राजगड परिक्रमा

।। श्री आशापुरी देव्यै नमः ।।

a winter trek in April.. राजगड परिक्रमा

राजगड - गडांचा राजा, महाराजांचा गड 🚩.. the first capital of हिंदवी स्वराज्य, for about 25 years, before रायगड took over.. one of the 12 forts, which were not handed-over to मिर्झाराजे जयसिंग, in the Purandar Treaty 📜 of 1665.. it is also said that the head of अफ़झलखान was brought and buried here after he was obliterated at प्रतापगड..  

after booking the trek and joining the group, there were typical guidelines sent by the organizers regarding DOs and DON'Ts.. and, unlike every other time, there were additional (precautionary) measures asked for - to not wear perfumes and 🆘 red colored clothes.. seeking the clarifications, revealed, these attract honey bees 🐝 (रोज काहीतरी नवीन शिकावं) and this route has quite some.. with this, was time to put the black-red T 👕  back in wardrobe and take out the one with Sachin's print, seasonably realizing that tomorrow is going to be 24th sunrise from the month of April..

born in 1973 on this very day, master blaster, desert storm, Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar 🧑‍🦱, today is charged guilty of holding multiple records 🥇 in the world of Cricket.. be it youngest to debut for India, striking most number of 4s, or scoring a century 💯 in first 300+ ODI score for India, he tops many more charts.. in the limited overs International Cricket 🏏, he has scored a record 49 centuries, same as his age today.. youngest to receive the highest civilian honor of India 🇮🇳, he is also the only sportsperson to have served India good enough to be granted भारतरत्न..

One Icon. One Cult. 

One Legend. One Chant. 📣

Sachin. Sachin..

now back to परिक्रमा..

as the time chronicled ⏳, list of participants grew with a few known members, including 1. Brijesh, the pioneer of my सिंहगड streak, 2. Vishal, who had to cancel his own trek due to lack of participants and had joined this one along with 3. Prasad, and needless to mention, 4. (by default) Vaibhav was already in..

24 April 2022

we were to start today in wee hours 🔦 (after midnight, before dawn), what we couldn't do in our earlier outing with this same group to प्रतापगड.. but before that, organizer instructed about trek being in 5 parts, with possible exit 🔚 points, should anybody feel like not continuing any further.. there are no dense trees enroute, so it's planned during the night time 🌌 respectfully contemplating the season and month at exhibition.. and then followed the not-so-good part, 'काही ठिकाणी आपल्याला वाट तोडावी लागणार आहे',  implying, the vegetation will be barging in at few (many) places and we'll have to cut / force them aside in order to pass through.. that's exactly so not the types of matters that I ever fundamentally favored..

१. भुतोंडे खिंड - संजीवनी माची (१.६ कि.मी.)

around 2:30 a.m. 🕝, we started the recording of the trail and marched in unison towards engineering marvel संजीवनी माची via well known route, hiked 4 times before today, once during तोरणा-राजगड and thrice during SRT.. on the way, Prasad was about to grab a stick, realizing just-in-time, it being a baby chameleon 🦎 camouflaged to perfection.. the misty climate was perfect cool, accompanied by intermittent lightening 🌩️ far-off (in the North-East, towards सिंहगड) hinting a possibility of rain anytime soon..

when we reached the base of संजीवनी माची, we did a few things, which I do not approve of, so not mentioning them here.. but, we did recite 📖 the famous शिव स्तोत्र / शिव प्रार्थना / ध्येयमंत्र, which actually is a part of स्मृतिपत्र written to संभाजी महाराज, by none other than समर्थ रामदासस्वामी (known for दासबोध).. and that's worth reciting here again 🔁..

शिवरायांचे आठवावे रूप । शिवरायांचा आठवावा प्रताप । 
शिवरायांचा आठवावा साक्षेप । भूमंडळी ।।१।।
शिवरायांचे कैसें बोलणें । शिवरायांचे कैसें चालणें ।
शिवरायांची सलगी देणे । कैसी असे ।।२।।
सकल सुखांचा केला त्याग । म्हणोनि साधिजें तो योग ।
राज्यसाधनाची लगबग । कैसीं केली ।।३।।
याहुनी करावें विशेष । तरीच म्हणवावें पुरुष ।
या उपरीं आता विशेष । काय लिहावे ।।४।।
शिवरायांसी आठवावें । जीवित तृणवत् मानावें ।
इहलोकी परलोकीं उरावे । कीर्तीरूपें ।।५।।
निश्चयाचा महामेरू । बहुत जनांसी आधारू ।
अखंड स्थितीचा निर्धारु । श्रीमंत योगी ।।६।।

also on YouTube 📽️, https://youtu.be/ZWfRxR1VO5w

२. संजीवनी माची - पद्मावती माची (३.२ कि.मी.)

