I was enjoying my deewali vacation this year visiting Shirala, Sangali & Kolhapur.
But this enjoyment has other side as well. My tummy was enlarging at a faster pace. So I decided to do some thing. Waking early and going for a walk is ALWAYS impossible for me. I thought of going to Jotiba by walk. My cousin brother, Saurabh told he would join me for the same.
We started early in the morning at 6:30 AM on 24Oct. The journey so far was good when our bike got punctured.
=====
To be finished..
Photos: http://picasaweb.google.co.in/mahesh.masurkar/JotibaDarshan#
Friday, October 30, 2009
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Vasota Trek Plan:- 31Oct-1Nov 09
Trek Dates:- Friday 30 Oct 09 to Sunday 1 Nov 09
Total count = 10 with 2 cars
Meeting place:- Next to Toll booth # 1 towarsd Satara.
Meeting Time:- 7:45 PM on Friday 30 Oct 2009
Final Plan:-
Friday 30 Oct 2009
Car # 1:
Swapnil, Mahesh, Sushant, Tejas & Atul (or Milind)
We will start from TCI at 6:00 PM. Get Tejas at Swargate.
Go to my house and collect the materials.
Sushant will come to my house to park his bike too.
Car # 2:
Sam, Rohit, Yogesh, Milind (or Atul) & Phadke
These guys will start at 7:00 PM from JDTCI in any case.
Phadke to make sure that he will do so.
Or else, only 4 will leave.
1) Meet next to Toll booth # 1 towards Satara at 7:45 PM
2) Dinner break near to Satara 9:00 PM
3) Start for Bamnoli at 10:00 PM
4) Reach Bamnoli and rest
Saturday 31 Oct 2009
1) Wake up early. Catch the early boat of 7:30 AM
2) Break fast will be done at the other end at Met Indvali at 9:00 AM
3) Start for Vasota and reach there by 11:30 AM
4) Sight seeing, lunch at Vasota by 12:30 PM
5) Reach Nageshwar by 2:30 PM
6) Start for Met Indvali by 3:00 PM
7) Catch the return boat at 5:00 PM
8) Camping either at Bamnoli or Kaas lake.
9) Dinner preparation and camp fire.
Saturday 1 Nov 2009
1) Wake up, break fast and start towards Pune by 9:00 AM
2) Plan to visit Sajjangad if time permits or else reach Pune.
Individual Items to bring (MUST):
1) Good trekking shoes (& enough pairs of socks)
2) Sleeping bag/mat
3) Enough clothing, including warm clothes
4) A good Torch, candle and match box
5) Minimum two water bottles 1 ltr each.
6) Cap (optional)
7) Camera (optional)
8) A good haver sack to carry.
9) Soap, toothpaste, brush etc
10) Tent (Mahesh)
11) Bed sheet, kambal, shawl etc
A) Food:
Common:- Tejas has taken care of Saturday lunch.
Swapnil and I will be taking care of Saturday night.
Snacks for Saturday morning will be purchased Friday evening.
B) Utensils:
All:- Plate & spoon
Mug (optional)
Paper roll, napkins (optional)
C) Medicines:
Mahesh:- First Aid Kit
All:- As per individual requirement
Thanks,
Mahesh Masurkar
Total count = 10 with 2 cars
Meeting place:- Next to Toll booth # 1 towarsd Satara.
Meeting Time:- 7:45 PM on Friday 30 Oct 2009
Final Plan:-
Friday 30 Oct 2009
Car # 1:
Swapnil, Mahesh, Sushant, Tejas & Atul (or Milind)
We will start from TCI at 6:00 PM. Get Tejas at Swargate.
Go to my house and collect the materials.
Sushant will come to my house to park his bike too.
Car # 2:
Sam, Rohit, Yogesh, Milind (or Atul) & Phadke
These guys will start at 7:00 PM from JDTCI in any case.
Phadke to make sure that he will do so.
Or else, only 4 will leave.
1) Meet next to Toll booth # 1 towards Satara at 7:45 PM
2) Dinner break near to Satara 9:00 PM
3) Start for Bamnoli at 10:00 PM
4) Reach Bamnoli and rest
Saturday 31 Oct 2009
1) Wake up early. Catch the early boat of 7:30 AM
2) Break fast will be done at the other end at Met Indvali at 9:00 AM
3) Start for Vasota and reach there by 11:30 AM
4) Sight seeing, lunch at Vasota by 12:30 PM
5) Reach Nageshwar by 2:30 PM
6) Start for Met Indvali by 3:00 PM
7) Catch the return boat at 5:00 PM
8) Camping either at Bamnoli or Kaas lake.
