Everest Base Camp Trek. Twice. Back to Back. In 7 days. Figuratively.

Disclaimer

For those of you who would wonder about the title - The trekathon that we undertook (in the Western Mountain Ranges of the state of Maharashtra in India - The Sahyadri), was equivalent to doing more than 2 Everest Base Camp (EBC) treks (from an elevation gain perspective) - back to back, as the actual EBC elevation gain is around 8,280 ft. Our’s was approximately 17,200 ft. of ascent.

The Inspiration (My Grandfather)

Today marks one year since I lost my grandfather. A person who was a constant source of inspiration to me and many members in my family, he peacefully passed away exactly one year ago!

A doctor by profession, a wrestler by passion, a Sanskrit scholar by education, a motorcycle rider by hobby, and a well known fitness enthusiast, who, at the age of 97, used to practice Pranayama (a Yoga technique) for 2 hours first thing in the morning he got up! After getting ready, he used to work for 6 hours daily, as he used to say - one's brain shouldn't be allowed to get rusted. 

Till he breathed his last, he never had any memory loss, and was able to recognize everybody by face. 

When I did my first mountain ultra-marathon way back in 2018, he was super proud of me, of having undertaken such a challenge, and of having pushed myself further. This crazy adventure was on the same lines, and I am sure, wherever he is - he would be happy that I did this, with his blessings always by my side! I always pray his soul rests in peace, and he blesses all of us, from up there. I dedicate this trekathon to him!  

The Plan - My 1st Expedition in the Sahyadri Range

It was the year 2016, when I had planned to go to the Nashik region in Maharashtra, to hike up and down the massive forts perched atop mountains over there.

The region to which these forts belong is called the grand canyon of Maharashtra, a very apt name for the massive walls, faces, and drops that each of these mountains have!

Plus, the region is saturated with Hindu mythological tales as well as the rich history of the Maratha empire. Well, as they say - better late than never!

The climbing trip was destined to get executed in 2021, 5 years later than the actual plan. Reasons for this delay were many, mainly no company, no friend who was interested in this adventure, friends who wanted to come but not enough leaves, and to top it all off - COVID!

 

The Scare

I was to leave on the 24th of December, and on the 22nd, since morning, I was feeling a bit odd.

I had a feeling of exhaustion, plus my taste buds had gone haywire! Since breakfast, I wasn’t able to feel the taste of anything I ate. I thought, maybe something to do with last day’s dinner at a family’s place. I ignored it, but then when I ate a sweet during lunch, and couldn’t sense it to be sweet at all, I told Manasi, my wife.

She was curious, anxious and frightened at the same time. Curious because I had never felt like this before. Anxious because I was supposed to leave on this massive Trekathon in a day, and frightened because this happened to be a classic symptom of COVID! 

 

She immediately told me to go have a word with her dad, who is a doctor. I wondered if he would tell me to get a COVID test done, and if found positive, there goes - another year! Upon approaching him, he was calm, and told me to watch it till the next morning, and based on the observations, he would take a call - whether to go get a test done or not. 

 

 

Fortunately, the breakfast the next morning tasted like breakfast, however when I approached him, he ensured that I wasn’t feigning just because I wanted to desperately go on this trekathon. I assured him, and the scare weaned off, as I got ready for the next day!

 

 

 

 

Captain and Professor

Since 2016, when I conceived this idea, I was on the lookout for a partner, who would be equally interested (and crazy) in following through on this plan.

As everybody in the outdoors’ world is aware of, a physical and mental sync between partners is very important, especially when an ambitious plan lies ahead of you.

So, I was asking around everywhere who I thought would be interested. However, due to multiple reasons, nobody could commit, and I planned on going all by myself.

On my regular workout day on the nearby hill, I got talking to my friends who workout regularly over there.

And, to my surprise, a guy we all called “Captain” agreed to come along on this adventure. He is a super-fit, health-conscious guy, who teaches Calisthenics to a group of people both on the hill as well as at other places.

He had been on multiple treks before, but had not attempted anything like this earlier in his life of 21 years. His name is Aditya, but everybody calls him Captain, as he is the captain of his college swimming team. And, naturally he calls me Professor. 

 

So, the duo (us) got ready about a week before we headed out in the mountains!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Day 1 - Exhausted by Driving, but Energetic about Hiking (Mangi, Tungi)

Captain comes over at 5.30 am, and I ask him - Where’s your carrymat?

With a question mark on his face, I pretty much ordered him - “Let’s go pick it up, before we head out of town”.

That took another 15 minutes, and we were whizzing past known buildings on the Pune - Nashik highway, before the regular traffic blocked us.

