Treks in Himalayas and Western Ghats

Sahyankan : December 2024

 

The Angthesari climb -   a relentless, never ending,  excruciating climb is what I can say.

Another tough day lay ahead of us. We started our day early as it was going to be a long day. The initial climb was through the forest and firm soil, but it was not easy. Soon we realized that we had some tough terrain to negotiate. Also, the terrain kept to changing. Sometimes loose rocks and gravel, then boulders, then again dry grass and then through thickets and overgrown grasses

For more see Chakdev-Parvat-Ghonuspur

Mayali Pass : September 2023 

 

The initial walk on the snowfield was on the hard ice and since there are hardly any crevices, it was safe to walk on the glacier.  The snowfield slowly climbs up and after a while we could the see the rocky pass. It was another three quarters of an hour or possibly even an hour to climb up to the pass after negotiating some slippery sections. We had climbed up steadily and had taken up around four and a half hours to reach the rocky pass.  

 

For more see Mayali Pass  

Pin Bhabha Pass - Aug 2022

The first hour was a straightforward walk in the meadows which lead to a small climb in the pine forests. The wild flowers in the meadows were deep yellow and purple color and were blooming all around. We climbed through the forest which was again on a well marked trail and then negotiated some small, scattered boulders to reach the river bank for the river crossing. We were expecting the crossing to be tough and challenging, but to our surprise, the river crossing turned out to be very smooth. So the first hurdle of the day was negotiated without any trouble. 

 

For more see Pin Bhabha Pass

 

Shang La and Matho La - Sep 2019 
The top was very windy and it was cooler than what I was expecting. After spending some time at the pass, it was now time to descent on the other side. Typically, the descent from the pass is also sometime tricky and requires caution. We were all very cautious as we carefully negotiated the trail climbing down the pass. After a while, we got down near a small meadow alongside a fast flowing river. The campsite was another couple of hours walk from here

For more see Shang La and Matho La
 
Lambri Pass Trek - Feb 2018

We climbed up to  “Nochi Top” and then there was a very steep descent to be negoitiated. Ved was contemplating whether we should use fix a rope here to get down. But there was enough soft snow along the slope and the chances of slipping were less. So we decided to descend without any rope.  The descent was around 200 to 300 mts and we took quite some to go down. The snow was ankle deep mostly, however at some places it was knee deep. We were very watchful and with the help of our great support staff we didn’t have much trouble negotiating the descent.

For more see Lambri Pass Trek

Tadiyendamol Trek - October 2017 (Western Ghats)

The group was divided into multiple sub-groups. One sub-group was ahead of me and one was behind. I was the only one in my group and enjoying my solitary walk in the downpour which had now become very heavy. There was the occasional thunder in between and I was taking each step very carefully with a feeling of great contentment. 

For more see Tadiyendamol Trek

Sara Umga and Animal Pass - September 2016

One mistake, one small slip and down you fall on the glacier bed. We were making slow progress but it was alright because we were being very cautious with each step. The altitude was not that much of a problem, but the daunting terrain was. At one point I was just left hanging on the climb. I was on all fours and completely sprawled on the sheer rock face. It was only when Ved came and gave his hand, that I started to climb again. Finally we managed to make it to the top of the climb. We were all happy and were celebrating as though we had reached the top of the actual pass, when in fact we hadn't even covered 20% of the climb. There was much to be negotiated, to be climbed and crawled that was ahead of us. They say that in the mountains things always are further than they appear and sometimes much harder than they look. That could not be far from true today.

For more see Sara Umga and Animal Pass

 

Manali Leh Cycling - June 2015

Today was going to be another tough. The initial stretch of around 20 odd kms was on a rolling terrain amidst beautiful surroundings till we reached base of the Gaata loops. Gaata loops is a set of 21 hairpin bends and some say it is the Alpe d'Huez of the Manali-Leh route. The climb to the top is around 11kms. The traffic on this route was really bad and the road too was in a bad state. Soon I reached the place where you offer a water bottle to the “Ghost of Gaata Loops”. The climb did not seem very daunting and we reached the top in little more than an hour. But the job was half done. We had another pass called the NakeeLa, to climb. The altitude was killing and we were all tiring too as it took more than 2 hours to climb the of 8kms to the pass. I had to take a break every half a km.