9) Dinner preparation and camp fire.
Saturday 1 Nov 2009
1) Wake up, break fast and start towards Pune by 9:00 AM
2) Plan to visit Sajjangad if time permits or else reach Pune.
Individual Items to bring (MUST):
1) Good trekking shoes (& enough pairs of socks)
2) Sleeping bag/mat
3) Enough clothing, including warm clothes
4) A good Torch, candle and match box
5) Minimum two water bottles 1 ltr each.
6) Cap (optional)
7) Camera (optional)
8) A good haver sack to carry.
9) Soap, toothpaste, brush etc
10) Tent (Mahesh)
11) Bed sheet, kambal, shawl etc
A) Food:
Common:- Tejas has taken care of Saturday lunch.
Swapnil and I will be taking care of Saturday night.
Snacks for Saturday morning will be purchased Friday evening.
B) Utensils:
All:- Plate & spoon
Mug (optional)
Paper roll, napkins (optional)
C) Medicines:
Mahesh:- First Aid Kit
All:- As per individual requirement
Thanks,
Mahesh Masurkar
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Harishchandragad Trek - 2-3 Oct 2009
This trek was planned in a very short time. Atul and Milind from John Deere showed interest to join. Mukesh told he will be joining along with his friends from Fluent. Then this detailed plan was made for the trek. But unfortunately, Mukesh had an accident (funny one though.. He stroked to one of the electricity poles while walking) causing severe pain in his already troubled knee. He had taken pain killers, but not of use. So he opted out from this trek at 10:00 pm Thursday and so did his friends.
Finally, we three were remaining. After doing a small sms chat, we decided not to cancel and to proceed further.
First Journey
I was not sure about my (oops.. Its BILs(1) bike) bike, but no option than to take it. It had been serviced recently, so no issues. We met at the Nashik phata at 7:15 AM, late by 15 mins than schedule. Milind had already reached at that point. Then we started towards AaLe phata, our next milestone. The target to reach there was 8:30 AM, but it was quite sure that we were going to miss it out because of wrong estimation. Distance from Nashik phata to AaLe phata is around 75 kms. We had our breakfast at Narayangaon at 9:30 AM. Atul did not have a torch. He got a good quality 1 LED Evereay make torch costing Rs. 95/- which was OK. We reached at AaLe phata at 10 AM. We reached at Khireshwar when the clock was showing 11:30 AM.. 30 mins ahead of the scheduled time. After parking our bikes and refreshing, we ordered Pithale Bhakari for our lunch. It took a little long time to get it prepared.
When we were having the beautiful lunch, a group of 5 reached there and they were tired at time. They neither knew anything about the trek nor any plans of stay. 2 guys from that group demoralized with our preparation and info of the trek. I did not see them anytime anywhere for next two days. Surely, they had gone back.
Herbie(2) & Drum beater
We started towards the fort at 1:00 PM. (It meant, we were on time !!) Seeing the past performance and growing age, I was quite sure that I'll be Herbie in this trek. Usually I was Herbie in all treks, but due to other novices, it was not so prominent. This was Milind and Atul's first trek to Harishchandragad. I was the only one, who knew the route. So I asked Atul and Milind to play the role of drum beater and to push me if I were taking more breaks than required. But surprisingly.. yes surprisingly.. I had not to play Herbie. Atul took that role. Milind and I were shocked.. Atul pointed that this was the post marriage effect on him. :)
I,then, had to beat the drum to keep him motivated. This time locating the marks were easy. Normally, we say, "TeJa (3), mark kahaa hai?" (TeJa, where is the mark?). But this time, it was different. We said, "mark idhar hai, magar TeJa keedhar hai? (Here is the mark, but where is TeJa?). We reached our next milestone, Tolar Khind (pass) at 3:00 PM.. not to mention, but again on time.
