Travelogue: Long time no see - Finally I had to go to the mountains for a trek !

In the month of March with the work pressure to the limits on a normal weekend (no long weekend) I , my wife and my kids were on a trip to Nasik visiting my friend and suddenly we decided to do a trek to the highest peak in Maharashtra - Kalsubai. So here we go on a sunday morning...took a cab from Nasik in the morning and reached Bari at 1030 in the morning. We were total of 7 people - me , my friend , wives and kids...my youngest daughter is 8 years and I was a bit worried if she would be able to make it. We carried one water bottle each and my camera thats all...

We took a local boy as our guide as it was long time since I had done this trek. The trek one way is 3.5Kms and you reach to 1636 Mtr asl when you are at the top. We had our first stop just before the ladders start and had refreshing nimbu-paani. Kept the climb on and reached the first ladder. In the early days there were no ladders but only a Iron wire to climb. The ladder is a good option but the problem is there are lot of small welding spots on the hand rails...so if you are not careful and press your hands against the rails , you will sure get hurt bad. We reached the second stop near the water well. This is about 2 Kms from the start . Its a shallow well and has nice cool water...We rested for a while and went for the final climb to the top. There is the final ladder to reach the top which is the highest point in Maharashtra. We reached the top at 1300 hrs after three or four breaks. My daughter also was with me on the top without any hint of tiredness ! On the top , its a small table land with a temple of Kalsubai. It was a sunny day and we could see windmills below us which reminds you of the height you have reached. You can see the beautiful Bhandardara Lake on one side and another big water body on your right towards Khardi - dont know the name. We took some snaps and then started back. Again on the way back had the same refreshing neembu-pani at the same spot. Took a short break and started down.We reached Bari at 1615 and then the drive back to Nasik.

This was our prep trek before we hit mountains again in April to Sandakphu - me and my son (12 Years) !!!

Definately one to test your stamina and good outing for a day. Now I am planning to do this in Monsoons ah ha..

Trek Route - Nasik - Ghoti - Bhandardara Road - Bari - Kalsubai. Trek is total of 7 Kms from Bari and took 6 hours.

Height - 1636 Mtr asl

Care - Ladders can cause injury...take some snacks (from our experience - we had no food till we stopped on our way to Nasik - except for the breakfast we had :-) ) .... Start the trek early in the day -- it helps.