For more see Manali Leh Cycling

 

Dhumdhar Kandi Pass - June 2014

I kept talking to myself, counting each step and taking rest after every 10-15 steps. I was marching quite confidently behind the guide and then when he shouted at me “Aram se ayiye, nahi to vahi chale jaoge jaha se aaye the” ( walk carefully otherwise, you would directly go to where you came from down below). I started to be more careful after those words but I still slowly followed him. All of us were on the pass after a while. Balawant told us that there might be ice cornices around the rocky edges and asked us to come very carefully till the end of the ridge.

For more see The Dhumdhar Kandi Pass

 

The Chadar Trek - Jan-Feb 2011

As they say “Man proposes God disposes”. After walking for a while we saw a group of villagers were sitting together and were having their lunch. We came to know that the Chadar was completely broken further and the water was quite deep, for the next 200 meters or so. There was no way, this section could be crossed. There were sheer rock walls on both sides and no route over the mountains as well. The only thing we could do was to wait and pray for the river to freeze.

For more see the The Chadar Trek

Roopkund and Ronti Saddle - June 2009

We started for the climb towards Ronti saddle. The climb to Ronti saddle was initially all on boulders. We realised very quickly that we were now walking at more than 16000 feet as we could feel the lack of oxygen. It was a tough climb negotiating the boulders and after a while we could see what we thought was the Ronti saddle. It looked so close yet appeared so far.

For more see the Roopkund and Ronti Saddle Trek

Dodital and Darwa Top - December 2008

The year 2008 has be a fantastic trekking year for us. We had done three different treks in almost different regions of the Indian Himalayas.

This is a trip report for the last of the three treks - the Dodital and Darwa Top Winter trek which started around Christmas time

For more see the Dodital and Darwa Top Trek

Mt Yunum - July 2008

We were on the South-East face of the mountain. We were making slow progress and enjoying the surroundings (whatever we could see using our head torches). There were some patches of snow, but most of the way was on boulders and scree.

I was feeling very confident and was walking at a good pace, but the altitude was killing. With every few steps one deep breath-resting step was necessary.

For more see Climbing Mt. Yunum

Tunganath-chopta - Feb 2008

As we started from Chopta, the snow became 2-3 feet deep. There is a clear trail from Chopta to Tunganath, however this time we couldn't spot any trail as it was all buried under snow. The climb was not very tough, just that the snow made it appear so. We were not wearing any gaiters and a lot of snow had entered my boots. This was quite irritating.

For more see Tunganath Chopta Trek

Kalindi Khal Trek -August- 2007

We were all woken up by a thunderous sound last night at about 2 AM. Actually nobody was sleeping. We just couldn’t sleep what with those avalanche sounds. Sandeep rushed out of the tent without putting any warm clothes. The sound had been so scary and so was the avalanche. The naughty Avalanche peak had been at it again. This was one of the biggest avalanches we had seen in the day and we had seen more than twenty five.

For more see Kalindi Khal Trek

Bara Bhangal Trek - October 2006

“This is some serious climbing”, panted Sandeep, as we huffed and puffed our way towards the pass. I could barely make out what he said. The trail was through the glacial moraine of the Kaliheni glacier. The gradient and the altitude, both were now taking their toll.

So here we were, on the trail, climbing towards the Kaliheni pass, finally after all those weeks of preparations.