the next 3 parts were to be executed with precaution, constituting a clockwise circumambulation around the राजगड fort.. they all were mostly about traversing, with fort on the right 👉 and deep valley on the left 👈.. it was 04:00 a.m. 🕓, when we resumed and straight ahead were witnessing bright lightening ⚡, but we hardly had any rain knocking at our doors to spoil the adventure.. scarce raindrops 💧 were all that joined us for the party.. soon we were ascending up 📈 the route from पाली village to पाली दरवाजा, which we were later revealed about doing it wrong 🙅‍♂️.. 

following the Google Maps 🌏 for a while, we ran into a no-road-ahead territory.. in the pitch dark surroundings it was impossible to spot any road at a distance, which can be presumably considered as the navigable option ahead.. few of us then put on their explore-mode-on 🔎 वाला head / hat / eyes and started treasure hunt activity.. meanwhile, we were all enjoying the barely visible तोरणा in midst of black clouds, possibly downpouring.. on the other side was the moon 🌘 now showing up, straight above पद्मावती माची.. 

after a while, it was all clearing up and the white floating clouds were demanding our attention by assembling near संजीवनी माची.. far off in discussion with the explore-mode-on people, one of the villagers suggested to march down the ridge where the person with red t-shirt was standing (beside me, he was Prasad) and then traverse to the right side.. perplexed, we dared.. yes, that's a repeat from earlier post, but fits perfectly well here too.. one of the lady 👩 slid down about 15-20 feet, fortunately not ending-up in anything major.. after her rescue, we started towards the end of the second part, close to चोर दरवाजा..

you know it only if you know it, otherwise you don't know it.. that's what I told Brijesh about चोर दरवाजा.. in other words, knowing and learning are just as different as hearing and listening are.. generally, चोर दरवाजा cannot be found very easily on any fort.. so, you can only know about चोर दरवाजा,  if you seek to learn about it..  but the case is slightly different for राजगड.. in recent years, the route from गुंजवणे village via चोर दरवाजा has become so popular that today it's as equally travelled as राजमार्ग, the traditional one..

३. पद्मावती माची - सुवेळा माची (२.६ कि.मी.)

it was 06:30 a.m. 🕡 now.. could have been much better / earlier.. that lady (who slid) and another fellow (for reasons not known) had dropped-out.. the traverse on this side was less riskier, but denser than the earlier side.. we descended 📉 down a bit on the route from गुंजवणे दरवाजा and in no time, were back towards सुवेळा माची..

this and the next one (3rd and 4th) were the parts we were warned about - do not wear perfumes or red.. we had to carefully negotiate, not loud or crowded enough to attract the honeybees 🐝.. having entered their territory, more than half-a-dozen pretty bulky beehives were mocking at us.. in our favor, nothing mis-happened, including also the next part..

beehives

नेढं

नेढं was now clearly visible, having traversed more than half of this side.. with still no Sun ☁️ in the vicinity at 08:30 a.m. 🕣, when we reached the base of सुवेळा माची, we were unexpectedly welcomed by fog as if it was winter.. the clouds were free-flowing not very far above us and the contentment level was at its peak.. #CannotAskForMore

winter, as if

४. सुवेळा माची - संजीवनी माची (४.२ कि.मी.)

this bastion is damaged, which we guessed to have caused due to cannon shots, possibly by British, who are notoriously known to have demolished most of the forts in western ghats..

सुवेळा माची, damaged

after relishing the carried breakfast 🥕 🍉 🍇, we resumed at 09:00 a.m. 🕘 towards संजीवनी माची.. you read above about 'काही ठिकाणी आपल्याला वाट तोडावी लागणार आहे', this was the time 😞.. whatever happened till here was still easy.. next, we were to navigate through the vegetation, and at times, also had deep valley to our left 😨.. one lose step was all that was needed, which we had to care against, at every step..

