Bhimachi Kathi Pinnacle,Pratapgad via Kudpan -12th August 2012

The time since Jagdish posted about his Pilot trek to Bhimachi Kathi Pinnacle, Pratapgad via Kudpan I was interested mainly because it was something different than the usual trekking spots now becoming overcrowded during Monsoons.
Added to it was an opportunity to meet again all my great friends from previous treks with Shikhar Vedh(https://www.facebook.com/groups/shikharvedh/) .Probably many were joining for the similar reason like me...To explore the yet unexplored places...To enjoy the thrill in uncertainty....
Also the location of trek made it even more compelling reason . I was reasonably sure that unlike Mumbai and majority of Maharashtra...the Mahabaleshwar region had more probability of having RAIN.

I decided to board at Vashi hoping that the Tane Vashi train would be most convenient..As per CR Timetable there was supposed to be Vashi Train at 2310hrs but when I reached the station I saw that there are only two trains a Belapur one at 2319hrs  and last Vashi train at 2345hrs...Trust CR to surprise you always...Thankfully I had ample time at hand , so boarded the Belapur train and got down at Juinagar ,hoping to catch a train to Vashi...Again a CR surprise..there was no train for almost 20-25 min   so decided to board the bus at Juinagar Highway itself. Noticed many single women/girls on the station at that hour also and was pleasantly surprised...We are still safer than many metros and definitely safe than Delhi...Felt good that my beloved city is not going the Delhi way yet...

It was not difficult for Jaggu to find a lone person in 3/4ths waiting on a busy highway under the Bridge...Immediately upon boarding the bus and amid the numerous Hi's from familiar faces  I was greeted with a peculiar Question ...Amit Goggle Kuthe ahe? (with ref. to a funny incident in Ratangad, Sandhan Valley trek)..I took some time to recollect but realized that everyone must have been greeted with some peculiar question related to funny incidences from previous treks when boarding...this harmless leg pulling /mischief must have put everyone at ease immediately and the time gap evaporated instantly, making me part of the group...So many familiar faces like shashank,prajakt,megha,vishal,veena,mahesh,prince,supriya,shradhdha,chetan,poonam,bhaskar and ofcourse Jagdish floating around ....with many I had trekked,many more familiar through FB..I felt at home...

Though it was past midnight and we had a long trekking day ahead, none of the trekkers were in a mood to sleep or rest ...ofcourse there were few exceptions like our Nilesh Tawade who was compensating for the rest of us...this guy was fast asleep amid loud noise ,whistles and cheering...

The ANTAKSHARI session that followed was  as always Roaring, Musical fun....We had many Bathroom singers like me but many Real ones also.आमच्यातल्या काही उत्साही मित्रांनी बोंगो आणि डफ  आणले होते त्यामुळे आणखीनच मजा आली.वाजवणार्यांच विशेष कौतुक ह्यासाठी कि आम्ही कितीही बेसूर गायलो तरी ते सुरात साथ देत होते कुठूनही rhythm सोडत नव्हते .आमच्या पार्टीतल्या  दीपक ची इतकी गाणी पाठ होती कि पठ्ठा सगळे थांबले कि पुढच कडवं सुरु करायचा .The comments, sense of humor and spontaneity of some of the friends was amazing.  The variety of songs was amazing...Marathi, hindi,Old classics  to latest to remix....we sang all....But the ratio was overwhelmingly in favor of old timeless classics... This went on till almost 0300hrs in the morning.There were few who managed to sleep in this commotion also.

We were suppose to reach Poladpur (around 186km from Dadar)around 5 AM but the bus had some problem while negotiating Ghats which meant we were slightly delayed. They tried some temporary repairs at Poladpur as the road ahead was very narrow and steep. We took a left turn at Shivaji Maharaj Statue on road leading to Pratapgad. After around 5 km there is a small right turn .This road goes to Kudpan (kurd and Budruk) and finally to Kshetraphal.
The bust started this leg of the journey with gusto inspiring confidence in us but it was to be short lived.After negotiating 10km of steep road she could not take anymore of the steep road and came to a standstill...

We all alighted the bus and were completely taken by the surroundings...the fresh air, chirping birds,ओढ्याचा खळाळता आवाज ,मजेत चरणाऱ्या गाई,म्हशी अन शेळ्या आणि गुराखी ...क्षणभर सगळे विसरले कि बस बंद पडली आहे आणि कुडपण  गाव अजून 10-12 किलोमीटर लांब आहे.
Jagdish being Jagdish, dished out  घावन  from his magical sack , for breakfast, saving on time as wel as keeping us busy .It was a pleasant surprise and most wanted one as all of us were really hungry....
Some enthusiastic and hygiene conscious trekkers completed the morning chores but many lazy ones savored the dosas as it is...काही जणांनी सकाळचं दुसर "महत्वाचं" काम  पण   उरकून घेतलं ... Truly one With Nature....