For more see Bara Bhangal Trek

Kuari Pass Trek - October 2005

The views of the Himalayas from Taali are quite amazing. The view is around 120 degrees and on a clear day the peaks of Dronagiri, Trishul, Changabang, Hathi Parbat, Rishikot and the majestic Nanda Devi are clearly visible. When we reached, the entire view was clouded in a dense fog, but after a while as the weather cleared and the fog lifted, we saw the view, which will be etched, into our minds for a long time to come.

For more see Kuari Pass Trek

Chakdev-Parvat-Ghonuspur

 

In the memory of our dearest friend Sudhindra

“Mountains are silent masters and make silent students”

When Sandeep and I were discussing about our winter break plans, we were thinking about doing a low altitude winter trek in the Himalayas. Just about that time, we realized that our friends Sudeep and Brijesh had been talking about “Sahyankan” – a multi-day hike in the Sahyadris, which they had been asking us to do since quite some time. So, we decided to do the Sahyankan this year.  Sahyankan is organized by a group from Mulund called “Chakram Hikers”. They have been organizing these treks in the Sahyadris once every two years and they have been doing this since all the way from 1983. We booked ourselves in the first batch for Sahyankan 2024.

 

We started from Bangalore to Mumbai; we had packed very sparsely, knowing that we would have to carry our own luggage throughout.  The journey from Bangalore to Mumbai was uneventful, if you leave out the facts that we had to explain why we were carrying walking poles and had to get them packed separately from our luggage in a special wrap. This took quite some time, but we were early at the airport and the flight was delayed.  Finally, we reached the Chakram Hikers office in Mulund in the evening, only to find the office locked. We called up Kiran Deshmukh (Kiran Dada), one of the core members of Chakram Hikers and he happily accommodated us in his house close to the Chakram Hikers office. At Kiran Dada’s house and having conversed with him, we immediately realized that were were going to be in professional hands. This is here we met other trek members who had come in early – Brijesh, Zubin and Ashwin. We headed out to do last minute shopping and also to have our dinner before boarding the bus to the start point of the trek.

 

Most of the trekkers assembled near the Chakram Hikers office in Mulund (some were joining directly at the start) and our journey by bus towards Ambevali, the start of the trek, started at sharp 8.30pm. There were other members of the “Chakram Hikers” team who had come to see us off, and it felt very special as they wished us luck for the trek. The journey to Ambevali in the small bus, was supposed to take us around 6-7 hours and all of us were trying to get some sleep on the way.  Finally,  after a couple of tea and vada pav breaks, we reached Ambevali early morning at 3.30am.  I took out my sleeping bag and immediately tried to grab the few hours of the entitled sleep on the Ambevali Government School compound.

 

After a short nap - we had a nice sleep deprived breakfast of chaai and poha and got ready for the day. We had a quick round of introductions, everyone was sleepy and I don’t think folks remembered names really, but I knew that over the course of the next few days, we were going to bond and become good friends. That’s how we started day. Although, I did realize that most of the team members were experienced trekkers who have done many treks in Sahyadris. For me, it was my debut trek in Sahyadris (after about 20 years of experience in the Himalayas 🙂)

Forest walk and relentless climb to the plateau of Chakdev and finally the descent to Met Shindi was on the plate for today. The initial walk was through a village and then via dense deciduous forest of sal and teak.

It was a gradual climb through the forest, and we then a small descent before the actual climb to Chakdev started. There was no tree cover now and we were climbing in exposed sun. After a while, we could see the flag on the top of the mountain where we had to reach. However, there were some tricky patches to be crossed before that. 

 

After negotiating few steep rocky areas, we reached a point where fixed ladders needed to be used to cross the rocky patches. There were a series of ladders which were fixed at a steep angle and we had to cross them one by one. This took some time as only one person could use the ladder at a time. During one such climb, I tried to look at the  surroundings while being midway on the ladder, the views were amazing and as I looked down, it was equally scary, so I decided to just focus on my climb.  

 Finally all of us finished the climb. We were still some distance away from the temple, but decided to have a “Kokam sarbat break” here , before starting for the for Chakdev temple.