चिलखती बुरुज, नेढं, सुवेळा माची

enjoying the last time, the view of बालेकिल्ला from here was well accompanied by काळेश्वरी बुरुज, डुबा, नेढं and obviously what we left behind, सुवेळा माची.. but, every next 10 mins, we were repeatedly getting the feeling of navigating through the same place 🥴, what we call in मराठी as 'चकवा'.. it was that monotonous to manage कारवी now.. only place that would have made us happy then was getting to the known territory of walking towards संजीवनी माची from अळू दरवाजा.. having reached there, i.e., having overcome the worst parts of the day, we sighed in relief 😌..

at about 11:30 a.m., we completed the circuit around राजगड fort, as we got back to the base of संजीवनी माची.. only pending part was now to get to the bus..

५. संजीवनी माची - भुतोंडे खिंड (१.६ कि.मी.)

waiting for the remaining members to join us, we ate, shared, group snapped 📷, sang for almost an hour including सलाम-ए-इश्क and मेरी भीगी-भीगी सी to होटों से छूलो तुम and जय जय महाराष्ट्र माझा 🎙️.. with डफलीवाले खेडकर काका joining us, this was an unavoidable affair..

at 12:30 p.m., along with the last person, that just arrived, as fast as we could, we descended down towards भुतोंडे खिंड and reached the starting point of the activity exactly 10:30 hours after we had started, as the time was now ticking 01:00 p.m. 🕐.. here we learnt about Nikhil's injury, that was more than ignorable.. hoping him quicker recovery 🤞..

any weather, different than what we experienced today, would have made us toil beyond exhaustive limits 😥.. we are truly grateful to mother nature for that.. on the other side - elevation gain, pleasant views, being peace with nature, is what fascinates me.. and definitely, I ever signed-up for this "वाट तोडावी लागेल" thing..

so, decide what kind of life you really want.. and then say no to everything that is not that..

प्रतापगड

।। श्री आशापुरी देव्यै नमः ।।

पुरणपोळी special.. प्रतापगड

प्रतापगड is accessible by road, right?.. yes.. so, you are now wondering, 'what is this article about?'.. let's explore.. together..

a few years ago, I too was equally surprised 😮 to learn about 'जोर - Arthur Seat' trek via Vinayak's status, when WhatsApp had just introduced 'status' as a feature.. but once anybody starts to get fascinated by the hiking fraternity, it's only a matter of time that activities, even of the magnitude of SRT start to come along as a normal routine.. automatically, we get to learn about various forts, discover different routes 👣 (including घाटवाटा), and then, one day, get acquainted with yet another hiking possibility to सिंहगड fort, from मोरदरी village, on top of at least 6 others already locomoted.. and once we gain know-how about these terrains, it's again, only a matter of time ⏱️ (can vary from 2-3 days to multiple years) that they migrate themselves from TODO 📝 to the list of DONEs ✅.. one such entry was प्रतापगड..

an year ago, we were in this same region, on our way from-to आंबीवली - चकदेव - शिंडी - महिमंडणगड - शिंडी - stay - वळवण - पर्वत - कांदाट - कांदोशी, one of the memorable 😇 and super-duper 👌 (range) trek (read a detailed post here).. while executing that, there were some discussions around a possible option of hiking प्रतापगड from this side.. and, that was the moment, when this article was destined 🤞..

few days ago, STF announced 📣 their tentative schedule for the next couple of weeks, and it took us no time 🤷 to decide what we will be doing during the weekend of 9-10 April.. when bookings started, they were for an event spanned over the entire weekend.. if travelling this far (from पुणे), indeed it needs to be a multiple day event, as I sometimes emphasize in my articles, RoI is an important factor in anything and everything we execute.. but some unwitting factors popping-up had the schedule reduced to a single Earth rotation on its axis 🌏 (दो का एक).. what was supposed to be the first was still the first ☝️ (and only) day but on a different day of the week(end) and what was supposed to be the second day, could not slide itself out of the TODOs, मधू-मकरंदगड.. इतक्या लांब जाऊन फक्त एकच दिवस सह्याद्रीच्या कुशीत घालवायचा म्हणजे चोत्तो हिरमोड तर व्हायचाच होता 😟.. कोई नई, I also keep repeating 🪃 this in my articles, "there is always a next time" 🙃..

