AMK & Sandhan Valley Trek
Forts Trekking .Rappelling / Rock climbing. Celebration.
This sums up our three day journey of the famous AMK & Sandhan Valley Treks in the Nashik range of the Sahyadris, Maharashtra.
Let me dissect the above three words for you!
Forts Trekking :
It all started with a saying “New people, new place, new experience, then you are definitely in for a new adventure!” when I signed up for this trek. Formalities at the airport by meeting the new like-minded people. Curiosity in the mind when you are travelling to a new place, especially across the coast from east to west. As per the schedule arrived at the city of dreams, Mumbai at around 1930 Hrs on Feb 22. Reached the people packed Ghatkopar railway station with a small taste of pre-trek toast, followed by the so called “Power Nap” sessions in the local train to the last station Kasara. Boarded the jeeps to reach the base camp of the AMK trek. We were briefed on the next adventures about to come by our energetic organizers as we dropped our baggage and took only a minimal backpack and not to mention about attending the nature calls. Started the trek with the headlamps and torches around 0500 Hrs when dark was still battling with the sun. Our first target was towards Alang Fort. Initial part was more of an ascent till we reached the point where the rocky terrain started.
As we progressed and was slowly losing altitude, we reached our first rappelling point. Again, stick to your basics. Wear harness, hold the rope as directed, keep your knees straight, bend on your back, pose for a couple of pictures and done. You are almost ~60 ft below in doing this. This was followed by some of rappelling without a harness, a fall here and there, scratches on the body, a little bleeding until we reached our camping point. It was hardly 1100 Hrs. Sandhan valley mission was accomplished. While some of us took a dip from the nearby so called waterfall and pond, the others had their packed lunch and started to doze off in the lap of the rocks and tree shadows. As the day advanced, we put our tents and settled down. Once we finished the dinner party, the discussion got very interesting. From ghosts to parallel universes, from dark to light, from life to death and so on. The beauty of these kind of conversations is that it expands your horizons of knowledge by knowing new people, their stories and experiences. The day ended with the pinnacle of a mountain ready to greet us the following morning. When I just closed my eyes, I thought to myself “Oh boy! That was a lot of rappelling today and too much of new information to process for my brain”.
Celebration:
After a breakfast of Maggie, packed up everything and started towards the nearby village. Reached the jeep pick up point at around 1000 Hrs, from where we were taken to a nearby village. We had a delicious lunch of both veg and non-veg in a native house. From there we started towards Asangaon railway station and reached there by 1200 Hrs. Just when I switched on my network, the first thing to hear was the demise of actress Sridevi (RIP). We boarded a train towards Ghatkopar. Now comes the best part, as we reached Ghatkopar, we immediately checked into a local bar. Sat there, had couple a of beers, uttered with heart out, laughs everywhere and boom, it was 1700 Hrs. A great time should always come to an end as we reached the airport to catch our scheduled flights back. The group was split at the airport given different departure timings. Few of us had a good time in CCD discussing on the upcoming events and future plans as some tried to become sober and some tried to stay high.(:P)
We were thrown back to our reality when we boarded our flight and returned to Chennai at 2330 Hrs.
Hope, I can also give back someday soon!
Your comments/thoughts are highly appreciated.
This sums up our three day journey of the famous AMK & Sandhan Valley Treks in the Nashik range of the Sahyadris, Maharashtra.
Let me dissect the above three words for you!
Forts Trekking :
It all started with a saying “New people, new place, new experience, then you are definitely in for a new adventure!” when I signed up for this trek. Formalities at the airport by meeting the new like-minded people. Curiosity in the mind when you are travelling to a new place, especially across the coast from east to west. As per the schedule arrived at the city of dreams, Mumbai at around 1930 Hrs on Feb 22. Reached the people packed Ghatkopar railway station with a small taste of pre-trek toast, followed by the so called “Power Nap” sessions in the local train to the last station Kasara. Boarded the jeeps to reach the base camp of the AMK trek. We were briefed on the next adventures about to come by our energetic organizers as we dropped our baggage and took only a minimal backpack and not to mention about attending the nature calls. Started the trek with the headlamps and torches around 0500 Hrs when dark was still battling with the sun. Our first target was towards Alang Fort. Initial part was more of an ascent till we reached the point where the rocky terrain started.
As we progressed and was slowly losing altitude, we reached our first rappelling point. Again, stick to your basics. Wear harness, hold the rope as directed, keep your knees straight, bend on your back, pose for a couple of pictures and done. You are almost ~60 ft below in doing this. This was followed by some of rappelling without a harness, a fall here and there, scratches on the body, a little bleeding until we reached our camping point. It was hardly 1100 Hrs. Sandhan valley mission was accomplished. While some of us took a dip from the nearby so called waterfall and pond, the others had their packed lunch and started to doze off in the lap of the rocks and tree shadows. As the day advanced, we put our tents and settled down. Once we finished the dinner party, the discussion got very interesting. From ghosts to parallel universes, from dark to light, from life to death and so on. The beauty of these kind of conversations is that it expands your horizons of knowledge by knowing new people, their stories and experiences. The day ended with the pinnacle of a mountain ready to greet us the following morning. When I just closed my eyes, I thought to myself “Oh boy! That was a lot of rappelling today and too much of new information to process for my brain”.
Celebration:
After a breakfast of Maggie, packed up everything and started towards the nearby village. Reached the jeep pick up point at around 1000 Hrs, from where we were taken to a nearby village. We had a delicious lunch of both veg and non-veg in a native house. From there we started towards Asangaon railway station and reached there by 1200 Hrs. Just when I switched on my network, the first thing to hear was the demise of actress Sridevi (RIP). We boarded a train towards Ghatkopar. Now comes the best part, as we reached Ghatkopar, we immediately checked into a local bar. Sat there, had couple a of beers, uttered with heart out, laughs everywhere and boom, it was 1700 Hrs. A great time should always come to an end as we reached the airport to catch our scheduled flights back. The group was split at the airport given different departure timings. Few of us had a good time in CCD discussing on the upcoming events and future plans as some tried to become sober and some tried to stay high.(:P)
We were thrown back to our reality when we boarded our flight and returned to Chennai at 2330 Hrs.
Hope, I can also give back someday soon!
Your comments/thoughts are highly appreciated.
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