The temple atop Chakdev is called the “Chaukeshwar Mahadev” temple and is one of the revered sapt-shivalaya temples in the Sahyadri range. Our trek leader informed us that now we had crossed over from the Konkan region and were now in the Satara district.

After visiting the temple, we had a very delicious lunch at a house in the village near Chakdev. After lunch, most of us had a good siesta here before the trek leader blew his whistle and asked everyone to get ready for the descent to Met Shindi camp – which was to be our home for tonight.  The descent was on a very well marked trail and as we reached the camp by around 4 pm, we were welcomed by the camp leaders.

The camp at Met Shindi was very neatly organized and had properly marked areas around dos and don'ts.

This was to be the pattern on all the camps during the trek. After the briefing at the camp, we had a quick round of hot tea and started for Mahimandangadh fort to be there for a view of the sunset.

It was a steady climb of 30min to the top of Mahimandangadh. We had a quick snack and went to nearby hills to get the views of Raghuveer ghat. We decided not to wait for the sunset as it gets pretty dark very soon and it was not advisable to trek here in the dark due to the presence of gaurs and sloth bears.

We could see the Koyna backwaters as well as the whole core area of the Koyna Tiger Sanctuary from stop here.

The rest of the evening was a festive environment in and around the camp. It was a tough first day and everyone was in good mood as we settled into our tents and called it a night.

The next day dawned and we were all up before the wakeup call. Today, we had to climb up to “Parvat”, which is another of the Sapt-Shivalayas. After having a hearty breakfast, at a house in the Shindi village, we started for Parvat. 

The initial terrain was through dried grasslands when we encountered a small climb We were making good progress on this climb as a group and were taking breaks as required to refuel ourselves. 

 The way was well marked and with every climb across the ridge that we were traversing, it was opening up to astonishing views of the surroundings. Today we were carrying our sack and packed lunch.

After climbing through a thick patch of jungle with sounds of different birds, some avid bird watchers amongst us, tried to look for the elusive wingers. After crossing the patch of the jungle and a small hike across the grasslands, we could see the stone stairs to Parvat temple which we crossed and reached the Jom Mallikarjun temple sometime around noon. 

After surveying the surroundings, we had our packed lunch and an afternoon nap which I must say was very refreshing. After a while the trek leader indicated that we should move. Our camp today was setup at the “Bhakt Niwas” of the Niripji Devi temple. We had to traverse the entire ridge and criss-cross our way down. Somewhere on the way we stopped at a small hamlet for a butter milk break which was quite refreshing.

We began our descent down towards the camp after walking through a thicket. The later part of the descent was through a patch of forest, and we were making steady progress. That’s where disaster struck. For some unknown reason, I just tripped or slipped and fell. I had been walking cautiously, but still I do not know how this slip happened. Now this is not really uncommon on such treks, people slip and fall, but the way I fell, I landed on my right foot and my whole ankle twisted badly. This wasn’t really very far from the campsite, and with the help of our trek leader, I somehow managed to reach the campsite hobbling on one leg.

The Niripji Devi Bhakt Nivas was another beautiful campsite. I understood, this is in the “Jawali” area which was one of the last regions captured by Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. Niripji Devi is the “kuldevi” for the More clan which has been residing in the region for many centuries.

Another interesting thing that happened on this campsite is that we had an wonderful session on basic astronomy coupled with actual star gazing and planet watching, by Archit – a member of the Chakram Hikers and he's more than just an amateur astronomer. He gave a great overview on the night sky and about the stars, planets and other constellations that were seen using his telescope. The sky had become overcast soon and although it was not cold, we decided to call it a day.

“Teleseri Descent to Paatal Lok” is what I would call today’s day.

I was in a dual mind - whether to continue the trek with my injury or to call it off and go to the nearest road head and head back home. After a lot of deliberation and with all the motivation from the team members and trek leaders, I decided to give it a try, knowing that I would turn back soon if my ankle started giving me problems.

