Karnala (29th June, 2008)

While passing through the dense jungle on the Mumbai-Goa highway between Panvel and Pen, we all must have seen this weird thumb shaped pinnacle jutting out into the sky. This is the fort of Karnala, in the famous Karnala bird sanctuary.


Height: 2500 feet

Range: Panvel - Matheran

District: Raigad

Grade: Easy

History: Till 15th century, the Nizamshah had control over this fort. After that, this fort has seen many many rulers, like Shivaji, the Moghuls, Angres and the Peshwas. In 1818, Colonel Procter of the East India Company captured it, and was under the British rule till 1947. The inhabitants of this region are tribal-adivasi people who lead a simple life and have preserved their art form - The Warli paintings, for thousands of years.

Ways to Reach: Reach Panvel by local train/road. From the ST stand, catch any bus going to Alibaug or Pen and get down at the Karnala sanctuary gate.


The Climb: You have to buy an entrance ticket at the counter. Adult fare is Rs.20/-

As you enter the sanctuary, a short walk on the tar road leads to a board depicting information on the fort and the sanctuary. Here the route bifurcates. The left one goes up to the fort, the right leading into the sanctuary. The short climb over rocky route leads to a small col in about 45 mins. from here, the route turns right and leads to the plateau, where the temple of Karmaidevi is situated. From here, the route climbs up and a climb over rocky steps leads us to the entrance of the fort in about 30 mins.

Climbing time: 1 1/2 to 2 hrs

Fascinating spots: From the main entrance, the route bifurcates.

From the left, we can reach the pinnacle and the caves, where numerous water tanks are located. The tanks do not have potable water. Here, the route from the right joins from below at another gate.

Remnants of an old storage rooms are also visible.

Further beyond the pinnacle, the route leads us to 2 bastions. At the entrance of the Southermost machi, is the carving of an ancient legendary animal called "Sharabh".


Forts visible from the top: Prabal, Matheran, Irshalgad, Manikgad, Sankshi
Sometimes, on a clear day, we can also get to see the forts of Peb, Nakhind and the Mumbai Harbour (In the west).

(Prabal, Matheran and Irshalgad)

Accomodation: The caves on the top, but usually not necessary as its a one day trek.

Drinking water: The water cisterns near the remnants on the top of the fort.

Food: Carry your own food. Else, you can get food near Panvel ST Stand, the village below, or the Karnala restaurant about 10 mins walk further on the highway.

CAUTION: There are lots of bee hives present in summer months on the top of the pinnacle on the Northernmost face. Also, few bee hives are present in the caves. Utmost care must be taken by the trekkers staying in the caves not to disturb them. Also, pinnacle climbers should avoid the northern face and instead use the western or the southern face, as few accidents have occurred in tha past because of the disturbance caused to the bee hives.

Karnala Revisited
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Participants: Parag, Nishant

29th June was the big match day- The Euro 08 Final, between Germany and Spain. But I had a day to kill time, and as my earlier trek got cancelled, Nishant suggested we go for an easy one dayer to Karnala, as it would serve as a good outing in the monsoon.


So the plan was fixed, and we left early morning to Panvel. We had a heavy breakfast in the hotel near the ST Stand, packed our lunch consisting of half a dozen bananas, and hopped inside the ST going to Alibaug, before the rains could get us completely wet. Half an hour's bus ride, and we were at the entrance of the sanctuary...

I cannot describe, how awesome the air around the sanctuary smelled like.. The light drizzle, and the air was full of the aroma of the wet soil, and pierced by the occassional Tweet-tweet of the various exotic species of birds that reside here. This was going to be a trek-cum-photography practising session for us. We trodded along, capturing the occassional Moth feasting on the leaves, or the giant yellow and red crabs playing hide-n-seek, or the tiniest red or green insects that we in our everyday routine life even fail to see... We happened to pass by a group of experts, probably from the BNHS, and we got a few tips regarding the various insect species. We passed them by, and then met many other groups on the way to the top, groups consisting of naturists, or village kids, or young college girls wearing sandals with heels, and some few Germans... The plethora of the wild species coincided with that of the humans visiting this place.

As we reached the plateau, the rain started to become a bit heavy, and the cool breeze was sending a chill by the back of my neck. Finally we reached the top, and decided to explore the caves at the base of the pinnacle. We found the only dry place on the top, inside a cave near the water tank. We were soon joined by a group of kids from nearby, and as we had our banana-lunch, saw them taking a splash in the cave waters...

We decided to explore the bastions, where all the other groups were having their lunch and photo sessions. I finally managed to get a snap of a snail, which i failed to get while climbing up. After a few mins stay, we decided to return. Nishant's shoes were completely torn, and his chappals were not helping much, as we slipped our way on the slippery smooth wet red soil. Surprisingly, we found the snail, whos photograph i failed to capture while on our way to the top. Finally I did manage to get his snap :)

We reached the highway in an hour or so, and immediately got a ride in a tuk-tuk back to panvel. We had the most amazing fag session afterwards in the cool rain-struck afternoon.. and after hot teas , kothimbir vades and another round of cigs, we made our way back to the station, where luckily we got the 430 pm Andheri local train.

It was such a refreshing experience. I think, everyone should experience the nature by coming for this trek once every monsoon. Karnala and Kanheri caves in the national park are such beautiful and easily accessible places, where a person with good enough fitness can easily climb. After all, everybody needs a break from the regular mundane life.

