Trek
route :
Dehne village
– Dara Ghat – Ajoba – Kumshet village – Kathra pass – Samrad village – Karoli
Ghat – Dehne village
Pics :
23 Dec 2011 - Fri
Wrong
planning in monsoon, the route was not done, but the resolve to do it at first
possible opportunity was there, and finally on 23 Dec 2011 (Fri) evening I and
Kunal left by bike towards Dehne village some 50 odd km from Shahpur below the
Ajoba mountain.
Our plan
was to go up the unused Dara ghat which is a col between Ajoba and Karondha Mountain,
visit actual Ajoba top (not Sita Cha Palna) from Dara Ghat top, Kumshet Village,
Kathra Pass and onwards to Samrad village
traversing Agni Baan pinnacle, Ratangad, Khutta pinnacle. Then from Samrad
village, taking the Karoli Ghat route back to Dehne village.
After a
lot of asking around at night in interior roads, we reached Dehne at 11:00 PM
and slept outside a villager’s house.
24th Dec 2011 - Sat (8
hours trek approx)
·
Dehne
– Dara ghat (7:00 AM to 11:30 AM = 4 ½ hours)
·
Dara
ghat – Failed Ajoba attempt (11:30 AM to 2:00 PM = 2 ½ hours)
·
Dara
ghat – Kumshet village (2:30 PM to 4:00 PM = 1 ½ hours)
Next
morning we fixed up with a villager to take us till the Dara Ghat col since the
route is not much in use it is not well defined and chances of getting lost in
the beginning of the trek was high.
It was
nice to start the trek early in the morning at 7:00 AM. It was pretty chilly
but then once we started the walk it was comfortable and in no time we were in
rhythm to enjoy the tough long trek ahead of us. The rugged Sahyadri’s looked
majestic in the early morning orange tinge sunlight. After a flat walk of about
an hour parallel to Ajoba mountain we reached the initial scree filled climb
for Dara Ghat col. After that it was negotiating some boulder patches and
thickets to reach the final tough climb of 15 20 feet boulders and rock
patches. That’s when we told the villager to go back. The only way for us was
to go up and we did. The climb is now very similar to the Nali Chi Wat route of
Harishchandragad. Once a big rock of almost 2 feet diameter fell when Kunal
tried to put some pressure on it but luckily it did not hurt him. It was a
narrow escape for him. We had a good laugh about our luck and proceeded ahead.
Next on a
rock patch Kunal’s bag shoulder strap broke. (Prasad bhai –
bag change karo J ). We did a temporary work around which only lasted for some
time and again it broke. But this time the work around was better so it lasted
the whole trek. Kunal has promised to get himself a new trek bag nowJ. It would have been real trouble
for us to do this long trek with a broken shoulder strap.
It was fun
to negotiate the rock patch puzzle and finally at 11:30 AM we were at the top
of Dara Ghat jungle. After a short descent we saw the path to the right which
goes to Ajoba top. We read the description given in one of the websites but
still lost our way by going into a wrong steep nala by taking an early right.
It was a very risky free rock climb which we did and finally we decided to call
it off and descent before anything goes wrong. The actual route was to take a
right after a long traverse along Ajoba base, which we missed.
After
returning back to the Dara Ghat – Ajoba route junction it was a straight
forward route to Kumshet village, just following the main path and keep asking
for directions to the villagers we found en-route. We had a nice long break by
the water pond between the nala of Ajoba and Karondha Mountain. Its always is a very spiritual experience for
me to enjoy the afternoons in the rugged Sahyadri’s relaxing in the shade at a
scenic point after a tough trek.
We reached
Kumshet at 4:00 PM along with a villager we met en-route. His name was Anil. He
gave us lot of information about the mountains in this area and also agreed to
guide us till Kathra pass the next day. Kumshet is a small village between the
mountains. We decided to setup our tent at a water point little away from the
village. To our surprise we also got 4 Desi Eggs from the village which we
boiled for dinner along with MTR. It was the first time we had a luxury of
having eggs on a trek.
It was
nice to relax after setting up the campsite before sunset, enjoying the amazing
mountain scenery around and the cool evening breeze. In some time it was no
longer cool but cold and we had to setup a camp fire to keep ourselves warm.
Nevertheless we did enjoy the star gazing after dinner for sometime. It was
after years that I was able to experience this cold in the Sahyadri’s.
