Lonavla-Bhimashankar trek

Hi guys,

The last weekend was one to remember for me.
After a grueling 5 days in the office, I got a much deserved break over the 2 days.
Finally after missing lots and lots of treks since the last time i went on one,
I went to the Lonavla - Bhimashankar trek.

It was supposed to be a 75 km trek and supposed to be done in 2 days flat.
It meant giving up on the elusive weekend sleep.
I was too bored to go, until my dad sparked me off by saying that anyways you can't do it,it takes loads of guts and effort to do it and you are too lazy to put in that much of an effort.
That was the kick i was looking for,So i decided at 2300 to board the train which was scheduled to leave in 20 mins time.It meant a mad-rush to catch the train,I stuffed in all the necessary items i could think of: clothes,towel,rice,moong-dal.And in the hurry i committed the cardinal sin of wearing shoes to a monsoon trek.

I managed to reach the station on time to find the train to be late by 15 minutes.
After a standing journey we reached Lonavla around 1.30 am we caught up with the rest of the guys over there.And the 10 of us started on our way to our destination.

The start was boring as it is most times with a night trek.Struggling to come in terms with the pace,getting accustomed to the dark keeps you busy and before we could realize we had walked for 3 hours covering around 15 km on the way reaching our first milestone.We knocked on a villagers door, he guided us to a temple where we could cook our breakfast we had some maggi and tea,took a breather and started again with the sun out around 7 am.

The sun seemed to rejuvenate all of us.We actually could see whom we were walking with as i was seeing 7 of the 10 guys for the first time.Kondeshwar temple was our next 10 min halt.making our way to waterfalls,weeds and streams we reached there in our targeted time.My shoes had given up by this time.The soles of my Reebok were torn with the right shoe slipping on even a normal road.After praying at the shivling we left within no-time for Kasur village via the pathar.

Here it was where it got intresting as we reached a village first where the locals advised us to take a vatadya (sorta guide).We neglected them thinking they were trying to make the extra buck and anyways the best part of trek lies in finding places on your own.we left the village and were confused in no time.Dense fog meant very low/zero visibility,even the experienced Rohan was confused after a while.

We ended up encircling the same place for around 4 hours.Albeit the spirit of the group was worth applauding,everyone was trying to crack up some joke to overcome the misery.After reaching the same place for the third time we decided to have lunch in the middle of the jungle,accompanying us were mosquitoes and the rain.It was unique to say the least.After trying desperate measures (following the waterfall) we decide to walk towards 1 single direction.And it worked as after sometime we found a villager on his way he told us that we were on the right track.We walked for 2 more hours to reach Kusur.

Reaching Kusur everyone was tired,We drank a hot cup of milk-less tea and some more of the divine food (read PARLE-G).My legs weren't tired but on my shoulder a boil had grown to a size that i had seen never before and it was paining like hell especially after carrying the 20 kg bags for a while.Everyone was tired and resting while the tea was being made.I tried the slide which was near a local school there.The rain had made it slippery and i landed with tremendous velocity making everyone break into a laughter.I repeated it once again.It was risky but fun.

After that we took a transport to Talpaiwadi and decided to spent the night there as getting lost had disrupted our plans to an extent.We made khichdi and stayed at school.

The next day my arm was hurting like hell.I decided to quit at that point as i couldn't carry on from that point and needed medical help.4 more guys left owing to fatigue and some other reasons.
The five of us left took a State Transport bus to lonavla and reached home by evening.

The rest of guys continued as planned.And completed the Lonavala-Valvanda-Kondeshwar-Kusur pathar-Kusur-Savle-Talpaiwadi-Wandre Khind-Padarwadi-Lower plateau of Bhimashankar.

It would have been great to carry on but considering the shoulder's condition even now it was
one of my better decisions.All in all it was a great experience.As always a trek gives u motivation and energy along with scars and body-ache.Also it was nice meeting new people

The 1 most important thing i learned from this trek was that nothing beats being planned in advance.It helps you on long treks and especially when you are screwed.


As for the pics we couldn't take much as it was raining a lot.Will upload if i get any of the pics taken.