An amazing 4 day trek to the remote region of Bhandardara.
We covered Ajoba, Karondha, Ghodishep, Kumshet cha Kombda and Kaladgad.
Photograph links below as well as detailed writeup.
For those with leisure time do see the full album at Picasa:
https://picasaweb.google.com/zenosh/20160123AjobaKarondhaKumshetChaKombdaGhodishepKaladgad
If in a hurry enjoy on FB: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10153805394371181.1073741909.595556180&type=1&l=e2ac24602e
Covering the mountain range near Kumshet village in
Bhandardara area (Ajoba, Karondha, Ghodishep, Kumshet Cha Kombda, Kaladgad etc)
was my dream since long and it seemed I would have to do this solo. Just 3 days
before the trek Meenaz, Sanjay and Farzin confirmed joining the trek. It was a
super fun filled trek for 4 days.
Starting with an amazing night drive to Kumshet (getting
lost once due to my overconfidence), we reached the village at 5 AM and went to
sleep quickly only to be rudely woken up at 8 AM by Sanjay J
. Coincidently we also found the best person in the village who could guide us
in this area – Saraji Asawale. His house was right opposite to the shed where
we slept.
Next 3 days were spent with Saraji Asawale our guide
(studying this amazing terrain with his deep knowledge of the mountains and
passes in the area) trekking to Ajoba, spending the night at a campsite on
Ajoba plateau with water source (Seeta Kund), enjoying the amazing panoramic
views all around (AMK range, Kalsubai, Shipnur Dongar, Ratangad, Kathra,
Gavaldev, Ghanchakkar, Muda, Naptha, Harishchandragad, Seetha Dongar etc.. from
some of the highest and remotest mountain tops in the region (Ajoba, Karondha,
Kumshet Cha Kombda) with super clear skies which allowed us to see till Mahuli,
Chanderi, Mhasmal, Siddhagad, Naneghat, Dhakoba, Jivdhan and Malshej region.
This trek was mixed with some good amount of fun as well –
swimming in the super cool waters of a dammed river near Ghodishep, an easy
walk to the Ghodishep projection in the Konkan, off-road jungle drive to
Panchnai from Kumshet via a short cut, and an amazing camping night behind
Kaladgad with a super view of Mula river valley and the mountains beyond.
Ending the four day trek with an easy one to Kaladgad and a
fast drive back home.
Now for the details J
The route to Ajoba is a longish walk from Kumshet and then
initially through thickets after the Shidoba temple. There is a rock patch
after the thickets which needs to be done carefully and then a short traverse
to the north east keeping the wall of Ajoba on the left which leads to the
grassy slopes with water available till Feb. It is a nice place to camp. From a
nearby view point you can see Karondha, Kathra, Ratangad, AMK, Kalsubai and
typically every peak in this region towards the north.
We reached the campsite by 11:30 AM and directly went to the
view point to enjoy the amazing views around. There are lots of water ponds
around the campsite called as Sita Kund. Its best to camp around one of these
ponds. Then came back to the decided campsite and pitched our tents and just
whiled away time to beat the afternoon heat. After a short nap in the shade we
started our trek to the Ajoba summit which is still an hour away from the
campsite. After a very bad scree patch, lots of thorny bushes and another
uphill walk we reached the small but comfortable summit of Ajoba. I will get tired
naming the peaks which were visible from here. Due to its location at the edge
of the ghats and clear visibility all around to the north, north east and south
east we could see the whole Bhandardara region along with the AMK – Kalsubai
peaks and towards south and south east we could see Naptha, Kaladgad,
Harishchandragad, Kathra, Karondha etc..
Something to mention the thorny bushes up to waist high at
times, which would trouble us for most part of the trek. These bushes die after
flowering these thorny flowers every five years. It was a pain to walk past
them with every area below your knees getting scrapped against these flowers on
the lesser walked trails which we did.
Just before sundown we descended from the summit to our
campsite. After a quick dinner of rice and MTR gravy (rice cooking courtesy
Farzin J
) and campfire we went to sleep.
Morning was quick snacks and directly starting to descend
since we had planned to cover Karondha same day. But plans do change J.
We reached the village huts below Ajoba and had some more Tea, Poha and MTR
gravy with Thepla. That did make us a bit lazy and trekking to Karondha in the
high afternoon heat was not appealing at all so we decided to tackle the easier
Ghodishep and Kumshet Cha Kombda.
After a short off road drive towards Kumshet and taking a
diversion towards Ghodishep we reached a river which had a small dam.
Downstream of the dam there were small pools of water fit for lazing away and
chilling after a long hike in the afternoon. Since we had to do Ghodishep and
Kumshet cha Kombda the same day we decided to tackle this luxury later J
After crossing the river we walked towards the Sahyadri
crest line with intermittent green cover and a temple dedicated to Dharerao.
