The Range Trek

 It's very common to visit beaches or do camping during summer vacation. But have you ever imagined doing the trek in summer vacation that too in May? I know it sounds a little weird but yes it's very interesting and enjoyable too. Nisargamitra Panvel had arranged a Range trek in May and fortunately, I was also part of that trek. It was arranged for 7 to 9 May. As it was my first trek with Nisargamitra I was very excited as well as a little bit nervous too.

Me and Alankar Mama left our home at 7:30 pm on 6 May and moved towards Ulwe. There we caught up with Vishal dada, we parked our car in front of Vishal dada's building and we altogether moved towards Bamandongri Railway Station, as we were walking towards the railway station I noticed that the bag carrying my trekking shoes had been left in the car so Vishal dada just ran towards the building he climbed through stairs brought the keys of the car then again climbed through stairs to keep keys safely in house and then we proceeded towards the railway station. The reason behind Vishal dada's quickness was the train because if we missed it we have to wait for 45 minutes for the next train. We boarded from Bamandongri station and changed the train for Panvel from Belapur Railway Station. At Panvel station, we caught up with many members of the group.  Everyone I met at Panvel station was unknown to me except Richa. But I hadn't imagined at that time the enjoyment we were going to do together. Kumar Kaka was the most senior and experienced member of the group but still younger than all of us.  

We all boarded the 9:20pm Thane train. We arrived at Thane station around 10:25pm and then we all boarded the 10:44 Kasara train from Thane railway station. Some of our members boarded from other stations which were on the route. We reached Vashind railway station at 11:55pm, We got out from the west side of the railway station. A bus was arranged to move towards the Vandre village. We were crossing through the dense forest of Tansa Wildlife Sanctuary. As the forest patch started there was pin-drop silence in the bus. I and Sakshi were listening to songs through the earphones. We reached Vandre village at 00:41am, as we all climbed down from the bus, the driver was also with us as he forgot to pull the handbrake empty bus started sliding down the road, Harshal dada ran and quickly got into the bus, and pulled the handbrake. After all, the traveling and we all needed to relax for some time to start the next day with freshness, so Nisargamitra pre-arranged a courtyard of one of the houses in that village. We all had good sleep while staring at the stars in the sky.

View at 5:30am from Vandre Village

We woke up at 5:00am and completed our morning chores, then after packing our bags and getting ready to start the trek we gathered in a round circle for an introduction, we all introduced ourselves then Vishal dada and Rahul dada gave us information about our route and fort. We started our trek at 5:30am with the help of a local person. After walking for 30 minutes the skit patch came, continuously watch out calls(call when the rock has slid from one's foot while climbing) were made and there was heavy rock falling on us either by members who were climbing ahead or the monkeys above who were jumping here and there. The situation tested everyone's balance because shoes with the best grip also stand little chance to stand or walk in stable condition. Two teams were made, till the first team reached the stairs the second team would not move from their position. I was in the second team we waited for them to reach the stairs because there were back-to-back watch-out calls that made us more uneasy about climbing the patch, while we were waiting for our protection we held our bags in front close to our chest and stood in such a position that rock should not hit us. While we were waiting, a rock bounced in front of Vishal dada and went above his head fortunately he was not hit. After the first team reached the stairs we started climbing, after climbing all the stairs we had a rest for 10 to 20 minutes, then we moved forward.

Slippery Patch

Stairs

After taking a rest we moved forward our next patch was the chimney passage. We have to climb it by putting our whole weight on our back and we have to stick our back to one side of the rocky wall and push our body upside by applying pressure with help of legs from another rocky wall which is just in the front. The gap between the two walls is so small that only 1 or a maximum of 2 persons can stand in between. First, the hardcore member of Nisargamitra who has good experience how to climb such passages climbed up and showed us how to do it properly. Then they transferred our bags upside down with the help of the rope. At every climb, members of Nisargamamitra had taken care that none of us get injured and everyone climb the patch safely. Before arranging this whole trek some members came to this fort to inspect whether it was safe or not then only they had arranged this so safety was their first priority and each one of us felt that. After climbing the chimney patch still, the main patch of Kalyan darwaja was yet to come. After everyone climbed the chimney patch we moved toward the main rock patch. First Nitish dada climbed that rock patch without the support of any rope. I was really amazed by watching Nitish dada climbing 70 to 80-degree rock patch elevation without any support of a rope. He tied the rope up there and gave belay support to all of us. After him, Alankar Mama, Rahul Dada, and Kumar Kaka, Raj climbed up. They all had good climbing experiences, they wore a harness and quickly climbed the patch and stood there to support and help us while climbing. Because the last rock patch consisted of three patches in it. The first main climb with the help of a harness, second is a traverse from left to right. third was a 6 to 8 feet climb with the help of rope but without a belay. I was a little frightened before starting the first climb although I was knowing nothing will happen to me as all the safety precaution was taken by the Nisargamitra team. When I started climbing I was really frightened because I did not have any experience of rock climbing before so I made some mistakes while climbing but safely completed that first patch I took some deep breaths and then did traversed without any mistakes. Again for the third patch, I took my own time to prepare for it because even though there was a helping hand of Kumar kaka and Guru dada at the top each step had to be taken safely. After taking immense time to prepare I reached the top, there was another level of happiness when the pleasant wind blew and relaxing under the shade of a tree. With the help of Guru dada, Atul dada and Malhar brought cold water from the tanks. I drank the whole bottle and just felt relaxed. I and Richa took some photos and many of us called their home to convey that they had reached the fort. At 2:00pm we reached the fort, it took approximately 8.5 hours to reach the fort from Vandre village. We put our bags beside the water tank and slept under the shadow of a rock-cut cave. Then we had a great lunch by sharing our tiffins and at last eating dahi with everyone was just absolute. Everyone was sharing food, and thoughts which made the bond stronger with the team. Then we relaxed for approximately 1 hour.