10 April 2022

on the eve of the d-day, we started our overnight journey from पुणे to the starting point of this range trek, कुडपण बुद्रुक village, about 27 kms from पोलादपूर, via वरंधा घाट.. when we alighted at पोलादपूर (~50m above MSL) for a tea-break, it was disappointingly कोकण hot, considering the timekeeper was pointing just around 4 🕓.. instant worrisome thought lingered 'आत्ताच इतकं उकडतंय तर सकाळ झाल्यावर भाजूनच निघू'.. marching ahead, we were thankfully 🙏 now driving to a higher elevation.. Google Maps absconded today, as we failed to spot a motorable घाट road on the verge of परसुळे ZP school (GMaps location).. fortunately, an oldie came to our rescue signaling us to reverse a kilometer and left (GMaps location), where Google Maps actually shows a dead end after a while towards South ⬇️.. perplexed 😳, we dared, only to be relieved 🤗 after spotting a milestone "कुडपण बु. ५" in some time.. and soon, we were driving on an unmapped road, giving us momentarily a proud feeling 🤘 of knowing more than Google.. 

today's confusions, (out)sourced by Google Maps meant the preparations towards starting our activity of gaining elevation by feet during wee hours 🔦 were all beaten hard and we were set to suffer soon in the scorching heat ☀️.. when the bus was parked, it was the end of first प्रहर of the day 🕕.. after toast-with-morning-tea ☕ break coupled with instructions, we could only start the recording of the trail at 07:30 a.m. 🕢 from about ~620m above MSL..

pineapple in pink

भिवाची काठी - a mini कलावंतीण or लिंगाणा.. a standalone pinnacle rising above the adjacent valley with महिपतगड range in the background, approximately half a km from the starting point in the opposite direction of today's destination, प्रतापगड..

भिवाची काठी

back to the starting point, we were soon doing a k2s kind of thing, ascending the first hill before continuing on to relatively gradual terrain.. the first halt was duly accompanied by forest delicacies, रान-मेवा 🤤, in the forms of अंबोली and तोरणं..  in the South-East ↘️ was मधू-मकरंदगड, closest for today, as route to our destination was North-East ↗️ from here.. things went slightly south ☹️ (mood wise) when we saw the biggest spoiler of any hiking activity in front of us - a tar road.. everybody was like, 'what?.. 🥺 there is nothing here that needs a transport facility.. then, why ruin our pursuit of happyness?'..

मधू-मकरंदगड in faint shades, left-center

and now the guide goofed-up.. following the tar road, we had detoured by more-than-enough margins from the clearly marked trail on the AllTrails app, which was supposed to go along the ridge of this range, straight to प्रतापगड.. continuing on the same (detoured) we were exploring the possibilities to turn right 👉 and get back on the track.. at some distance, we spotted a hut 🛖, where another oldie agreed to join us and help navigate to the ridge.. but, by then, more than half of us were already penetrating through the woods 🎋 on their way towards the ridge.. parted in 2 groups, we were now separately marching towards a common destination, creating a lot of chaos, that was absolutely not necessary 😬..

when we reached the end of this hill, we had the first larger-than-life view of प्रतापगड, depicting its amazing frame from this side, much bigger than observed from the opposite side, experienced twice ✌️ before today by tar road, once in 2005 and then in 2007.. soon we were all back together, and had started filing in concert along the paved path, without any more, even remotest possibilities of losing hold of the track..

प्रतापगड

the clock was now reading 11 🕚 and everybody had started wondering about the purpose behind the 'things to carry' bullet 'packed breakfast'.. spotting a tree, big enough to throw away shadow for at least two of us, me and Vaibhav decided to not go any further, before we finish off whatever we were carrying under that bullet - पराठे, apple 🍎, खाकरा.. 

at 12:30, we reached the smaller रामवरदायिनी temple.. from here, there was an option to divert to the bigger रामवरदायिनी temple at the base village.. while most of us continued to the fort, few of us also decided to call it a day 🛑.. as they shared their water bottles with us, we were on our way towards the remainder of the plan.. in no time, we were fortunate enough to spot a chameleon, posing only to be snapped by us..

credits: वैभव

we are all aware that अफजलखान was assassinated at प्रतापगड.. this fort even has his tomb ⚰️ at its South-East end.. our initial plan was to descend to पार village from there.. but then the localites told us that the area is restricted 🚷 and nobody is allowed to trespass that.. so, after exploring the main areas on the fort, we were on our way back to the base via the same route, we used to reach till here, where we already had spotted a diversion 👈 that we were sure, would take us to the arranged transport 🚌 back to पुणे, 18.6 kms 👣 feet distance away from the morning's starting point..

