I had been blessed with a baby boy on 7th dec'2007 and since Meenal my wife was at her mother's place and year end
was longgg weekend. We decided to go for a long trek. First we started with shortlisting which forts should be undertaken under this trek. Finally after long discussions we zeroed down to "Rasal-Sumar-Mahipat" trio. We had never trekked in this region and the more we read about it the more we were fascinated with this trek. Then started gathering troops for this mission, many of our friends showed initial interest and as the D-day arrived people started backing out. Finally we were left with the 3 musketeers; Kathya me and Satya. Now it was all up to us, we had to show some character and conquer these forts.Till date me and kathya have trekked many forts based upon information we can gather about through various trekking books and Internet. This was totally new region for us, we gathered basic information made our trekking checklist to be carried and shared amongst ourselves.
Since we started earning well trekking using ST buses had become rare so we decided this time we wont hire any private transport instead use public transport. Actually looking at the count of our battalion using public transport made sense. Honestly i like using ST bus, it gives the core feeling of the trek. It was decided that on 29th December morning we would catch ST bus for Khed. Kathya had done all the reservations part and confirmed that we should gather at Swargate stand by 6.00 am. All the required ration and survival equipments for 3 days were done previous day. It involved from utensils and grocery items like rice, maggi, onions, garlic paste, oil etc etc etc.
Sharp 6.00 o'clock me and kathya met at Swargate ready to board our flight to the war zone. It has never happened that trek is a smooth sailing...Satya woke up late at the time he should have been there at the bus stand. Kathya was worried that we might miss this bus and reservations would go down the drain. Some miracle was necessary for us to catch this bus...with satya along. Miracle do happen don't know the exact reason but the bus was delayed by 30 min, giving sufficient time for satya to travel. Finally we
boarded the bus with Satya making it "on time". It was nice early winter morning, the air really cold and we started enjoying the travel right from here.It was nearly 6 hours journey to Khed via Mahad-Poladpur. There was a brief stop at each depot where we could grab a tea. By 11.30 we reached Khed and satya gave us a good news, somehow in the morning he had forgotten his shoes carry bag on Swargate bus stand. What a start! We were to trek these 3 mighty forts with satya on sandals. Now we went on shopping spree, there were few items missing from our checklist. kathya went to market to buy these things; me and satya started out to buy him new pair of shoes. For110 kgs Satya, finding him descent pair of shoes was not going to be easy task. Especially considering Khed as a market place. Finally after browsing through couple of shops we were able to find Satya pair of shoes which fit him and also matched his fashion statement. Next bus for the base village of nimani or Rasalwadi was due in 30 mins. We boarded that bus, it was a typical ST bus which runs in Kokan. The bus platform is all red with the color of kokan dust. About and hours journey through beautiful kokan, nice small houses with small gardens adding to the beauty, with backdrop of mountains and greenery it was view to watch. During journey satya tried to befriend couple of school children, he thought they were happy and enjoying the conversation but looking at their faces it was evident that they were scared of this gentle giant.
We reached the base camp, took of our bags and started walking through the village after getting directions to reach the fort. Thanks to excellent network of ST buses we already had climbed 75% of altitude. At one house a old lady offered us water, god bless her. But soon her view or perception towards us was about to change. There were chickens roaming around the house and kathya just couldn't resist the temptation of having one for tonight dinner. I told him it was a bad idea but still he decided to give it a try, he casually asked the lady is the chicken for sale? Furious with his question she shouted its not for sale as food and walked inside the house. Leaving me and satya laughing like hell over her reaction. We navigated through houses and reached the tar road which takes you about and km and leaves at the foot of Rasalgad. From here its a 15 min traverse and you can see the main entrance of the fort. It was hardly we had walked for about 45 mins and the heavy duo decided that it was a time for break. Tried to urge them to continue and we will rest once we reach the temple. Hell no...they gave excuse look at this view that view enjoy the nature its not a race etc etc. Finally majority wins and i had to wait too.
