Up Kalsubai

The trip to Kalsubhai, supposedly the highest mountain peak in Maharashtra, finally happened last weekend. I usually don't write about any of my trips. Somehow I feel that words can't do justice to the experience. Trekking is an experience. And an experience that can only be felt. Or maybe there are people who can make u experience their feelings thru words. But I definitely am not good at that.
Still, since this friend of mine wants me to write something about the trip I will make an attempt.

We were supposed to meet at 4 Am at Bandra. But there was a change in plan and the timing was revised to 5:30. However, Raj the colleague who was supposed to inform me about the change forgot to do so. So there I was at 4:30 outside Bandra station shivering in the cold. The only consolation was that Raj himself arrived there before me. I guess he forgot to tell himself about the new timing. Heheh.

All of us finally met at around 5:45 and before 6:00 Am we were off in a Toyota Voyager. Gone are the days when we set off for a trek the previous evening, spend the night at the station and then set off by the first ST bus to the closest village.
Now we travel in style. Time constraint has a major role to play here. Everyone wants to be back before nightfall and nobody is keen on spending a night in some dirty station. So leave early complete your trek and be back by evening.

But I miss those old days. Short on budget, off we used to go by train and ST and whenever possible hitchhiking to save some moolah. Of course, we also had 30 Kg packs on our back. We slept in the jungles, in some cave if there was one or in a make shift tent or sometimes even with the adivasis.
By the end of the day we were generally so tired and ravenous that even cow dung would have tasted like manna. Well, now that we are all earning we can afford small luxuries.

To come back to the point, we reached Gotti by around 9:00. From there we lost our way thanks to my absolute confidence that the last time I was there in the area we had taken a right from the railway crossing. As it turned out we should have taken the left. But we realized that only after we had covered some 20 kms.

I consoled myself by saying that the last time I was in the area was some 6 years ago. So some small mistakes are allowed. It being a Saturday, the weekly mandi at Gotti was on in full swing. Cows and goats and humans and other cattle. And sweets. Pure Desi sweets. But my fellow trekkers were reluctant to make a halt. So off we went.

Finally, we reached the fork where one road leads off to shirdi and the other to our destination. Six years back, we had got free accommodation at a small hotel at the junction as people thought we were Sai bakhts on our way to Shirdi on foot. So young and such belief. Heheh. Well we were not complaining. But we had got up at 3:00 in the morning and punished off from there to escape being caught the next day when we would have to take the wrong turn and break a few delusions.

We finally reached the Bari village. From there we got hold of a local to guide us to the top. To tell you the truth I was a bit disappointed when I first saw Kalsubhai. I seriously didn't look like the highest peak in Maharashtra. I thought Bhimashankar or Rajmachi was higher. Also, it was completely devoid of any forest coverage. By the time we started the trek it was 11:00 Am. The Sun was really burning down on us. Within half an hour I was wheezing like crazy. Well I was not surprised considering how well I take care of my health. But the others were no better off. Except maybe for Bernard who is a veteran. I should feel ashamed. I am half his age and I can't last half as long.

We took our first break near a temple. A cool shady place. There were 3 women there who had come with another group but lost courage and stayed back. Rested we left soon. But soon Leslie from our group suffered a blackout and had to go back to the Temple. Initially, I thought the women we met might be the reason. I was cursing myself for thinking of it. But soon we realized that things were bad--must be the combination of smokes and booze and zero exercise.

I know cos this has happened to me in the past. Well, we started wheezing our way up again. But soon experience took over and I managed to settle my breathing into a regular pattern.

We soon reached the first ladder which some kind soul had arranged for. The climb is at an angle of almost 90 degree. We had to climb 3 more such ladders. We were wondering how we would climb back down. I am sure this place would be really dicey in the rains. That's when I actually want to go to Kalsubhai.

We thought we had reached the top. The guide said half an hour. So we rested for some 15 minutes on a flat rock table. Bernard decided to go ahead of us. When he stated shouting at us for wasting time it didn't strike us as to what lay ahead. We climbed to where he was standing and that was when we realized there was one more hill to climb before we reached the top. And now the peak began to look really far off.

Kalsubhai proved that she didn't enjoy the distinction of being the highest peak in Maharashtra for nothing. And what they say is true looks can be deceptive. It took us another straight hour before we finally reached the top. On the way we had come across a well. Man, the water was ice cold. Instant refresh. I even drank that water. Though if I wasn't so parched I wouldn't even dream of drinking that water. City Habits! The water might not kill you. But the fear of what that water can do can definitely land u in bed.

Reaching the top was an exhilarating. Especially the knowledge that this was the highest peak there. But the climb was not tough. The chest congestion I was suffering from for the last 3 days got cleared.

On the way back we decided to stop for a late lunch at the table top we had stopped at earlier. Within minutes we were surrounded by a hoard of monkeys. Literally surrounded. There were monkeys on all four sides and even on top of us i.e. in the branches of the tree under which we were sitting.

Everyone tried to act cool. Till Pallavi decided enough was enough and just asked everyone to pack up. I have had bad experiences with monkeys more than once so I was all game, anything to get out of there. And I didn’t have to bruise my ego either by being the one to act scared. Hehehe.

One funny incident--Bernard decided to take off his pants and walk in his shorts. But the action took the monkeys by surprise and most of them ran off. Don't know whether they were male or female monkeys.

Well, the monkeys chased us all the way down to the first of the ladders. Where they decided to get nasty when they realized they were about to lose out. Raj decided to take action and started pelting stones. We were scared that the matter would deteriorate. But after that the monkeys decided to leave us alone.

Looking back, we saw the monkeys perched at various points and staring down at us. Reminded me of the scene from King Kong where the tribals are perched on top of the wall and are about to launch an attack on the visitors.

I do wish the monkeys had launched an attack. Would have added some excitement and made the trip more memorable. There were a few close shaves but nothing worth mentioning.

Soon we were back at the base, freshened at a boring water pump and back into the voyager and home and hot bath and a meet with 3 very hot babes. Man what a perfect end to a perfect day.