Three treks, and I am still waiting to get to the top. Three different locations, different sets of people, but the same result. And to add to that, I have my own memories to trust, no memoirs like pics or souvenirs either. But this doesn't faze me even the slightest bit, for I believe in the old saying that the journey is more important than the destination. And I believe that these memories will remain with as one of the most exciting ones I have ever had.

First trip: 31st December 2006
Companions: Anuj, Kunal, PVC and Udit
Destination: Peth Fort near Karjat

A night trek it was and we had in our ranks PVC and Kunal, who I think had never exerted themselves as much as that night. The path was simple, a gravel filled road leading up - nothing nerve racking. It took us some time getting to the midway point, allowing for PVC's slow pace. We reached a village at around 12 in the night. Before that we had passed a plateau like area from where the view was magnificent.

But after the village, we couldn't find our way. No one had ever been to the top, and all info we had was via Udit's brother. So a search followed where we looked in every nook and cranny for a possible path. My friends jokingly tell me that I destroyed quite a bit of Flora in the process. But alas! to no result. Finally we tracked back to the Plateau where we spent the rest of the night under a bright moon. And it was pretty chilly - I had just a jeans jacket to help me. At 5:30 we started downwards and reached a tea shop at the base. The tea and biscuits where a welcome sight in the morning. And not to forget the Tum Tum ride back to Karjat during which I was sure I would freeze to death or catch Pneumonia at the least.

All in all, it increased my urge to go on more such expedtions - this was my first real trekker after all.

Second Trek: 24th February 2007
Companions: Rane and Bharatiya
Destination: Dhak Bahiri

Rane the seasoned trekker was the inspiration for this one. We had planned to go somewhere the weekend before this one but he fell sick on Friday night and the trip was canceled. So we agreed to go the next week. Everything went smoothly in the morning, and it being a day trek, I had high hopes of this one. And with two other seasoned trekkers with me, I was on a roll. With such high spirits, we reached Sandshi village - the base for the Trek. And Rane showed his communication skills to get the location of the Dhak peak supposedly.

So we started our expedition with the mountain ranges staring down at us. An old lady told to follow the straight path going out of the village so we ritually followed it. But bad luck struck once again. The tracks keeped going around the mountains rather than moving towards them. After meandering about for some time we just decided to climb up a stream. And thus began one of the most nerve racking experiences of my life. We were very enthusiastic about our potential. Our goal was to get to the top of the mountain through which the stream ran, and then move to the other peaks from there in search of the 'hidden' caves. The path was not esy by any means with many a slippery footings. But we continued to move up through deep forests and over steep rocks. But finally we had to stop. For a steep cliff stared at us. Bharatiya and me tried to look at any possible way to get to the top but it seemed too risky to venture. And Rane the enthusiast had by this time become Rane the rational or the pessimist as I would rather put it. So we climbed down from there. However it was no mean task. The rocks were slippery and the mud was crumbling as the grass had dried and couldn't hold the surface. As we were retracing our steps we found a well defined trail in the overgrowth. And it could have cost us our lives or at least a few broken bones. Bharatiya was leading us, we were going slowly down that trail. and out of nowhere we found a 50 ft fall. we couldn't go further and the ground was too slippery where me and Bharatiay were to go up easily. And I had a 20 Kg bag on my back to add to my woes. The mud under my feet was slipping and I was going down. I desperately hung on to whatever support the dead grass gave me and turned around. After I had negotiated the dangerous part of the climb, I had a feeling I was granted a new life. After that there was not much to be written apart from maybe Rane getting poked by a three inch thorn in the unmentionables which thankfully didn't do much damage.

After our decent I was still enthusiastic enough to try another path, but gladly the other two vetoed it right away. We returned back to Powai, but not without some further action - I punched a guy while trying to get down from the train. A very entertaining adventure, but still a failed one.

Third Trek: 10th March 2007
Companion: Deepak
Location: Rajmachi via Kondane

This was supposed to be a wonderful and easy night trek. I had researched about the location for half a day on the internet, and even found a map. What I hadn't thought about was the difference between theory and practicality. And disaster struck as soon as we reached Karjat. I had left the map and the page with all the directions at home! But still we were pretty cheerful as we knew that there were arrow markings made by trekkers - for this was very popular destination. We reached Kondane on a rickshaw madly driven by a drunken old geezer. We met two people who were staying at a rest house at the base and were planning the excursion in the morning. They advised us to do the same, but the exuberance of youth prevailed and we decided to give it a try. It wasn't made easy by the constant howling of dogs and a dark night with no moon. Moreover, we couldn't find any arrow marks ! We were all at sea and just decided to follow the broadest path that we found. But that just led us through the villages in the valley. After wandering aimlessly for 3 hours, during which the pain in Deepak's leg started increasing, we decided to go back to the place we started - close to the rest house. Deepak could barely walk after some time and we rested on a large flat rock for some time. We started off by showing off our vocal skills, and it is the only time I didn't mind Deepak singing ! But soon drowsiness befell us and we decide to sleep and keep a watch in turns. This happened till 3:30 after which we tracked further back, with Deeapk able to walk - to a Temple and slept on the stairs there. In the two and a half hours I lay there, we were almost bitten by a dog and were frozen in the month of March. Finally, we took a Tum Tum and returned to Krjat and then to Mumbai

So you see, although I am still not at the top, I have some memorable experiences and I am a wiser trekker now. And the most important lesson I learnt was to stay enthusiastic even in the face of failures(The second most important was not taking up an unknown location for a night trek).