There are a couple of industrial estates enroute, which we wanted to cross, before their congestion begins on the highway. Crossing Khed (Rajgurunagar), we were having a great time as the sun rose, thereby lowering the crisp in the air a bit. A couple of tolls later, we made a decision which stayed on with us for the entire trip. That we would have two meals a day - a late breakfast, or a brunch, and early dinner. This helped us save time in travel as well as hiking which was planned for the next 7 days! 

Vikram is a good friend who stays in Nashik, and who owns a couple of restaurants in the city. One of his branches was on the way North of Nashik, at Pimpalgaon. We spoke to him on the phone, however the restaurant hadn’t yet opened up for breakfast, so we dived into the spicy, charcoal-flavored (one of the ) traditional Maharashtrian breakfast - Misal Pav!

The curry and taste were very different, and to pair with it, they also had a sweet (Jalebi), which had a very different flavor, as they had used jaggery instead of sugar in it. 

With our growling stomachs satiated, we were on our way to Mangi-Tungi, the twin peaks in the Nashik district, which is a big draw for the Jain pilgrims. The twin peaks are more than 1300 m in elevation above sea level, and is home to a 108-ft standing statue of Rishabhdev (With entry in Guiness Book of Records), one of the revered saints among the Jain religion. These peaks are visited by Jains throughout the year, and for them, a Dharmashala (pilgrim home) has been set up by the community at the base. Although we had planned on camping at the base of the twin peaks, I had already booked a basic room in this place for the two of us, as there were many stories of wildlife being around.

This story was validated by the guard who entered our names in the register at the base, who told us that a month ago, a tiger had visited this area, and taken away the dogs that guarded his place. He had seen all of this on the CCTV camera that was set up. 

We checked in, in the dharmashala, and rested for about half an hour, after which we had planned on climbing the twin peaks. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have been able to stick to our plan. At 2.30 pm, when the sun was at its peak, we started climbing the Mangi-Tungi peak.

The rock-cut steps, which according to the locals were more than 3500, were not too soft on our knees, but there was no other choice. Initially, we did look for a trail which we would’ve preferred. But due to the lack of the same, we headed straight up.

About halfway up the mountain, there is a route which takes you to the 108 ft. statue of Rishabhdev. We decided to just keep on climbing and visiting the old sacred caves on the top of the peaks, before visiting the statue. The climb was good, as there was practically nobody with us (because of the heat). The caves on both Mangi and Tungi had idols of various saints of Jain religion, with many stories that were associated with them. The guy at the base told us that this was the place where lord Krishna breathed his last, as well as the place where his brother Balram also attained salvation. A story of how local females adoring Balram’s physique led him to turn his back on them and the village is depicted by a statue with its back staring at us. It was interesting to see how the Indian mythology and religion is so intricately linked through this stark landscape in the western ranges of Sahyadris in Maharashtra.

The ridges and high rising peaks actually dotted the skyline when we were witnessing sunset while standing on Tungi peak.

We could see Nhavigad, Hargad, Mulher, Mora and far away the huge col in between Salher and Salota was visible, and we wondered - we would be standing there in a few days’ time. 

We had planned on doing Nhavigad, a fort around 8 km away the same day, but after the Mangi-Tungi climb, we both were pretty exhausted!

Rather, when we returned after almost after sunset, there was no one at the base.

The guard had gone, and we wondered if any wild animal had visited the site. A short drive back to the ashram, a quick meal in their canteen, and we dozed off within maybe a minute or so!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Day 2 - Seeking Company (Hargad, Mulher, Mora)

Whenever I mentioned my plan to anybody - everybody asked me - which group are you going with? It is natural for people to venture into the outdoors (which does carry a bit of uncertainty with it), under the guidance of someone who's been there, and done that. I, on the other hand, think the other way around.

I feel, going with a group and under someone’s supervision, one loses freedom and flexibility, and isn’t able to both explore the nature as he wants, as well as doesn’t get a chance to learn - more than anything else, about himself!

I feel, outdoors truly gives you a chance to explore what’s out there, face uncertainties, and get to know yourself in a much better way.

The day before I left Pune, I got a message from a friend who owns a trekking club in town, that he is planning to get a few folks in the same area to hike the same forts. I got the details, and contacted their trek leader, and we decided to at least do Hargad, Mulher and Mora together, for which we left the ashram on day 2 early in the morning, to meet up with the group at the base of Hargad, in Mulher village. They had traveled through the night, and were resting in an ashram of the Uddhav Maharaj Samadhi in Mulher village. Like them, we also carried packed lunch with us from a place in Mangi-Tungi village, which was delivered to us the previous night, as nobody gets up and cooks that early in this town. However, there is a home where people run a restaurant, where you can get basic tea, coffee and breakfast (if you are a large group). So, we ended up leaving the village without any breakfast at all. 

