My First Trek!!!

Happy to be on my first ever monsoon trek !

After the long ,long wait I was finally off on my first trek and a monsoon trek at that! I read about Trekmates India,the trekking group while browsing the net for some trek groups I could join.I registered myself and the excitement was palpable.New rain wear,new water-bottle, new rucksack.....I was behaving like an excited little kid going back to school after a long vacation or maybe like an eager teen going to meet her secret lover.The trek was on 30th June,a Sunday.I read and re-read the instructions and readied myself.As usual I packed my things for the big day in advance and had a restless night in anticipation of the day to come.

I awoke early at 4.30 am. and left for Ghatkopar station by 5.30 am where I met one of the trek sub-leaders Monish,a young ,dashing and well-built guy.He enlightened me about the group and their treks. We reached the Yogi hotel at Chembur where the private bus picked us up.I did not know anyone there initially but slowly made friends with some of them.All of them were youngsters and many had come in a group of their own except for a few like me who had ventured out alone to trek with the group.I was a bit apprehensive as I was on the wrong side of forty and not finding anyone from my age-group there I wondered whether I really could do it. But then,I have always been ready for challenges so I said to myself,why not........it is never too late to start.

It was raining on and off on our journey and we enjoyed the favourite timepass of all journeys be it by bus,car or train......the Antakshari. As an avid song buff I thoroughly enjoyed myself and I surprised the others by singing many old Hindi film songs.Mann hi mann I realised that it was truly a younger lot out there as they were belting out new film songs.I was indeed the senior most in that group and I remembered my husband telling me not to go on this trek as there would be no one from my age group.But me being me,I had decided that this was the group I would go with and here I was.

On the way we picked up some trekkers and roughly we had about 40 trekkers.We had Vinayak Gawade as our group leader and sub-leaders Sai Iyer  and Monish.We reached the base village Malavali and alighted for breakfast at a villagers house.The place was surrounded by greenery and hills.We had hot and tasty kanda poha and piping hot tea.We also had a loo break.After that we had a round of introductions..We saw farmers working in the paddy fields and one of the women amongst them even came and joined our circle during introductions.The trek leaders instructed us about the do's and don'ts and categorically told us not to litter the place.It was an easy climb to the top of Lohagad fort, they said.Stay together and enjoy yourself was the final say.We began on our trek and I was thrilled for it was my first ever trek!

On the way we passed many small waterfalls.What surprised me was the crowd at the waterfalls.There were so many people from Mumbai and Pune who had come for the week-end trek.I thought maybe one or two groups also will be there but this was really unexpected.The area near the base of the fort was full of activity. It was obvious that the place was soon getting highly commercialised. many vendors were making the most of the tourist rush by selling vada paus,bhajjias,roasted corn on the cob ,groundnuts and tea. People were enjoying themselves under the waterfalls.Families and picnic groups screamed,danced and played music aloud on their music systems.We continued our way to the top of the fort.The way was rocky and the rains welcomed us on our way to the fort.The view on our way up was great.We could see the lush green fields,trees and the little settlements.We could also see the place littered by empty packets of chips and kurkure,biscuits and what have you.It showed total disregard for cleanliness by the tourists at the spot.It is a pity to see people litter places,when will they have some civic sense?

As we moved higher ,it was cooler and the view was superb.As an avid photographer I was disappointed as I could not click as many pictures as I wanted to due to the rains though the place was a delight for any photographer.At some places the climb was a little difficult and at one place I had my heart in my mouth as I grappled with the rocks as I tried to climb up.Finally Monish lent me a hand and I made it.Thanks to all the leaders and sub-leaders at the trek , I felt safe and confident enough to complete the trek.As a first time trekker it is very important for the group to be good so that one does not feel uneasy and luckily for me I had chosen to go with Trek Mates India for my first trek so I had made the right choice. We had an easy walk along most of the route.At last  after about a one and a two hour walk we reached the fort.The fort was a treat to the eyes.It was majestic and had huge arches and doors at the entrance.We were told that the fort was named Lohagad or iron fort as iron was used extensively for the first time while building this fort.It amazed me and made me wonder how the people in those times built these forts at such high altitude heaving such huge rocks up without the help of modern tools.

We walked around the fort and clicked photographs as the rain God had given us some respite for a while.We saw some small and huge iron canons,a monument which could have been either a temple or a darga and a pond with a wall build around it.The view from atop the fort was fantastic but we could not enjoy the view as we had thick mist surrounding the fort at all times.It looked like we were in the middle of the clouds. It reminded me of my visit a few years back to Pahalgam in Kashmir where I felt the same.What a feeling that was!