[p.s. Germany lost to Spain 0-1 :'( :'( ]
Link to the Photo Album: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=44500&l=35347&id=670750758

Sankshi (15th June, 2008)

Height: ~800 metres

Range: Panvel region

Grade: Medium

Ways to reach: Reach Panvel by ST Bus/ Local train

From Panvel ST stand, catch a local bus going to Pen or Alibaug and get down at Chunabhatti village. From there, walk towards Balvali phata on the highway. Alternatively, one can ask the conductor if they will be able to stop the ST bus at the phata itself, as the walk is about 1 km.

From the phata, walk towards Balvali village (15-20 mins).

A single route from the village, crosses a couple of streams, a field and artificial dams and gradually climbs up to a plateau. A walk of about 10 mins and you reach the durgah of Peer Badruddin.

Then from the base of the mountain in front of the durgah, the route becomes rocky, and after a climb of an hour or so, we reach the small cave at the top. Here we can see many water cisterns.
At the final portion of the climb to the cave, we come across a narrow water pipeline. Here, the route to the left goes up steeply into the col, and should be attempted by only experienced trekkers. The route to the right, goes along the rock face. Here, the patch is full of scree and is quite windy. After a small rock patch, we reach the cave.

The route from the cave to the top should be done with proper caution, especially in the monsoon, as it is full of scree, steep and slippery. One reaches the top in about 30 mins.

Climbing time: 2 1/2 to 3 hrs



Hill forts seen: Karnala and Manikgad forts , with which Sankshi fort forms a triangle, can easily be recognized because of their peculiar shapes. On a clear day, one can also see Prabal, matheran, and Irshalgad.

Accomodation: The Balvali village at the base or the Durgah. The cave on the top can barely accomodate 2-3 people.

Food and water: Snacks and food can be arranged in the village. But as it is a one-day trek, its prudent to carry your own food and water. The tank near the cave has potable water, but the ones at the top dont. Drinking water is also available at the durgah.

History:

• 15th century - Gujrat sultan ruled over the fort
• 1540 - The Nizam captured the fort
• Gujrat sultan then recaptured it with the help of the portuguese
• 1656 - Shivaji included it in Swaraj
• 1818 - British conquered the fort

Some 400 years back, Peer badruddin came with some 500 odd followers from the middle east over here. The durgah was built after his death.

SANKSHI FORT TREK
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Participants : Parag, Shaldavya, Kiran, Vineet, Anthony, Wilson and 16 other members of Bhramanti group.

This was my second trek with Bhramanti after my Manikgad trek with them last year. We started from Andheri, Anthony was our trek leader. At Panvel, the entire group assembled and we walked towards the ST stand, about 10 mins away. The bus to alibaug was totally full, and to make matters worse, we were caught in a huge traffic jam on the Mumbai-Goa highway, just near Karnala fort. There was no sign of rain and I started perspiring like pigs...

After an hour or so, we finally managed to get out of the jam (A broken down truck in the middle of the highway had caused the jam). After getting down at the Balvali phata, we proceeded to the village, where a villager greeted us with a basketfull of Gavthi Mangoes.. They were the most succulent and tasty mangoes i had eated for a long time. There were thousands of mango trees all around us, and we were sucking on mangoes for the most part of our trek. After getting the instructions about the route, we started off and stopped at a clearing where we all introduced ourselves. I met Shaldavya, who was working in Glenmark, and was also an amateur photographer and a wild life conservist! We struck together immediately and clicked some great shots together on the trek. It was an easy gradual climb to the durgah, where we were greeted with showers for the first time. After refreshing ourselves and filling our bottles, we started our actual climb.

The climb was just like Rajmachi... rocky, and easy... but the girls in our group were having a tough time. The final climb to the cave was so windy, that everyone decided to take a break at that point. The wind was literally blowing us away from our feet, just like I had experienced it on the Chanderi trek last year. The actual fun was the final climb which was a bit dicey, and full of scree, and myself and Shaldavya were busy doing stunts and getting up a more difficult route everytime :)

At the top, there were a few village kids who were jumping up and down the tree tops like monkeys. we went to the Col, which was amazing. We had our lunch consisting of baked beans, khakras, fruits, rotis, biscuits and of course, mangoes; and we started our descent. It was slow cause many beginners were there with us. At the rock patch below the cave, a huge chunk of wet, porous rock just came into my hand. And I nearly fell to my death. I stayed back along with Anthony to guide everyone else below. At the durgah, we had another break, washed ourselves, and finally reached the base of the plateau in another hour. Shaldavya had a bad moment as he fell inside a pit at the bottom of a pit, and nearly drowned. His Fuji digital Cam though couldnt survive the fall and malfunctioned.

We reached the highway late in the evening, and there was no bus available to transport us back to Panvel. We walked to Chunabhatti village, where we had some snacks, tea and cigs before we went back to the nearest bus stop in a tuk-tuk. After waiting for nearly an hour or so, we finally got a lift from a tempo rickshaw. All 22 of us got stuffed inside the back of the tempo like goats being send to the slaughter house. The rick though couldnt handle the load, and 9 of us had to get down and walk back to the stop, while the girls and a few others went ahead. We were lucky enough to get a lift from a truck, a few mins later, and we met again at the Panvel railway station, from where we caught the train back home.


All and all, a very eventful trek, for all the incidences on and off the road. A nice beginning to the trekking season this year for me and awaiting the next one...

Link to the Photo Album: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=43451&l=bb84d&id=670750758