So it had to be a Sunday in winter for us to embark upon the mission to conquer Prabalgad & Kalavantin durg. Back in June this year, our mission to conquer these two peaks turned out to be a complete disaster. This time we were 6 of us - Tushar Rane, Tushar Jahagirdar, Zian, Sugandh, Chanchal and me. We did not have girl power last time, perhaps that was the reason for our failure ;) (Chanchal and Sugandh just giving you accolades for completing the trek so wonderfully)
We reached the base village when the sun started rising above our head and mercury matching its rise. Bright sky, very dry and sunny day it was. We started our trek, making sure we take the route on the left (since left was right). The trail was very clear, unlike in June when it had a lot of grass cover. Cameras jumped out of our pockets and started capturing our pics. We kept following the trail, took a halt for pics and at times to view the cone shaped ceilings of a temple we had passed by while reaching. We also noticed the house which had misguided us back then.
Sunlight was getting a lot harsh and we all felt dehydrated. Very soon out water bottles were empty. We had soft drinks in three flavors - lemon, orange and mango, but we had decided to open it when we reach the plateau. Beyond a point we could not follow our protocol, and all of us had a sip of nimbooz. It was almost noon and we were yet to reach the plateau. Some how we managed to reach the plateau and were completely dehydrated. We approached a villager asking for water. He duly filled all our empty bottles with water which was sweet and cool. He was sweet enough not to charge any money for water but we still paid him some.
On the way to the plateau we had discovered an interesting love story between Laxman and Manisha. We saw messages and paintings on rocks, tree barks, steps - all with messages saying, "I love you Manisha. I really miss you a lot and I cant live without you." or something similar. As we climbed up, the intensity of these messages increased, so did our curiosity. The last message we noticed was found on a rock was without Manisha. It had the names Laxman and Suresh, making us wonder our imagination. Dostana 2 was in the making, we felt :P
It was very late by the time we reached the plateau and we certainly could not have completed both the peaks in the same day. We decided to go for the relatively shorter and easier peak looking at our injured teammates. So Kalavantin durg it was, our lakshya! As we started the ascend we felt our bodies loosing all the water. It was a tough task reaching up and we all constantly reminded each other not to look below to avoid vertigo. For some reason I wanted to see how it felt looking down the peak. It felt awesome!
We climbed up to the top most point of Kalavantin durg and dejavu - we remembered all the peaks which we had conquered earlier (Lohagad, Ghangad, Gorakhgad and Raigad) and feeling to reach the top and experience the view. The panaromic view from this peak was beautiful and we could see Karnala fort, Haji Malang fort and Matheran as well. It was close to 4 and we were yet to have lunch so we all descended down quickly. We opened our lunch boxes but hunger had already vanished. We packed up and left for base.
Overall this trek had not been great for us. Weather played the biggest spoil sport, tested our endurance level. Somewhere our risk taking abilities were also challenged. Adrenalin rush was certainly missing. We were relatively slow to complete the trek and we did not even climb both peaks. May be in a better weather we would have enjoyed this trek. For now, trouble at Prabal still persists. Yet, I would certainly recommend this trek for all amateur trekkers :)
Quick Facts -
Prabalgad - 2320 feet
Kalavantin durg - 2130 feet
Nearest local railway station and distance - Panvel (17 km)
Base village - Thakurwadi near Shedung phata
Mode of travel - Six seater rickshaw (Tam Tam as we refer) from Panvel S.T. stand
Difficulty (Kalavantin durg ) - Medium
Ideal time from base to plateau (Prabalmachi) - 3 hours
Ideal time to reach Kalavantin durg from Prabalmachi - 45 minutes
Ideal time to visit - June beginning, September ending, January (Rappelling activity is carried out in January. You can rappel from Prabalgad to Kalavantin durg during this time, under the surveillance of the volunteers)
Happy trekking :)
Happy trekking :)
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