Ratangad Bhandardara Trek: Kalsubai Revisited

प्रस्तावना :

स्वराज्याचा मेरुमणी ,स्वराज्याच्या क्षितिजावर तळपणार्या सुर्याप्रमाणे तेजस्वी व्यक्तिमत्व ज्यांनी स्वराज्यासाठी आपलं संपूर्ण आयुष्य समर्पित केल अशा छत्रपती शिवाजी महाराजांना सादर प्रणाम करून प्रस्तावनेची सुरुवात करतो.

स्वराज्य हे काही एका दिवसात उभारलं गेल नाही कि इतक्या सहज मिळाल नाही . तलवारीचा खणखाणाट,धडधडणाऱ्या तोफांचा मारा अंगावर झेलून ,उन पाउस सोसाट्याचा वारा, कडाक्याची थंडी इत्यादी अस्मानी संकटांना सामोरे जाऊन आणि त्यावर विजय मिळवून उभे राहिले एक स्वराज्याचे तोरण . स्वराज्य अबाधित रहाव म्हणून स्वातंत्र्याचा यज्ञ कुंडात हसत आपल्या प्राणांची आहुती दिलेल्या असंख्य विरांमुळे स्वातंत्र्य टिकून राहिले आहे आणि त्याची जाणीव सह्याद्रीत डोंगर यात्रा करताना होते आणि म्हणून स्वराज्यासाठी किती कष्ट घेतले असतील हे पुस्तकात वाचण्यापेक्षा त्याचा अगदी तिळमात्र अनुभव घेण्यासाठी केलेली डोंगरयात्रा प्रस्तुत करतोय .

सह्याद्रीला हिमालयाची उंची नाही पण स्वराज्यासाठी प्राणाची बाजी लावून लढलेल्या पराक्रमी वीरांचा कथांच्या पुढे हिमालयाची उंची देखील कमी पडेल . हिमालयाला उंची आहे तर सह्याद्रीला पराक्रमाची गाथा आहे.

महाराष्ट्राची शैल सम्राज्ञी : कळसुबाई शिखर
(सर्वांना समजावे म्हणून यापुढे इंग्रजी भाषे मध्ये लेख प्रस्तुत करतोय )

Posting the photographs of my recent visit to Kalsubai

Location:

Maharashtra's Highest mountain 1650 meters/5500 feets above mean sea level is located at Bari village.

Basically Kalsubai has three base villages from Nasik district,it is Indori ( इंदोरे ) village,From Ahmednagar district,it is village Bari (बारी) and Udadavane( उडदवणे near Bhandardara backwaters)

Also from Thane district,one can climb Kalsubai but the way is very difficult and exhausting because you have to climb the difficult Sakurdi (साकुर्डी घाट ) / Chonde ghat (चोंढे घाट ) and come upto घाटघर / साम्रद, walk 10 kms to come to Udadavane and then start the climb(by this route,it can take around 10-12 hours)
From Bari village,Kalsubai is around 900+ meters in height and it takes maximum 2 to 2.5 hours to climb.From village Indori,it is around 1000 meters and if you want to climb from konkan
Right from the base village till the top most point,the climb is steep hence it takes time to climb as well as to descend.
From Bhandardara-Igatpuri road,take left at Bari village and after few distance take right instead of entering into the village.
From here,cross a stream and the climb starts from here.
Within few minutes of start,steep climb starts.A broad route takes you to a temple of Kalsubai built in Bari village.From here the climb is steep but due to dense trees,you are not affected by heat and sunlight.This dense trees continue till the first ladder.
The route is well defined hence chances of getting lost is impossible.Once reaching the first ladder,you will find steps built.
From here the climb becomes more and more steep.
Almost 70 degrees and more steep.
After climbing by first ladder,you will have steps leading till the second ladder.The second ladder is the longest one and steep one.
After climbing the second ladder,there is a small pleateau in between and again the steep climb starts and it is continued till we reach the top
After climbing from second ladder there is a water source in form of a well.The water here is very cold because here you are almost 1600 meters height.Even in bright sunshine,you will find cool breeze blowing here.
Thus in a short time from here,you reach the final ladder which takes you to the top.
Right from start till end,the climb is steep hence it is not easy trek.Also while descending it takes time.