रामनवमी निमित्त पार गावातल्या रामवरदायिनी मंदिरात 🛕 आज महाप्रसाद होता आणि menu मध्ये होत्या पुरण-पोळी म्हणजे I should not have spoiled it any further by extending this article by even a single word.. but on our way back we went to acknowledge the architectural skills from 350 years ago, a शिवकालीन दगडी पूल 🌉 on कोयना river, that is still intact, and will be standing strong for ages to come..

शिवकालीन दगडी पूल

मोहनगड आणि कावळ्या

।। श्री आशापुरी देव्यै नमः ।।

this won't take long, श्रद्धा vs छंद.. मोहनगड आणि (adhoc) कावळ्या

तसं बघायला गेलं तर ह्या article मध्ये लिहिण्यासाठी ✍️ काही असणार नव्हतं.. plan होता - मोहनगड (only).. internet 🌐 हून मिळालेल्या माहितीनुसार, "गड अवघड नाही (endurance as well as technical)", हे लक्षात आलं होतं 😀.. पण मग trek मध्ये अविस्मरणीय काही घडलं नाही, तर मग त्याला ToDo मधून बाद कसं करणार? म्हणून हे article..

ह्याची सुरुवात होते काही आठवड्यांपूर्वी, जेव्हा कानडे सरांच्या statusला इथला photo बघितला.. as a result, उत्सुकता 🤠 तर वाढलीच, आणि राहुलने काही दिवसांपूर्वी suggestही केला.. 'small world' किंवा 'coincidence' म्हणतात, ते हेच.. त्याचा free slot बघत weekend ठरला एप्रिल 🍉 महिन्यातील पहिला आणि शनिवारी 'आम्रखंड 🥭 special' गुडीपाडवा असल्याने दिवस ठरला रविवार.. पावसाळा ⛈️ संपून हिवाळाही 🧥 संपला असून, वरंधा घाट दुरुस्त झाल्याचही त्याने सांगितलं.. and lastly, वैभवच्या "ऊन खूप आहे, लवकर निघायचं का?" ह्या प्रामाणिक मताला योग्य प्रतिसाद देत plan तयार झाला.. सोबतीला अजून होते सुयोग आणि Explorers Groupचा one of the trek leads, परमेश्वर (ह्यापुढे परम).. (त्यांचा) सांधण cancel 🚫 झाल्यामुळे he was last minute entry - to this article 📄..

०३ एप्रिल २०२२

५ वाजता 🕔 घरून निघून, in no time we were on the highway 🛣️, heading South ⬇️.. दोन जण चहा प्यायला बसले आहेत बघून, भोरच्या पुढे हिर्दोशीला आम्ही सुद्धा आमची गाडी 🚗 थांबवली.. पोहे-भजी-चहा झाल्यावर (बनवून आणि खाऊन) नीरा-देवघर धरणाला राहीलेला वळसा घालत आम्ही त्याच्या उत्तरेकडून पश्चिमेकडे आलो होतो.. पौर्णिमेच्या पहाटे खडकवासलात चंद्राचं 🌕 विलोभनीय प्रतिबिंब दिसतं, अगदी शेम-टू-शेम (same-to-same) आज इथे सुर्योदय 🌞 अनुभवायला मिळाला..

शिरगाव - 🕗 ८ वाजता मंदिराबाहेर मोकळ्या पटांगणात गाडी लावून "किल्ले मोहनगड ➡️" board (GMaps location) ने सांगितल्याप्रमाणे आम्ही गड चढायला सुरुवात केली.. सिंहगड सारखंच इथेही ठरवलं तरी कोणी चुकू शकत नाही, वाट इतकी मळलेली आहे.. थोड्या वेळाने तोरणा दिसायला लागला आणि अजून थोडं वरून राजगड 😍.. तरी, 'गेल्यावर article लिहू' असा विचार अजून केला नव्हता - everything was just normal till here.. but then, was time for a twist 🙄, श्रद्धा vs छंद..