Nitish dada during Chimney patch

 water tank on Bhandardurg

After relaxing Guru dada showed us the whole fort. Guru dada is a local person of that area who knows all roads heading to the fort and he is an active member in rescue operations too. He has many contributions to discovering the roads of the fort. When Nisargamitra enquired about the road of Kalyan Darwaja there was a very positive response from him. He was also the main person behind successfully climbing from Kalyan Darwaja. For his contribution, Nisargamitra offered him a token of appreciation. 

Left- Vishal dada, middle-Guru dada, right-Rahul dada

View from Bhandardurg

Then we moved towards Mahuli Fort. Vishal dada, Alankar Mama, and one more are gone to inspect tomorrow's route. Rahul dada was leading us on the route to Mahuli Fort. While going from Bhandardurg to Mahuli there is a ladder patch, there is two ladders back to back and it is also the boundary between Bhandardurg and Mahuli. There were many karwanda trees on the route so we ate many karvandas. I don't like karwanda much but during this trek, I ate lots of Karwanda. There are many ruins at Mahuli fort. According to plan, we were going to halt at Main Darwaja of Mahuli Fort. So while going towards the Main Darwaja we saw Mahuleshwar Mandir and Raj Sadar. Around 6:30pm we reached Main Darwaja. There is a small statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, a Shiv Linga, and a drinking water tank. As we reached there we kept our bags in one corner and removed our shoes and cleaned the ground.

Then some of our members took bath in cold water and just simply refresh themselves by washing their hands, legs, and face. Then we boys gone for bringing firewoods for cooking purposes. Then we had some snacks, till that time Vishal dada and others arrived from inspection and started cooking dinner for all of us. After the Khichdi was kept for cooking we all sat together and shared our today's experiences, meanwhile, Rahul dada and Alankar mama gave us information about the rope and belay used for climbing, and Kumar kaka gave some life-learning lessons to all of us young and teenagers. After a good sharing of thoughts, we had a delicious dinner, I don't like Khichdi much but that day no one knows what magical masala Vishal Dada had added to it but it was really fabulous. Everyone slept a beautiful sleep after having dinner.

Mahuleshwar Mandir

Ladder Patch in route to Mahuli

The next day we all woke up at 6:00am completed our daily chores and gathered for breakfast. Kande pohe and chai energized us for the further trek. Then we cleaned that place wrapped up all the remaining things and got ready to take a tour of Mahuli fort. Vishal dada showed us the whole fort we visited Ganesh Darvaja, Raj Sadar, the Ramparts of the fort (tatbandi), and many more things. Then we started descending the fort, while descending the fort we also saw some ruins of the fort and a python snake in burnt condition. We walked through the bushes sometimes slippery patches in hot summer, the whole body was sweating but then also everybody seemed to be in full energy. Then there was a Ladder patch while descending in the hot summer the metal ladder was none less than a hot pan ten also we all held it tightly even if our hands were burning, after so much exhaustion we rested near the water tank and made some Kokam sharbat. After drinking it we felt relaxed, we refilled our bottles with cool water and again started descending. After walking for a while we realized that there was too much gap between the first man and the last man as it was a slippery patch speed was also slowed down, one of the reasons was Eesha and Sakshi who were really walking very slowly. So Vishal dada held Eesha's hand and Darshan dada held Sakshi's hand and started running down at full speed so I and Richa also started running after them. We were literally running for a half-hour at full speed the scene is unexplainable because running in hot summer with a backpack on the back was really unimaginable but we did it. While we were running it was feeling like our feet had burnt out. Finally, all the struggle came to fruit, we reached the bottom, and we all enjoyed that moment by giving hi-fives and shaking hands. But still, the trek was not over we started heading towards Guru Dada's house because all the lunch arrangements were made there. While passing by the village a wedding ceremony was going on, so they all were just staring at us and we were staring at them while walking. After walking for more than half an hour on Tar Road we finally reached Guru dada's house. As soon as we reached their Vahini welcomed us all and we got fresh and laid down on the floor. After that, we exchanged our mobile numbers, Instagram IDs, and many other things which will keep us all in contact. We had a tempting lunch and packed our bags for the return journey. The bus was ready for us which took us to the Asangaon Railway Station, all happy faces sat in the train wishing each other and our return journey started.

Hot ladder

Main Darwaja

Near Ganesh Darwaja

This trek gave me taught me many things. This trek removed all fear of rock climbing and also taught me the importance of teamwork and good management. Such types of trek are needed which challenge your ability and teach lessons to improve yourself. The members of Nisargamitra are very helpful and disciplined. Thanks, Nisargamitra for giving me new friends and lots of unforgettable memories.