Kalsubai Peak - The "Everest" of Maharashtra

24th June 2017 6:00 pm, Aditya calls me saying "I'm back in Mumbai let's go somewhere" It was like a spat of cold icy water on face! Within no time I said Hell Yeah! let's do this, let's go! A long back whatsapp group of us six (Aditya, Adesh, Abhishek, Pritesh, Rohit, Me) was once again alive. All of a sudden the response was too quick. "Yes", "Yes" "Let's Go" "I'm not free tomorrow".. ughhh! Once again Adesh ditched us as he was interning in teaching field even on sunday. But we continued the plan and ditched him too. Hahaha. As it was Sunday next day we all were free just for a Day. So we decided to go for a one-day trek. All folks started searching for trek destinations. We all were always fond of treks and historic locations. Once again the adventurer in us was back. In the group chat I wrote "Let's summit Kalsubai" and all of a sudden all were okay with it as it is a dream trek of every maharashtrian trekker to be on the top of Maharashtra.

We decided to summit Kalsubai Peak. Quickly the itinerary was made and we decided to catch last kasara local which was (25th June 2017) at 12:42 am from kurla as as they were boarding the train from kurla and I was about to catch up with them from thane. Finally the time came we were meeting after a year and the meet began with a bang at thane station.. all got down on platform and ran for the first class compartment. I had no clue of what was happening I just ran with them. hahahahahaahah.. Fun was back!!! We were travelling first class compartment with second class ticket. As it was last kasara local for the day the compartment was almost empty. We laughed a lot for that Run. Finally we settled down and started chit chatting of our life events. It was fun to see nothing has changed over the years, the way we greet each other the way we insult each other everything was same as good old days. Ahh!! Emotional. Along with chitchatting we had a suspicious look everywhere in the compartment not for explosives but for Ticket Checker. It actually happened at kalyan station. A random person with same TC dress up boarded the train and sat on our next seat. "F^&*!!" We all had our hearts in our mouth. We all were like "beta ab toh ho gayi trek idhar hi". The train halted at kalyan station for a while. That person pulled out his pack of chips finished it and just left the compartment. "What?! ye chips khaane first class mein aaya tha?" and we burst out in laughter. The funniest scene of the day. With three hour journey we finally reached kasara at 4:00 am. We started our journey towards kalsubai base village but we came to know that first State Transport (ST) bus was at 7:00 am. ughh! 3 hour wait! Then we saw some local jeeps going towards kalsubai base village and Harihar fort. We asked them what was the cost? "Rs. 1800 for kalsubai per jeep" he quoted. That was too much as we were just five of us. Then he suggested to find some another group and contribute with them. Well suggested! Now we started roaming around in search of another group and as said "Dhundne wale ko bhagwan bhi mil jate hai, hume bhi group mil gaya". This group of three agreed to go with us and the fare was equally distributed. "Majboori ka naam gandhiji".

Within 2 hours of bumpy jeep ride we reached Kalsubai peak base vilage. "Abe chal kuch khaate hai bohot bhuk lagi hai" Shouted pritesh. We were all very hungry and decided to have a traditional maharashtrian breakfast Poha and Chai. Poha was yummy and tea was decent. After a breakfast break of 20 minutes we started our long journey to the "Everest".

We completely forgot the rush on mountains on sundays and that too in peak rainy season. The base village was full of trekkers and added to that difficulty was slush all around. After the wear-n-tear use for three years my shoes gave up on me. The slush made it damn difficult to walk on. With zero grip on my shoes left I was slipping down with every step. Rohit was a excellent trekker he supported me in that slush. Aditya "the great" was in sandals and we was walking fine in that slush. "Talent hai bhai mein :P". At the tip of my frustration on my shoes I finally started crawling in that slush. "kya kare akhir desh ki hi mitti hai :D". In rainy season slush part is for a kilometer at the start. Note: Wear shoes with very good grip or else be prepare to crawl. After the first kilometer it's just a hike till the top which requires a lot of endurance needed. Note: If you are planning to summit kalsubai it would be good to perform few small treks. The trek was tiring not because of physical abilities but because of human traffic. Sunday is the wrong day to trek in peak season if you are a solo trekker. All trekking/travel groups are here with all their clients. The traffic was so bad that we had to wait for half and hour to climb the staircase as the same staircase was use for ascent and descent.

Finally with all the difficulties and fum we were on the top of Kalsubai peak. I truly feels to be on Everest with everything beneath us. View from top was truly mesmerizing.

What a beautiful view it was! We all had heart popping out of out eyes. The clouds were beneath us, the rain was beneath us, We were on the top of Maharashtra. We clicked few pictures and sat on the summit for another half and hour mesmerizing the view. The beauty we experienced can't be explained in words. Soon we started our descent. Descents are never tiring. Traffic was for descent too. Within half hour we reached a village where we refueled ourselves tasty bhajiyas and chai and we decided to go nonstop to the base village as we had to catch ST bus to kasara. "Par Aisa ho nahi saka" Pritesh slipped on rocks and got his bum hurted :D. His had was also bleeding. We got him the first aid and he was back on track. We were nonstop after that. We completed our descent in just two and half hours. "par humari khushi jyada der nahi tiki" We came to know that all ST bus to kasara were cancelled for the day. What? How can someone cancel the buses peak day of the season. There was just one bus which was leaving at 6:00 pm. The line for that bus was too huge. "NO!!" Everyone exclaimed. Then the search for alternate travel option began. For a hour we were searching for alternate options but with no success. But then we approached a travel group "Bhatkanti" who were with their clients in private bus. They were going borivali. We requested to drop us to kasara railway station But to our shock they asked us to come directly to mumbai with them. Our eyes filled with joy. "Andhere mein roshni mili" We boarded their bus and left kalsubai by getting that last view of mountain enclosed in our eyes. We slept in whole bus journey. Arriving thane we got down and decided to go by local train. But in the way we saw McDonald's and our hunger strikes again. "Akhir pet puja bhi toh jaruri hai :p". We had our McDonald's dinner and parted our ways with a promise to meet again some day.

A great journey came to an end but at the end of the day we all had was beautiful memories of Kalsubai, the friendship which was relived after a year, jokes, insults and most important Trekking Experience. :)

Special thanks to Bhatkanti Travels for supporting us :)