Saturday, July 29, 2006






Bhimashankar
As the name suggests this peak houses one of the 12 sacred jyotirlings of lord shiva scattered across the country. The mountain also shelters the Giant Squirrel which is a rare breed of squirrel found only in these mountains.

The group that went for this trip consisited of a large number of girls from my college (girls are a rare species here). There were 2 routes to the peak, the shorter one involved a short but a steep rock climb and the other one was explored during the descent. The ascent was fine with all reaching the top in time but strange incidents happened when we started heading back. To start with, one of the girls broke her toe nail just when we started the descent. Fortunately enough she was accompanied by her boyfriend who was managing her well initially.. but after all he was human and getting tired is human nature.
The group got split into smaller groups and the team leader decided to take the other easier route which he had no idea of. Things went fine till the first group reached the plateau type region below which was the rock climbing patch which we were to avoid. The crew took another route following the arrows laid to guide trekkers.
Meanwhile we were supposed to be with the girl who was hurt and escort her to the plateau from where the team leader would take over. When we reached the plateau it was already 5:30 pm and as it was a winter time the sun started setting. We left the girl and her BF with him and ran to catch the crew that was heading ahead. The downhill path though eaiser was more than 3 times the original path we followed. We had to run on plain ground to cross bases of around 3 peaks and ultimately we reached the group that was leading but it was quiet late the sun had set and it was getting dark and cold. We were 2 hours late than planned and the transport that we had ordered was nowhere to be seen.
We waited for the return of the 3 people who were still stuck in the deep forests and were in situation where we couldnt decide what our next step should be. In some time some students saw some glitter ahead and they ran towards the same. Surprisingly, the vehicles that we had ordered still waited for us down the village when they got to know that our group hadnt come down yet. The cold was biting through the skin and we lacked adequate cover but atleast we had shelter now.
Some students who could whistle well were sent with torches to check for signs for the return of those three but they returned without any hint. We waited till one guy said he could see some light in the trees. The whistling group followed and returned with a news that gave a sigh of relief to everyone. The lost were found !!!!
Though the trek was equally beautiful it was more adventurous than any other. I still smile when i remember that incident and never fail to narrate this to people I ever go to trek with.

Some names:
Team Leader: Gaurav Parmar
The girl: A fresher when I was a sophomore. Hint: Has devastatingly shrill voice.
Whistle men: Sumit Parmar, Sunil Saini ....
Others: Manish, Ashok, Ashwin, Umesh, Premsagar, Vikas.


Kalsubai
This was my first trek ever. Thanks to the institute mountaineering club that got me going for the first time and I am still continuing.
Kalsubai is the highest of all peaks in Western Ghats and also one of the most beautiful for it lies in the region of Bhandardara that houses several beautiful waterfalls....Randha Falls being the famous of all is about 200ft high and the view sends a shiver down the spine as one could be shattered to pieces under it.

The Sahyadris in the monsoons
Western Ghats are a mountain range in India that run along the western edge of the Deccan Plateau, and separate the plateau from the narrow coastal plain of the Arabian Sea.
The stretch along Maharashtra and Northern Karnataka is known as Sahyadris.
The windward side is simply awesome during monsoons with the densely saturated winds from Arabian sea pouring on the ranges giving birth to numerous waterfalls and fauna.
I love them because these are the first ranges that i ever trekked and there are so many peaks close to each other that you can locate the last peak you conquered...... moreover it will always have memories of my college days and friends embedded which i always fear from getting lost.

Treks !!!!
Nature has always fascinated me with her beauty.
Here are the amateurish expeditions compiled by an amateur blogger .... thats me :)