Talking about Mulher village - this place is unique, with a lot of history. It is said that at Kumbh Mela (the largest congregation of humans on earth) that takes place every 12 years, people wash off their sins. This congregation is held at multiple places like Allahabad, Varanasi and Trimbakeshwar, a place close to this region. After the people wash off their sins, the river needs a place to re-purify itself. There is a well near this samadhi, where the river is known to again take a re-birth, as the water levels in the well increase significantly after about a week or so of the Kumbh Mela having finished. Further, the samadhi of Uddhav Maharaj, a saint who was befriended by Lord Krishna, water starts seeping out, all by itself. Further, there were a couple of trees that were planted by the saint himself, which are all alive and thriving even after a significant duration of time has passed (the trees were planted by him around 1883). One of the trees actually is known to bear sugar from its flowers, for the devotees. Yes, actual sugar. The other tree at the rear of the samadhi bears flowers, while there is a tree in the front which never fails to bear flowers, since it was planted in the 1800s. Another great saint, Guru Samarth Ramdas (who happened to be the guru of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj), visited this samadhi and installed a hanuman idol, which still stands proud. I was amazed at the history of this place, as I was only aware of the battle of Salher and Mulher, when Maharaj captured these forts from the Mughals. 

We gathered at the ashram, moved on to the place where the group was supposed to have their breakfast, and then reached the base of Hargad fort, where they had hired a local guy from the village to take them up the fort. Once we started, Captain and I realized that a lot of people from the group were taking it easy, either due to tiredness or because they wanted to take pictures and have a relaxing hike. However, as we had to climb Hargad, Mulher and Mora that day, we decided to take it a bit fast, and we went ahead full steam!

A small stopover at the temple in the middle of the trail, where a preacher was engrossed in his pooja, we surged ahead. After the initial trail ends at a place where one has to climb at a steep angle, holding on to the branches, rocks or pretty much whatever that comes by, it becomes a bit tricky. As I always say, climbing up is actually easy, coming down is what actually tests your skill and patience.

After that initial patch, we were confronted by rock-cut steps, at the end of which we met Sameer and his friends from Beyond Mountains, owners of a trekking group with whom my son had gone to Vasota fort, another amazing fort during the reign of Shivaji Maharaj. 

We chatted for a while, before departing our own ways, to witness one of the largest cannon I had ever seen in Maharashtra. I remember seeing one on Korigad, but this was definitely bigger! Our feet marched towards the Shiva temple on the other side of the fort, where we paid homage to the deity of lord hanuman and returned to descend the fort. We met the members of the group on our way back, and as I had imagined, the descent was a bit tricky, which we somehow managed. 

Our next aim was to go up Mulher, towards which one of the villagers showed us the route. We started following the trail, which kind of disappeared after a while. We heard a few people shouting out to us from above, who also may have lost their trail, but they were gracious enough to show us the point of entry to the fort. Otherwise, all we saw in front of us was a rock wall.

 

We negotiated our way through bushes, rock patches and got cut and stung many times by the needle-like thorns on our way, but we finally managed to find the trail just below the entry to Mulher fort. Entering from one side, we explored the 9 water cisterns that the fort is famous for, and headed to the temple below a huge tree, to grab out lunch as  our stomachs were growling. To our surprise, Sameer and his friends were resting in the shade after their lunch. We exchanged our pleasantries, quickly finished our lunch (which was sumptuous), and headed to Mora fort. 

To go to Mora fort, you have to reach a col which takes you up that fort. However, the door of Mulher that one has to exit is entirely (almost 90%) blocked by huge rock falls. So, one has to negotiate his way around the rock fall, exit the fort onto the col, and start climbing again, to Mora fort. People descending from Mora fort told us of a water cistern in the col (after walking on an exposed ridge) that had the purest of water to drink!

Although we had water, we decided to go for some cold, pure water. And boy - it was fresh! One had to clear the moss that covered the surface of the water, and then fill up their bottles. In fact, we even met a set of two friends who were extremely thirsty, but didn’t have any bottle with them. A spare botte from our side, along with the fresh water from the cistern made their day! 

A climb up Moragad gave us splendid views of Hargad and Mulher in front of us. In fact while climbing Mulher, we couldn’t help but notice the zig-zag manner in which the entrances were made, to avoid attacks from the enemy. As opposed to that, Moragad was a straightforward climb up the rock-cut steps, which took us to the top of the fort where there was a saffron flag on the last entrance.

 

The view of Hargad from Moragad was amazing, and we couldn’t believe where we were - looking at Hargad in the distance, we had covered so much distance since morning. 

A short break on the top, a few photos, and we hit the trail to the base where there was a function at a new temple being inaugurated, along with a statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.