तेवढ्यात एका झाडावर एक मोठा पक्षी बसलेला दिसला आणि आमच्यातले "सलीम अली" भराभर नाव सांगायला लागले. अगदी घार , घुबड,गरुड ,गिधाड ई .ई .

Meanwhile Jagdish was transporting 10-12 people in a Qualis which incipiently had a a group of trekkers suppose to be with us ...
The remaining 16-17 of us boarded a Bus to Kshetraphal from Poladpur. By the time we reached the starting point of the trek ie. Kudpan we were 2 hrs behind schedule.The weather at Kudpan was the freshest possible...it was cool and refreshing.. you could actually inhale the clouds...Instantly all of us were fresh and ready for the trek.

A kilometer of walk on the tar road and we could see the भीमाची काठी and also the Gigantic waterfall which in its prime can dwarf even Jog Falls....The sight is beyond me to describe in words...The water gushing down, after hitting a rock patch used to be such light droplets that you can actually feel they are falling in slow motion...It was majestic, roaring waterfall...A perfect spot for photo session.....Needless to say the shutterbugs were in full flow....Check out these links
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10151360953094199

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=4039068268915

We had to literally pull ourselves out of this natural spectacle  in order to reach Kudpan Khurd where in a beautiful house we were served something looking like a Tea...
From here on the real trek started and it was a steep climb through jungle for almost 45 min before we reached a plateau ...By this time luckily for us ,the Rain Gods were smiling on us ,making the climb easier....The flip side of this being that the Cameras had to be  in the rucksacks....

The view en route to the plateau was beautiful...There were so many different shades of Green n Gray....it was mesmerizing...Those who had small point n shoot cameras could still capture the beauty....

Sagar Dalvi who didi the pilot with Jagdish was leading the trek showing us the way forward.We troubled him so much by asking directions and other stuff that poor chap finally said 'I'm not leading but just trying to show the way".Ofcourse he didn't take the leg pulling personally and he did a very good job as it is not very eaasy to remember the way through the jungle even if you have gone there few days back.Good work...
 From the plateau we started walking on a 'Kachcha' road...you could see few Gurakhis and many cattle en route otherwise the route is deserted.....Around two km from the plateau came a T junction where we took a right ... Jagdish in his inimitable style told us to  walk down hill till we reach the Village Kumathe... and we could see a winding road going UP and not down as Jaggi had informed....I think this is what happens if you do continuous  treks every weekends  marshaling some crazy trekkers like us......Anyways the route was correct and after initial climb it did wind down....

So far we had seen many small waterfalls but what awaited us 500 mtr downhill was simply superb....A medium sized waterfall right besides the road....so tempting that all of us put our bags down and stood below it...the force of water falling down was so strong..it was like being hit hard...Ohh.. it was soooo good even the girls could not stop themselves from enjoying it.....Sheer Pleasure

After this all the goodies were over and it was a boring and hence tiring walk on the tar road after we reached Kumathe Village.The next stop was the base village of Pratapgad with historical significance...It has three names Pargaon,Par pargaon ,I dont remember the third one.Afzal Khan had  camped in this village before his meeting with "Maharaj". The boring 2 km walk from Kumathe village to Pargaon was over only because we were chit-chatting...The village has a beautiful temple and luckily we got some hot tea n biscuits.Actually it was almost 1500hrs by then and lunch was still a 30 min climb away.

I don't know if its purely psychological or there is a reason for it but somehow walking on a tar road tires me much much faster than the walk/climb through jungle on an uneven surface.

After a good 15 min break of tea-biscuits and waiting for all to assemble, we started our final climb to Pratapgad base, not before Supriya shared "Meethe main Kuch Meetha Ho jaye" wala dairy milk...Perfect energy booster for the finale....

As it happens with all the treks the last 30-40 min climb seem toughest as your energy levels and spirits are down ...but there is no choice so you carry on and on and on.....The walk through the jungle is easy to remember...Just follow the pipeline till top....Here we had to detour as there was Police Bandobast near Afzal Khan's Kabar.....For obvious reasons.....

Finally after 4-4.5 hrs of trek we were at Pratapgad Base and all rushed to the two hotels at base...Though they had only Pav-bhaji, Misal and Zunaka-Bhakari.....Few who knew  about the facilities on top and had the energy to walk/climb for 15min went up for a complete Thali....we decided to give equal opportunity of business to both the hotels and ate whatever was available...
Pratapgad was  engulfed in thick fog which was melting into heavy downpour every now and then....

After a filling snacks/lunch we started to explore the Gad.Due to very very thick cloud cover it was impossible to view the Buruj,tatbandi, etc and we had to contend with Bhavani Mata Mandir and Majestic statue of Shivaji Maharaj.Importantly, the area was very clean and wel maintained.Maybe we need to visit the place again after monsoon.There are three water cisterns on the Gad. We had with us our very on HISTORIAN and expert on Shiv Charitra ---Mahesh Gavasne.

