Naneghat

After a good opening of the trekking season '17 with the Bhimashankar Trek, the next trek was to Naneghat. We trekked to Naneghat on 22nd July 2017.

A few points about the trek:

• Trek Difficulty: Beginner level
• Risks due to rains: Low ( No direct exposure to valley)
• Base (Kalyan-Malshej Road) : Easily accessible by public transport as well as personal vehicles
• Alternate Access: Naneghat plateau can be trekked to or reached directly by vehicles via Junnar side

After Bhimashankar, the next trek on Mr Rakesh's (alias Fowdy's) wishlist was Jivdhan. The initial plan was to do a stay in the Naneghat 'Guha' on Saturday and then ascend Jivdhan the next day and return. Even before Bhimashankar, Nithya and Dimple (my engineering mates, roll nos. 1 and 6) had suggested that they would be interested to trek with us. They weren't available for Bhimashankar but Naneghat-Jivdhan was an affirmative. My childhood friend Tej became interested as well. (He was also interested for Bhimashankar. So was another childhood friend Prithvi. Their interest had potential. Tej's became kinetic for Naneghat. Prithvi's is still a potential.) Because of this newer and bigger group and a circulation of a random post on our WhatsApp group regarding the risks of Jivdhan in monsoon, we decided to avoid a hectic climb and a stay and changed our earlier two-day Jivdhan plan to a one-day Naneghat one. 

Nane means coin in Marathi. Naneghat was earlier a pass used by traders to reach the higher plateau from the west. There was even a toll collected. (One can see a big broken 'Handi' atop Naneghat which people claim was a storage for the toll coins collected)

I had been to Naneghat in 2008. One fond memory was seeing rain at a distance, as a translucent white patch between the sky and the land. I could see it coming towards me. (When I see now the same phenomenon from my house on the 19th floor I think I do feel like a veteran.) The others being eating hot Maggi noodles in the cave, singing songs on guitar and sleeping awkwardly in the cave with cramped up bodies. Though not for a stay this time, I was excited to revisit so that I could visit the excitement of a revisit. I would also like to quote a dialogue from an excited uncle in one of our Kesari tour visits, to Kashmir - ''Humne 25 saal pehle Kashmir dekha tha. Ab firse dekhne aye hain"

The Pune group (Rakesh, Chaitanya, Sameer and Akhil) reached Kalyan by the Siddheshwar Express. The Mumbai public ( Nithya, Dimple, Tej and I) reached Kalyan by 0700 hrs instead of 0630. (The reason being that trains usually have an unconditional halt between Airoli and Thane according to Dimple. Or maybe she woke up late. Though amends were made, as she was the bearer of cream biscuits)

The Pune group had already had breakfast when we met them outside Kalyan. And tea. You can only do so much after waiting for an hour outside Kalyan station. Probably this wait frustrated them enough to inspire them to deceive us into drinking an 'Amrutatulya Chaha' which was actually very 'Vaalka'. Nithya and I had a decent Pohe breakfast while Mr. Tej Tambe treated himself with a bit of South India. I cannot proceed without giving due justice to the aroma of the Kalyan bus depot's gent's urinal. Simply rejuvenating and blissful.

We boarded the S.T for the Malshej route at 0730 hrs. The conductor had some trouble understanding our desired stop. Finally she consulted a regular traveller and punched 4 tickets for the Mumbai group. I gave her a 100 rupees note. With one of the looks of the century, she said the total was Rs. 410. Phew.

It was a very scenic ride due to the fresh flora outside and life chats with the ladies, inside. Dimple, Nithya and I were meeting together after 3 years and the first time since Dimple got married. 3 engineers analysing the phase.

We reached the Naneghat base in around 2 hours. Overall, the climb was comfortable - not slippery, not steep, not with any risk of a valley fall. It was raining just the right amount.

In one of our breaks, Chaitanya sang a wonderful rendition of KK's 'Abhi Abhi'. There is something about a well sung song in the middle of a trek surrounded by trees. Thank You Chaitya. While it was raining, we also managed to take some pictures with Dimple's 'You hold the umbrella, I will take the pic' strategy.

Finally we reached the toll pass atop. One difference I noticed immediately was that the cave now had grills. And it was amazingly windy and foggy atop.

We managed to take shelter in a dilapidated food truck shed and ignoring our packed food completely, gave order for hot and fresh Vada Pav, Bhurji Pav for the egg-eaters and tea. I tried to distribute the dozen bananas in my bag but my execution fell way short of my enthusiasm. 

With the Pune travel time in mind, we decided to start the descend quickly. I clicked pictures whenever I could while protecting my phone from the water.

Chaitanya brought back a lot of memories by discussing about Sandip and Salil's amazing works. There were an emotional few minutes during his recital of the last para of 'Mi Pappancha Dhapun phone'. There were a few exchanges of Zakir Khan's and Rahat Indori's Shayaris with ample contribution from Fowdy. *This reminds me that I have to add to the previous blog, Sameer's wonderful narration of the Peshwai and the Peshwa hierarchy, while we were ascending Bhimashankar. Belated Thanks, Samya*

Our descent took around 2 hours and we took rest in the food-shed stalls. We had toop-gool poli, chutney poli, Maggi and tea. 

We then boarded the S.T for Kalyan and the ticket was Rs. 310 instead of Rs 410 for 4. Bittersweet indeed. Destiny awarded Tambe and me seats on the last row. We were in dire need of sleep but the driver did his very best to keep us active and occasionally jumping. The situation reminded me of Pu La's 'Mhais'.

Tambe and I got down at Dadar at 2000 hrs. Vaseline was a silent warrior during and after this trek. 

Tips:

1. Start your ascent by 0900 hrs. This timing is strictly with respect to monsoon.

2. You can comfortably reach the base by both public transport and private vehicle from the Kalyan-Malshej side. 

3. A road can also directly take you atop Naneghat via the Junnar side.

4. From Mumbai, there are local trains till Kalyan. Punekars can take Siddheshwar (has sleeper facility) so that they start and end early.

5. Take any S.T plying along the Malshej route from the Kalyan depot which is just outside the west end of Kalyan station. Inform the conductor to stop the S.T when it reaches the Naneghat base. (There isn't a planned stop otherwise.) Bus journey is approx 2 hours.

5. Since there is a jungle area during the trek, avoid wearing shorts.

6. This is a very simple trek and an excellent choice for beginners who want to enjoy monsoon trekking safely.