The descendant of Maharaj, Chhatrapati Udayanraje Bhosale was supposed to come for the function from Satara (his home). However, he couldn’t make it, so the local MP from Dhule made it for the inauguration. We rested a bit near a temple where the local boys were curiously looking at us, holding hiking poles and carrying backpacks. We were told that on 15th April, every year, the sunlight enters the temple through a hole in the roof, and directly bathes the sacred Shivling which is around 10 feet deep inside the temple. It was amazing to think of that, and something I would definitely like to witness some day. 

We met a few folks from Mulher, who worked in Nashik, and had come over to their native village for the weekend, who were courteous enough to give us lift from the base of the fort to the Samadhi, with an added perk - a cup of hot tea at their place.

 

Right across their home was the home of the erstwhile chieftain of the ruler of the fort - where the Bagul family lived. It was a very pretty ancestral home, with the ladies sitting outside chatting. Post their permission, I took a few photos, and we got dropped off at the Samadhi. 

Captain was craving for non-veg food, as the last 2 days were heavy on workout, and light on carbs/proteins, as we were mainly staying in ashrams. I had looked up a place in this village, which served us lip-smacking food, to fuel our adventure the next day!

Day 3 - High point of the Trekathon (Nhavigad, Salota and Salher)

The night before, we reached the ashram post dinner to find out that there wasn’t any place in any of the rooms, and all rooms were occupied. So, we took out our sleeping bags and carrymats to doze off in the passage of the ashram, right behind the Hanuman idol that Saint Samarth Ramdas had set up centuries ago. 

We got up early in the morning and headed to Nhavigad, which we were going to climb on Day 1, but thought of pushing a bit further. Although in a different direction than our destination of Salher and Salota for the day, we decided to climb it nevertheless. 

At about daybreak, we were at Patalwadi, the base village of Nhavigad, where people had just gotten out of their bed, and were thinking of going about their nature calls. This is one village which is the last one on this road, where people didn’t speak Marathi, but Ahirani. A few of the folks had difficulty understanding us, but then one elderly gentleman helped us with two absolutely energetic kids who showed us the way to go up the fort. From the base if you see, you would think it is impossible to climb it. However, as much as it was difficult with exposed sections, it was doable.

The kids - Chandrakant and Popat were extremely helpful both while going up and coming down, alerting us of slippery sections on the rock (although they were dancing around on the same sections in slippers!). At around 60% of the climb, there was a temple of a local goddess, followed by water cisterns where there was a loud echo of anything we spoke/shouted.

It was funny to see both of them shouting at the top of their lungs to hear the echo, and derive pleasure from. Funny how simple pleasures and simple activities can make a person happy, as this was the generation (in cities), which was addicted to mobile phones and won’t even budge a second, if we call out their names. 

At higher elevations, we could see remains of the houses that used to be there at one point in time, along with the presence of water cisterns. Going past the cisterns, we climbed higher onto the pinnacle of the fort, which was a two-step route. I can safely say that I went 99% to the top, but the last 1% really scared the shit out of me. It reminded me of my climb of Durg Lingana, way back in 1998, when on one of the moves, we were sitting on a horse-back like position, and had our legs dangling on both sides which were 2500 ft. down, straight!

Well, at that time, I was the same age as Captain, and now I was more than twice that age, so I guess, it was the age effect. I thought - better to feel bad than to feel sorry.

Captain and the guys went ahead, returned, and we climbed down Nhavigad, to revv up our car’s engine to go to Waghambe, the base village of Salher and Salota. This is interesting - if you climb from Waghambe, you reach the col from where you can climb and explore both Salota and Salher, however, if you climb from Salherwadi, which is on the other side of the fort, you end up exploring only fort Salher. 

We again crossed the village of Mangi-Tungi, where we grabbed our lunch in the canteen, and took a packed lunch for Salher, as we were going to stay up on the fort that day.

I had my stove, utensils and we had bought petrol for the stove as well. However, from experience I knew that once you reach your destination, making camp and then cooking is sometimes a herculean effort, and it feels all the more desperate, if you are hungry! So, to be on the safer side, we took a packed lunch of 8 parathas and 1 curry to take with us, just in case we needed to eat in the middle of our hike. 

We reach Waghambe, and while we are trying to find a guy who can take us up both the forts (we were told that the route up Salher had been erased due to a landslide), so wanted to be sure, in order to not waste time - we meet Sameer and his friends from Beyond Mountains again! They had camped in the village school’s ground in Waghambe, and had begun their climb up in the morning. It was almost 2.30 pm, when we started our climb from Waghambe towards the col. Before we reached the col, we had a meeting and greeting with the Giridarshan trekking club members with whom we had started climbing Hargad the day before. They had also accomplished all three forts, and were returning after seeing Salher, as they didn’t have time to visit Salota. 

