For the love of mountains...

I would like to be a cave man if life offers me such views every morning

A trek is always a stress buster for me. A week long fatigue vanishes in a single day of hiking. A trek to me is like a fight with the mountain. A fight to conquer something very huge, giant and massive. It gives me a feeling of accomplishment. It is a proof that I have fought and won a huge obstacle. Well that is why I trek. But apart from that trekking gives me adrenaline rush. I feel very much alive when I am on a trek. I get a chance to be one with mother nature. It is an opportunity to find your roots.

All said, it becomes very difficult to practically implement the pleasure of being one with nature in today's urban set up. But whenever possible, I plan out a trek with my buddies. This time it was Harihar. This trek aroused my interest when I first saw its pictures posted by a friend on Instagram. The pics looked intimidating. Steps carved between huge vertical rock surface leading to the fort entrance. The moment I saw that pic, this trek was on to my to-do list.

As usual, I did my quick homework about Harihar trek- the topography, location, mode of transport, terrain, things to carry and so on. These days it doesn’t take much effort on my part to plan for a single day trek. It is just like picking up my bag and taking a small city tour. So I managed to gather a group of four for this trek. All set, I was awaiting for the weekend to come. But there’s no excitement if everything goes as planned. The night before the trek, I received the first rejection. So now only 3 are left for the day. We planned to take the 7.08 am Kasara fast local from Dadar. It is 6.15 am in the morning and the second guy just refuses to pick up his phone. All 12-15 calls go waste. By 6.45 am, it was pretty much certain that this guy will not turn up. Me and my friend are the only two members for the trek.

We board the local but are uncertain whether we should do this trek. Reason being, the remoteness of it. We were not sure about the mode of transport to be taken after reaching Kasara. I was almost sure that there was no direct public transport available from Kasara to take us to the base village of Nirgudpada. So on our way to Kasara, we were trying to find out any other treks nearby which can be easily managed. We reached Kasara at 9.15 am. There were several share cabs outside the station but all were bound for Nasik. We were told that there are no ST buses to Nirgudpada from Kasara. Now, the only option with us was to hire a private jeep and that was a big deal.

A jeep for two would cost us over Rs.2000. After a few unsuccessful rounds of bargain, we were on the verge of giving up the idea of Harihar. Instead, my friend, Mihir found out a small trek called Tringalwadi somewhere near Igatpuri. So we were about the check for the mode of reaching there when a cab driver approached us for Rs 1800. We immediately realised that if we push him a little further, he may reduce more as both of us were in no mood to let this trek go.

As expected, we cracked the deal for Rs1600 from Kasara to Nirgudpada and back. Finally we left at 10.00 am with an expected arrival of 12.00 pm. The route takes you via Khodala through the edges of Vaitarna reservoir. With rains just moved out, the sky being clear with little clouds, the green coat shined in the mid-morning sun with a yellow hue. It was very scenic. We halted at a couple of points for few selfies and reached our base village Nirgudpada at 11.45 am.

The banks of Vaitarna reservoir 

At Nirgudpada- Harihar killa in the background

Nirgudpada is a small sleepy hamlet with some 15-20 huts. A well-marked trail moves towards the fort soon after the village. Initial climb is through some over growth which provides adequate shade from the afternoon sun. I had bought a small plastic bag with me and while climbing I converted it into an eco-bag by putting whatever trash I found on the trail. It mainly included plastic wrappers and bottles. It was my bit to help clean the surroundings. After an hour of climb, we realised that it should take a little over an hour to reach the top. So we set a target time of 2 pm. The climb is just like any other trek till you reach the vertical rock patch that leads to the fort door. Just before that we found a local villager at a stall. We refreshed ourselves with lemon juice and proceeded towards the rock patch. I had read and seen many pictures about this one which appeared to be a little scary. So I kept my wallet and phone in my bag pack and tied my shoe laces tight just to gear up for the ascent.

Loved the way all minute details are captured in this macro shot.

Few more steps to enter the fort

The patch is around 150 feet high with steep steps carved in the rock. Adequate grip points are created to help trekkers climb with ease. Only important thing is to be careful while releasing your hand or leg to catch the next step. The total climb can be split up into two parts, the first 80 feet climb will take you till the entrance and the remaining 70 will take you to the top. After crossing this point the watch tower is about 20 mins away. Before the watch tower, there is a small Hanuman temple besides a fresh water pond. We relaxed here for a while before moving towards the watch tower. This spot is an excellent place for photography. The clam cold water of the pond offers spectacular reflection shots. After spending some time at the pond, we decided to eat lunch at the watch tower. Like any other summit, the view from the tower is spectacular. One can see the huge expanse of the Vaitarna reservoir from here.

That pristine lake to capture perfect reflection shots

This is the feeling I was talking about...

Reaching the summit gives me a feeling of victory. It makes me feel that I have fought the battle with the huge mountain and survived to tell the story. It is a different high to be on the top most point of a mountain and see the world beneath you. There are birds who sing the song of victory and the wind provides necessary background score. I never feel refreshed anywhere else as I do on the mountain top. My eyes continuously capture the beautiful frames of the wilderness around me.

Coming back to reality, it was time to head back to the base. We started our descend at 4.00 pm aiming to reach Nirgudpada by 6.00 pm. The descent is always fast and one can manage to come down in almost half time. The only tricky patch is the steps, which needs to be carefully covered. Once through we stop for one or two breaks just to click pictures or take a splash near the stream. As we near the village, we could see dozens of cattles moving back to their barns, farmers finishing off their days work and returning to their houses and kids playing around and singing songs.

This is how we ended that beautiful day

Our driver Yogesh was waiting for us at the exact same location where he had dropped us in the morning. A little tired and fully refreshed, we leave Nirgudpada just before sunset to head towards Kasara station. The return route took us right from the middle of Vaitarna reservoir. It was fantastic to see our vehicle moving on the road surrounded by huge expanse of water filled to the brim and the sun setting in the background. The cold winds made us close the windows but the dim light outside was heart-warming. Our jeep joined the Mumbai-Agra highway at Ghoti and within next 45 minute we were at Kasara railway platform taking a fast local to Dadar.