This was my first trek with Rock Climbers. Mona, Nishita & her better half decided to join me (all Trek Mates) for this trek along with other awesome fun loving croud.
The route to Gorakhgad starts from behind the temple. We start climbing a small hillock with zig-zag routes and reach the top of the first plateau. Whilst climbing one could see the vast plains of the Konkan covered with mist and a few glimpses of smoke rising from the various villages scattered all around the plains. To our utter surprise, a dog (belonging to the temple area) accompanied us right upto Gorakhgad & back. Something unusual but some trekkers have experienced such activity in their past treks.
The climb from the first plateau onwards to the second one is a bit tricky as one has to climb thru several patches of severe scree (loose rock & mud) Nevertheless, all our members manage to safely pass thru and reach the second plateau. This is at the base of the hill and one can spot the temple on top of Gorakhgad fort and a flag fluttering in high wind. We took a 15min break here admiring the beauty of the valley that lies between Gorakhgad & Siddhagad. One can also spot the….. Lingi just below the second plateau of Siddhagad.
Moving further on, we now pass thru dense vegetation traversing the hill and reach a point where one can spot some stone formations (large stone slabs kept…….). There is a route going down the hill from here and if one intends to go to Siddhagad from Gorakhgad without going to Narivali then he can take this route.
The Rock face with steep stairs is the difficult part of our trek starts from here. We have to climb a 50deg rock patch (about 50ft), with steps cut on it. We cautiously climb this one and reach an entrance with a rocky staircase inside (Like Peth & Harihar). We reach a small flat area and now encounter a larger rock patch with steps like the previous one. One starts climbing this patch by getting on the steps and then circumvent the rock cautiously (there are a few holds in this area for stability). Most of the steps have niches so that one can climb them with utmost care & ease. We now reach a flat surface and move towards the right side of the hill. On the way we encounter a few tanks with some holding water and some dry. The water in these tanks are not potable. As we move on we reach a large cave which can easily accomadate about 50 people. We offload our bags here. The view from here is excellent. On the right side one can spot Naneghat, Jivdhan and the entire range with it's various coloumns jutting out and on the left side the vast Konkan plains.
The main attraction however is the deadly pinnacle of Machinndra right in front. It's quite an awesome sight from here.We rested a while in the caves and were briefed about the historic importance of Gorakhgad. We were also treated to some extraordinary talent by some of the members which included singing Kishore Kumar hit songs. After staying there for about 45min we decided to climb up to the top most point of the fort.
Final Rock PatchFrom the cave, we move further on walking over the rock, crossing 3 water tanks (the second tank is clean and has good potable water). We traverse a bit and reach the back of the fort. From here one can see a flight of steps carved in the rock. The look of it is quite deadly as these steps are about 2ft in size and there is total exposure on one side. To reach the steps one has do some free climbing over a rock-patch of about 8ft and then move on cautiously on the steps. The steps move on and at one point it takes a sharp U-turn. At this point has to be extremely careful we then climb on and reach the top of the hill. This climb takes about 10-15min depending upon one's speed.
The area on top is quite small with a small temple of Gorakhsanath and a flag fixed adjacent to it. There is a small statue of Nandi here and Gorakshanath Templea Lingi inside the temple. The view from here is excellent as we can now see the top of Machinndra Pinnacle, Naneghat, Jivdhan and the entire range upto Siddhagad. We all prayed at the temple, while some of the members chanted the Ganesh aarti. After spending about 0.5 hrs on top we returned back to the cave. To prevent any mishaps a 20ft rope was put along the steps especially near the U-turn. The entire group reached the cave safely. We then sat down for a sumptuous lunch comprising of Theplas, sandwiches, cakes & fruits. The time was now 3pm and after taking rest for about 0.5 hrs we started our returned journey. We had a good time at the scree patch leading to the first plateau as most of us slid down the scree and everyone's pants turned brown. The entire group reached the base temple by around 5pm. At the temple we had post trek session where all the members shared their experiences on the trek. Nishita was praised for completing the trek with a severe back pain and Purvi for not giving up in spite of her shoe soul flapping at every step.
