।। श्री आशापुरी देव्यै नमः ।।
In early days of calendar year 2020, Covid-19 (Coronavirus disease 2019) pandemic was declared. It was soon followed by worldwide lockdown and consequentially, trekking to all mountains / forts / hills was banned.
Last year, had started with this activity of trekking all days of नवरात्री, at 9 unique locations. "Can it be continued this year?", "Will there be 9 different options available?", "Will anybody join 👥?" were some of the uncertainties. सिंहगड was relaxed, but only on weekdays. तळजाई was allowed, but only from the west. And probably, खंडोबा टेकडी was never tagged 'prohibited'. Any other place was off the radar.
वर्ष दुसरे, २०२०
Day Grey 📖, तळजाई: With its east entry gate ⛩️ closed, this flat hill-cum-jungle was still accessible from the other / this side. Heavy rains 🌦️️ in the last days meant some parts were slimy and few trees 🌳 had lost their balance. But abiding to the forecast, it did not rain during the schedule to make matters worse. जंगल में मोर 🦚 नाचा,
Day Orange 🍊, खंडोबा टेकडी: Unlike yesterday, I was not to be alone today, but the comrade was slightly off schedule and also went a bit in another direction. Also, being a Sunday 🌞, it's a no-brainer that it would be crowded out there, but that was still an understatement. So every next time, it will be any but weekly bank holiday. Having had to wait ⏸️️ atop, savored salient view of the target for next 5 days while also encompassing the adjoining hill, that is hardly any away from k2s pave. Yes, 'home to सिंहगड (via खंडोबा टेकडी)' is now on the charts.
Day Red 🚨, सिंहगड + potato point: One of the weekdays had to comprehend nearby potato point, which has always been a special attraction, given its windy nature and having a rock-carved 🗿 शिवलिंग at the top of a potato 🥔 shape, 12-15 feet diameter. Certainly, it was to be a full-grown grass 🎋 hike, it existing as a less known / commuted point and the time period being lockdown-in-monsoon types.
Day Royal Blue 🧞, सिंहगड: It's not perfect (nobody / nothing is) but accuweather 🌀 🌡️️ is far more accurate (as its name suggests) than any other application / website that predicts any such immediate future weather conditions. Following those pointers everyday, also (other reason to follow) helped a lot in not including evenings, which indeed, turned-out pouring ⛈️. Aside, Wednesdays are new Saturdays for some of the regular सिंहगडites.
Day Yellow 🧀, सिंहगड + circuit: For sure, it was not going to be the same to-n-fro on all 5 days at सिंहगड. As was Tuesday's potato, today's diversity was descend via deserted smooth-n-clean घाट रस्ता 🛣️️, the routine exercised to welcome new year since last 2 ✌️️. But this time, all it added to the regular routine was only 45 mins 💪. Another reason behind going long today was - Thursdays have always been crowd-wise spoilers. Yet it had a nice-to-meet-you factor with co-founder of Swachchand Adventure Foundation.
Day Green 🐢, सिंहगड: It's well known that during नवरात्री, many people 🎎 trek सिंहगड on all the days (Yes, this time including forbidden weekends. Trick was to reach the base before 4). Implying, the crowd would get heavier. Indicatively, 'should evenings be considered?' struck. But, having production issue and a product release along with budget 💶 discussion for next year 📆, makes it all-but-easy, to plan anything for the later part of a working 👨💻 day. So, devoid of choices, the planned 'नव सकाळी / संध्याकाळी' got itself transformed to नवसकाळी 9️⃣ 🌄. Nonetheless, today's evening observed a bonus round of सिंहगड, as a colleague could not join any of the mornings. Read (रेड) above about pouring evenings 🌧️️; today was one well prepared ☂️, when city 🌃 was dry as if other hemisphere.
Barring the bonus trek, it was overall 4398 meters of elevation gain, a few inches 📏 short of half Everesting 🏔️️ (more details on Everesting in this SRT blog), while covering 83.5 kms of feet 👣 distance during 9 days of colors' celebration, till विजयादशमी..
Be silly. Be kind. Be weird.
There is no time for anything else.
