Basgadh - Child's Play
This time it wasn't me who fell. You might be forgiven for assuming that I, like Julius Caesar, "hath the falling sickness" if you have been following my other blogs The Accidental Climber (http://taccidental.blogspot.com/2012/06/mayhem-at-mumbra.html ) and The Accidental Trekker (http://accidentaltrekker.blogspot.com/2012/08/life-begins-at-10000-feet.html )
Franklyn Silveira, my hiking friend over many decades, was the Fall Guy this time! Worse, he had slipped on a patch of wet rock while carrying tiny little Shruti piggyback on his shoulders. Miraculously, Shruti was intact but Franklyn's psyche was not. Shruti's mother Shyama was even more perturbed and relieved Franklyn of his babysitting duties immediately! It was June 1995 and this was my first taste of Basgadh. Over the next ten years, Basgadh steadily graduated to become one of my all time favourite destinations in the Sahyadri.
Why am I so besotted with Basgadh? When you consider that there are literally hundreds of good hiking destinations in the Sahyadri, what was so special about Basgadh that I felt compelled to go there time and time again? Why is it that a relatively insignificant protuberance on the earth's crust can exert a such a magnetic appeal? The answer lies in a combination of factors: I have always gravitated towards the road less travelled, the places less frequented.
The drive to Basgadh itself is a charm once you get off the Mumbai - Nashik road after Kasara and travel on the Jawhar road to Khodala. The road winds its way along the gorge of the Vaitarna river, passing a few small settlements along the way. You can stop at the crossroads of Khodala and eat freshly made "batata wada" with a fried green chilli. Follow this up with some chai and you are reinforced for the drive east up the gentle inclines to the shores of the Upper Vaitarna lake. Along the way you can see the massif which includes Basgad and its higher neighbour Utwad rise up from the plains of the Jawhar plateau. You are very unlikely to cross paths with any other hiker; most of the time you will interact only with the locals. The walk up to the plateau camping spot is easy and quick. And once the setting sun dips behind the col of Basgadh and Utwad, the hush of evening creeps into the trees and clumps of bamboo which drape the surrounding slopes.
From the camping spot, it is a good walk up through forest to the col of Utwad and Basgadh. If so inclined, you can turn right and go up the fairly steep track to the small cliff through which the path winds up and on to the summit of Utwad. However, if you turn left and go uphill for a bit you will reach a cave with a shrine. You can continue past the cave and take the ridge which descends all the way towards the west. This will bring you to a lake and from here you can walk to the village of Khoch, which is just off the Khodala - Mokhada road. My first trip to Basgadh used the Khoch approach.
I had driven to the village of Khoch in my little blue Gypsy in June 1995. Sitting behind were our friends Shyama and Shridhar and their two kids Shruti and Shreyas. My wife Margaret sat in front next to me. Our son Sanal chose to sit behind. Franklyn made up the fifth adult in our little group.The hospitable villagers of Khoch allowed us to use their little schoolroom as our base for the night.
The next morning our merry little band set off on their tour of discovery. We followed the long west ridge that drops down from Utwad towards Khoch and followed a track south which traversed under the towering cliffs. After passing the col between Utwad and Basgadh, we continued on the track to open our packed lunches in the cave that I would sleep in almost 10 years later! Though it was already the month of June, the monsoon had not been very active and we met with no showers. Therefore, the humidity levels were very high and we were sweating buckets! Shridhar decided to take off his shirt. The rest of us clung on to our modesty like the shirts on our clammy bodies. We continued south along the track and dropped down another ridge eastwards to get back to level ground.
By the time we returned to Khoch in the evening, it had turned out to be a rather long day for the children. However, they did not seem any worse for wear. We had stopped at a well to refresh ourselves before returning to the village. In the excitement of packing up to go home we left a tent (which we had brought along as a back up in case we had no place to sleep at Khoch) behind in the schoolhouse. On the Sunday following, we drove back to Khoch to recover the tent which the villagers had assiduously kept aside - they had no clue as to what it was! It was a good enough excuse to enjoy a picnic on the banks of the Vaitarna and made for a great drive. I forgot Basgadh for the next 9 years.
