Sudhagad Trek

Type of Location:	Hill Fort
Fort Condition:	Dilapidated
Height:	590 metres
Nearest Town:	Pali (10km from Nagothane)
Travel Time:	2.5 hours from Panvel
Base points	Pachhapur	Dhondse
Distance from Pali:	13km	12km
Difficulty Level:	Easy	Somewhat Difficult
Trek Time:	2 hours	3 hours
Route:	Stairway	Forests and Rocks
Suitable For:	Monsoon Trek	Adventure

Tips:

1. Carry water with you. Water is available at the top but not potable.
2. There is an partially open structure that can be used to rest and if you plan to stay overnight (about 75 people). However it won't help in monsoon.
3. There is a temple that can accomodate about 20 people for staying.
4. Dhondse route is difficult and quite tiring. Trek only in winter and carry lots of liquids (juices, milkshakes, glucose).
5. It is much more convenient to have your own vehicle. It isn't much costly to hire one either. Better not depend on public transport

Our Adventure (3rd Jan 2009):

Our trek was quite exhaustive and tiring (and maybe even frustrating for some). But, I think if we would not have travelled through the route, our trek would not have been so enjoyable.

We started on our trek at 10.45am (Ya, I know that's pretty late, but there were lots of issues that led to this) from Dhondse village (We were scheduled to go through the easier route of Pachhapur, but lost our way. And this was not the last time we were going to lose our way.).

Next we crossed the waterless Datpadi riverbed (and deviated from the straight path to lose our way again.), passed through small uncultivated fields.

Not finding any proper path to reach the top, we had to move up a small hill with moderate amount of vegetation. Although this was enjoyable little did we know that this was going to be the trailer before the big picture.

We started ascending though smoothened large rocks (looked like volcanic in origin).

We found a trail and assumed it to be the route to Sudhagad.

Next was a decidious forests (I assume it to be decidious because this was the winter season and most tress had shed their leaves) for about 200-250 metres.

Further ahead was a grassy field for about 200 metres.

Uptill this point the sun shone brightly on our heads and was tiring us. It was about 11.45 am by now.

After this, the real adventure began. We entered an Evergreen forest. The forest was quite cool and the lack of direct sunlight was most welcome.

We continued following the trail through the forests.

The trail was broken at various points due to the now empty waterfalls.

And suprisingly there was absolutely no wildlife spotted. Forget about mammals, we couldn't even see any birds or insects.

Similarly, there was only one variety of some lavender coloured flower throughout the way.

Travelling through the forest was perhaps the best part of the trek. (I meant the forest only, not the rock climbing part).

At about 12.30, the ascent begins:

How much more to go ???

breaks like these were common (infact every 5 mins)

False Victory # 1: When we looked at these first man-made structures; we thought we were near.

We found a new model

and 2 master photographer's. Thanks to Swati and Dileena for clicking pictures of everything that was possible to click.

and 3 Smith's agents' (straight out of Matrix)

False Victory # 2: A small entrance and some steps.

The best photograph (bcoz Swati not there)

The best photograph (with Swati. I have no idea what my hands are potraying. Blame it on short-term memory loss.)
Note: Short-term Memory Loss - Due to the physical fatigue, hardly anyone could remember what they had seen a few minutes ago

The Hill next-door


False Victory # 3: Fort Walls and Mahadarwaza




No idea what dance the two guys in the background are doing.



Finally on the top. Around 2.15 pm. We took around 3.5 hours for the climb.



Views from the top









The place where we rested. (can also be used for overnight stay)








A flavour-some tea break (I meant the flavour of the water used in making tea).



4pm: Going back. Initially, it was a breeze while descending; but a little later we had gone crazy of stones.





There was scarcity of water because the water at the top wasn't exactly potable.
Not many photos were clicked on the return journey as all photographers had lost all interest in it.

All everyone wanted to do was drink.

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