Beyond Kumbhe & its pristine wilderness

 

 

A little far off from Mumbai, there are some absolute jewels in Sahyadri. In today's times of overenthusiastic social media frenzy crowds who are more about taking a selfie than taking a breath in to live that place, that social distancing arrangement by almighty seems well thought off. For about 3 to 4 years consistently, every monsoon we would head off to one such gem around Mangaon. A place that has managed to wade off scores of crowds and unwanted footprints.

At a brief 14 kms off Mangaon on Mumbai - Goa highway, lies a tiny village in the lap of Sahyadri - Borwadi. It is also a start point for a short hike to Mangad. A small watchtower fort built to keep a check on Kumbhe Ghat. We took an overnight State transport bus journey from Mumbai central that dropped us at Nijampur at 5.30 in the morning. Devoid of sleep, we had to also take a walk on the tar road for about 4,5kms. It rains like crazy in & around Sahyadris for these 4 months. and the entire landscape goes for its annual make over of lush green carpet. flowers follow in sept, birds follow in october. 

 

To the east of Borwadi is Mangad, just about hundred meters above. It took us 15 mins to reach the col - Vinzai khind. Col also has a temple to the deity of Vinzai. 

From here 1 route branches towards Kumbhe the other to the fort. We had been to Mangad a few times before.  Its a quick 10 mins uphill hike through a series of rock-cut staircases, one enters through what appears to be remnants of an entrance.

So we headed further up towards Ghat. A gentle walk up the broad trail that goes through a mix patch of bushy/semi dense forests. Later opening up to the plains of Majurne village.

  

Majurne village seems like one gifted place. Sufficient flats for farming. Ample rain water in monsoon. Now even a tar road for access. and all this right amidst the western ghats. Pretty place. Here there are multiple families bearing Ranpise surname. must have been a close knit community. 

Beyond Majurne, we take a walk on tar road for a few meters before branching out towards the Kumbhe Ghat. Here, the forests are completely subdued. a few thickets showing the glimpse of earlier best. 

A few of the friends admiring the view behind as we made our way up the final section of the climb.

A nice climb of about 1 hour 15 mins or so and we reached the Kumbhe ghat temple right next to Kumbhe river. Temple belongs to the guardian deity of Kumbhe Ghat. Time so far is 3 hours from Borwadi. 

Munching on the stock of bakarwadi, cream roll and what not!

A Malabar whistling thrush was a melodious company near the temple.

One can notice the ongoing works of a dam that had been under construction for a few years now. We kept ourselves on the west bank & started walking on the broad trail that connects to Kumbhi wadi. That's the only settlement we were to come across after reaching the top of Kumbhe Ghat till we reach our destination, Ghol.  Kumbhi wadi is about 1 hour's distance from ghat top. and probably only source of water if you are walking here in drier months beyond November.

Once we reach here, one realises that Kumbhi valley is a maze of many sub-valleys and smaller peaks at the boundaries. It felt like a naturally guarded region. Far in the east, one has to locate the Radtond pass (khind) to go on the other side of the range that separates Kumbhe valley from the main range and forms this extended portion of Sahyadri. It's quite fascinating. Walking here one can experience the wilderness at its prime. (picture from a November visit)

Radtond Khind lies about 1 and half hour SE of Kumbhi wadi. A gentle climb takes us to the forested pass and on the other side awaits us another maze of mountains. It's pretty easy to lose the sense of directions here, especially during monsoons when thick fog covers every sq. m of this terrain. Geographically at Radtond Khind we enter into Pune dist. No such board exists to welcome us.

We continue over the pass and in general direction N keeping the valley on our right side. One has to take a huge U turn at a prominent stream that is flow N to S. and start heading south. The valley continues to be on our right. The stream is flooded in peak monsoons. From Kumbhi wadi to Radtond khind is about 1 & half hour. Stream crossing is about an hour further. from Stream, the Ghol village is barely 45 mins. Total walking time ranges between 6.30hours to 8 hours. 

Mukkami ST (overnight resident) that makes the solitary trip between Swargate (pune) - Ghol.

Ferns grow in higher number here. Dried and used as a roof by locals. cost-effective & efficient.

Ghol is a far-off village in a remote bowl shaped valley in one of the southernmost tips of Panshet backwaters in Pune Dist. A sleepy hamlet. Largely dependent on farming local crops like Rice, Ragi or finger millet, Varai or kodo millet or barnyard millet and some vegetables like tomato, radish, chilly etc. A decade or so has witnessed a lot of youth move to bigger cities like Pune/Mumbai in search of a better lifestyle. It rains so bad here that can cause landslides, leading road blockages. Electricity being out for weeks together. Healthcare being almost non-existent. Perhaps explains the exodus more easily.

We were hosted by a very affectionate local family who as usual were amazed to know that we had walked all the way from Borwadi, just for fun. They were laughing at us. The home-maker lady in fact jokes, "If they had known, they would have asked us to bring some of their grocery". :)) She was equally kind to lit up her kiln for warmth & give us a bucket of warm water to freshen up having walked the entire day in the rain. Plans for the next day were discussed with Polekar Mama*. We were to descend via kawlya ghat. Kawlya Ghat, which lies to NW of Raigad, is one of the 20+ trade routes/passes that connect the Ghats with Kokan. It's almost like a string of pearls sitting delicately on the neck of Sahyadri. The evening put on a glorious vista of colors before darkness engulfed the surrounding ranges.

The day started fairly early as we had to descend down Kawlya Ghat. Reach Mahad & find a transport back to Mumbai. 

We headed out of Ghol village and crossed a big stream on a locally made wooden bridge (Sakav: in marathi). Garjaiwadi is a flat walk of 45 mins S of Ghol village. Its a tiny mountain hamlet of tribal who live along the nature and depend on it for their livelihood. From Garjaiwadi, there is only 1 single path further down south which descends into Kokan as Kawlya Ghat. 

It was raining mercilessly. Thankfully, we had covered all our belongings into recycled plastic wraps. Hereon, we were to loose height pretty fast and into the dense, moist jungles on lower slopes full of mosquitoes. Trust me, hardly any repellent works on these. only way to avoid is cover as much as we can. Neck and face falls prey to them. About 2 hours of descending through patches of mixed forests, shrubs & bushes we landed at Savrat. A small village perched on the lower slopes of Sahyadri. By now, rain subsided. an ST was expected in a while. It took us to Mahad. From there onward we were on the mercy of traffic conditions of the dreaded Goa highway.

Brief route map of our weekend in the outdoors.

 पांढरी तुटक रेष - पायी वाटचाल 

सह्याद्री - युनेस्कोच्या जागतिक वारसास्थळांपैकी एक असून जैव-विविधतेतल्या दृष्टिकोनातून अत्यंत महत्व.  

चालोनि जाणावे। जाणोनि चालावे।आपुले म्हणोनि राखावे। सकळ वन।।

Sahyadri is a UNESCO bio-diversity hotspot. Its ours to care!

*On our subsequent trip, we came to know of the sad demise of mama. May his soul attain sadgati.

The house that gave us the refuge that night suddenly felt very empty. His presence will be missed.