We walked down the road to Dehri village. After a quick snack we got into the mini van bound for Mumbai. I reached home by 11:30pm.
The route to Gorakhgad starts from behind the temple. We start climbing a small hillock with zig-zag routes and reach the top of the first plateau. Whilst climbing one could see the vast plains of the Konkan covered with mist and a few glimpses of smoke rising from the various villages scattered all around the plains. To our utter surprise, a dog (belonging to the temple area) accompanied us right upto Gorakhgad & back. Something unusual but some trekkers have experienced such activity in their past treks.
The climb from the first plateau onwards to the second one is a bit tricky as one has to climb thru several patches of severe scree (loose rock & mud) Nevertheless, all our members manage to safely pass thru and reach the second plateau. This is at the base of the hill and one can spot the temple on top of Gorakhgad fort and a flag fluttering in high wind. We took a 15min break here admiring the beauty of the valley that lies between Gorakhgad & Siddhagad. One can also spot the….. Lingi just below the second plateau of Siddhagad.
Moving further on, we now pass thru dense vegetation traversing the hill and reach a point where one can spot some stone formations (large stone slabs kept…….). There is a route going down the hill from here and if one intends to go to Siddhagad from Gorakhgad without going to Narivali then he can take this route.
The Rock face with steep stairs is the difficult part of our trek starts from here. We have to climb a 50deg rock patch (about 50ft), with steps cut on it. We cautiously climb this one and reach an entrance with a rocky staircase inside (Like Peth & Harihar). We reach a small flat area and now encounter a larger rock patch with steps like the previous one. One starts climbing this patch by getting on the steps and then circumvent the rock cautiously (there are a few holds in this area for stability). Most of the steps have niches so that one can climb them with utmost care & ease. We now reach a flat surface and move towards the right side of the hill. On the way we encounter a few tanks with some holding water and some dry. The water in these tanks are not potable. As we move on we reach a large cave which can easily accomadate about 50 people. We offload our bags here. The view from here is excellent. On the right side one can spot Naneghat, Jivdhan and the entire range with it's various coloumns jutting out and on the left side the vast Konkan plains.
The main attraction however is the deadly pinnacle of Machinndra right in front. It's quite an awesome sight from here.We rested a while in the caves and were briefed about the historic importance of Gorakhgad. We were also treated to some extraordinary talent by some of the members which included singing Kishore Kumar hit songs. After staying there for about 45min we decided to climb up to the top most point of the fort.
Final Rock PatchFrom the cave, we move further on walking over the rock, crossing 3 water tanks (the second tank is clean and has good potable water). We traverse a bit and reach the back of the fort. From here one can see a flight of steps carved in the rock. The look of it is quite deadly as these steps are about 2ft in size and there is total exposure on one side. To reach the steps one has do some free climbing over a rock-patch of about 8ft and then move on cautiously on the steps. The steps move on and at one point it takes a sharp U-turn. At this point has to be extremely careful we then climb on and reach the top of the hill. This climb takes about 10-15min depending upon one's speed.
The area on top is quite small with a small temple of Gorakhsanath and a flag fixed adjacent to it. There is a small statue of Nandi here and Gorakshanath Templea Lingi inside the temple. The view from here is excellent as we can now see the top of Machinndra Pinnacle, Naneghat, Jivdhan and the entire range upto Siddhagad. We all prayed at the temple, while some of the members chanted the Ganesh aarti. After spending about 0.5 hrs on top we returned back to the cave. To prevent any mishaps a 20ft rope was put along the steps especially near the U-turn. The entire group reached the cave safely. We then sat down for a sumptuous lunch comprising of Theplas, sandwiches, cakes & fruits. The time was now 3pm and after taking rest for about 0.5 hrs we started our returned journey. We had a good time at the scree patch leading to the first plateau as most of us slid down the scree and everyone's pants turned brown. The entire group reached the base temple by around 5pm. At the temple we had post trek session where all the members shared their experiences on the trek. Nishita was praised for completing the trek with a severe back pain and Purvi for not giving up in spite of her shoe soul flapping at every step.
We walked down the road to Dehri village. After a quick snack we got into the mini van bound for Mumbai. I reached home by 11:30pm.
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