After reaching the top,you an see many mountains right from Nasik district till Thane district.But for that,the weather needs to be clear.In clear weather it is believed that you can see forts right from Saptashringi near Nasik till Mahuli-Chanderi near Asangaon.Harishchandragad and even Nane Ghat can also be seen in clear weather.

From top,you can see a breathtaking views of Alang(1490 meters)-Madangad(1471 meters) -Kulang(1479 meters) and Mhordhan forts(1150 meters) to west and also Avandh(1370 meters)- Patta fort(1395 meters) to North,Bhandardara dam backwaters and Muda(1520 meters)-Wakri(1200 meters)-Ghanchakkar(1532 meters) mountains and Ratangad(1296 meters)-Katrabai(1403 meters)-Ajoba(1375 meters) to south.
I have deliberately given height in meters in brackets to tell that this is the area where you will find mighty mountains having lot of scope for trekkers.

ST bus timings convenient for this trek from Pune

Option 1) The Best option
Take 1:00 am Shivajinagar-Pune to Kalwan ( कळवण मार्गे संगमनेर - नाशिक ) Reaches Sangamner around 4:30 am

From Sangamner between 6:00 to 7:00 am take a bus to Kasara ( कसारा मार्गे अकोले - राजूर - घोटी - इगतपुरी ).There are 2 morning buses to Kasara from Sangamner in 30 minutes time difference You can reach Bari village around 8:30 to 9:00 am in morning by that bus.
Also note that after the 2 morning buses,there is very less bus frequency,hence it is better to reach Sangamner before 6:00 am.Also there is a Shivajinagar-Nasik-Kalwan bus around 4:30 am ,that is also best suited but instead of kasara bus,you will have to do journey in breaks by ST buses and Jeeps to reach Baari village till 10:00 am

Hence you can reach Kalsubai top from here around 11:30 to 12:00 pm and lets say even if you descend around 2:00 pm,you can reach base village around 3:30 to 4:00 pm
Hence you can reach Ghoti/Igatpuri in 1 hour from here
From Ghoti/Igatpuri,you can Reach Nasik in less than 1 hour and there are frequently available buses to Pune from Nasik.

The other option is to take Manmad-Pune train from Igatpuri around 6:30 pm and you can reach Pune by around 12:00 am.
Option 2:- for them who are in hurry and whose target is to only climb the mountain and come back the same day
Also for Bhandardara region,there are many buses available from Shivajinagar to Akole and Rajur
The first bus to Akole from Shivajinagar is around 6:30 am and you can reach Rajur around 10:30 am and from here you can get ST bus/Jeep etc to reach Bari village(You will have to reach Bari village in hurry because reaching there depends upon ST bus from Pune hence chances are that it might be late by even 1 hour also to reach till Rajur) hence you can start the trek around 11:00 am to 12:00 pm approx(There is no option other than climbing this mountain in an overhead sun) but this trek will be in little bit hurry because you can reach Kalsubai top by say 2:30 pm and get down by around 5:00 pm in base village,still you have got a chance to reach Igatpuri station and get Manmad-Pune passenger around 6:30 pm or you can reach Igatpuri and take a bus to Nasik and get bus to Pune from there.You can reach Pune around 12:00 am.

Option 3) For them who want to do a joined trek along with Kalsubai
Other option is there is an ST bus from Shivajinagar to Igatpuri around 1:30 pm afternoon which takes you to Bari village around 7:45 pm and you can make a overnight stay in village and you can start climbing the mountain early in morning and come back to base village 11:30 am -12:00 pm and you can further proceed to Alang-Kulang-Madangad trek or descend Kalsubai towards Udadavane and go to Bhandardara and can proceed to Ratangad.
But ofcourse you need to have spare time of 3 days.

Definitely this trek requires one complete day(Be it from Pune/Mumbai/Nasik).There is no shortcut for this trek to complete it fast such that you come late in morning and before sunset,you are back at home.

Also carry food with you because you will not find even a small hotel once you leave Randha falls ahead of Rajur.After Rajur,you will find hotel near Ghoti on Mumbai Nasik highway
Also carry ample amount of water with you(Minimum 3 liters per person) because other than a small well near the final ladder,there is no water source nearby

If you want to go to Igatpuri and take train to Pune,then be sure to reach Bari village before 5:00 pm.After that possibility of any ST bus going towards Igatpuri is almost zero.You will have to rely on Jeeps to reach Igatpuri before 6:30 pm to get that train.

Here are few photographs

View of Baari village while climbing Kalsubai