Within an hour’s time, we reached the massive col from where one could see a trail going up Salher, and one trail going up Salota. It made no sense for us to carry our backpacks all the way up Salota, as we had plans of camping up on Salher. So, we left our backpacks right besides the trail, as there was pretty much nobody behind us, and there was no fear of anybody stealing anything from the backpacks. However, what we didn’t realize was that there was a bunch of people on Salota, and while we were climbing, we at least crossed 50 of them in total! With my cash carrying wallet inside the backpack, I was a bit tense on one hand, but on the other, I trusted that people in the mountains won’t do anything. It is a simple faith that I have had, during all my travels in the mountains, that people - in general are good. There is no yardstick to measure it, but I feel - just believing in people itself is a very strong force within itself!  

Salota was amazing. We could see the entire valley spread beneath us, with Salher rising on one end. The rock-cut steps going up Salher’s face, followed by the route carved out in the rock-face was just too good to believe! Salota’s climb itself was a bit arduous at places, and one had to be careful. However, the landscape around us was truly mesmerizing, to say the least. When we reached the Hanuman temple at the other end of Salota, the towering mountains on the other side simply took my breath away. 

Climbing down Salota had to be done cautiously, as one slip on the steps, and you are hurled down the rock face, a couple of hundred meters. So, treading cautiously, we managed to reach our packs, which nobody had even touched, picked them up after a few sips of water, and marched towards the col, towards Salher.

Salher trail winds around the face a bit before we are faced with these huge steps before the entrance. At the beginning of the steps, a few feet away, there is a huge fall, so one needs to be careful. Once you top out from the steps, you are on a route that takes you straight to the Gangasagar Talaav (pond) on the fort. However, before proceeding further, one shouldn’t miss the fantastic view of Salota from the first entrance of Salher fort! 

It is besides the pond that everybody camps, but there is also a huge natural, man-made cave where people stay overnight. It was getting dark as well as cold, so we decided to pitch our tent inside the cave itself. But, first - we needed to go and pay homage at the temple of the great warrior - Parshuram! He is known to be a person who has defeated everybody on earth and won the earth over seven times, and after his victory, wanted a place for people from his community to stay, so he shot an arrow to the sea which pushed the sea outward, and created the land of Konkan, which forms the coastal line of the state of Maharashtra. Parshuram’s temple is perched high on another hillock on Salher, and we decided to go visit the temple before it turns dark. 

Dumping out sacks in the cave, we looked at the cloud formations in the sky, and immediately realized that it is going to be a spectacular sunset, if we can catch it! So, even after having climbed Nhavigad, Salota and Salher, we almost ran up the trail to the temple, so that we could experience something magical. The trail winds up the face of the hill above the cave, and you can see the Parshuram temple standing tall at the edge of the cliff! 

The sky was a palette of all possible shades of orange and red, and the silhouette of the temple added to the aura of the mystical sunset that we witnessed. At such times, naturally you think of your near and dear ones, as they are the ones you desperately need besides you - to witness the magical show that nature puts up.

It was truly a once in a lifetime opportunity, to feel the power of nature - despite the fact that you are tired and worn out by the day’s activities, your legs are trembling with exhaustion, feet aching due to them being packed in shoes all day, stomach growling due to hunger, but still - you put all of that away - and just immerse yourself in the picturesque setting that god offers you.

It’s truly spiritual, and I didn’t realize when my eyes moistened up. It got dark, but the experience was divine enough for us to hike back to our cave without any headtorch. Nobody spoke. We all (me, Captain, and Umesh) were just soaking it in. 

We reached the cave, and Umesh left for his village. It had gotten dark, so I was worried for him, but he was quite comfortable, as he had been here multiple times! 

And then it hit us - Complete Silence! An eerie kind of silence! We couldn’t see a foot away from ourselves, unless the head torch was lit, and like always, you start getting a feeling that there is someone/something out there in the bushes, every time a whiff of air brushes past the shrubs.

We were the ONLY two people on the entire fort, with the temple on top of us, and literally thousands of stars that dotten the night sky. It was a beautiful sky, one which cannot be captured in any photo you try to take. We thought for a while, regarding cooking the instant noodles that we had bought in Mulher, but Captain’s stomach couldn’t stop growling, so we settled with the packed lunch we had gotten from the Mangi-Tungi village, on the way back from Nhavigad today.

Captain really couldn’t control hunger, and managed to eat 6.5 out of those 8 parathas, and was equally surprised that I wasn’t that hungry, after such a solid hike! I guessed it was nothing but age, as I pretty much was like him at his age.

He still wasn’t full, so he ate a packet of noodles, with it’s spices - raw. Then, he could feel full. I lit up the stove after ages, to drink a mug of hot black coffee in my SLB mug!  Post dinner, we set up the tent, and tried to sleep, but were woken up by constant noises around us. I shone my flashlight in the cave, but couldn’t see anything. Strange, and scary.

