Mind Blogging. Mind Boggling.

I completed two treks over two weeks, about which I’m quite pleased. Some thoughts for your kind consumption below.

This para not just for reading pleasure- 1. An Optimal template for a Western Ghats trek; 2. Small Steps adventures

After being on two treks in sweltering heat (Kudremukh (Ktaka) with NP and SS, and Gorakhgad, with G, N and S), I went on Irshalgadh on a night trek template- get to the base camp after a night trek, thus avoiding the sun; sleep in at night; and get going to the peak early morning, thus again avoiding the sun. And keep in mind that apart from the monsoons, it’s very hot in the Western Ghats. Also, on both occasions, I went with Small Steps adventures- the trek leaders were fun and it was well organized- so check ‘em out. In fact, TL K was also on the second trek, so it was quite fun reconnecting.

The first of the two was Gorakhgad. This is an hour’s ride in a big auto rickshaw from Kalyan railway station. After customary facebook and whatsapp group splashes, I found three unsuspecting victims G, S and N- two first time trekkers and one second time trekker, and because the description read “Easy – medium”, I assured them that this would be the start of great trekking career- a career that would take them to great heights. Well, it turned out to be “Medium-difficult” (in the 5 point scale for treks which seems the norm), while the weather was “Difficult” on that same scale. Sweltering and humid. We started off on the climb only at 9 30 AM odd, so that compounded matters. And unfortunately, the poor weather is the overwhelming, uppermost memory of the trek. The next “uppermost” memory is also uppermost in terms of altitude, on the trek- the experience of getting to the peak of Gorakhgadh. You get to a point- The caves- where you can either chill out (the caves are quite cool) or you can choose to fight the next battle- rock climbing to the top. People pondered over it, and after some backed out, the brave/foolhardy (latter is more right) including me decided to undertake it. 

Decision point: is the steep near vertical climb worth the risk?

Kind souls have cut grooves on the fairly vertical rocks, into which you you maneuver your fingers and boot, and use that first to clamber up and then down. That is, you can feel groovy. 

Groovy trek

This went on for about 20-30 meters. Fairly perilous, but quite exciting. And on getting to the top, people did feel a sense of release, which they expressed in the form of an energized photo shoot. It’s such a thing isn’t it, the photo shoot at the top of a trek. (Digression: Like how they have beach photo shoot etc, for pageants, they should have trek top photo shoots. Also, only the models making the top qualify- thus making it an interesting and “real” fitness test- instead of gym-shaped “unreal” physique based fitness).  Photo shoot involved everyone jumping et al, but I can't find em so all I can find is this egotistic picture of me alone: 

Mortal Kombat with invisible foe

The climb down was sapping as hell, but just as sapping the climb down was, enervating the food was. It was Bhakri (rice rotis) and traditional Marathi fare – by itself quite tasty, made sumptuous by our sapped state.  

G’s very fair point- he imagined a trek to be much more of stand and look around and admire the view, rather than just a non-stop arduous climb. It’s probably a balance that has to be struck- hard work vs. sit-back-and-relax. Can’t do too less or too much of the other. See picture below.

What makes a good trek

Few of us from weekend 1 started doubling down on a drive to Kaas plateau – the deccan plateau’s own valley of flowers, to rival the more famous cousin up north. However, a landslide on Tuesday, spotting adroitly by one of the conspirators, forced us to abandon this plan.

The trek starts from Thakurwadi village, which is an hour’s ride from Panvel station. We set off at around 7 PM, and got to Irshalwadi (base camp) at 8 30 PM after a torch light guided hike. (Digression humor- if Wadi means small town, then there’s this town itself called ‘Wadi’. As it grows and turns into a city, they’ll have to rename it. But why is there a town called Wadi; it’s like a city called City or town called Town)

I learnt that the village of Irshalwadi (around 40 households), which overlooks the vast twinkling landscape of Panvel city, itself does not have power. Apparently, the “powers that be” assured them the power is on its way after Diwali (a week away) but the homeowner is skeptical. Dinner was at the hut; while the fare was decent (chapatti, bhaaji, rice, daal), it wasn’t a plate-polisher like Gorakhgad.

Once we set up camp, I was really keen on seeing (Skyscanner app) and capturing some Galaxies on my all new Galaxy S7 phone. However, the evening downpour meant that clouds overran the sky and the poor stars were left unwitnessed. I was the only star my trek mates were able to see that night (note that Ashwin is the name of a star in ancient India naming scheme). However, there was a bonfire, and the accompanying banter - everyone recounted embarrassing stories. Some common themes were excess inebriation and tight trousers tearing on the way to work.

Also re-picked up some basic Marathi – Paus, Ghasargundi - a blast from the past from the old primary school Aurangabad days. I was the only non Marathi speaker on the trek, and though trek leader O, a jolly and loud chap, helpfully kept exhorting people to switch to Hindi, there was some Marathi doing the rounds. No complaints, really.  

Next morning was the hike to the top. Weather was great and I enjoyed doing some Leptopodotrism and also spotting one UFO (probably a hawk). There was of course the customary photo session at the top. While we were hiking down, it started getting really hot at 9 30 odd- I could experience waves of heat hit me.  I could see the fear in the eyes of the poor folk who were jut clambering up, and I could hear the envy in their voices, when they said- “oh, you did this as a night trek?”. Overall, it was much easier than Gorakhgad (excluding the weather factor), and thus I term it “friendly”.

Gotto do random pose at the top: Meditation on rock (pun intended)

Little hat doff to my current and past employers here (more the current), for enabling me to connect with folks from different walks of life:

Weekend 1 FMCG: Was sharing the backseat of the big auto rickshaw with 2 folks from Nielsen and 1 from a FMCG firm. FMCG lady mentioned that my kind employer was working at their place, and she also mentioned that she used Nielsen data all the time, at which the Nielsen folks perked up. So it was an interesting connection. I also remember Nielsen from old Equity research days- their retail store data is the bible for companies and for analysts.

Weekend 2 Quadraple whammy- Wham 1: one of the trek leaders was a Steel sales manager, who mentioned by the bonfire that JSW’s plant in Vijayanagar is fascinating looking (I should have probed more). I had some context due to my own Steel company project days, Wham 2: The hut owner talked about elusive “electrons”, despite laid “poles and wires”- something I know from the rural electrification project, Wham 3: An equity research analyst whose firm does not do PMS and Brokerage, but only sells research for a fee- connect from old equity research days and from current project with a brokerage firm.  Wham 4: A mason contractor from Panvel; I thought how cement companies must be vying for his attention, key influencer that he is- something based on a past project in the cement industry.

Addenda