Tuesday, February 16, 2016

चौक-मोरबे-वरोसा-हशाची पट्टी-माथेरान

“ये कर: कर्जत-चौक-मोरबे स्टेशन-वरोसा-हशाची पट्टी-माथेरान
जीव उरला तर गार्बेट उतर”

असे म्हणत गुरू ने वाट दाखवली होती

What's App वर त्याने डोळ्यात hearts असलेली smiley देऊन distance च वर्णन केलं होतं आता ते distance डोळ्यात गोटे कशे काय काढतात ते जाऊनच कळलं.

Team was Anil, Sudhindra, Tushar and Me. We caught 6.07A.M. Karjat local from Dombivli and took a Karjat- Panvel S.T. bus and alighted at Chowk village by 7.45A.M. Morbe dam’s massive wall was visible from here. All those bike rides and bus rides on this Mumbai Pune old highway had already imprinted Morbe Dam and Irshaalgad pinnacle on my mind. This time there were going to be different views from different sides.

The trail to our destination starts from the west of Morbe Dam from chowk railway station on the Irshaalgad waadi road. Just keep Morbe Dam to your right hand side and you will reach a dirt road going all the way to Varosa village, the village at the base of west side of Matheran.  This dirt road gives you a telescopic view of Irshaalgad and a panaromic view of Matheran range.

We had walked about 8K.Ms when we heard a vehicle coming behind us. It was a van. The driver offered us a lift upto village Arkaswadi. It saved our 1 to 2km walk. By now we could see Prabalgad to our west. Thanking the driver for the wavy ride we started our walk from Aarkaswaadi to Varosa. Louisa point of Matheran could be seen from here. I spotted a few tourists on the point.

It was about 10 A.M. now. Some kids guided us to get on the trail to Hashyachi Patti village. The trail climbs on the slope just north of Varosa and and curves onto a spur on the Matheran range. After climbing and exhausting my lungs out I looked behind me in the valley. It looked as if a paper was folded to make a plane and I stood on its wing. The other wing was the Prabalgad range. And there it was to my right hand side, mighty Kalavantin Durg pinnacle. With its exposed stone steps and round summit.

It filled me with hope and energy which was used to reach Hashyachi Patti plateau. On reaching the plateau we took the trail which kept Matheran to our right hand side, till we reached the village. We asked for directions and water in a house.

“कुठनं आलात पोरांनो?”,आज्जी ने विचारले.

“चौक वरून.”, मी म्हणालो.

“चालत?”

“हो”

“आग बाई, इतकं आम्ही पण नाही चालत, प्या पाणी प्या आणि सावकाश जा!”

एका दादा ला विचारलं, “ किती घरं आहेत गावात? “

तो म्हणाला, “ साठ एक असतील”

मी shock झालो. Wikimapia.org वर तर छोटसं दिसल होत गाव.

“माथेरान किती लांब आहे इथून?”, मी विचारलं

“ वीस एक kilometer असेल”, तो म्हणाला

हा, या दादा चा आकड्यांशी दो और दो पांच आहे अस conclude करून, good bye करून आम्ही निघालो.

From Hashyachi Patti a stone stepped trail will take you to Malang Point in Matheran. It was February, but we found a clean water stream which villagers said had drinking water. Me, always thirsty for mountain water had a sip. It was potable. Soon we reached Malang Point and from here we could see Chanderi( supposedly my next destination (^_-)), Mhasmal peaks and Malang range at the horizon. We took a short nap here and walked to Matheran.

माथेरान वर बघतो तर काय. Love was in the air. 14 February. Valentine day. इतके couple आयुष्यात एकत्र पाहिले न्हवते. आम्ही माकडाँ पासून( शेपटी आणि बिन शेपटी च्या) दूर अशी lunch साठी जागा शोधली आणि मस्तं, eggs, थेपले मारले.

We walked to Dasturi naaka and got a shared cab to Neral station. गार्बेट हुन उतरायला जीव न्हवता कुणाचा . “Next time”, म्हणून, trek संपवला.

6 comments :

  1. Awesome.... Hatke work done on valentine day...:-)

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  2. Hey! Nice account of the trek! I did a similar trek but from the other side of Morbe Dam. Chowk Fata-Irshalwadi-arkaswadi-Pisarnath ladder-Matheran was my route. 17kms and we were limpin by the end but it was magical in July. attempting a similar route to yours but reverse: Bhivpuri Road-Garbett-Hashyachi Patti-Chowk railway station. Can you tell me how much time did it take from hashyachi patti to Varosa?

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    Replies
    1. @nomadosauras, Thank you!, I would like to do the pirasnath ladder route myself next time.

      We went from Varosa to Hashyachi Patti in about 2 hours 30 mins. It's quite an ascent!.

      All the best

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    2. Thank you! Completed it yest! 28kms in 13.5 hours (Bhivpuri Road-Garbett-Hashyachi Patti-Arkaswadi-Nanivale-Chouk Railway stn). Do try it! :)

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    3. Sorry for Spamming your comment section but I have written a blog on this trek and credited you for helping with the details. Check it out if possible! Thanks :)
      https://nomadosauras.wordpress.com/2016/08/03/matheran-garbett-point-trek-route/

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