After drinking water and getting refreshed we started our march again and it was just 10 mins again they took a halt at the main en
trance. Now this time it was different excuse; time for some photography. Shot them...(using my camera of course) and then again the procession continued. Fortunately this time they didn't take any breaks and managed to walk continuously for 15 min till we reached the temple. Superb amazing were the words that we could use to express the view. The temple was old fashioned built using rocks and huge wooden logs, two water tanks by the side and excellent landscape view in the front. This forts mountain range runs parallel along with Mahabaleshwar range, you can see Madhumakrandgad, peaks like Chakdev and Parvat. Huge valley divided these two ranges, what an amazing view. Rested our shoulders, put our sacks into the temple and relaxed on the porch. No one spoke for minutes we were just trying to capture the nature as much as we can...falling short of words 
to describe the view. Maybe a regular writer can put exact words to describe the view. Satya announced he was very tried after a long and gruesome journey on the first day itself and will take a Shorrrrt nap? Leaving the kumbhakaran inside kathya and we were discussing about different forts identifying the peaks/forts. It was about time that sun would start his return journey, we needed to gather as much wood as we can for the dinner and campfire may be in the late night. There were ample dry branches and small logs enough for us. By the time we came back, His Highness had woken up and appreciated our due diligence in making his stay comfortable.
Soon we were getting ready with preparation of our one course dinner, a very simple menu we had chosen from the menu card; It was going to be mixed veg rice!! We had our ingredients ready, appraisals were already done and i was promoted to main chef who would look after delivering the project dinner on time. I managed to cook rice with onions and potatoes mixed in it, it smelled delicious and so did it tasted. Heavy duo appreciated the efforts and in return allowed me to eat some portion of rice. With our stomachs full we went out and sat near the Deepmal discussing about tomorrows action plan. The sky was full of stars and with cold wind blowing it was heavens out there!
It was early morning, one person from village came to carry rituals towards the Goddess Zholaimata. Woke up his religious recitals i went out to catch glimpse of the rising sun. On forts i really enjoy the rising as well as setting sun. Every phase of 24
hours is a pleasure in itself. After some time His Highness and his capable assistant woke up. Morning tea was assigned to kathya and he did wonderful job. Sipping hot tea with nice cool morning on fort is a such a relaxing experience. We made maggi for breakfast, meanwhile we managed to get information about route to Sumargad. It was a not a simple trek as to reach Sumargad we had to cross 4-5 mountains/hills and travel through bit dense vegetation. The guide was decided and he would take us to sumargad. I realised that my sack was torn at back and there was no way i could carry with this damage. The guide offered us to take at his home and try something out there. With nylon thread and huge needle was able to carry the hot fix and release a patch for trek. FYI the sack still carries that hot fix till date...after all the stress and load testing done for last 3 years.We started for Sumargad around 10.30, what started as small hill climbing become really breath taking just after an hour walk. we were climbing up and down the range and still there was no sight of the fort. Heavy duo was all exhausted they found difficult to keep up with the villages. Urban living species cant beat these rural people, they are so well adapted to daily physical efforts. We go to gym to do some exercise to keep out body fit, while in remote places like these its a daily routine like we drive bike or car everyday. En route the guide
duo told us some stories of a leopard taking a calf 15 days ago and how a boy ran after it with a stick in his hand and then rest of villagers joined the rescue operation. But alas the calf was not saved and they had to live with it. After 3 hours of full efforts and with only 3 bottles of water remaining we were near Sumargad. The guide informed us that this is not the right time to climb the fort, the grass on the rock patch is risky during this period. They prefer summer as they burn the grass and make the climb. Sumargad is famous for its rock patch and the exposure of the climb. Finally taking the locals word of honour we decided to respect there expertise. It was mutually decided that we would now trek all the way to Mahipatgad and skip our stay at Sumargad. Now it was some 4 hours journey till Mahipatgad.With sun shining on our heads with its full fiery heat it was going to be a tough job reaching Mahipatgad. The guide was asking us to hurry as they had to travel back to the village before the sun sets and considering the possibilities of encounter with wild life like it was more tough task ahead of them than us. Satya was all exhausted, the guide offered to take his bag and let satya walk without any load. Still satya was finding it tough to walk, with little water to spare for the rest of journey. I had managed to save one bottle of water with some gluconD in it. It was life
saver for us and with that fuel we managed to reach base of Mahipatgad. We talked in office the water is just few steps away and we never realize the importance of easy availability of water around. At base we saw a man with his cattle near a water hole. We asked whether its drinking water he said yes it is...we sprinted towards the water (with the exertion it was really not a sprint...but sort of sprint) We saw him washing his feet in the water and were reluctant to drink that water so to confirm again we asked him. He pointed to small water reservoir few metres away, that was potable water. It simply tasted delicious...greedily we drank as much water as we could. The guide pair bid us adieu and started there journey back. It took us nearly 7.5 hrs to reach here and they were planning to cover it within 3 hrs...amazing fitness!The shepherd took to his home, gave us tea and showed us way to the fort.