The next moment we tried to sleep, Captain’s stick - which was leaning against the wall, crashed onto the ground with a loud thud! We both sprung out of our sleeping bags, and as soon as we switched on our flashlights, there was nothing! This was getting scary and both of us couldn’t think of a reason for such things happening around us. Finally, due to utter tiredness, we just dozed off inside the tent, only to wake up in the morning to see a mouse fiddling with the stuff we had kept outside. We gathered it must’ve been the same culprit who made us shit our pants last night. Captain again had his fill of breakfast (I wasn’t hungry), we broke camp, and hit the trail on the other side of Salher, which goes down to Salherwadi. 

Day 4 - Making (appropriate) use of the day gained (Pimpla and Avihantgad)

We had gained a day by including Nhavigad along with Salher and Salota the previous day. Once we hiked down to Salherwadi, we started walking to Waghambe, which was 5 km away.

What a coincidence that the guy who gave me a lift to Waghambe turned out to be a good friend of Umesh, who had shown us the trail the previous day! It’s a small world indeed!

We packed ourselves in our car, and started driving towards a fort, which is known to have the largest wind-eroded hole (called Nedha in Marathi) in one of it’s walls, within the state of Maharashtra. This fort’s name was Pimpla, and this was also situated in a very remote region. Thankfully, google maps helped us in taking some really difficult roads to the base village. Again, we were confronted with locals who didn’t know the name of the fort which rose right above their village! Thankfully, one of the locals identified it with a large hole in one of it’s walls, and we started climbing. AGAIN - lost our way! 

While we were heading towards the col between two mountains, from where we thought the route would go up, a shepherd appeared out of nowhere, and directed us towards an opposite direction. We again had to go through multiple bushes but this was nothing compared to the experience on Mulher.

We found the trail, and within about half an hour we were at the MASSIVE Nedha that the fort had to offer to us.

It was amazing how huge this hole was, that when you stood at one end of it, you could hardly capture the entire thing in one frame of your photograph. I got an excellent photo of both Salher and Salota with it’s col being framed by the Nedha. A few sips of water, and after paying homage at the goddess temple on the fort, we headed down, to climb the second fort we had planned for that day. The ride out of that village was a real slow one, negotiating all the potholes and rocks strewn everywhere. However, the village was pretty, nestled between mountains with a water reservoir right in the middle. 

Saptashrungi Devi Temple is a highly respected pilgrimage site for devout pilgrims, who come from all over India to seek the goddess’ blessings. This was on our way, and we first thought of climbing the 1000 odd steps of this mountain, to seek blessings. However, our decision changed, when we saw on the map that this was not actually a fort.

At the same time, we could see a fort called Ahivantgad quite close to where we were, so we turned into a village called Daregaon, and asked a few kids playing around for directions to the base of the fort. Two kids pointing towards two separate directions confused us, and we asked one of them if he could show us the route.

Within 5 minutes, we parked our car near the village temple, and were hiking up Ahivantgad through a col visible right opposite the village temple. A steep hike to the col, followed by a section of exposed steps, and we were on top of the MASSIVE fort that Ahivantgad was! We walked around the fort for almost 3 hours, witnessing the old temple, a place where there used to be a school during Maharaj’s time, a cave on the other side of the fort, and a few water cisterns.

There was a live source of water on the fort which provides water to all throughout the year, and farmers leave their herd of buffaloes on the mountain from monsoon to the end of winter. They stay here, and get picked up by their owners in a couple of months’ time. An interesting cave was explored by us climbing down a rickety staircase, with only one hand rail. I told the guy who was showing us around that it would be better if we climbed down from the other side of the mountain, which led to a pass between 2 mountains, used by cars. It got quite late for us to have hit the road and walked all the way back to our cars. Like Captain’s, my stomach was also growling and we headed straight to a nearby larger village, which treated us to a drink and food, which washed away our tiredness of having climbed two forts that day.

We took a room at the same place, which was convenient (we had initially planned to stay in a temple, but the temple in Daregaon was locked).  

Day 5 - The Famous 80 degree Rock-cut Steps (Harihar, Anjaneri)

A drive from Daregaon to Nashik was a long one, and we had planned on getting two forts under the hood that very day, after the drive! Our first stop was at a local eatery, where we gorged on Misal as our first meal for the day, and we headed straight for Harihar, which was famous for its 80 degree inclined rock-cut steps.

At the turn towards the base village, two young guys were standing with backpacks and waist pouches. I rolled down the window and before I asked, they said - Yes, Harihar, Harihar trekking!

Aswin and Sayan George (whom I initially thought to be Saint George) had come all the way from the state of Kerala, to climb Harihar! They didn’t have a plan in place, however they told me that there are a lot of people in Kerala who are very interested in hiking, and they had seen Harihar’s video on Youtube, which inspired them to travel all the way from Kozikhode to Mumbai to Nashik to Trimbakeshwar to this diversion, where we picked them up!

