Monsoon trek to Kalsubai: The Highest Peak of Maharashtra
Monsoon trek to Kalsubai:
The Highest Peak in Maharashtra
Kalsubai peak is the highest peak in Maharashtra and therefore it is a dream trek for every hiker in Mumbai and Pune. Kalsubai is a mountain in the western ghats, Maharashtra, India. It lies within the Kalsubai- Harishchandragad Wildlife Sanctuary. It is situated at an elevation gain of 1646 M (5400 Ft.).
Whenever I interacted with any hikers from Mumbai and Pune, they
take a lot of pride in saying that, yes they summit the Kalsubai peak. Being a
hiker, I understand their sentiment. How Mount Everest is the dream trek of
every professional trekker in the world because it is the highest peak in the
world. So It’s obvious that being a hiker, I also would want to summit the
Kalsubai Peak. That motivated me to hike the Kalsubai Peak twice.
Trek Details:
1.
Trek Date:15 July 2018
2.
Mountain Range: Western Ghat
3.
Elevation: 1,646m (5,400 ft)
4.
Base Village: Bari village
5.
Nearest railway station: Igatpuri
6.
Trek difficulty level: Easy to
Moderate
7.
Endurance level: High
8.
Connected to Road Transport
9.
Best time to visit: Monsoon / October to March
10. Location: between Igatpuri
Taluka & Akole Taluka Ahmednagar District. Maharashtra
How to Reach Bari Village from Mumbai?
There are two ways to
reach Bari village.
1. Buses from both Kasara and Igatpuri are available
for Baari Village. All Buses plying to Pune, Bhandardhara, Akole, etc. go via Bari
village. Its 45 minutes Bus journey from Igatpuri and an hour plus from Kasara.
Buses start as early as 5 am from Igatpuri.
Another option is:
1. Take a fast local train to Kasara station
2. Kasara to Bari village by Jeep or Maruti Omni (nearly 2 hours)
The famous Kalsubai Temple on the top
Local Believes and story
behind the Kalsubai Temple
I always love to talk with the local people so I interacted
with one of the elderly locals at Bari Village to enquire about any
historical significance about the village or Kalsubai peak. They have lots of
traditional knowledge to share which is a treasure and must pass on to the
younger generations. The elderly man narrated a very interesting story to me
about the history behind the Kalsubai temple. According to the story of what they believed,
there was a girl called Kalsu, who was fond of wandering in the forest. One
day, she came to the foothill of Indire village while wandering, which is now
called Kalsubai. One of the family has offered her household work. The girl took
the job only on one condition that she will not clean the pots or sweep the
floors. Once the owner forgot the condition and asked her to pick up the plates
of the guest and clean it. She had obliged the owner’s order but she
immediately left the house and climbed the mountain behind the village. The
family realized their mistake and pleaded her to come down but she refused and
stayed there on the top of the mountain for the rest of her life. So later, the
villagers believe that Kalsu was not an ordinary girl. She was the avatar of Devi.
Therefore, the villagers build the Kalsubai temple in her memory and they offer
their prayers from generation to generation. That’s how the peak got its
present name Kalsubai.
I decided to hike the Kalsubai in Monsoon because I love to
hike in Monsoon as the Monsoon brings magic to Sahyadri. Experiencing the surreal greenery and blissful
environment The lush green hills, seasonal sparkling waterfalls and we
also, tend to tireless when you walk in rain.
Hiking in Monsoon has its own charm, however the fact that it
is also riskier to hike in monsoon and the path becomes slippery and the cloud blocks the view most of the time.
I decided to join Mumbai Travellers for the Kalsubai trek. They organized Weekend trek. Because it is quite far away from Mumbai and It is a long trek. I asked a few other friends and none of them are available except one. So we confirmed our participation. We were asked to catch the last crowded Kasara local from Thane(11:10p.m.) on 14th July 2018. Our meeting point was the Kasara railway station near the ticket counter. We reached kasara station around 1.35 a.m. There we met our trek leaders and other participants. I just realized that we have a good number of participants (both male and female hikers). All participants looked quite charged up and excited. From Kasara, Mumbai traveler has arranged a minibus for us, which took us to the base village (Bari village).
We reached around 3.30 a.m. and it was raining. Our leaders have taken us to one of the villager’s houses and we rested there till 6.30 a.m. After the quick breakfast, we started our hike exactly at 6.45 a.m.