Mahipatgad stretches few
kms, its huge fort with dense vegetation/forest on the fort. Its very easy to get lost on the fort. He gave us some pointers as to how to reach the temple. He agreed to see us tomorrow morning on the fort and then discuss future plans. He told us that the temple has light so all we had to do was follow the electricity poles and it will lead us to the temple. Sounds simple but it was not...with this simple direction we lost twice. The fort is really covered with trees and shrubs and to add to the misery it was already evening, we had only 45-50 min to find our destination before the last hope of light sets on us. Finally we managed to locate this temple. Its actually situated deep into dense forest with small hillocks covering it. There was small water well full of potable water, it was right in front of the temple. Mahipatgad was totally different from Rasalgad, Rasalgad had open view and Mahipat was enclosed with trees making it more mysterious and honestly to get 
afraid of. As we settled down a nearby villager who had seen us climbing the fort, came back to check on us whether we had reached safely or not. We casually asked him any wildlife here...he said yes, there are wild boars and leopards on the fort. Yesterday only he saw two leopards roaming on the hill...just above the temple. Like 200ft from temple. Adding to more potential threat he informed us...to be precise scared us by telling that normally all wild life do come to this well to drink water. Lord save us...good the temple had iron railings to close it in night. The gentleman wished us luck and said he will come back in morning (as if to check we are alive). With sun already set behind those mountain and trees, it was time we prepare our dinner as early as possible. We were happy to see that the temple had electricity, but our celebrations lasted minutes as we discovered that though there was electricity the bulb was missing. This meant it the only source of light in this dense forest would be candles and my head torch. As we were cutting onions and potatoes we had kept our food and ration near the stones where we planned to cook. There was some noise someone fidgeting with our stuff. kathya was damn scared and he started shouting from 
temple door...satya and i could not control laughing over this. We took torch and check it was mice who was asking for some share. We quickly made the initial arrangements and in terms of safety moved our kitchen near to the temple. We didn't care if any one in the morning scolds us for this...safety first.We were able to prepare our dinner and finish it off as early as possible. It was wind blowing through the trees, we were in temple surrounded by many local species. It reminded me of description from Hounds of Baskervillie's. I guess Kathy was the most frightened person amongst 3 of us. In the night he had to pee and was too afraid to go out and pee. Seriously the night stay at Mahipatgad was a experience in itself. We managed to survive through the night and in morning the fear had disappear along with the night's darkness.
As promised the villager
joined us in morning i am sure he was glad to see us alive. We made some breakfast and kathya made amazing tea...it was the best performance he had ever given. The guide agreed to take us down to the base village of Dahivali from where we could catch bus to khed. We agreed to pay him Rs.150 for his valuable service. Its nice trek while descending down Mahipat. It took us 3 hrs and 5 bottles of water to reach Dahivali, while our guide didnt sip a single drop of water. On reaching Dahivali the guide complained of bit of chest pain and said he would show to the doctor, imagine trekking down the 5000 ft just to show doctor and then climb again same altitude to reach back. Tough life! We really felt that we were underpaying him...with all these efforts involved 150 were not much. We double and gave him 300, this person took 30 min halt a half bottle water and started his journey back to pavilion. Hats off to this person.We inquired and got to know there was still some time for bus, we de
cided to take a bath in the river flowing nearby. The water was only waist deep but we managed to submerse our bodies in that water, it was a refreshing bath. Time passed with chit chatting with school children and ice Popsicles. We reached Khed and were comfortably able to get a seat in the Pune bus.It was a superb trek and we really enjoyed every part of it. I am still planning to do this trek reverse way...after all exertion would like to stay for 1-2 days on rasalgad for relaxation.
