here and then retreated. When we left the door of the fort we sat for a group picture. I was thinking, this fort has been so nice to me. This is the fourth time I have been a guest here and always the fort has accepted me with open arms. I was wondering when I would have another chance to be here. Thinking of this I exited the door. But the destiny had some other plans.
We retreated to the temple where Sanjay kaka was waiting for us. Everyone wanted to tell their piece of story. I, baba and Mayur were the only people who had been here before. So everyone had their first time treks excitement. It was nice. Soon we had lunch with talks about cool wind and panoramic views. Once we were done with lunch I was roaming around with Mayur. Over here we found an alternative way to bypass the patch due to which Sanjay kaka had not come up! So we returned and convinced him to come with us as long as he could take. He was game for it and we moved on. I was happy that soon everyone from our group could be on the summit. It was easier than I thought it would be. We were on the summit in next half an hour and feeling the small droplets on our faces. After spending a good 15 minutes on the summit it was time to go as the sky was dark and it would rain now at any moment. We hurried down and as we reached the temple were everyone was waiting for us there were cheers among the group. Even the clouds were happy and wept tears of joy. We cuddled up in our windcheaters and retreated from the fort.
During descending we were met with torrential rains. The sounds of the jungle were awe inspiring. It felt like the nature would overpower us when just we six people lost our way. The woods were dark and we missed a turn and headed into the dense woods off road. The rains made finding the way even more difficult. We were wading through muck and low hanging tree branches. But we were able to make our way to the proper road soon. Once on the proper way I heaved a deep sigh of relief. Now we moved more smoothly. The muck and the water were making it difficult for Ajinkya. His shoes were not helping him. He was walking barefoot now. Swiftly we climbed down and reached the stream which we had visited during ascending. It had more water now. We were soon enjoying here. A good twenty minutes later baba joined us. He was alone and the rest of the group was moving a tad too slow. They joined us in next 15 minutes and we made our way out of the forest bidding Karnala an adios.
Sawant family gave me and Parsad a lift till Kalwa. So chatting up with Isha and her mother we reached Kalwa in about an hour. Thus the trek came to an end with plans for a next trek brewing in every body’s minds.