Trek to Harishchandragad is a dream trek on the itinerary of every avid trekker who loves Sahyadri’s and likes to explore the beauty of nature around him. This trek was on bang on schedule due to some advance planning and the enthusiasm that creeps in when you go for the first time for a two day trek.
29th and 30th December, the dates that were fixed as we wanted to avoid the new year partygoers rush and wanted to trek only in winter to avoid any risk of getting slipped on a treacherous rocky path that we will shortly be encountering on the path to summit.
Pre-planning- Scanning google earth for all the information and landmarks as we were going without a guide. Get a big bag such that you have enough supplies for two days. This made our bags really heavy. No plans to cook on the top (we are not bad cooks) Necessary enquiries from friends about their trek to the same place.
29th Dec:
5.30 a.m.- I and Sushrut arrived on time below our building and still no news of our third companion, Angad. This is usual thing. His bag was small and packing it was proving tedious job for him. Finally, we left our building at 6.05 a.m.
We got a 2*2 semi-luxury bus to Kubhi phata much to my satisfaction and I took extra precaution not to sit with Sushrut in the bus.
8:35 a.m.- The conductor of the bus forgot that there were passengers on board to be dropped at Kubhi phata and when I informed him about our presence, he dropped us at the middle of NH-222. We walked down to the wall of the dam. It was a long walk, four kilometres to Kireshwar. We were praying that we get a lift from passing vehicle but it was difficult even to spot a man walking on the wall of Pimpalgaon dam. This is the place where ‘Bingo’ effect took place on me. Cold wind was blowing over the dam and I was sweating profusely due to sweater and the heavy back pack. Couldn’t decide whether to remove my sweater and monkey cap as the wind was harsh and the sweat was trickling inside. A perfect recipe for getting cold on the trek. After completing more than half way, we got a lift from a tractor. The ride was bumpy, Angad and Sushrut bore the brunt sitting on the top of tractor. I tripped while getting down the tractor. Not a big deal! A slightly peeled off right hand. We ate ‘garam’ poha which had not so hot green chillies which tasted fine in the cold morning at a nearby hotel.
10:49 a.m.- The trek started bang on time. The gradient of slope was not so steep and time passed quickly till we reached Tolar Khind. Khind is narrow strip of land between two mountains. We had refreshing lime juice here.
12.45p.m.- we started to climb the rocky patch after Tolar khind. It was the most challenging part of the trek. The rocky patch is steep at some places coupled with loose soil at some places. Never look down while climbing this patch. 600 feet plunge awaits you if you take a wrong step anywhere. Villagers have installed iron poles on the patch but they too vibrate due to heavy gush of wind due to narrow gap between the mountains. Be careful in every step that you take while climbing this patch. It requires effort and concentration while climbing this patch. It took one hour to clear this patch.
2.00 p.m.- We cleared the patch and ate boiled eggs on a small thatched roof shelter with the view of dam and Kireshwar village form the top. Awesome view from here! We took a wrong turn and we were a bit lost as the path ended and frantic use of GPS and GPRS made us realize we took a wrong turn and turned back and here we wasted our 20 minutes. Back on correct path, shouting ‘arrow baba ki jai’ we were cruising towards the main temple on Harishchandragad. We knew that we had to climb seven small mountains but the magnitude of going up and down four times drained our whole energy. A small pit stop on the route and we got clear view of temple complex around 3:45 p.m. and we were so relieved to see the caves in which we were going to spend our night. We misjudged the time required the time required from rocky patch till the temple complex and were really exhausted climbing the small seven mountains
4.00 p.m.- We ate our home packed lunch and visited the temple of Lord Shiva. The temple is beautifully carved and artistic impressions of Hindu mythology were clearly seen carved on the rocks. One group of around 8 people was stationed inside the caves of the temple complex. We dropped our plan to see sunset on Konkan Kada as we were tired and decided to see it the next day’s morning.