There was only the first 5-10mins of walk which was relatively flat and then we started descending along a dry river bed – but all on boulders. This was surprising for me, as I had not expected such boulders in Sahyadris. I was trying to hop along the boulders with one and half legs. That’s when one of the trek members, came to my rescue. He very ably guided me along the boulder zone. While I was negotiating this first downhill, I thought this is that one bad descend which everyone was talking about, but I was so wrong. The real stuff was yet to come.  I crossed the boulder zone somehow. After descending for a while, we reached a point where there was a sheer drop and am sure during the monsoon, this would be big waterfall, but for now it just looked like a deep gorge. This is where all of us took a good hydration break.  

We had another small steep climb before the deadly downhill started.  The trek leaders warned us at this point that we should take utmost caution while climbing down. To be honest, this was one of the most difficult downhills  I have negotiated. It was steep and with loose scree everywhere. Someone also said that this is a downhill walk in the first gear – which is true as it had to be done slowly and with so much caution. Everyone was making slow and steady progress and I was double cautious given my swollen ankle. Many of us had multiple slips and falls in this treacherous section. The Chakram Hikers team had very judiciously fixed ropes in some of the more risky sections. I was very careful and wherever I found it slightly tough; I was descending sitting down and on all fours without any shame.

One of our team members, Sanjiv had a fall and injured his knee on one such section,  but he showed lot of courage to descend with his injured leg and with the help of trek leaders and some team members.

After negotiating the downhill successfully, it was a short walk through the forest and then a steady walk on the well-marked trail to the campsite of “Kandoshi village”.  

 

                 

                                   

Kandoshi was another beautiful campsite where there was a flowing river at some distance and the team members got a chance to take bath and refresh themselves. To top it all there was wifi on the temple premises and we were served awesome food for dinner.
 

After the Teleseri downhill, Sandeep kept on jokingly saying “O Scree kal aana” and this is going to be my mantra for keeping the scree at bay on all treks.

The Angthesari climb -   a relentless, never ending,  excruciating climb is what I can say.

Another tough day lay ahead of us. We started our day early as it was going to be a long day. The initial climb was through the forest and firm soil, but it was not easy. Soon we realized that we had some tough terrain to negotiate. Also, the terrain kept on changing. Sometimes loose rocks and gravel, then boulders, then again dry grass and then through thickets and overgrown grasses. There were so may sections where we had to go on all fours just to negotiate the climb. I was fully focused and didn’t have any courage to take out my phone to click pictures. The climb was daunting, but we were taking sufficient breaks to rest and making sure everyone was safe. 

 

 

After some time, we left the shade of the jungle behind and were now climbing in the exposed sun. After a while, we reached a point where the first of the ropes were fixed. This was at an exposed rock ledge on one side with some scree on the path and a sheer drop on the other side. This section turned out to be less daunting than I thought, but after crossing this, we reached a patch of rock where multiple ropes were fixed, and other trek leaders were waiting for us. This was a very tricky section. The trek leaders made sure that all the team members cross it safely. After crossing this  section, there was a steep uphill which all of us crossed on all fours. This section, according to me was the riskiest in today’s climb, but fortunately all of us made through without any incidences. 

 

After this section there was still a climb amongst the dry grass ad rocks for about couple of hours. It was only now that we could see the Angtheseri top. All the while the tops which we saw were “false” tops, because as soon as you reach the top, you realize that there is still more climbing to do. This reminded me of Himalayan treks, the day of the “pass crossing”, where the pass would not be visible from the bottom and you need to just keep climbing relentlessly to reach the top. This is exactly what we had done today. We could see the trek leaders from the Ghonuspur camp, who had come some distance to meet us there. The view from Angtheseri top was amazing. I am not so much familiar with the Sahyadris, but the other trek members were showing us different well known peaks and plateaus that were visible from here. The majestic Sahyadri ranges were all around us and this was the highest point of the trek. 