We greeted each other and started our hike. The trail leads us through the village to the beautiful green paddy field and it was drizzling. After a few minutes of walk, comes our first hurdle. We had to cross the river. Actually, it is a stream but due to heavy rainfall, the stream becomes a river. Since it was raining season the water current was quite strong and we had to hold each other’s hands to cross the river.
Just 15 minutes after crossing the stream, we walked through a muddy path that leads us to the small temple and the Kalsubai gate. This temple is considered an important landmark to commence the actual hike as well as the last resting post for the hikers who are returning from the top.
From here the trail was all uphill climb. The nature of the trail was well designated and mixed of easy and steep ascent. The route was well protected by iron railing on both sides. We reached the first flat surface after half an hour climb and there we had an introduction and briefing. We took a group picture as well. The weather was favorable though it was a bit cloudy we can see a clear view. We all were ready to scale the highest peak.
We proceed further and reached a second flat area where we, could see mesmerizing sparkling waterfalls and the awesome view of the Bari village and the surrounding areas. We kept climbing while enjoying the view.
After one hour of a moderate climb, we reached to resting stop point. We stop here for Nimbu Paani break.
Our trek leader kept saying that we will get a better view as we climb higher in order to motivate us. We now reached a good height and there we met the first ladder. The ladder was installed along the vertical hill slopes to give the hikers a safe ascent. There are around four such iron ladders were installed at different points.
It was quite a thrilling experience to climb the iron ladder which was aligned vertically. There were stalls of Lemon juice, tea, Buttermilk, and Hot Maggi at a regular distance almost up to the Wellpoint. Which becomes a hindrance for me. Because my group kept stopping at almost every stall. Which breaks my momentum. However, those stalls are good to take shelters whenever there are heavy showers.
After two and a half hours climb, we finally reached the plateau where there is a well. It is called a good point. The water from this well is very chilled. Our trek leader told us that we are finally reached near to the peak and we could actually see the peak. We waited for others to join us. There are few local stalls here as well.
We headed for the final leg of our journey that is the summit point There we had to climb the final ladder to reach the top and then we finally reached the top of the peak. There are many other hikers that were already there on the top. We paid our respect to the Devi by peeping inside the temple.
The rain started pouring again. It was very windy on the top. The visibility level was very low. Unfortunately, we could not enjoy the surrounding view much as it was covered by the thick clouds most of the time neither we could take pictures as it was raining continuously.
There is not much space on the top. We waited for some time, hoping to get a window to see the view but the weather was not favorable. So we look around and enjoy the feeling of being on the top. Our trek leader finally called us for the descent.
Descending was more difficult
during the monsoon as some of the patches were pretty slippery. So we had to
walk very cautiously. We took two hours to reach back to the temple and we
rested under the big tree for some time and congratulated each other for the
achievement. I was happy to know that nobody got hurt while descending. We
rushed back to the village and changed our clothes because we were fully drenched and had our lunch. We left the base village around 4 pm. On the way, when I was reflecting on my journey, I decided to come back again for a night trek. I did that in the
month of December with my few hiking partners. We hike in the night and reached
a peak around 2 a.m. We hired a local guide. We slept around the temple but the
temperature dips down in the night it was very cold in the night so we could
not sleep. However, the sunrise view was awesome. and we could enjoy the breath-taking view of
the Bandardara Lake view, Bari Village, Kalsubai hill range and AMK,
Ratangad etc, from the top. Which I
could not see during my monsoon trek.
Well deserved lunch
TIPS:
1. Wear a good trekking shoe
2. A good raincoat is a must to protect yourself from the rain.
3. A good and comfortable backpack to put your luggage
4. Carry one pair of clothes and extra socks
5. You need a good waterproof sack to put your purse mobile and
camera to avoid getting wet.
6. Wear comfortable and easy to dry cloths
7. If you are planning to sleep on the Kalsubai top in Winter,
make sure you will carry a warm sleeping bag or warm chaddar n warm jacket to
wear. The temperature dips in the night. It’s very cold at the top.
8. Camping is possible on a certain patch of Kalsubai path for
post-monsoon
9. Food and lodging is available at Base village
10. Leave your trail, not
the trash. Do not litter the area.
11. Respect the culture and heritage of the place
12. Be sensible while interacting with the villagers
13. Be a responsible hiker.
14. Must carry 3-liter
water in Winter and 2 liters of the water bottle in Monsoon.
15. Glucon D or Electoral power is a must for both the season.
16. Carry ready to eat or
dry snacks to refuel yourself.
17. Sunscreen guard lotion /Sunglass/Cap and full sleeves is a
must for a day hike for post-monsoon.
18. Follow the trek leader instruction seriously
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