Even at the fort it was very crowded.We all had carried our own lunch and we had our fill..We saw many monkeys there.It was very cool and breezy at the top.It was unfortunate to see that the fort area too was not spared from commercialization.There were a few vendors who had made shop at the fort and were selling hot vada paus,bhajjias and tea.We also saw many boys dive into the pond and some of the morons were also seen heaving the canons and posing for pictures.After that we wanted to move further to see the other end of the fort so our leader accompanied us.As we walked on our leader pointed out that due to the heavy mist it would be dangerous to venture further as the way was very narrow and it was very breezy.The mist made it difficult for us to see our way ahead We agreed and turned back and after spending some more time at the top of the fort we began our descent from the fort.

If the climb up was a bit difficult,the way down was more so as the route had become more slippery due to the incessant rains.Thanks to the rocks strewn along the way,we could get a foothold and make our way down safely.It was disgusting to see how many foolhardy people drove their vehicles on the tough terrains though they were not supposed to venture that far with their vehicles.But for some,rules were meant to be broken so we could see them have a difficult time manoeuvring their vehicles to as close to the top of the fort as they could.This could have been fatal for them or the others around them but they hardly cared.

After a long trek we reached the house again for a round of piping hot wada paus and tea.The hungry trekkers ate as many wada paus as they could.I must say that though I am not an ardent wada pau fan I loved the taste of the hot,spicy and crispy  wadas.They were delicious! Some of the trekkers had ordered for rice bhakaris,pithla and mirchi thecha so they enjoyed that to their hearts content.A typical village meal it as for them.We all freshened up and got ready for our ride back to Mumbai.We had to wait for a group of trekkers who had not yet reached base.After that we all boarded the bus for our return journey.Now there was no antakshari as nearly all of us either dozed off or sat listening to music.It was quite late as we reached near Mumbai.I got down near Sanpada station and took a train to Thane along with four of my friends.I reached home only at 11 pm.I had a refreshing bath before I plonked myself on the bed after  a light dinner of vegetable biryani.

There were a few things that could have been better at the trek.There could have been better arrangements for washroom and changing as there was only one tiny toilet available there which had a door that had a mind of its own.It flew open when there was a gust of wind blowing as it had no latch! There was just one room for changing.Most importantly it was mentioned in the itinerary that the trekkers would be reaching back to Mumbai tentatively by 9.30 but we reached only after 10.30pm. This could be a hindrance as most of the trekkers are working or students who require to be there at their workplace or college early the next morning.

 In spite of these little hiccups the trek was exhilarating. I realised that my whole body was aching after the strenuous climb.This was bound to happen as I had ventured out like this after donkeys years and my body was not used to this.Not that I am complaining.I am game to do this more often as I feel it is challenging and invigorating..

Hats off to the Trek Mates India group for making my first trek so memorable!!!
Looking forward to many more treks in the near future.

Alighted from the bus.....now for breakfast!

farmers in the paddy fields

View near the house where we halted for breakfast

The leaders and sub leaders have the introduction and instruction round for us.

A farm hand comes to the introduction round too!!!

Our Trek Mates India group begin our trek to the fort

Tourists at the waterfall have a blast!

way to the caves.....

kadam kadam badhaye jaa!!!

Lohagad trek-a memorable one!

A waterfall...one of the many there

when it is clearer of the mist

Hum saath-saath hai!!!

A struggle at times to reach up

Rocky roads ahead!

Starting our trek......

Stony steps to the top

Smile for the camera!

The long way to the top

Awesome place

Arch at the main door

The door at the entrance

Iron was said to be used here extensively for the first time so the name-Lohagad

Canons

Rocky side of the fort

A view of the others making their way to the top

Steps -rain-drenched,like us!

Sai Iyer leads the way

trekkers making their way to the top

The huge arch at the entrance

One of the many arches at the fort.

This was maybe a darga or a temple.....we can not tell which.

One of the canons at the fort

We had our lunch and wandered around the fort vicinity

At the edge,but we can hardly see anything below.

Jai Shivaji Maharaj!!!Jai Maharashtra!!!

The pond in the fort area 

We could hardly see each other due to the thick mist

This is where we decided to turn back as it was risky to move further

The trekkers make their way around the fort in spite of the mist

Looking for tid-bits from the trekkers

View from the top of the fort

The magnificent view from the top

A view of the farms and settlements below the hilltop

Through the boughs

The rain bearing clouds loom large as we make our way back to the base.

All geared up for the rains

At the entrance to the fort....a formidable look at the formidable gate.