Panchgani Trek - Day 2

Packing up

I woke up at around 07.00 am. Sunrise had happened but the sun had not risen thanks to the surrounding mountains.



Since the water wasn't so cleaned and had large amount of silts; none had ventured into it. But in the morning Ismail couldn't resist and took a holy dip in the river Krishna.



The fire that we had lighted was kept going on; so added some fuel for breakfast. Breakfast consisted of just 1 boiled egg per person and tea. Thank goodness, we had taken eggs from the villagers yesterday.





Packing up begins with everyone collecting things. Created two large bags for gathering all wastes. Only some bio-degradable wastes were left behind; rest all was carried back.



We gave away kerosene and coal to the villagers who had helped us since it would not make nay sense to carry all that back.

Morning glory at one of the village houses:





Dung cakes being left out to dry



Also filled all our bottles with water in preparation for the ascent.

Remember, the Dhom road yesterday, Munazzir uncle had pains in his knee-joints and hence this served a boon for him. He took a lift to Wai from here.

The Ascent

The ascent begin with the most tough part of climbing the first large hill. Initially we had planned to start off by sunrise. But here we were beginning at 10.00 with the sun bright again.

Climbing the first hill was quite tough. Very regular breaks kept happening. I don't know about others but I was breathing very heavily for this part. In fact, not many clicks happened during the ascent.



The sugarcane guys somehow managed to be free from exhaustion. Probably the sugar did give them energy.

Faraz, Taha and I lost our way for the 3rd hill and hence had to pass through this dense grassy vegetation to come on the right track while the rest had nearly reached.




On the top

We reached the base point at around 13.00. Munazzir uncle was already there. He had taken lift till Wai and from there, S.T. bus to Panchgani.

At the top, everyone is cheerful and me exhausted:



Para-gliding was going on in full swing. However the steep cost upward of Rs. 1K, kept us away from trying it.

Originally we had planned to visit Mahabaleshwar too. But the exhaustion coupled with huge inflow of tourists prompted us to leave immediately. Hogged like anything at a restaurant ahead of Wai.

Reached Pune at 15.00. I set out from Pune at 16.00 and reached Vashi by 19.00.


Conclusion

This trek taught me a lot of things:

1. Overnight trek's are tougher than one day ones.
2. Himalayas is still way beyond reach. I think I should probably enroll in some mountaineering school before even thinking of it. ( No, was not planning some snow-clad peaks; just Valley of Flowers)
3. I enjoyed trekking part the most. But at night time it gets somewhat boring since there isn't anything you can do at such a place.
4. Plan about bedding properly; this was summer so it wasn't so bad.
5. Have a guide.

Characters in this trek

Trek Initiator & Guide: Faraz

Coolie # 1: Ismail (for carrying 8 chickens)

Most spirited man: Luqman

Superman & Coolie # 2: Taha (helped in almost every task and was carrying coal)

Front-runner: Ifraheem (for leading for most part of the trek)

Nano Schumacher: Munazzir (cruising his Nano along the ghat)

Photographers: Israel & Me 


Link to the photo album: Panchgani Trek Photos