Final touch up
After a short break, we crossed the rock patch and we were on the top of the hill in less than 1 hr. Then we needed to cross 7, but small hills on the way. We had our bath on the way in a small stream of water. We reached to the caves well ahead of our planned time. There were 3-4 groups already present there. We got one of the caves for our stay at 5:45 PM and then we ran towards "Kokan Kadaa" - the most fascinating location on Harishchandragad. It was clear that we were not be able to see the sunset, but the view there was truely awesome. After sitting and enjoying the scene and the nature for more than 1 hr, we started back to our caves. Though we had torches with us, the full moon did not allow us to use them. The dinner (paratha and dashamya) was very delicious and best. At 9 PM, Atul and Milind were ready to go to bed, when I dragged them forcefully outside the cave. We spent 1 hr gazing at the stars and the sky.
2nd Day
We woke up at 6:30 AM, refreshed ourselves, had milk and biscuits and started towards Kokan kadaa at around 7:30 AM. Fog had filled all the surroundings and we were little nervous thinking whether we could get the view of kokan kadaa or not. But everything was started clearing slowly and finally we had the beautiful, wonderful view of the Kokan kadaa and the hills nearby. We had lots of photo shoot at this place. We started back at 9:00 AM. Nobody was interested to go to the highest peak, Taramati. So we dropped it from our plan. Last time also, we did not visit it. (TeJa.. we have one more reason to visit Harishchandragad again, right?)
We had bath followed by snacks and tea. We then packed our bags and went to visit the Harishchandreshwar temple.
Harishchandreshwar
This temple is marvelous example of the fine art of carving sculptures out of stones. It is about 16m high from its base. Near the temple, the river Mangal Ganga originates. There are three caves near the temple. The cisterns near the temple provide drinking water. Here another temple called Kashitirtha is located. The fascinating thing about this one is it has been carved out from a single huge rock. There are entrances from all four sides. On the main entrance there are sculptures of faces. These are faces of guards of the temple.
Kedareshwar
Going rightwards of Harishchandreshwar temple, we came across a huge cave. This is the cave of Kedareshwar, in which there is a big Shivlinga, which is totally surrounded by water. The total height of the base only is five feet or may be more, and the water was waist-deep. People were going there to make a round to the Idol, but we, after lots of "Ayes and Noes", decided not to go.
Descent
We started to descend at 11:00 AM, setting a target to reach Tolar Khind at 1:00 PM. We were little delayed.. delayed by 10 mins from our goal.. courtsey to our photographical adventure. We had our lunch break here. Few villagers who were travelling thru that khind accompanied us for lunch. By 2:40 PM, we were back to Khireshwar, our base village. We decided to refresh ourselves in the dam water, so we started quickly from Khireshwar and haulted at the dam. At 4:00 PM, we started back to Pune. There were no rain in our entire trek, but we were welcomed by rain in Pune. We reached our home at 8:30 PM, making a successful end to this trek.
Click here for photos of this trek.
JAY SHIVAJI, JAY BHAVANI !!
- Mahesh Masurkar
Note:
1 - BIL - Brother-in-Law - Ankur Tade
2 - Herbie - Slowest moving guy in the trail in 'The Goal' by Eliyahu Goldratt
3 - TeJa - Tejas Jadhav - our regular trek member
Finally, we three were remaining. After doing a small sms chat, we decided not to cancel and to proceed further.
First Journey
I was not sure about my (oops.. Its BILs(1) bike) bike, but no option than to take it. It had been serviced recently, so no issues. We met at the Nashik phata at 7:15 AM, late by 15 mins than schedule. Milind had already reached at that point. Then we started towards AaLe phata, our next milestone. The target to reach there was 8:30 AM, but it was quite sure that we were going to miss it out because of wrong estimation. Distance from Nashik phata to AaLe phata is around 75 kms. We had our breakfast at Narayangaon at 9:30 AM. Atul did not have a torch. He got a good quality 1 LED Evereay make torch costing Rs. 95/- which was OK. We reached at AaLe phata at 10 AM. We reached at Khireshwar when the clock was showing 11:30 AM.. 30 mins ahead of the scheduled time. After parking our bikes and refreshing, we ordered Pithale Bhakari for our lunch. It took a little long time to get it prepared.
When we were having the beautiful lunch, a group of 5 reached there and they were tired at time. They neither knew anything about the trek nor any plans of stay. 2 guys from that group demoralized with our preparation and info of the trek. I did not see them anytime anywhere for next two days. Surely, they had gone back.