November 2004 saw me back at Khoch, this time with Rajesh Batheja and Shatrugna Kalavar. The Gypsy and I had parted company in 2001; in its place was a plucky little diesel Fiat Uno. After parking the maroon car at Khoch I led my two companions confidently towards one of the ridges coming down from the vicinity of the cave. I assured them that I knew the way, that I had brought our group down the same ridge in 1995. Memory is such a fickle thing. Very soon, the track on the ridge petered out and we were battling through tall stands of brush. I realised we were lost, but the thought of retracing our steps and losing all the altitude that we had gained was distasteful. Instead, we fought our way through more dense growth, slopes of scree and copses of trees till we reconnected to the regular path.
It was late in the afternoon by now and the mellowing sun cast a golden glow on the tall grass, it was magic. I have always pined for this great western light which bathes the high ground in the Sahyadri during the brief winter months. It has just the right amount of heat in it and the hues of orange and yellow that it brings out in the grass is something that I will remember all my life.
The sun had set by the time we reached the cave which was going to be home for the night. Water, or lack of it, was the next problem. It had been hot while we were climbing up through the lower parts of the hill, and we had almost exhausted the supply that we carried in our packs. Unlike a lot of caves attached to forts in the Sahyadri, this one did not have a water cistern. There was a dirty little puddle near the shrine at the back of the cave. The villagers at Khoch had told us that there was a water source on the other (East) side of the col between Basgadh and Utwad. After rejuvenating ourselves with the mandatory cup of chai, Rajesh and I went down to investigate. We had to descend a little on the east side to a small clearing where a spring which oozed out from under some bushes had been cleverly tapped to supply water by digging a hole in the earth to form a tiny reservoir, perhaps 18 inches deep. The water was clean and tasted like nectar. We replenished our bottles and headed back up to the cave to spend a great night.
We paid a visit to the top of the fort in the morning by traversing a path which hugged the slope on the north side of the cliffs before finally breaching them via a stairway. There wasn't much in the way of structures or fortifications on the top, but the views were awesome. We returned to Khoch by reversing the 1995 route; this was when I realised what a long course we had set for those little kids all those years ago! A refreshing dip in the lake where a man was fishing was the perfect way to end the weekend.
I shall not bore you with the details of my subsequent visits, except to tell you that all the later approaches were from the east. There is a road which forks to the left just before the village of Nirgudpada (the jumping off point for hikes to Harihar) along the Upper Vaitarna Lake, and loses itself in a track leading to a small saddle. Basgadh can be approached by taking the track going left and up from here. Since a picture is worth a thousand words, be prepared for a lengthy treatise as you scroll through the pictures below....you have been warned!
I have also added a couple of my video links at the end of this page which might be of interest...
Franklyn Silveira, my hiking friend over many decades, was the Fall Guy this time! Worse, he had slipped on a patch of wet rock while carrying tiny little Shruti piggyback on his shoulders. Miraculously, Shruti was intact but Franklyn's psyche was not. Shruti's mother Shyama was even more perturbed and relieved Franklyn of his babysitting duties immediately! It was June 1995 and this was my first taste of Basgadh. Over the next ten years, Basgadh steadily graduated to become one of my all time favourite destinations in the Sahyadri.
Why am I so besotted with Basgadh? When you consider that there are literally hundreds of good hiking destinations in the Sahyadri, what was so special about Basgadh that I felt compelled to go there time and time again? Why is it that a relatively insignificant protuberance on the earth's crust can exert a such a magnetic appeal? The answer lies in a combination of factors: I have always gravitated towards the road less travelled, the places less frequented.
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| Sketch map by the late Arun Samant for Harish Kapadia's "Trek the Sahyadris" 5th Edition |
The drive to Basgadh itself is a charm once you get off the Mumbai - Nashik road after Kasara and travel on the Jawhar road to Khodala. The road winds its way along the gorge of the Vaitarna river, passing a few small settlements along the way. You can stop at the crossroads of Khodala and eat freshly made "batata wada" with a fried green chilli. Follow this up with some chai and you are reinforced for the drive east up the gentle inclines to the shores of the Upper Vaitarna lake. Along the way you can see the massif which includes Basgad and its higher neighbour Utwad rise up from the plains of the Jawhar plateau. You are very unlikely to cross paths with any other hiker; most of the time you will interact only with the locals. The walk up to the plateau camping spot is easy and quick. And once the setting sun dips behind the col of Basgadh and Utwad, the hush of evening creeps into the trees and clumps of bamboo which drape the surrounding slopes.