I remember on Kalawantin Trek he had taken our test on Maharaj and we had not fared wel.We requested him to be our guide and recreate the full ITIHAS for us.Due to shortage of "audience" he decided to perform in bus later. And what a performance it was...full of historical facts,passion...Great.This guy is very very passionate about this and is very wel read.
On all the treks an effort should be made to explain the history in brief,how significant that fort is  etc....फक्त निसर्गाच्या सानिध्ध्यात गड चढणे ह्यापेक्षा 300-वर्षापूर्वी तिथे वावरलेल्या महान लोकांबद्दल थोड जाणून घेतल तर सगळा अनुभव अधिक प्रगल्भ होईल।त्यावेळच स्थापत्य शास्त्र किती आधुनिक होत,गड बांधण्यामागाची संकल्पना,सुरक्षिततेची काळजी, पाणी, रसद इत्यादि गोष्टींचा किती सखोल विचार केला गेला होता हे जाणून घेता आल तर त्या लोकांबद्दल चा आदर द्विगुणित होईल।Thanks a lot Mahesh for your brief history session.
The return ride back was mostly uneventful  mainly because everyone was dead tired and asleep .The problem with the bus was not fully rectified but thankfully there was nothing major and though very late ,we reached safely back home late night or early morning for some.
It was back to work from Monday for most of us,and like true trekkers everyone joind the office on Monday..The unwritten rule of trekking is that "काहीही झालं तरी रविवार च्या ट्रेक नंतर सोमवारी कामावर जायचंच "

Now the most important ingredient of a Successful Trek......The Fellow Trekkers
Without  like minded bunch of people, no trek can be enjoyable and hence successful.
Here is brief intro of my trek mates who made this wonderful and memorable....I must apologize in advance if I have missed out anyone...Its difficult to remember 40 names....
First and foremost the beautiful single Ladies( those yet "SINGLE' and some who came alone)

 Supriya---- Ever smiling and very helpful....old timer with SV..She finally managed to complete the song "उदे ग अंबे उदे " this time ..Knows many songs by heart especially both versions of Jay Jay Maharashtra maza and Breathless...Gr8 company
Veena---Disarmingly charming, photogenic, fun loving..regular with SV
Shradhdha--Termed this trek as Reunion....Saw her after a long time....Very Good photographer,again Regular with SV
Pallavi--A dombivlikar, met her first time,very good in Antakshari. Made sure that we had a song ready each time..Was very cool even when we reached past midnight..
Poonam---Enthusiastic trekker, done few treks with her, good company
Megha--Very witty with good sense of humor...मुलांची खेचण्यात expert ....
Sonia--Very good photographer

There were three couples...Avinash-Samidha, Deepak and his wife and I think Rahul and his better half....The best thing was they mingled with all ...While chatting with Samidha, both of us realized that we lived very close to each other in Dombivli for many years  and  in Thane also ...but met only on treks...







Shashank and Prajakt---Its like mandatory for them to trek ...They are not allowed to be at home on weekends...
Prince Deepak, Vishal and Naresh from the SV team---Very helpful and enjoyable company...this time they were also like us newcomers as it was first time for them...Have enjoyed some very good treks with them

Mahesh Gavasne--Extremely passionate about Shivaji Maharaj, very funny
Nilesh Tawde--A man with Rs.13000 shoes, ever smiling affable personality
Sagar Dalvi--ह्या ट्रेक चा आमचा वाटाड्या ,easy going..
Mrugesh and Chetan-- Again regular trekkers, Chetan had this very innovative plastic cover with lids on his Camera enabling him to take photos even during rains...Real enthu photographer
Madhukar Dhuri-- YHAI Malad , very good photographer and trekker
Bhaskar Vats--Met him at Harihar trek...helped a first timer to get down safely there..rarely shows any emotions but helpful
There was a group of doctors whom I met first time...They were having fun and enjoying ...Then there was Prashant Salunke, Sankalp Shrivastav, Jayesh Chowgule,Kiran Darekar
How can I not mention the Bongo player , You made the Antakshari very very musical and tirelessly played the instrument for almost 3 hours.

Last but not the least --Jagdish Patil
Very very cool Leader..Never shows anxiety...Never seen him shouting or getting angry with others and still manages to conduct the treks successfully. So many people keep on giving him suggestions including me, but this guy knows very wel what he is doing..Manages big groups very easily..During the trek he is everywhere, at the lead showing the way, helping all when needed, at the back till the last person is through the difficult patch...Great organisational Skills....

So, one more memorable trek completed with a promise to meet again and enjoy trekking...Cheers

All the photographs are clicked by my trek mates