Saraji showed us the point where the descent from Pathra ghat starts. We walked
towards the thin flat projection towards the Konkan called as Ghoodishep (Horse
tail). From Ghodishep we get amazing views of Naptha peaks and whole Malshej ghat region. Due to the
afternoon heat and fog in the skies we could not get clear views. You can also
see Umberdhara towards the east. It is a difficult pass to the Konkan. To the
west of Umberdhara is triangular shaped Dhudi Hill.
After this Saraji was also tired showing us around so we had
to persuade quite a bit to come with us to Kumshet cha Kombda top. We starting
climbing this small hill from Ghodishep side with slippery grassy slopes. After
a while we entered a forest and then the final fight to the top through loose
mud, lots of thickets and very steep incline. Luckily there were lots of
thickets to hold on to. Finally at the top plateau just below the final
pinnacles, we rested for a while in shade, had some snacks, clicked some
amazing photos of Naptha side and Ajoba, Kumshet side etc and started our
descent via the steep slopes. Fortunately there was no exposure on this route
with lots of bushes etc to hold on to and grip your feet. After this patch it
was a quick descent down to the plateau and then back to our car.
After a short nap and tea (courtesy Farzin again J
) we went for a swim in the water pools downstream from the dam. After the swim
we reached Saraji’s house at Kumshet just before sunset. We enjoyed amazing
dinner of potatoes, Bhakri and rice rasam at his place.
Next morning we drove to Karondha base, and started the trek
in cool crisp early morning air and mild sunlight. The initial trek to Karondha
was a cakewalk with lots of shade as well. Once you are out of that the real
fun starts with steep exposed scree slopes to navigate with lots of thorny
bushes added as a bonus.
After the steep trek things cool off with a nice scenic
plateau walk towards the Konkan edge of Karondha. Of course we always had these
thorny bushes for company all throughout. Luckily this was a super clear day
for us and we could see far away mountains from Karondha. We could even spot
Prabal, Kelventeen, Chanderi, Mhasmal, Mahuli apart from usual ones like
Siddhagad, Dhakoba, Jivdhan, Naneghat, Naptha, Kaladgad etc and almost the full
Malshej range. Of course the highlight was the amazing view of Ajoba and Kathra
Kada from Karondha.
We reached Saraji’s house at around 12:30 PM. So we decided
to have lunch at his place before going to Pathechi Wadi by road. Lunch was
amazing Pithle (thick Maharashtrain
gravy), Bhakri and rice. The drive to Pethechi wadi was amazing
specially the risky shortcut jungle off road after Ambit. Lots of hairpin bends
with broken and rocky road, washed away at places and big boulders due to past
landslides. Well it was all worth it due to the amazing views of the mountains
all around.
We reached Pethechi wadi around 4 PM so trekking to Kaladgad
was out of question. So we spent time trying to find a super good campsite with
water source and amazing views J. Pethechi wadi was not an appealing village to spend
a night so we drove back a bit towards Kaladgad and pitched our tent behind
Kaladgad on a dry field. Just across the road was a big well so water point was
also sorted out. The views from the campsite were just amazing. We could see
all the mountains around Kumshet starting from Ajoba and also could see Naptha,
Ghodishep, Harishchandragad etc and the best part was the view of the amazing
forested Mula river valley.
Relaxing evening spent by the campsite making tea, watching
the orange sunset, cooking dinner, watching the amazing night sky and listening
to the Marathi songs being played in the village on event of 26 Jan
celebrations.
Next day we woke up to an amazing view around the campsite
with thin layer of fog at eye level at the mountains across the Mula river
valley on the other side. After quick tea and snacks we started for our trek to
Kaladgad. It was a steep incline but on a well used path and bits of easy rock
climbing so we reached the top within 45 mins. Nice view of the Malshej side
mountains (Naptha, Seetha Dongar, Harishchandragad, Kumshet cha Kombda,
Ghodishep etc) and Bhandardara side mountains – Ajoba, Karondha, Kathra, Muda,
Wakri, Gavaldev, Ghanchakkar, Bhairavgad and Pabargad awaited us from the top. Our
campsite as well as the amazing Mula river meandering its way through the
mountains also visible.
After enjoying the amazing view from the Kaladgad top
plateau and summit we came back to the temple and had some snacks and paid our
respects to the Bhairoba Deity. After this it was a quick descent back to the
base and after some rest and repacking we left for Panchnai. A quick lunch at
Panchnai at a simple village restaurant at the base of Harishchandragad of
Omlet, Bhurji and Dal rice and then a quick drive to Mumbai via Rajur, Ghoti and
NH3.
An amazing super fun filled trekking with old timers. Hope
to have one more in Feb as well J Cheers.