6.00 p.m.- Hot tea by a cook who was stationed near Ganesh guha, the cave at which we were staying for the night. We were surprised to see a family of four with whom we would be sharing the cave. The family consisted of cute little twins. The time passed quickly looking at the dark sky above our head. The stars were shining brightly and we were unable to guess any of the star formations. Wish we had an Android phone and the cool app that points out the star formation when phone camera is pointed at the star formation.
9.00 p.m- We took to sleep. The cave has a bit rough surface and adjusting our bed sheets on the surface was a big pain. I tried very hard to sleep but the rough surface was not the normal one that we sleep in our home. Really the tiles of your home are more comfortable to sleep than the surface at the cave. I slept at around 1.00 a.m only to be woken up by hard surface 3 times. Finally the next day dawned.
30th December:
7:30 a.m.- We set off to Konkan Kada. We trekked all way to see Konkan Kada. Missing this point is like your 5 hour trek is worthless. A small 25 minute walk takes you to this beautiful point. We were breathless seeing the concave mountain and we looked like small specs on the huge concave mountain. The sheer depth of the valley below us was simply awesome and a must see place on earth. You bend and look how you are standing on the patch which is hollow below you. Amazing place to be on this huge round earth. The experience standing here was extraordinary and the feelings can’t be described here. We could also see the tough ‘Nali chi vat’, another trekking route to Harishchandragad. We bid adieu to this place here and started to trek down towards Tolar Khind. One last look at the temple area and started our way back. We ate bread jam and bread butter near a small stream before rocky patch.
11.50 a.m.- We started to descend the rocky patch. It required lot of concentration and the loose soil at some places made the matter worse. Though I was afraid at some places on the rocky patch, I managed to go past all the tough patches where we all were really scared. Finally we made it to the bottom of the patch and I was overwhelmed by joy that I did it!
1:30 p.m.- We started to descend with very good speed and were at the base village by 3. We had a small lunch and walked back to NH-222. Luckily we got a 3*2 bus whose fare was 18 Rs. cheaper than the 2*2 bus.
We headed back home with a bagful of memories and loads of experience to be cherished in our mind.
Photos of the trek can be viewed at
29th and 30th December, the dates that were fixed as we wanted to avoid the new year partygoers rush and wanted to trek only in winter to avoid any risk of getting slipped on a treacherous rocky path that we will shortly be encountering on the path to summit.
Pre-planning- Scanning google earth for all the information and landmarks as we were going without a guide. Get a big bag such that you have enough supplies for two days. This made our bags really heavy. No plans to cook on the top (we are not bad cooks) Necessary enquiries from friends about their trek to the same place.
29th Dec:
5.30 a.m.- I and Sushrut arrived on time below our building and still no news of our third companion, Angad. This is usual thing. His bag was small and packing it was proving tedious job for him. Finally, we left our building at 6.05 a.m.
We got a 2*2 semi-luxury bus to Kubhi phata much to my satisfaction and I took extra precaution not to sit with Sushrut in the bus.
8:35 a.m.- The conductor of the bus forgot that there were passengers on board to be dropped at Kubhi phata and when I informed him about our presence, he dropped us at the middle of NH-222. We walked down to the wall of the dam. It was a long walk, four kilometres to Kireshwar. We were praying that we get a lift from passing vehicle but it was difficult even to spot a man walking on the wall of Pimpalgaon dam. This is the place where ‘Bingo’ effect took place on me. Cold wind was blowing over the dam and I was sweating profusely due to sweater and the heavy back pack. Couldn’t decide whether to remove my sweater and monkey cap as the wind was harsh and the sweat was trickling inside. A perfect recipe for getting cold on the trek. After completing more than half way, we got a lift from a tractor. The ride was bumpy, Angad and Sushrut bore the brunt sitting on the top of tractor. I tripped while getting down the tractor. Not a big deal! A slightly peeled off right hand. We ate ‘garam’ poha which had not so hot green chillies which tasted fine in the cold morning at a nearby hotel.
