Hi this is Dishant from Mumbai and would like to share my experience of Harishchandra ghad trek done in April,09 in Sahyadris,Maharashtra.

The trek was organised by Camp Fire India , a very well organised group operating in Maharashtra by some very enthusiastic nature lovers and founded by a highly skilled Mountaineer- Arun Sawant.

There were approximately around 35 people for this trek.

The grade of this trek was "very very very tough" as we were informed earlier by Camp Fire.

Usually I wouldnt bother about the grade but this coming from Camp fire , its good if one takes it seriously  so having said that I did try to prepare myself mentally and not physically ( am way too lazy to do that ) but little did I know that it was all going to be of no use esp for someone like me.

Now little info about the route and the place - Harishchandra Ghad is a very famous spot in Sahyadris especially for a Huge gigantic wall know as "Konkan Kada"

Now there are 2 ways to to reach Harishchandra Ghad 1) is via Tolar khind (if im not wrong) which is used by maximum number of people, usually trekked in the night since its not a very ardulous trek but we being the smarter ones climbed it from the other side hence taking option 2) i.e. via Nalichi Vat ( meaning running water).

I boarded the bus on friday late in the evening alone since my friend ditched me at the end moment as usual , so after meeting Sir (Arun sawant) and finding myself the perfect window seat decided to take a good sleep but was of no use thanks to the driver who somehow must have had a gud exchange of words with his wife.

We reached our destination which was a small village at around 4.Am which was at the base of the mountain.

After sleeping or rather killing mosquitoes for 2hrs finally everyone woke up and got down from the bus and got a glimpse of the rising sun.

As we unloaded the harness and other climbing equipments, we were surrounded by the kids and the villagers ...wondering why did we bother to do all this (I was havin similar thoughts as well).

After having some soft delicious idlis , the climbing kit was distributed to every1.

We started the trek at  7.00 AM sharp, the initial path was full of small rocks followed by a little bit steep climbed.

After initial trek as we saw the small peak which we were about to climb, after which I did buckle up a little bit and tried to maintain a good pace with the instructors leading from the front lest I did not want to end up climbing those rock patches in the evening as it was well possible and around 9-13 people had to complete the last patch without sun light which is very difficult and scary since the height would be easily around 2000 feet above sea level.

Nalichi Vat requires a lot of stamina as you are constantly hiking up the mountain.

I could see the distance between me and the instructors in the front was increasing at a faster rate, the reason being that the path was getting more n more meaner.

I remember there was a moment when we were resting sitting on a small rock and suddenly we heard people from the top who were ahead of us shouting "WATCH OUTTT" and it was actually a big piece of rock scrolling down towards us ..luckily it was far enough for us to realise what the situation was and everyone stood up and became alert ,but fortunately the big stone just stopped above 20 feet ahead of us.

We continued climbing and I would occasionally turn around to see how far we came and must say that it was little bit scary .. i mean we were so fragile over der that anything could have happened.

There was a moment where we literally had to walk on the edge of the mountain without any harness meaning if we slip , we slip out on our life but nothing happened and I thanked my luck.

After climbing a few rock patches with the help of the rope the 1st group of people finally reached the top around 5.15 Pm and it was one of the most satisfying feeling ive ever had in my life.. just watching the view and seeing the distance that youve climbed really makes your heart melt.

We rested over there for about 45 minutes which was heavenly as we had the whole Konkan Kada in front of us to stare and the sun going down just enhanced the experience.

After having dinner we slept near the Harishchandra Ghad temple watching the stars as never seen before finally slept like a baby.

Following day trek was comparatively very easy as we walked down from other side through the dusty slopes and finally rapelled down a 100 feet and finally after taking a bath in a near by water body reached a village called "Thidbi" for lunch.

Once done with the food, we started the return journey to Mumbai thanking that we were still alive.

Overall i personally believe these types of experiences only helps you grow and improve as a human being.

Thanks for not falling asleep,

Dishant