Herbie(2) & Drum beater
We started towards the fort at 1:00 PM. (It meant, we were on time !!) Seeing the past performance and growing age, I was quite sure that I'll be Herbie in this trek. Usually I was Herbie in all treks, but due to other novices, it was not so prominent. This was Milind and Atul's first trek to Harishchandragad. I was the only one, who knew the route. So I asked Atul and Milind to play the role of drum beater and to push me if I were taking more breaks than required. But surprisingly.. yes surprisingly.. I had not to play Herbie. Atul took that role. Milind and I were shocked.. Atul pointed that this was the post marriage effect on him. :)
I,then, had to beat the drum to keep him motivated. This time locating the marks were easy. Normally, we say, "TeJa (3), mark kahaa hai?" (TeJa, where is the mark?). But this time, it was different. We said, "mark idhar hai, magar TeJa keedhar hai? (Here is the mark, but where is TeJa?). We reached our next milestone, Tolar Khind (pass) at 3:00 PM.. not to mention, but again on time.
Final touch up
After a short break, we crossed the rock patch and we were on the top of the hill in less than 1 hr. Then we needed to cross 7, but small hills on the way. We had our bath on the way in a small stream of water. We reached to the caves well ahead of our planned time. There were 3-4 groups already present there. We got one of the caves for our stay at 5:45 PM and then we ran towards "Kokan Kadaa" - the most fascinating location on Harishchandragad. It was clear that we were not be able to see the sunset, but the view there was truely awesome. After sitting and enjoying the scene and the nature for more than 1 hr, we started back to our caves. Though we had torches with us, the full moon did not allow us to use them. The dinner (paratha and dashamya) was very delicious and best. At 9 PM, Atul and Milind were ready to go to bed, when I dragged them forcefully outside the cave. We spent 1 hr gazing at the stars and the sky.
2nd Day
We woke up at 6:30 AM, refreshed ourselves, had milk and biscuits and started towards Kokan kadaa at around 7:30 AM. Fog had filled all the surroundings and we were little nervous thinking whether we could get the view of kokan kadaa or not. But everything was started clearing slowly and finally we had the beautiful, wonderful view of the Kokan kadaa and the hills nearby. We had lots of photo shoot at this place. We started back at 9:00 AM. Nobody was interested to go to the highest peak, Taramati. So we dropped it from our plan. Last time also, we did not visit it. (TeJa.. we have one more reason to visit Harishchandragad again, right?)
We had bath followed by snacks and tea. We then packed our bags and went to visit the Harishchandreshwar temple.
Harishchandreshwar
This temple is marvelous example of the fine art of carving sculptures out of stones. It is about 16m high from its base. Near the temple, the river Mangal Ganga originates. There are three caves near the temple. The cisterns near the temple provide drinking water. Here another temple called Kashitirtha is located. The fascinating thing about this one is it has been carved out from a single huge rock. There are entrances from all four sides. On the main entrance there are sculptures of faces. These are faces of guards of the temple.
Kedareshwar
Going rightwards of Harishchandreshwar temple, we came across a huge cave. This is the cave of Kedareshwar, in which there is a big Shivlinga, which is totally surrounded by water. The total height of the base only is five feet or may be more, and the water was waist-deep. People were going there to make a round to the Idol, but we, after lots of "Ayes and Noes", decided not to go.
Descent
We started to descend at 11:00 AM, setting a target to reach Tolar Khind at 1:00 PM. We were little delayed.. delayed by 10 mins from our goal.. courtsey to our photographical adventure. We had our lunch break here. Few villagers who were travelling thru that khind accompanied us for lunch. By 2:40 PM, we were back to Khireshwar, our base village. We decided to refresh ourselves in the dam water, so we started quickly from Khireshwar and haulted at the dam. At 4:00 PM, we started back to Pune. There were no rain in our entire trek, but we were welcomed by rain in Pune. We reached our home at 8:30 PM, making a successful end to this trek.
Click here for photos of this trek.
JAY SHIVAJI, JAY BHAVANI !!
- Mahesh Masurkar
Note:
1 - BIL - Brother-in-Law - Ankur Tade
2 - Herbie - Slowest moving guy in the trail in 'The Goal' by Eliyahu Goldratt
3 - TeJa - Tejas Jadhav - our regular trek member
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Harishchandragad Trek - Final Plan
All,
This trek is now finalized. Plz be preapred for the trek.
