सिंहगड ते विंझर

।। श्री आशापुरी देव्यै नमः ।।

सिंहगड ते विंझर.. एक होता विंचू आणि एक होता नाग

नुकताच भर दिवसा 🌞 🏜️ केलेल्या तोरणा ते राजगड range trek ने उन्हाळ्यात शक्यतो trek टाळावे हे खूप चांगलच शिकवलं होतं.. पण ह्याच trek ने "सिंहगड ते राजगड पण कधीतरी करायला हवा" ह्या इच्छेला 🤨 चिंगारी दिल्यागत झालं.. माहिती गोळा करायला सुरुवात झाली आणि लक्षात आलं की अंतर जरा जास्त आहे, त्यात शेवटचे ८-१० किमी. डांबरी रस्ता.. आता trek करतांना इतकं डांबरी रस्त्यावरून चालायचं हे जरा नवीनच / अजिबच होईल आणि अजून काही करता येईल का? ह्या विचाराला चालना मिळाली..

तर ठरलं असं की trek डांबरी रस्त्यापर्यंतच करायचा.. कोणाला उन्हाचा त्रास नको आणि परतीला पण योग्य अशी 🚙 सोय झाली पाहिजे म्हणून वेळ ठरली रात्रीची 🌃.. but this distance was now a little less for a night trek.. after adding couple of nearby spots, the plan was finalized..

०६ एप्रिल २०१९

धायरी फाट्याला मी, हर्षद आणि सुजीत रात्री 🕙 १० ला सिंहगडचा board असणाऱ्या bus 🚌 मध्ये चढलो.. नांदेड city हून वैभव आणि विजय बसणार होते.. आतकरवाडीला उतरणारे आम्ही फक्त पाच जण होतो.. ११:३० वाजता सिंहगड parking ला पोहोचून थोडी rest घेत पुढे 🥔 potato point la निघालो, अंदाजे २ किमी. अंतरावर असेल.. आणि वाटेत दिसला एक विंचू 🦂.. कदाचित हा आयुष्यातला पहिलाच प्रसंग असावा.. 😇

credits: Vaibhav

ह्या टेकडीला (actually टेकडी हा शब्द मोठा आहे) एका पसरट cone सारखा आकार आणि सगळ्या बाजूने खोल दरी असल्यामुळे वारा भरपूर असतो.. वरती बटाट्याच्या गोल-मटोल आकाराचा साधारण १५ फुटी दगड आहे, ज्याच्यावर एक छानसं शिवलिंग कोरलेलं आहे आणि बाजूला लहानसा नंदी 🐂 पण ठेवलेला आहे.. उन्हाळा असूून वाऱ्यातला गारवा जास्त वाटत होता आणि थोड्या वेळाने आम्ही परत सिंहगडच्या दिशेने वाटचाल केली.. विंचू नंतर आता वाटेत आम्हाला दिसला नाग 🐍..

"सगळंच आज नको, अजून भरपूर trek करायचे आहेत" 😉 म्हणत पुढे पुणे दरवाजाला break घेत, घरून आणलेल्या half dinner 🌯 वर ताव मारून झाल्यावर वेळ होती सिंहगडाच्या wind point ला जायची.. काही public इथे झोपलं 😴 होतं, त्यांना त्रास नको, म्हणून लागलीच u turn घेऊन आम्ही पोहचलो कल्याण दरवाज्याला.. रात्र भरून काढण्यासाठीचे इतर दोन्ही points आता आटोपले होते..

वाजले होते ०२:३० आणि mini break घेऊन आता वेळ होती ridge follow करत final destination विंझरच्या दिशेने वाट शोधायची.. हे काम सुरुवातीला अवघड नव्हतं, ठिकठिकाणी arrows 🎯 बनवलेले आहेत आणि काही ठिकाणी SRT च्या खुणा सुद्धा..

शेवटच्या डोंगराला वळसा घालून डावीकडे उतरायचं होतं.. अरुंद आणि घसरड्या वाटेमुळे हा traverse थोडा अवघड आहे.. डोंगराच्या डावीकडे उतरायला काही रस्ता दिसत नव्हता आणि सरळ जाणारा रस्ता पाबे घाटाला जातो, म्हणून चुकीचा आहे, हे लक्षात आलं होतो.. तरी थोडं पुढे जाऊन बघू असं ठरलं.. हव्या त्या दिशेला असलेल्या एका arrow ⬅️ ने आमची भीती घालवली..