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| This plateau, easily accessible from the east is the best place to camp for both Basgadh and Utwad |
From the camping spot, it is a good walk up through forest to the col of Utwad and Basgadh. If so inclined, you can turn right and go up the fairly steep track to the small cliff through which the path winds up and on to the summit of Utwad. However, if you turn left and go uphill for a bit you will reach a cave with a shrine. You can continue past the cave and take the ridge which descends all the way towards the west. This will bring you to a lake and from here you can walk to the village of Khoch, which is just off the Khodala - Mokhada road. My first trip to Basgadh used the Khoch approach.
I had driven to the village of Khoch in my little blue Gypsy in June 1995. Sitting behind were our friends Shyama and Shridhar and their two kids Shruti and Shreyas. My wife Margaret sat in front next to me. Our son Sanal chose to sit behind. Franklyn made up the fifth adult in our little group.The hospitable villagers of Khoch allowed us to use their little schoolroom as our base for the night.
The next morning our merry little band set off on their tour of discovery. We followed the long west ridge that drops down from Utwad towards Khoch and followed a track south which traversed under the towering cliffs. After passing the col between Utwad and Basgadh, we continued on the track to open our packed lunches in the cave that I would sleep in almost 10 years later! Though it was already the month of June, the monsoon had not been very active and we met with no showers. Therefore, the humidity levels were very high and we were sweating buckets! Shridhar decided to take off his shirt. The rest of us clung on to our modesty like the shirts on our clammy bodies. We continued south along the track and dropped down another ridge eastwards to get back to level ground.
By the time we returned to Khoch in the evening, it had turned out to be a rather long day for the children. However, they did not seem any worse for wear. We had stopped at a well to refresh ourselves before returning to the village. In the excitement of packing up to go home we left a tent (which we had brought along as a back up in case we had no place to sleep at Khoch) behind in the schoolhouse. On the Sunday following, we drove back to Khoch to recover the tent which the villagers had assiduously kept aside - they had no clue as to what it was! It was a good enough excuse to enjoy a picnic on the banks of the Vaitarna and made for a great drive. I forgot Basgadh for the next 9 years.
 |
| Relaxing at the end of the day at the village well. The red line shows the route taken. |
November 2004 saw me back at Khoch, this time with Rajesh Batheja and Shatrugna Kalavar. The Gypsy and I had parted company in 2001; in its place was a plucky little diesel Fiat Uno. After parking the maroon car at Khoch I led my two companions confidently towards one of the ridges coming down from the vicinity of the cave. I assured them that I knew the way, that I had brought our group down the same ridge in 1995. Memory is such a fickle thing. Very soon, the track on the ridge petered out and we were battling through tall stands of brush. I realised we were lost, but the thought of retracing our steps and losing all the altitude that we had gained was distasteful. Instead, we fought our way through more dense growth, slopes of scree and copses of trees till we reconnected to the regular path.
 |
| Shatrugna follows Rajesh out of Khoch |
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| Rajesh wonders whether we are lost! |
It was late in the afternoon by now and the mellowing sun cast a golden glow on the tall grass, it was magic. I have always pined for this great western light which bathes the high ground in the Sahyadri during the brief winter months. It has just the right amount of heat in it and the hues of orange and yellow that it brings out in the grass is something that I will remember all my life.
 |
| We were back on track! |
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| Shatrugna contemplates the last stretch to the cave. Utwad looms in the distance. |
The sun had set by the time we reached the cave which was going to be home for the night. Water, or lack of it, was the next problem. It had been hot while we were climbing up through the lower parts of the hill, and we had almost exhausted the supply that we carried in our packs. Unlike a lot of caves attached to forts in the Sahyadri, this one did not have a water cistern. There was a dirty little puddle near the shrine at the back of the cave. The villagers at Khoch had told us that there was a water source on the other (East) side of the col between Basgadh and Utwad. After rejuvenating ourselves with the mandatory cup of chai, Rajesh and I went down to investigate. We had to descend a little on the east side to a small clearing where a spring which oozed out from under some bushes had been cleverly tapped to supply water by digging a hole in the earth to form a tiny reservoir, perhaps 18 inches deep. The water was clean and tasted like nectar. We replenished our bottles and headed back up to the cave to spend a great night.