With the public transport on strike, our ride helped them climb Harihar, where they took ample photos and videos. When we approached the steps on Harihar, we had to literally wait on the steps for 15 minutes, as one family was coming down, and the females were not down-climbing, but coming down by sitting on each step! I told them to down-climb, as this was way too risky; one person falls/slips and around 8-10 of us would go down with her! She didn’t agree, so we had no other choice but to wait it out! Then, there were these crazy kids who were doing all sorts of stunts on the steps, while taking photos. I almost lost it, and I shouted out to one of them to stop doing what he was doing - standing on the edge, taking a selfie! I couldn’t imagine what would happen to his body, if he slipped.

Climbing up the steps, we explored the fort right to the very end, where there was a kind of storage/place for guards to sleep, as it overlooked all the valleys around the fort. We could see Brahmagiri and Durga Bhandar from there, which we were going to climb the next day. The massive linking wall between the two forts had steps going down both ways, which was quite amazing. A hike up to the highest point, and we descended the fort, dropped off Aswin and Sayan (they connected with Captain on Insta through their handles) at Trimbakeshwar, and headed to Anjaneri, the place where lord Hanuman was born! 

Anjaneri was good, starting off with gentle steps, leading to higher and higher steps before we reached a temple mid-way, followed by a serene lake on top of the mountain.

It is said that when lord Hanuman was born on Anjaneri, and got curious about the Sun, he jumped in the air to grab the sun. This is a tale which is told to pretty much all kids in India, but little did I know that while taking that jump, he immersed his foot in the earth so firmly, that this lake got created at that place.

It was a very serene lake and we were told by the locals that there is an ashram by the lakeside, where devotees come and stay and pray, sometimes for months together. On the climb, we met interesting people. We met a doctor from Nashik, who had come along with his niece, who was going to go study civil engineering at BITS-Pilani from Jan onward.

 

It was good to see someone showing interest in a branch other than computer science. Her dad had a construction business, and she was fascinated with the field, as opposed to sitting in front of a computer all day. Also, we met a family who had a member who was 82 years of age, and she was in a Saree and Chappals.

 

We were worried for her, that she might get exhausted, but she was upbeat about going all the way up! While descending, we realized that she made it till the first temple, and decided to call off her plan. However, we were happy to see her in the same spirit as while climbing. 

We returned to the base and immediately drove to the Gajanan Maharaj Ashram, right at the entrance of Trimbakeshwar. A good friend of mine from Nashik, Vikram Ugale had arranged for our stay at the Ashram, which is so spick and span, that one wouldn’t find even a leaf lying on the pathway.

 

The society that runs the ashram is steeped in servitude towards anybody that visits the ashram, and is considered a devotee. We were unique in that sense; among the crowd we stood out with our backpacks, hiking boots and all. An interesting story about the society goes like this - Once a huge financial corporation decided to donate 800 crores of rupees to build ashrams and maintain them.

The society did their math, used only 70 crores worth of donation, and gave the remaining money back to the financial corporation! This kind of honesty and humility is rare to see and experience in today’s world. It is a highly respected society, and people wait in a queue to come and serve at such places. One person with whom we spoke in the canteen told us that he got a chance to serve at this ashram after waiting for 6 months. His duration of service is for two weeks. It’s amazing how selflessly people live their lives! 

Day 6 - Inspiration from Friend, and Seeking Blessings from God (Brahmagiri and Durga Bhandar)

A fantastic done shot video with my friends at a bastion with a flag, deep rock-cut steps going down for one to descend and a similar one to ascend at the other end of a wall joining two massive forts, a small door at the exit of the steps - these are just of the few images that I had witnessed, when I was listening to my good friend Balya (Mr. Vasant Vasant Limaye, who himself is a pioneer in moutaineering, in India) read out an excerpt from his yet unpublished book - Vishwasta (Trustee, in English). 

 

 

This was a couple of years ago. That day, I decided - I would like to walk down those steps, cross the ridge on the wall, and walk up to the other side. Someday. 

That day was today, and all thanks to my friend who exposed me to this marvelous wonder which man had created, mainly for his defense. 

A climb up Brahmagiri with it’s huge steps was rewarded well with us being the only people at both, the Brahmagiri Mahadev Temple, as well as the Ugam of Godavari River - both considered extremely sacred places in Hindu mythology. The priest listened to our adventures, and suggested we walk a bit ahead to go see the Hatti Darwaja (an entrance), through which elephants and horses used to come onto the fort, from the other side of the mountain.

 

 

 

He cautioned us to keep our voices high, as there were leopards around. But the entrance was completely razed down due to heavy rockfall. However, we could see a small temple with Shivling in it, a small room (mostly for the guards), and a very well carved cave entrance, inside of which we couldn’t see anything, as it was pitch dark!