 

We had lunch and a nice break at the top and started our walk to Ghonaspur campsite.  Everyone was looking forward to the “Bada Khana” (the evening feast on the last campsite) at the Ghonaspur camp and possibly that’s why there was now a marked sprite in everyone’s step.  

The initial traverse was through a slightly flat, wide and  well marked trail, but then again nothing is really just walking on flat land on this trek.  There were many small climbs and descents enroute. Not surprisingly, I was really enjoying this walk after the grueling climb earlier. It was mostly a walk along the ridge and we were traversing a “U” along the edge. We saw a couple of “shepherd huts” enroute and after a while, we took a nice longish nimbu sarbat and kokam sarbat break where there was some water available. I think someone said that this point was called “Kaavlyache pani” (Crow’s water literally) point, although I am not sure now. After a couple of short climbs,  we reached the Ghonaspur campsite which was to be our last camp of the trek. There is a temple here , the Bhairi Mallikarjun temple, which is again one the Sapt-Shivalayas from Sahyadris.

 

However, the day had not ended yet. We had planned to go up till Makrand Gadh to see the sunset. I was tired and my ankle was hurting a lot and I was wondering if I should just rest at the camp, but still went up to see the sunset. A quick 30mins climb and we reached the top of Makrandgadh.

We spent sometime exploring the surroundings. The view of the sunset took away all the tiredness. Some of us also ventured to the “water tank” which is another point people visit at the top.

We had a gala time feasting on the “Bada Khana” in the evening. There was a general feeling of happiness all around as people knew that we had had a big day today and we had seen through it safely. The Chakram Hikers team had also arranged for some small mementos which were distributed in the evening. After a while we called it a day. Most of us slept on the temple premises while a few folks slept outside on a raised platform which was covered with tarpaulin sheets. I thought this was the coldest night on the trek.

As I woke up the next morning, I realized that this is the last day of the trek. I had mixed feelings. On the one hand, I wanted to go home as my ankle was hurting but on the other, I knew I would really miss the Sahyadris after I go back.  We had a steep downhill to negotiate today. The destination was the road head to the village of Beermani  where a bus would be waiting to transport us back to Mulund. The trek leaders assured us that this downhill was nothing like the “Teleseri” one and it was going to be much easier. It was all a downhill through the thick forest of the Hatlot ghat. 

 

It was a very monotonous walk downhill through the thick forest, but still required a lot of focus and energy. We were all trying to walk together on the bed of a dry stream.  It still required us to focus and was hard on the knees.

After descending for a while along the naala, we reached a temple. The trek leaders told us that we were near the village now. This is where we decided to have our packed lunch too. After a very short walk, we could see the village. As I saw our bus, I realized that our beautiful journey has finally ended.

I have read somewhere that returning home is the most difficult part of long-distance hiking – “it seems that one has grown outside of the puzzle and one’s piece no longer fits”. I guess, I had the same complex feeling as I got on to the bus.

Looking back.

There were many highlights of this trip for me. The route and the terrain, the climbs and the downhills, the quaint villages and so on. But I want to really talk about couple of things that stood out for me.  Firstly, the hospitality of Chakram Hikers team.  The attention to detail is amazing and everything is so well thought through and taken care of. ‘It is so hard to improve upon perfection” is what I can say about them. Secondly, the trip was even more enjoyable with my fellow trekkers. I have been privileged to trek with some amazing people. They were funny, boisterous and at the same time very caring and helpful. 

It was another fantastic outdoor trip with mother nature. Taking a deep breath of fresh air in the early morning, walking on a sea of drifting clouds, and sitting next to a bonfire under the stars which leap and dance and shine brightly in the cold sky are the highlights of this trip. I can confidently say that the trekking adventures like this are a useful practical lesson. It has taught me how to overcome myself, which I have never learnt at school.

As I write this blog, I am already looking forward to my next Sahyankan.