Bhimashankar in the rains...

                                                 

After several cancellations Neeraj,Santosh and I were the only members for the Bhimashankar trek. It was decided to take the 7.03 am Karjat fast to Neral. But looking at the torrential rains the previous night  I decided to start a little late. Left home at 7.30 to catch 8.00 am Khopoli Fast. Neeraj had already landed at station since he had not read my sms (as expected).Tried to call Santi but his phone was unanswerable. Santi had overslept. By the time he reached Dadar we had already missed our train. Now we were waiting for the next train. At 8.50 Koyna entered the platform and we decided to take that train to Neral. Got inside a general compartment n parked us on the racks where luggage is kept.

Reached Neral at 10.22 am.Took a rickshaw to Khandas for 300 bucks which is around 29 km from Neral. The bumpy ride took an hour to reach Khandas. The view outside was eye pleasing. We could see the Bhimashankar mountain in front. The road to the right was Ganpati ghat walkway & the left one went to Kathewadi village. We took the road straight ahead with the help of a guide. It went through paddy fields. After initial climb of 10 mins we could see many waterfalls cutting the huge mountain.

Numerous waterfalls as soon as we start

 Moving ahead we had to cross a river like stream .After climbing for a while we decided to get into a waterfall. I gave my camera to the guide and before I could enter the water Santi started screaming “mera chaddi, mera chaddi”. Pani ke force ki wajah se uska chaddi almost nikal aya tha.On top of that, the villager was taking photos as told by me. I and Neeraj bursted out laughing. “Aur thoda niche ata toh meri izzat lut jati” was Santi’s dialogue..

Ladder no.1

Near the natural shower

An hour’s climb from the base took us to the first ladder. The ladders are placed where the route gets through the vertical rock faces..It becomes scary because its half broken and shakes badly when you are on it. You can only pray that it doesn’t break in the middle as it would take you down directly into the valley. Once you are through it, you come to a point where there’s a small cave in between the rock patch where water from top drizzles like a natural shower. Standing beneath the shower one can see the beautiful valley in front. We had our mini lunch inside the cave and proceeded to the next ladder. This one is less scary as it’s supported by rock cutting on both sides. The next step is a big slippery rock to climb with very little holding points. This was a treacherous part .If one slips, it will smash you on the rocks  50 feet below.          

Just before the 3rd ladder.

Once that rock patch is over, you are saved. Here the route via Ganpati ghat meets and one can see few huts where villagers sell refreshments. Crossing it, we could see one level completed and still the top looked half way more. This is where we were engulfed by fog. Visibility dropped to a few feet. The valley behind us was nowhere seen now. The climb was fairly straight forward. Santi was more exhausted than us. He was carrying 2 ltr water bottle in his sack. At one point we stopped for

water. Panting he said “mere paas 2 ltr….haah hhaaah haahh…..pani hai. pehle wo khatam karo” .It was enough for us to start laughing….bechara  santy!!

Climbing the 3rd ladder.

Traversing through streams and forests finally we reached the top at 15.15.Rain played hide and seek all the way.Found a room for 3 and drained our completely soggy bodies. After resting for an hour, we visited Bhimashankar temple in the evening. The mist and chants of ‘Harr Harr Mahadev’ bring a divine feeling to the shrine. Now was the time for some evening snacks. We returned to our room after having Butta, boiled peanuts and chai. Had dinner at 9.00 and slept at 12 after chit chatting for a while.

Next day woke up at 8.00 am and decided to go to Gupt Bhimashankar. The 2 km trail starts soon after the Bhimashankar temple passing through dense forest and streams flowing in full force. The Shiv ling is located below a waterfall, hidden deep inside the forest. For that, we had to cross a fast flowing river. I felt like I was Bear Grylls from Man vs Wild slowly tearing the gushing waters!! Took darshan of the Shiv ling and spend some time below the waterfall…….feeling splendid….bow down to the power of Mother Nature!!That place was so mesmerizing that nobody wanted to return back. Finally we left Bhimashankar at noon after having a quick breakfast of Poha, Bhaji and Misal.

The return route was via Ganesh ghat…..a fairly simple but long one. We were descending at a steady pace halting at every small waterfall on the way. After halfway or so we halted at a point where we could see the Bhimashankar mountain with 10 waterfalls garnishing it, plus a mountain below had 4.So total we could see 14 waterfalls at two split levels surrounded by dense vegetation. Suddenly it started pouring, in no time we could actually see the flow of falls rising along with its sound. Unfortunately our phone and camera was not working to capture that splendid sight. Those frames are just captured in our memory now!!  Trailing down we reached Kathewadi village at 3.30pm.Took a taxi to Karjat station just to find that UP south-east line was closed due to a derailment near Badlapur. After waiting over an hour, our train finally rolled out of Karjat at 6.30 and reached Dadar at 8.30 thus bringing an end to our monsoon trek to Bhimashankar!!!