आता बाकी होता तो फक्त descend.. आणि इथला हा प्रकार आजचा सगळ्यात कठीण असलेला प्रकार होता.. फक्त slope, माती आणि अती बारीक दगडी.. support ला ना गवत, झाडी, ना sizeable दगडं.. घसरुन पडायच्या भीतीने अती दक्षता घेत, हळू-हळू खाली उतरुन झाल्यावर शेवटच्या water break साठी थांबलो.. उतरुन झालं होतं पण विंझरला अजून अवकाश होता.. हा शेवटचा patch साधारण २.५ - ३ किमी. असला पाहिजे.. चालायचा कंटाळा येत होता पण अगदी समोरच्या दिशेला राजगड छोट्याचा मोठा होतांना दिसत होता आणि हर क्षणी फक्त एकच विचार मनात येत होता, "plan तर सिंहगड ते राजगड चाच बनवायला पाहिजे होता".. असो, there is always a next time..

दिवस उजाडायला 🌄 आणि आम्ही रस्त्याला पोहोचायला वेळ एकच.. कसलीही वाट न बघता, एका मागे एक गाड्या भेटत गेल्या आणि पहिल्यांदाच रामभरोसे सोडलेलं transport चं option सफल ठरलं.. 🎉

credits: Sujeet

तोरणा ते राजगड

।। श्री आशापुरी देव्यै नमः ।।

the key exchange.. तोरणा ते राजगड

When we trek either of तोरणा / राजगड forts, more often than not, we meet people who are either about to start / end the range trek to / from the other fort.. so was the case during individual treks to तोरणा in October 2018 and to राजगड on Republic Day 2019.. and adding to the fuel was that end-to-end view of this connecting trail from both of its sides, that had then unknowingly made it as next-in-line..

Unaware of any local transport facilities (also did not enquire much) and to save on waiting time, we decided to execute this trek in 2 groups, that would independently start from each of the forts, exchange the car keys halfway and meet on the way back - to exchange cars..

वर्षाच्या पहिल्याच trek ला ओळख झालेल्या वैभवला विचारलं and he instantly agreed.. we individually checked with our usual companions, date was decided, groups were divided and it was time..

09 March 2019

We were to start from वेल्हे after breaking the night long fast (breakfast) 🍳 on the way.. there is now a road constructed for some of initial part, so we had headstart in terms of time as well as altitude.. the other group were to start from पाली and had skipped breakfast after being slightly off-schedule..

Ascending तोरणा in pleasant weather with beautiful view of गुंजवणे dam was an easy stuff.. but we knew, it was only the beginning and good part for today.. after resting a while, while enjoying views of झुंजार माची, we were on the way to other side, towards बुधला माची.. it was hardly 09:30 when we were finding our way to descend the माची and already bathing hot 😥.. after some hide-and-seek, time was to experience the thrill of rockpatch and ladder, had many times heard of before..

Half of this trail (the तोरणा side) hardly features any shadowy trees and the next break we had was under a full grown निवडुंग 🌵, cactus tree / plant (yes, believe it or not).. getting up and walking for another half-n-hour ⏳, Google Maps was now indicating to expect, soon meeting others, but only pathway we saw was of a descending nature.. doubtful if we were on the correct one, we started calling out 🗣️ names and after some attempts, they answered..

तोरणा, credits: Vaibhav

राजगड

Not been able to make enough contacts 📵 in these mountain ranges, we were very much thankful 🙏 to not have missed the crossover.. during the intermission, some group photos 🤳 were clicked, (most importantly) keys 🔑🗝️ were exchanged and after sharing good / bad news about shadow expectations, we resumed the later part..

We were now marching faster than before, before resting one last time on the tar road.. after this there was no exit till राजगड top and happily knowing, everybody was still up for it 🔋, it was time for steep and tiring ascend till the engineering perfection संजीवनी माची.. hardly any water with anybody, only hopes kept us moving were, राजगडला नक्कीच खायला आणि प्यायला भेटेल..

