TREMALS - The Trekking Mammals

AHUPE TO SIDDHAGAD

Date : 5th and 6th October 2013

Participants : Manoj Bhave, Varun Bhosale, Pankaj Singh and Imran Vasta.

On 5th and 6th October we did cross country trek from Ahupe to Siddhagad. Initially we decided to do Vajantri ghat to Bhimashankar. But we changed the plan and instead did this one. This trek could be done either way Ahupe to Siddhagad or vice-versa. We preferred to do Ahupe to Siddhagad since all the ascending part is done on day 1. Day 2 is only cross country and descend. Three of us were supposed to meet at Kalyan at 12 noon on 5th Oct Saturday. But we had last minute entrant Pankaj Singh who called at 11.45 am and said he would be joining the trek. So finally we caught 2 pm bus at Kalyan and went to Murbad. Murbad to Mhasa by Minidor and Mhasa to Khopivali by jeep. We started our trek at 4.30 pm from Khopivali and ascended Ahupe ghat. Reached Ahupe village by 8.15 pm with the aide of torchlights and had our night stay at Vithal mandir in the village with the initial greetings of Hari paath.

Next morning we started at 7.30 am from Ahupe village towards Siddhagad along with a guide Shantaram Asavale of Ahupe village. There are two options – one via Gaaydara ghat and other via Tavli ghat (through Sakhar machi). The guide and the locals told the Tavli ghat is steep and risky with screes at open ends. So we took the safer option. This is a pleasant cross-country experience. We initially took the Ahupe to Kondhval cart route and saw a Shekru (Indian Giant squirrel) on the way. After crossing the Ganesh statue (naturally created on a huge stone), we left this cart trail and took a right turn to ascend to one of the most exotic and isolated plateaus. Also we thanked our decision to take a guide or else we would have been lost for hours searching for the exact trail. After walking for a while we were excited to realize that there were footsteps of deers on our trail. And crossing the dense plantations into a small open stretch we had a glimpse of a pair of deers hurdling towards the jungle.

Just before the end of the plateau we saw a prominent and huge saffron-coloured arrow showing the direction of Yetoba temple which is on the top of the mountain to the right of the plateau. We moved ahead at the end of the plateau to see one of the most scenic views of Sahyadri. Straight ahead Siddhagad stood strong behind the Damdamia hills. On the left was the Gaaydara ghat with the view of entire valley and on the right was Sakhar machi village. Further behind we also had a glimplse of Narivali village. We turned left from this plateau in our bid to reach the mouth of Gaaydara ghat. There were lots of saffron coloured arrows marked on stones on this route. This arrows serves as direction to the local villagers to Yetoba temple.

After 2 hours at around 9.30 am we reached the mouth of Gaaydara ghat. This is the point where the (Bhimashankar to Siddhagad) route coming from Kondhval joins. We descended the ghat and took a left towards Damdamia hills (the right from here takes to Sakhar machi). We traversed along the Damdamia hills and on the top of the mountain right to us above the Sakhar machi we cited the Yetoba temple’s top couple of times amidst the fog. We reach the Darwaza of Siddhagad at around 11.30 am. Here we left our guide and started our descend towards Narivali village. Had our lunch on the way and from Siddhagad pada we marched straight ahead to Uchala village i/o Narivali to mark the end of an exciting cross country experience at around 3.10 pm. The fun was not over yet and after waiting for about an hour for transportation we caught a jeep and traveled standing on the footboard outside for about 10-12 kms upto Mhasa. Pankaj was on the top of jeep doing Chhaiya Chhaiya.

An exhilarating and exhausting trek with memorable experiences of citing a Shekru, a pair of deers, couple of snakes, exotic & isolated flower-laden Sahyadri plateau , the perfect weather with slight drizzle & fog and of course out of the jeep travelling experience.

Yours trekkingly

Imran Vasta