Mumbai monsoons had already retracted . Its mid september and signs of winter slowly seeps in. The sun has come out but the sahyadris has still got a stream of clouds floating around its peaks. Six friends begin their journey to Harishchandragad, a trek physically daunting but visually rewarding. Better known as the King of all fort treks!
A drive through Malshej ghat, A walk along a grand dam, a glance of the 1200 yr old Kheereshwar temple, hike through streams of water rapids and forest sanctuary to Tolar Khind, climb along a spine chilling 600 feet slippery rock patch , sounds of crickets and water falls, cool breeze that slips caressing your hair and murmuring some divine secret to your ears, fog and mist every where and you realize you are walking on a cloud, then begins a walk crossing seven hills and a dense Forest, caves that say stories of prehistoric settlements, and one such waterfall-facing cave waits for us and we set our tent there. The night even intriguing as we lay in our tent with closed eyes singing our favourite bollywood songs of the 90s our mind questions the fabric of civilization. Morning with no signs of sunshine. Such deafening silence as we walk far from there to Konkan Kada. Our minds wander in search of her pristine beauty and we invoke her presence. The nymph doesn’t show up. Disappointed but a sense of accomplishment motivates us to take a different route back via the mighty harishchandreshwar mandir, the interesting ganesh gufa, the inviting pushkarni, the stunning kedareshwar cave. A co-trekker bursts a rassi-bomb and its sound traverses through the caves and cracks a deafening bang. The resonance and reverberation dies into a spell of quietude. We walk further down, a mountain dog accompanies us like a guardian. It shows us the right path. Then a stretch of cliffs which makes us feel like ants. As we walked witnessing breathtaking panoramic span of the valley, clouds, and water falls we sense civilization like a small world out there. Grand dams looked like tiny mud puddles, farms like small patches of algae and roads like ant trails. And slowly in time we merged into it, with our body broken, mind unwilling. Even worse are memories, as once it has taken hold of your mind its almost impossible to eradicate it. It sticks right in there somewhere like a dream that recurs.
Route: Mumbai – Kalyan – Khubi Phata – Khireshwar (Tolar Khind, Rajmarga)
Members: Siddharth Khanna, Ganesh Shinde, Anoop Krishnan, Vishal Gangawane, Amey Talkatkar,
Vijesh Bhaktha
Number of days – Two days (With over night stay)
V` Canvas 