 Our exploration on Brahmagiri continued, when we climbed down the steps within the rock wall and went up Durga Bhandar. There is not much on the fort, except you can see people at the base of the fort, beyond a 500 ft rock wall, as there was a place of worship called Gangadwar over there - from where river Godavari was flowing out. We reached the bastion from where my friend had taken a drone video, and marvelled at the overall landscape that lay in front of us. Trimbakeshwar, one of the 12 Jyotirlingas (Lord Shiva’s Temples) is a highly revered place among Hindus, and lakhs of people throng to the temple every year!

 

 

 

 

This was the 14th fort which we had set out to climb, and we had done it! Evening dinner was at Vikram’s place, but before that I went ahead and paid my homage to lord Shiva at the Trimbakeshwar temple, and set out on yet another expedition to find out more about my lineage.

 

 

My grandfather had mentioned to me once that every head from our family has visited Trimbakeshwar, and written down names of the future generations, which was quite fascinating to listen to - which was around 25 years ago! So, I roamed the streets of the old city, looking for pundits who have those documents, and my 3-hour search resulted in me witnessing documents written by my great grandfather, when he visited this place in 1885, and my grandfather, when he visited this temple in 1962! 

I couldn’t believe what I was seeing in front of me, hence I thanked the pundit a zillion times for taking out time to show me these treasures, which sadly nobody is interested in nowadays. He told me I was maybe 1 in many years, who had come looking for my lineage history. 

After a drive to Vikram’s place, we had great fun chatting with him, and his family. His daughter is very smart. She has written a book at the age of 11, where the short stories tell a moral lesson at the end of the story. I asked her - in order to write such stories, one has to experience a lot of things - what is it in your case.

 

She said, these stories just come to me, when I am thinking! It was awesome to go through a few of the stories she had written. I am sure, the talented young lady is going to be a great author one day! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To my surprise, I bumped into a guy who graduated from the same department I teach at, and the only common interest we shared was outdoors! This guy, Yogesh, was crazy - after graduation, he worked in Schlumberger, followed by a stint in Shell in the Netherlands. One fine day, he thought of riding (on his cycle) throughout Europe, but the trip got extended, and he rode all the way to Nashik, from the Netherlands! He has an amazing blog on his journey, which I’ve gone through. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

An evening well spent at Vikram’s home, we were already thinking of heading back home to be with our respective families, but didn’t know what the next day had in store for us!

 

 

 

Day 7 - Greed (Ramshej)

Captain loved grapes! He could easily eat 2 kgs all by himself, is what he told me. He was thinking and dreaming of grapes since we entered Nashik on our way in. Nashik is the grape country of Maharashtra!

Before hitting the road to Pune, we headed to the wholesale fruit market, where he bought - I don’t know how many kilos of grapes! A discussion with the fruit vendor and among us led us to get a little greedy - we decided to climb up our last fort in the expedition, although this wasn’t planned at all! We were already down with 14 forts, however the plan was 7 days, 14 forts. But, we did them in 6 days, so we had a day to spare.

Crazily, we both felt that as we utilized the 1st day to climb Mangi-Tungi the same day we drove there, why waste this day without climbing ANYTHING? 

Ramshej was just about 8 kms out of the city, and very close to where we were. So, we lapped up this small fort, which has a significant history attached to it.

Not even close to God

Ask any mountaineer in today’s world - Who is the God of Mountaineering? And you will get only 1 reply - Reinhold Messner. He is the one who climbed all 14 8000 meter peaks over a decade. This, along with his ascent of Everest in ‘78 and ‘80 was unprecedented. Recently, a Nepali mountaineer - Nirmal Purja climbed all these peaks in seven months. Many may think of him as the new idol.  

As seven months, 14 peaks resonated with seven days, 14 forts, I was asked this rather innocent and funny question by a few of my colleagues, friends and my sister - Is your expedition inspired from the recently released movie - 14 Peaks?

I can’t even begin to imagine being anywhere close to the original god or the new idol who has achieved this impossible feat! I had planned my trip way back in ‘16, and the plan was simple - to go out there and enjoy the abundant outdoors that god had given us! 

That, I did. And I am sure, Captain also did!

Thankful

That night on Fort Salher - when I was there with Captain, and we were all alone on the fort in the middle of the pitch dark night, a thought crossed my mind - we didn't even have a first-aid kit with us. What if either of us gets fever, or has diarrhoea, or a simple sprained ankle? 

What would we do? 

Nothing - came back the answer from the dark.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

With All said and done - I and Captain are utterly thankful to the almighty (who was with us throughout the journey, in the form of temples atop forts and bastions), for having taken care of us, while we were doing this crazy adventure, and for getting us back home - all in one piece, without a single injury or incident! 

Images

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