Trek Dates:- Friday 2 Oct 09 to Saturday 3 Oct 09
Meeting place:- NASHIK PHATA on Old Pune-Mumbai Highway
We are going on bike. So make a pair beforehand and join at the place
Meeting Time:- 7:00 AM on Friday 2 Oct 2009
Final Plan:-
Friday 2 Oct 2009
1) Meet at Nashik Phata at 7:00 AM
2) Start towards Aale phata. Reach there at 8:30 AM
3) Breakfast time for 30 mins
4) Reach Khireshwar (base village) via Otur at 12:00 PM
5) Rest for 1 hr and then start for the trek at 1:00 PM
6) Reach to Tolar Khind at 3:00 PM
7) Reach the fort at 6:00 PM
8) Temple visit
9) Rest, enjoy, dinner and sleep
Saturday 3 Oct 2009
1) After Tea (??) & little snacks, start towards Kokan Kada at 6:30 AM
2) If time permits, go to Taramati (Topmost point)
3) Start for descend at 12:00 PM
4) Light lunch on the way
5) Reach Khireshwar at 4:00 PM
6) Return to Pune
Individual Items to bring (MUST):
1) A haversack to put in all the things to be carried. So that one hashands free while trekking.
2) Good trekking shoes (& enough pairs od socks)
3) Sleeping bag/mat
4) Enough clothing
5) A good Torch, candle and match box
6) Minimum two water bottles 1 ltr each.
7) Cap (optional)
8) Camera (optional)
9) Wind cheater (optional)
A) Food:
Everybody has to carry
-- food items for Friday dinner and Saturday lunch
-- Snacks items (plum cakes, biscuits, wafers, cream rolls, jam and bread etc)
-- I'll get mosambi (2 per head)
B) Other items:
All:- Plate & spoon
Mug/Glass, knife (optional)
Paper roll, napkins (optional)
C) Medicines:
Mahesh:- First Aid Kit
All:- As per individual requirement
More info of the fort at http://www.trekshitiz.com/
Last trek Photo: http://picasaweb.google.co.in/mahesh.masurkar/Harishchandragad#
HAPPY TREKKING,
MAHESH MASURKAR
9881 499 213
This trek is now finalized. Plz be preapred for the trek.
Trek Dates:- Friday 2 Oct 09 to Saturday 3 Oct 09
Meeting place:- NASHIK PHATA on Old Pune-Mumbai Highway
We are going on bike. So make a pair beforehand and join at the place
Meeting Time:- 7:00 AM on Friday 2 Oct 2009
Final Plan:-
Friday 2 Oct 2009
1) Meet at Nashik Phata at 7:00 AM
2) Start towards Aale phata. Reach there at 8:30 AM
3) Breakfast time for 30 mins
4) Reach Khireshwar (base village) via Otur at 12:00 PM
5) Rest for 1 hr and then start for the trek at 1:00 PM
6) Reach to Tolar Khind at 3:00 PM
7) Reach the fort at 6:00 PM
8) Temple visit
9) Rest, enjoy, dinner and sleep
Saturday 3 Oct 2009
1) After Tea (??) & little snacks, start towards Kokan Kada at 6:30 AM
2) If time permits, go to Taramati (Topmost point)
3) Start for descend at 12:00 PM
4) Light lunch on the way
5) Reach Khireshwar at 4:00 PM
6) Return to Pune
Individual Items to bring (MUST):
1) A haversack to put in all the things to be carried. So that one hashands free while trekking.
2) Good trekking shoes (& enough pairs od socks)
3) Sleeping bag/mat
4) Enough clothing
5) A good Torch, candle and match box
6) Minimum two water bottles 1 ltr each.
7) Cap (optional)
8) Camera (optional)
9) Wind cheater (optional)
A) Food:
Everybody has to carry
-- food items for Friday dinner and Saturday lunch
-- Snacks items (plum cakes, biscuits, wafers, cream rolls, jam and bread etc)
-- I'll get mosambi (2 per head)
B) Other items:
All:- Plate & spoon
Mug/Glass, knife (optional)
Paper roll, napkins (optional)
C) Medicines:
Mahesh:- First Aid Kit
All:- As per individual requirement
More info of the fort at http://www.trekshitiz.com/
Last trek Photo: http://picasaweb.google.co.in/mahesh.masurkar/Harishchandragad#
HAPPY TREKKING,
MAHESH MASURKAR
9881 499 213
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