25th Dec 2011 – Sun (10
hours trek approx)
·
Kumshet
– Kathra pass (8:30 AM to 10:30 AM = 2 hours)
·
Kathra
– Samrad via Ratangad / Khutta traverse (11:00 AM to 7:00 PM = 8 hours – we
lost almost 3 hours when we got lost on a hillock after Khutta and came out on
the road 3 km before Samrad after a long traverse)
Surely we
did not have a very comfortable night due to the extreme cold. We slept till
2:00 AM, after which we finally decided at 4:00 AM to go outside and relight
the camp fire to keep ourselves warm. The summer tent and a chadder was of no
use. We should have got our sleeping bags too J. Finally at 5:00 AM we covered the
tent with the plastic mat and had some sleep till 7:00 AM.
As
promised Anil came to our campsite at 7:00 AM. Due to the sleepless night we
were late and finally after packing up started for Kathra pass at 8:30 AM. It
was a nice trek through the intermittent jungles (but there were lot of thorny
bushes too) and the path was well marked due to frequent use unlike the Dara
ghat. By 10:30 AM we were at the top – enjoying the amazing view of the whole
Bhandardara region. After this we would be on our own for the long traverse to
Samrad village.
The whole
traverse was the best I have ever done. Nice varied terrain, thick jungles with
rocky descents and some open areas, scenic water points all along the way to
refill water and the view of the amazing mountains like Kathra, Agni Baan,
Ratangad, Khutta on our left and Muda, Ghanchakkar and others to our right. On
one of the water points we had our customary kanda farsan party and had a nice
nap too.
We did
have to keep track of our route by reading the description in the book and also
the map since there are lots of left / right paths branching off. We were lucky
to get a lone villager at one point of time to guide us when we were confused
and also got cell phone range to call Dutta from Samrad village for directions.
But finally we had to loose our way after coming so close to Samrad. We did not
take a sharp left to Samrad but went straight ahead and came out on the road
side 3 km before Samrad after a very long traverse on a hillock. We lost almost
2 hours due to this and reached dead tired with blisters in our feet at Samrad
at 7:00 PM.
We were in
no mood to stretch it further by camping so decided to stay put at Dutta’s
house for the night. We had a nice dinner of MTR and bhakri and went to sleep
early.
26th Dec 2011 – Mon (6
hours trek)
·
Samrad
– Dehne via Karoli ghat (8:00 AM to 2:00 PM = 6 hours)
Next day
after a nice cup of milk tea we started off for Karoli Ghat descent at 8:00 AM
from Samrad village after taking some directions from Dutta. I guess this was
the only route we did on this trek without getting lost J. The flat walk to Karoli ghat start
had some amazing jungle scenery and camp spots with the high mountains in the
background.
The
descent is scary initially due to the start being a rock climb of about 20
feet. But then once you get used to its fun. In Dec there are lots of water points
on the way making the downhill trek enjoyable. Once you come down to the
confluence of the 2 main nala’s, one coming down from Karoli Ghat and other
from the Baan Pinnacle and Sandhan valley you get a majestic view of the huge
vertical rock faces of Karoli Ghat and Sandhan Valley. Baan pinnacle looks
really grand from here as if trying to challenge the viewer into climbing its
difficult walls.
After a
nice long Water point break and kanda farsan party we start the final descent
and after a longish flat walk finally reach Dehne village at 2:00 PM. The
traverse dreamt during monsoons finally done and now we just wanted to hop on
the bike and ride home.
The fun is
not over yet. After we went ahead for about 20 Km (6 km after Dolkhamb) my rear
tyre got punctured. After removing the tyre we waited for someone to give me a
lift to the nearest puncture repair shop while Kunal would wait with the bike.
Finally got a jeep for Dolkhamb, but my bad luck all 3 puncture walas there
were closed so I took another jeep in opposite direction and got down at a
puncture shop midway, but that son of a bitch was a new fellow and did not know
any thing about puncture fixing and since my right hand finger was burnt I was
not able to help him much. After wasting one hour there finally took one more
Jeep to Shendwa naka where a puncture wala did a quick fix and I was on my way
back to where my bike was. We wasted 3 hours just to fix one puncture due to
the circumstances. Finally we were on our way home at 6:30 PM and reached home
by 10:00 PM tired but very satisfied on finishing the tough and long planned
traverse.