We shared the last bottle of mango juice at अळू दरवाजा.. those hopes (खायला आणि प्यायला भेटायचे) were now fading as we could barely spot any localites.. dead tired by climax, we crawled our way to पद्मावती माची only to learn that cooking is no more allowed on the fort.. and we were left with no choice but to stay thirsty and hungry a little longer.. the lake is said to have potable water, so we filtered it however we could manage..

A much needed rest to recover more from the long, sunny activity at पाली दरवाजा, from where we had no more to ascend, we relaxed 😌 for more than 30 minutes.. spotting some refreshment options while descend, we gulped down as if there was no tomorrow..

That marks the end of what was probably the most tiring trekking experiences.. an important learning towards having sufficient preparations, not expecting any eatables or drinkables on the fort.. oh yeah, cars 🚘 were exchanged at खेड-शिवापूर toll plaza 🚧..

लिंगाणा

।। श्री आशापुरी देव्यै नमः ।।

लिंगाणा.. that extra mile

Ever since started with this trekking fad, always followed an approach of not crossing the lines and try technical side 🧗‍♂️.. but then, had heard about लिंगाणा and (still pending) AMK to such an extent that could not resist the temptation.. so, it was time to break the rules and both of them got cancelled due to extended monsoon 🌧️.. yes, while non-technical treks are favoured in monsoon, these are not.. कोई नई, सालभर थोडे ना होगी बारिश.. 😉

22 December 2019

Let's skip all the 🚐 how to reach? 🎒 what to carry? 🏠 where to stay? ⏲️ when to sleep? part.. In all probability, these details won't help, because you should / will not be trying this on your own, without expert supervision and guidance, as it involves rope techniques (technical trek)..

The excursion started at 03:00 a.m. and only easy normal thing was initial (and so, final) walking part 🚶 of a little more than 2 kms..

Then starts the adventure part of negotiation with steep बोराट्याची नाळ (baby नळीची वाट) followed by tricky traverse, which takes us to base of the pinnacle.. नाळ म्हणजे दगडी दगडं and उजेडात अंधारात चढायची उतरायची म्हणजे "बाप रे".. एक-एक करत, मागच्याला - इथे पाय ठेव, torch दे आणि दोन्ही हाताने पकड, इथून सोप्पं आहे - करत हळू हळू उतरलो.. traverse was relatively / technically easier but handle-with-care types, more on slippery side, to be dealt with self anchor (slung to rope).. all of this was accomplished in pitch dark as clock now read 05:00..

Two leaders, who came a day before to setup all the ropes, had stayed on the top.. by now, one of them had significantly come down to help other leaders from this side (with us).. participants were now harnessed and instructed again before resuming further..

Rock patches 🧗‍♂️ occupy most of the surface of this 1000 ft tall marvel.. and unlike any other mountain, it has a perfect zero traverse.. all the ascend is along the ridge and one needs to carry some eye protection 👓 to avoid free flying soil due to heavy and heavier wind.. unavoidable waiting time for such only-one-at-a-time climbing activities can be monotonous, but we reached the top of highest detention center of the Sahyadris by 08:00..

While enjoying the mesmerizing view of capital रायगड 🚩, was time for a soft surprise.. a few droplets 💧 from the open sky..

Rappelling being fastest descend option, perfected the total return time.. पण इतकी rappelling झाली होती की वर्षभर करायची नाही, असं ठरवलं.. lucky enough to not have had to face any unusual delays due to any unforeseen stuff, we were left with lot of buffer time.. re-doing बोराट्याची नाळ from other side (now was time to ascend) in scorching sunlight 🌞, was dead tiring 😥..

As we reached the flat surface, we detoured to allow ourselves march towards the adjacent Rai-ling plateau to have top-to-bottom, left-to-right visual of लिंगाणा and better understand our achievement earlier today so that we can be reasonably proud of ourselves.. 💪

credits: Sujeet

Please allow me to reiterate.. this escapade is not to be done without experts.. for our group of 15, there were 5 trek leaders..

लिंगाणा.. temptation.. adventure.. thrill.. stamina.. adrenaline.. contentment..