We paid a visit to the top of the fort in the morning by traversing a path which hugged the slope on the north side of the cliffs before finally breaching them via a stairway. There wasn't much in the way of structures or fortifications on the top, but the views were awesome. We returned to Khoch by reversing the 1995 route; this was when I realised what a long course we had set for those little kids all those years ago! A refreshing dip in the lake where a man was fishing was the perfect way to end the weekend.
I shall not bore you with the details of my subsequent visits, except to tell you that all the later approaches were from the east. There is a road which forks to the left just before the village of Nirgudpada (the jumping off point for hikes to Harihar) along the Upper Vaitarna Lake, and loses itself in a track leading to a small saddle. Basgadh can be approached by taking the track going left and up from here. Since a picture is worth a thousand words, be prepared for a lengthy treatise as you scroll through the pictures below....you have been warned!
I have also added a couple of my video links at the end of this page which might be of interest...
December 2004
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Camp on the east side just below the col. Utwad forms the backdrop.
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| Franklyn stocks up on our water supply. Within 10 days this would dry up. |
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| View east from Utwad |
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The cave of Basgadh as seen from the top of Utwad |
February 2005
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| Essential supplies! |
Monsoon 2005
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| This man told us that the turmeric flowers collected from the hillsides would be sold to the flower stalls in the pilgrim town of Trimbak for the upcoming Ganpati festival... |
October 2005
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| Anil and Prabha on the entrance stairwell of Basgadh |
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| Upper Vaitarna Lake as seen from Basgadh ( Pic : Prabha Bhowmick ) |
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| Franklyn, Prabha and that's me in the middle. |
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| Anil Gangolli contemplates the view. ( Pic: Prabha Bhowmick ) |
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| Aspiring model Prabha Bhowmick ( Pic: Bhowmick collection) |
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| Prabha takes the plunge! (Pic : Bhowmick collection) |
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| Anil follows suit....(Pic : Bhowmick collection) |
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| The wife of the "mukhiya" (village headman) of Nirgudpada looks at her own digital image.. |
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| Franklyn avails of free porter services after he fractured his ankle on the descent! |
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| The view from the Basgadh cave. February 2006    |
This was my "Farewell to the Sahyadri" trip. My brother Raj and his wife Sushma had come down to Mumbai from Delhi. Sushma had never hiked or camped out in her life....Basgadh provided the ideal introduction.
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| In the 3 months since Oct 2005, the grass had turned to my favourite colour.... |
Video links
The following videos were filmed in February 2012 when I was on a brief visit to Mumbai...I could not resist the urge to make a quick dash to Basgadh !
Franklyn Silveira and Franco Linhares obliged by agreeing to star in the videos...my appreciation is profound! Thank you gentlemen!
Franklyn Silveira and Franco Linhares obliged by agreeing to star in the videos...my appreciation is profound! Thank you gentlemen!
Brought back many memories. It is really an enjoyable fort. Harish
ReplyDeleteThank you Harish! Your guide book was like my bible of hiking for many decades while I lived in Mumbai...I still have it on my reference desk here in Canada!
DeleteHope you are enjoying the monsoon hikes...
Cheers.
Basgadh truly has the kind of timeless appeal,largely due to it's geography,seasonal varied flora,remoteness,the added bonus of a less harsh hike and the possibility to camp at ease ! I was so relieved that for once you consented to a relaxed camping trip as we were so used to your grueling -drive far,hike hard,drive back- all in a day's work,trips !I was exposed,for the first time to Franklyn's calm in adversity grittiness! Thanks,ALOKE,for those wonderful memories and pictures! Needless to add,WE'LL ALL BE BACK !
ReplyDeleteAnil, you just read my mind!
DeleteTruly,this Basgadh trip is embedded in my memory, as though it was yesterday, I WISH IT WAS YESTERDAY.Thank you Aloke, for bringing back 2005 to me.
ReplyDeleteYou are most welcome, Prabha!
ReplyDeleteBasgadh is truly a great place and thanks to you I was able to go there many a times .
ReplyDeletevery well written..!
ReplyDeleteThank you Ameya!
ReplyDelete