GORAKHGAD - A TREK WHICH TESTS YOUR SKILLS

Gorakhgad from Dehri

After the board examinations, Gorakhgad was a much needed trek for refreshment. Trust me, if you're strong enough (mentally) that you know you can survive, then this place is a complete starting package for you as a mountaineer.

We  (a group of 9 people) went up there on 25th March, 2017 (Saturday). Gorakhgad is situated in a village called 'Dehri' which comes under Murbad, Kalyan area. Suggested mode of travelling is by private vehicle. Because, the fort is nearly 55km from Kalyan Railway station and in costs you almost same by travelling via private vehicle; the difference is just that, you get more comfort in private transport, other than local public transport.

We started the journey early in the morning i.e, at 4.30 am, from my residential place(Panchpakhadi, Thane). It took us around 1.30 hours to reach to Dehri (we took the wrong road so it took nearly 30 minutes to get to the correct one). We started to hike at around 7.15 am from Dehri. The trek basically starts from a temple (which is now under construction). There are 2 routes from temple. First leads you to Gorakhgad, the other one leads you nowhere. And, ultimately, we took the other one and were lost. So, it cost us 1 hour of extra hike. We hired a local guide, and started the trek at 8 am.


To reach to Gorakhgad, you first have to clear two hills, and then you reach to a temple; from where, the actual Gorakhgad starts. Clearing 2 hills is a very easy job, nothing difficult, but once you see the REAL face of Gorakhgad, 'Fear of Death' starts overcoming your confidence.

caves

The fort is all about 4-5 challenging patches, nothing else. If you are a good rock climber, then this trek is just a child's play for you; but if you're not, then you will literally cry to abandon the trek. I've got pictures of only 2 patches here,(those two red circles in the above picture)
but trust me, the next 3 patches are more difficult than these. Once you clear these 2 patches, and the other 2 after these, you reach to the caves, which is a good place for stay if you're planning for a night trek. After caves, there's a 10 minute rock patch which is the most difficult patch of the fort. If you clear this patch, forget about other 4 patches, they're nothing as compared to this one. So I'm elaborating this patch just for fun.

The start of last patch

We started hiking again after resting for a while in caves, and saw this patch. No, this is not a joke, this (the photo on the right hand) is the actual patch, you have to start climbing, WITHOUT any support; if you lose your grip, you're straightly thrown away in 2000 ft valley (imagine what we've been through). I started climbing it first, and then my group followed. There are these types of steps which you cannot hike normally. There is just a place on the stair just to grip yourself up for next one. This is how you get to the top. And this continues for 2-3 times until you get to the top. At top, there's nothing to see, except the Shankar Temple. We reached the top easily, but while descending, each one of us were frightened. We were

midway of last patch

saying that ,"The trek will be successful if only we reach the caves alive." Again, I started to descend first, and trust me, I've never feared death as much as I did that day. NEVER. My body was totally shaking when I was coming down from that patch. Climbing and coming down from extreme difficult patches with Ropes is okay, not that difficult, but doing the stuff without any support makes you cry.

end of the last patch

We came back to the caves successfully and celebrated the fact that we all were alive. We rested for a while and started the return journey at around 1.30 pm. And it took us another 1.30 hour just to clear the fort, i.e, we were at the temple at 3 pm. While coming down, the rock patch troubled us very very much. The rocks were as hot as a pan due to the afternoon heat; and the worst part is, to get down, we had to take support of each rock with our hands. So our hands were burning. We reached Dehri at 5 pm. Yes, it was a memorable trek.We drank Nimbu Paani and almost 1 bottle of water each and started our return journey. We all were home by 8.30 pm.

Atop Gorakhgad

Height above sea level - 2150 ft \

Recommended season - Rain / Winter ( You should feel less heat to avoid dehydration )

Difficulty - Moderate to Difficult

If you truly love trekking and Sahyadri, then this one is a must do. Just for sake of beauty, here's a snap of Sahyadri from Gorakhgad.

Thank you for reading. Feedbacks are always welcome.