10:49 a.m.- The trek started bang on time. The gradient of slope was not so steep and time passed quickly till we reached Tolar Khind. Khind is narrow strip of land between two mountains. We had refreshing lime juice here.
12.45p.m.- we started to climb the rocky patch after Tolar khind. It was the most challenging part of the trek. The rocky patch is steep at some places coupled with loose soil at some places. Never look down while climbing this patch. 600 feet plunge awaits you if you take a wrong step anywhere. Villagers have installed iron poles on the patch but they too vibrate due to heavy gush of wind due to narrow gap between the mountains. Be careful in every step that you take while climbing this patch. It requires effort and concentration while climbing this patch. It took one hour to clear this patch.
2.00 p.m.- We cleared the patch and ate boiled eggs on a small thatched roof shelter with the view of dam and Kireshwar village form the top. Awesome view from here! We took a wrong turn and we were a bit lost as the path ended and frantic use of GPS and GPRS made us realize we took a wrong turn and turned back and here we wasted our 20 minutes. Back on correct path, shouting ‘arrow baba ki jai’ we were cruising towards the main temple on Harishchandragad. We knew that we had to climb seven small mountains but the magnitude of going up and down four times drained our whole energy. A small pit stop on the route and we got clear view of temple complex around 3:45 p.m. and we were so relieved to see the caves in which we were going to spend our night. We misjudged the time required the time required from rocky patch till the temple complex and were really exhausted climbing the small seven mountains
4.00 p.m.- We ate our home packed lunch and visited the temple of Lord Shiva. The temple is beautifully carved and artistic impressions of Hindu mythology were clearly seen carved on the rocks. One group of around 8 people was stationed inside the caves of the temple complex. We dropped our plan to see sunset on Konkan Kada as we were tired and decided to see it the next day’s morning.
6.00 p.m.- Hot tea by a cook who was stationed near Ganesh guha, the cave at which we were staying for the night. We were surprised to see a family of four with whom we would be sharing the cave. The family consisted of cute little twins. The time passed quickly looking at the dark sky above our head. The stars were shining brightly and we were unable to guess any of the star formations. Wish we had an Android phone and the cool app that points out the star formation when phone camera is pointed at the star formation.
9.00 p.m- We took to sleep. The cave has a bit rough surface and adjusting our bed sheets on the surface was a big pain. I tried very hard to sleep but the rough surface was not the normal one that we sleep in our home. Really the tiles of your home are more comfortable to sleep than the surface at the cave. I slept at around 1.00 a.m only to be woken up by hard surface 3 times. Finally the next day dawned.
30th December:
7:30 a.m.- We set off to Konkan Kada. We trekked all way to see Konkan Kada. Missing this point is like your 5 hour trek is worthless. A small 25 minute walk takes you to this beautiful point. We were breathless seeing the concave mountain and we looked like small specs on the huge concave mountain. The sheer depth of the valley below us was simply awesome and a must see place on earth. You bend and look how you are standing on the patch which is hollow below you. Amazing place to be on this huge round earth. The experience standing here was extraordinary and the feelings can’t be described here. We could also see the tough ‘Nali chi vat’, another trekking route to Harishchandragad. We bid adieu to this place here and started to trek down towards Tolar Khind. One last look at the temple area and started our way back. We ate bread jam and bread butter near a small stream before rocky patch.
11.50 a.m.- We started to descend the rocky patch. It required lot of concentration and the loose soil at some places made the matter worse. Though I was afraid at some places on the rocky patch, I managed to go past all the tough patches where we all were really scared. Finally we made it to the bottom of the patch and I was overwhelmed by joy that I did it!
1:30 p.m.- We started to descend with very good speed and were at the base village by 3. We had a small lunch and walked back to NH-222. Luckily we got a 3*2 bus whose fare was 18 Rs. cheaper than the 2*2 bus.
We headed back home with a bagful of memories and loads of experience to be cherished in our mind.
Photos of the trek can be viewed at
Harishchandragad
