I was pretty excited for my first
trek of winter vacations on 27th December 2015 to "One tree
hill point" at Matheran.
The plan was made instantaneously over
a conversation with one of my friend named Neet. We decided to join a trek
group and while searching found a trek group "Wandering Soul
Riders(WSR)" on Mumbaihikers website and then we immediately enrolled our
names for the trek event.
The day started at 4:30 am in the
morning with packing the trek stuffs and so on. I boarded the Churchgate fast
local from Goregaon at 5:52 am IST and Neet hopped into the same train at
Malad. We reached dadar at 6:20 am and then as per the event schedule the plan
was to board second last coach of 6:24 am Karjat fast local.
We were out of the scheduled plan
timings and a near miss was about to happen for the trek event if we couldn't
board the 6:24 am Karjat local, so we ran as fast as possible towards Dadar central
platform number 3 after getting down from Churchgate fast local at Dadar where
the Karjat fast local was expected to halt.
Neet and me(Left to Right) |
The platform was heavily crowded as fast locals towards Karjat have very less frequency, finally we reached on time and boarded the second last compartment of the train and felt very relieved as there was a strict guideline by the trek leaders that "Missing the train was missing the trek event".
As there was too much of rush inside
the train we were not able to make out where the trek group was inside the
compartment so we decided to call the trek leaders after getting down at Karjat
station.
Luckily we got a seat after boarding
into the train compartment so we were just having some conversation and
suddenly over the time till we reach Karjat station the atmospheric temperature
inside compartment of moving train dropped suddenly and we were shivering with
cold and I guess the temperature was around 18 degree Celsius, I wasn’t
expecting such extreme coldness but as the time passed the temperature started
rising back again with sunrise and till 8:30 am it was same as in Mumbai that
is somewhere around 28 degree Celsius and the portent for the weather seemed to
be good.
Base Village-Ambewadi |
After getting down at Karjat station we then met the
trek organizers were they quickly took a note about the
attendees for the trek event by calling names of the registered participants.
We then started walking towards the Karjat auto stand were a tum-tum (a 10
seater 3-wheeler) was arranged to drop us at Shitai hotel.
We had our breakfast over here which
consisted of Upma, Poha, Tea/Cofee and
had some sandwiches packed for lunch time. We left this place at 9:00 am and
reached base village(Ambewadi) till 9:30 am and started our trek followed by a
quick introduction of each participant.
Trek Route |
Trek Route |
The scenic view of Morbe dam
backwaters on the left side with various points of Matheran visible on both
side of the trek route are enough to provide a kickstart to the trek journey ahead.
The cool breezy winds act as a catalyst for the trekking thus the entire trek proved to be much of fun
given the climatic condition. The trek organizers Deepak sir, Lavanya maam, Sahib Saluja(Manu) sir were
very helpful. As per the plan the lavanya maam was heading as our front leader
marking the path of our trek route,Deepak sir was back-lead and Manu sir used to be in center of the participants.
Well water |
The village fresh water well acts as a source of water if one does wish to refill their bottles. We saw a couple
of locals pulling out water from a well by the roadside. There were around
three such well spotted on our trek route. Water was very less in these wells
due to low rainfall this year even the Morbe dams water level were alarming the
lack of water resources.
A view from trek route |
Participants who were trekking for the
first times were not asked to climb fast and were supported to take on their
natural speed even Deepak sir ensured that the participants will never be left
back no matter how slowly they climb.
The first few kilometers of trek route
were through the mud patch route followed by boulders and rocks. It was a steep
climb over boulders till the very top. One had to slowly climb these rocks, as
some of these rocks were wet and slippery.
Trek route |
A view from trek route |
We started the trek at 9:40 am and reached one tree hill point at 01:30 pm after taking three time-breaks on our way. After reaching we had some rest for 10 minutes before climbing the hillock of one tree hill point, it took around 40 minutes for all of us to climb this hillock.
The hillock was separated from where
we were standing by a very thin path of around 4 feet that leads to the bottom
of the hillock. The narrow path was not only exposed to the valley on both
sides, but the climb up the hillock was vertical, making it extremely risky.
Only a single tree atop the hillock makes it quite unique. Hence the name, One
tree hill.
Hillock at One tree hill |
Only few of the participants decided
to climb this hillock due to its risky and dangerous steep climbs. Some choosed
to enjoy the scenic view from the bottom of the one tree hillock itself while
first time trekkers were happy to reach the top point of their first trek
successfully.
A view from the hillock at One tree hill |
A view from the hillock at One tree hill |
A view from the hillock at One tree hill |
It was around 2:00 pm and everyone was
hungry, so without wasting any time we decided to have a lunch under the shade of trees near one tree hill point. There is a small shop where you can get packed chips and water bottles. The
packaged foods such as chips and cold drinks prices are 50% more than the MRP. There are group of monkeys over here trying
to snatch eatables from you so keep eatery items safely tucked away considering
the population of monkeys that reside all over this region. Be calm when they
are around you and don’t try to hit them else they may strike back, just be
sure to handle eatable carefully. During our lunch time they snatched a packet
of bread which we brought to prepare some sandwiches.
Photo Courtesy: Sahib Saluja a member of trek team.
It was almost 3 pm and the heavy lunch made us more lethargic at the same time it was a state of bliss about reaching the top successfully. The route for descending was pre-planned and was the normal road route of Matheran which passes through the Matheran market and is also adjacent to the Neral-Matheran toy train route that leads to Dasturi Naka. There are no vehicles allowed on the roads up there, but surely you could hire horses for a leisure ride within the small town. We saw a lot of people there unlike our trek route where there was none other than us. The best part is that it’s pollution-free as no vehicles are allowed in the hill station.
In
matheran market you will see many small shops which sell eatable items such as star fruits, java
plum, roasted sweet corn, raw mangoes and berries sprinkled with chillies and
salt. The price is Rs.10-15
on average for chopped pieces of these fruits.
Route while descending |
While descending the region was
glowing in a shade of white due to the sun’s heat. After reaching dasturi naka
there are Share cabs from the main gate to Neral available in plenty. It’s a
20-25 minutes downhill cab ride covering 14kms to the Neral station. The scenic
views from the cab while moving to neral station are just awesome.
After reaching Neral Station we boarded a train to
Karjat which then turns back to CST so as to avail a seat. It’s difficult to
get a seat if you are planning to board the train at Karjat Station due to
heavy rush specially during evening times.
The trek experience was an
unforgettable memory and provided an opportunity to meet some trekkers and spend
a good time with them marking the journey of our friendship ahead.
Beautifully Written Bro.
ReplyDeleteThanks from Team WSR