गडमाथ्याच्या सुरुवातीला traverse अगोदर दुर्गाडीहून येणारी वाट इकडच्या / शिरगावहून येणाऱ्या वाटेला मिळते.. junctionला एक ठाणं आहे, जिथे २ आजी 👵 पूजा करत होत्या आणि वर जायला निघतच होत्या.. आम्हाला बघताच त्यांनी सांगितलं (multiple times), "चपला इथेच काढून पुढे जा, काळजी करू नका - कोणी नेणार नाही".. त्यांनी even ४-५ spotsही सांगितले.. इतकी श्रद्धा बघून आम्हाला काही shoes 🥾 न काढता तिथून पुढे जायची इच्छा होईना.. पण अजून साधारण ८० मी. elevation 📈 बाकी होता आणि आम्ही सापडलो होतो धर्मसंकटात 😕.. shoes is the trekker's first shield 🛡️.. then follows, full pants, full sleeves, cap 🧢 etc in descending order of usefulness..

दुर्गाडीच्या वाटेहून येणाऱ्या २ जणांच्या पायांकडे आम्ही खूप आशा लाऊन बघितलं.. but, no luck 🙁.. आजींसारखे ते सुद्धा अनवाणी 👣 होते.. परम even said, treks delay ⏳ होतात पण ह्यावेळेस कारण नवीन / वेगळच आहे.. photo 📷 काढण्यात मग्न वैभव अजून यायचा होता.. त्याच्यासाठी थांबून, आम्ही सगळे सोबत पुढे निघालो, shoes on.. तेवढ्यात आजी बऱ्याच पुढे निघून गेल्या होत्या.. एक तर वरच्या मंदिरात पोहचल्या सुध्दा होत्या.. वैभव आणि गोंडस दिसणाऱ्या सुयोगला ढाल 🔰 बनवून आम्ही आजी पासून 'keep safe distance' approach घेत पुढे सरकत होतो 🐢.. शेवटी धाडस करून वैभवने आजीला overtake केलं.. थकलेल्या आजींकडून काही objectional response नाही आहे 🙃, हे बघत आम्ही पण पुढे निघालो..

मंदिरात काही localitesशी गप्पा झाल्या.. एक काका तरी म्हटलेच, "बुट नाही घालून यायचे इथे".. दुसऱ्या काकांचा "त्यांना कसं माहिती असेल" reply ऐकत आमचा confidence अचानक वाढला 🤗 - चला, कोणीतरी local आपल्या sideहून आहे (that's secret to every success story).. म्हणजे, श्रद्धा vs छंद, ह्यात कोणाचाच पराभव झाला नव्हता 🙋..

अजून थोडं वर (top) पोहचत mesmerizing सह्याद्रीला once more निहाळत (काय जे आणि जेव्हढे दिसत होते), अलौकिक दृश्य mobile आणि मनात साठवून परतीला निघालो.. ह्या आठवणींमध्ये समावेश होता / आहे - W point, रायरेश्वर, नाखिंद, कोळेश्वर, महाबळेश्वर, गाढवाचा माळ, Arthur Seat, मधू-मकरंदगड, प्रतापगड, मंगळगड, कावळ्या, रायगड, राजगड, तोरणा आणि बरेच काही ज्यांची नावे आम्हाला माहितीही नाही.. एखादा कोकणदिवाही असेल, एखादा लिंगाणा आणि एखादा रायलिंगही.. आपण थोडे कमी pollution केले असते, तर सिंहगडही.. असो, सुयोगने एका pointला even 'potato point' नावही दिले 😁..

W Point आणि बरंच काही

side note - नाखिंद म्हणजे protruding part of a mountain.. म्हणजे जिथे डोंगराचा थोडासा part नाकासारखा 👃 बाहेर येऊ बघतो, त्याला नाखिंद असं म्हणतात.. इथल्या नाखिंदला नेढंही आहे, पण स्वप्नीलने अजून दिलेल्या माहितीनुसार, ते सगळ्याच नाखिंदला असतं, असं नाही..

नाखिंद with a नेढं, credits: राहुल

well ahead of schedule असल्याने plan मध्ये कावळ्या add करण्यात आला.. कारण तेवढ्यासाठी आपण इतक्या लांब येणार नाही, आणि जोडीने करायला परत मोहनगडच आहे, म्हणून तोही plan लवकर होणार नाही, हे लक्षात घेत लवकर उतरून लागलीच कावळ्या गडाकडे निघू, असं ठरलं..

उतरतांना परत 'मंदिर cross करतांना shoes काढायचे का?' तर, 'झटपट कोणाकडे लक्ष न देता निघून जाऊ' म्हणत एका आजोबांनी "दर्शन घेतलं का?" च्या प्रश्नाला न थांबता / मागे न बघता "हो" उत्तर देत आम्ही निघालो.. थोडं diversion घेऊन पाण्याची टाके बघायला गेलो.. तिथे,
परम: सगळ्यांचे Action आहेत.. trekking साठी perfect shoes..
सुशिल: माझे CTR aahet..
सुयोग: काही अपवाद 🍀 असतात..
सुशिल: trekking साठी CTRच वापरायचे असतात.. अपवाद तुम्ही चौघे आहात..
राहुल: trekking साठी Salomon perfect आहेत..
वैभव: shoes कुठलेही असो, इथे काढावे लागतात.. 👻
म्हणजे, हा विषय इतका मनात बसला होता की can't explain it here.. तो फक्त, तुम्ही बरोबर असते तरंच तुमच्या लक्षात आला असता..

खाली मंदिरात पोहचलो तेव्हा सकाळची मांजर 😿 छपराहून खाली उतरली होती आणि आम्हाला बघून क्यांव-क्यांव करत होती.. अहो, उपाशी असल्यावर सगळ्यांचेच स्वर बदलतात.. वैभवने द्राक्ष 🍇 काढायच्या आत, राहुलने तिला biscuit 🍪 दिले.. अशी तुटून पडली की विचारू नका.. दुसरं अर्ध संपवून परत पाण्यासाठी क्यांव-क्यांव.. पोटभर पाणी पिऊन, आराम करायला बसली, पण द्राक्ष चाखला सुद्धा नाही..

पुढे अर्ध्या तासात आम्ही पुणे-रायगड जिल्हा border वर होतो.. ridge धरून internationalच नाही तर इतर bordersही आहेत, ह्याचं उदाहरण.. वरंधा घाटात ह्या खिंडीच्या / ह्या u-turn पलीकडे आहे रायगड जिल्हा आणि अलीकडे आपला पुणे जिल्हा.. इथे ही board होता - कावळा गड.. आणि समोर दिसत होत्या ८-१० पायऱ्या.. मागच्या वर्षी भैरवगड-रतनगड करतांना बघितले होते कोंबडा 🐓, अस्वल 🐻 आणि गाढव 🐴.. आणि आज वेळ होती कावळ्याची 🐦.. कोणाच्या नावाने गडांची नावं ठेवतील, ह्याचा काही नेम नाही ! 🤔

district border - पुणे (left), रायगड (right)
credits: सुयोग

"४० मिनीटात पोहचाल तुम्ही".. back-to-base आलेले ३ जण भेटले, हे त्यांचे estimate.. १२:१५ वाजता आम्ही झेंड्याखाली 🚩 होतो, exactly as they estimated.. म्हणजे एकाने estimate करून दुसऱ्याने execute करायचे, हे पराक्रम फक्त आमच्या क्षेत्रातच नसतात तर 😜.. गड खूप मोठाही नाही, आणि ह्या बाजूने काहीच उंच नाही.. घाटातून जो गडाच्या उत्तरेकडे नाव्हीण सुळका दिसतो, त्याचे दर्शन 🧐 शेजारी असून इथून होत नाही.. एक पायवाट जात होती त्या दिशेने, पण जास्त मळलेली नसल्याने आम्ही परत ↩️ माघारी आलो.. राजगड, तोरणाला सकाळपेक्षा जवळून बघून समाधानी होतो.. viewला अजून होता घाट रस्त्याचा steep drop (steeper than usual घाटs), जो सप्तशृंगी गडाची आठवण करून देत होता..

कोकण side of वरंधा घाट

border हून परत आपल्या जिल्ह्यात शिरत आम्ही वाघजाई मंदिराजवळ लिंबू-सरबत साठी (GMaps location), नांदगाव जवळ नीरा साठी (GMaps location) आणि भोरला जेवायला थांबलो.. खेड-शिवापूर toll plazaला usually असलेली भयाण गर्दी अजीबात नाही, हे बघत सगळ्यांचे अभिनंदन 🤝 करत १२ तासांनी, exact ५ वाजता घरी पोहचलो..

as said, this won't take long - so, winding up in short.. पण shoes वाला किस्सा, is another one for a lifetime 😇..