Trek to Kalsubai – 24th and 25th July 2009

Friday, 24th July 2009

1. The turnout

It was 9:00am when I received an e-mail from Malik which read that he wouldn’t be able to join us for the trek to Kalsubai tonight. Bharat wasn’t too sure about making it either. I called him up to ask him about his plans tonight. If we happened to cancel this trek due to a poor turn-out, then we’d have cancelled three treks in a row for the same reasons! I was a little disappointed about the fact that the strength of our group would now be reduced to a measly ‘six’ from a whopping ‘eight’. It’s funny when you consider a group of eight to have significant advantage over a group of six! Both Milind and I really wanted to go trekking this weekend. We knew that the monsoons would soon recede and that if we didn’t go on a trek soon, we’ll probably end up sulking in our office chairs, waiting for someone to pull us out of the slump by taking some pains to organize a decent event in the outdoors!

2. A week before the trek

I’d sent out e-mails, to more than a dozen people, a week before the trek. Most of them replied with a firm ‘NO’ on the same day, but most of them made excuses which were the meat of our discussions during the trek. People had reasons so silly that even the village idiot would look smarter in from them! Excuses ranging from ‘back problems’ to ‘bike problems’, you name it, I’ve heard it!

One said that he had abstained from any kind of physical activity because he had to take a steam bath in his gym. Apparently, he got real tired from ‘not’ working out for six days of the week and decided that the best compensation for his wasted fees would be consuming steam and oxygen in the gym premises! Another said he had to visit a counselor to take tips to go abroad for higher studies. He had a real good tip for him – get a Passport first mate!

3. The night of the trek

After a lot of thoughts back and forth, Milind and I came to the conclusion that the best way to reach Kalsubai would from Igatpuri and that the best mode of transport would be an ST bus, which we’d be able to catch from Dadar west. Neither did we really bother to come up with any great plans to reach the destination nor did we plan our journey back home. We decided to meet up at Dadar railway station at 10:15pm.

I had some curd rice before I left my place. I was still hungry as I was on my way to Dadar in the local train. I’d carried some idlis and chutney and I thought of munching on them in the local train itself, but I thought it would be wiser to share it with the gang during breakfast on the following morning. The six of us - me, Milind, Karan, Avinash, Dhaval and Sree - met at Dadar at around 10:30pm.

We waited for an ST bus which was leaving for Nashik. It was late by half an hour or so. The 10 o’clock bus finally reached the bus-stand at 10:55pm. The bus conductor instructed us that the bus would not halt at the Igatpuri bus station; instead he would drop us off at the highway, at a certain distance from the bus station which would take us no more than 10-15min on foot. We agreed and hopped in to the bus. It was raining cats and dogs throughout the journey. The seats were quite comfortable and the bus was clean and dry – Not a bad deal for 115 bucks!

Saturday, 25th July 2009

4. Spending the morning at Igatpuri

We got some shut-eye on the bus. When we got off the bus at Igatpuri at 3:00am, the view was breath-taking! There was purple mist all around us. We were so mesmerized by the beauty of the place that we forgot that we were standing in the middle of the highway! It took some loud honks and bright fog lights to get us back to our senses and on to the side of the road! We looked around us and realized that we needed directions to get to the bus station. We started walking in a lane which would (well, at least we thought it would!) lead to the bus station. There were a couple of big companies over there – HDFC, Mahindra & Mahindra etc. We woke up the security guard in the Mahindra & Mahindra premises. He said the bus station was straight ahead and it’s approx. 2-3kms away.

We started walking in the direction shown by the guard and reached the railway station at around 3:25am. The bus station was just a couple of meters away. We decided to rest at the platform. There were a few cops, chai wallahs and a bunch of trekkers over there. We spotted a couple of empty seats and decided to place our bags over there. We had tea (which was quite good!) and biscuits. I decided to have the idlis over there for I feared that they may not make through the rest of the journey. As soon as I opened the box there was a quick flurry of hands and all the idlis were gone. I guess we’d underestimated our appetite!

5. Reaching Bari

The chai wallah told us that there would be bus for Pune at 4:45am from the bus station. It would reach Bari at around 5:45-6:00am. We left the railway station at around 4:30am. We surprised to see only three other people at the bus station. A few more people joined us in sometime. There was a huge hoarding on the bus station which came crashing down as it was unable to withstand the forces of the strong winds. We killed time by feeding some biscuits to a small pup that was shivering the cold. The bus reached the station at around 5:20pm. This bus was clean and cozy as well. Apart from us only three other persons boarded the bus. It was evident that they were trekkers and were probably going to the same place as us – Bari village.

The scenery on the way to Bari was beautiful. I missed most of it as I was busy napping in the bus like most of the guys. We reached Bari at around 6:15am. We had some tea and Kanda-poha at the small shop at the bus stop at Bari. We befriended two of the three people who got down at Bari. Rahul and John were from Mumbai and they said that hey happened to plan for the trek just the night before. The third one, a man in his late thirties-early forties, had come alone and had started the trek even before we’d finished our breakfast.

6. Crossing the Village

We started the trek at around 7:00am. We hired a local named Pandurang as a guide for the trek for 200 bucks. We had to go through the village to reach the summit. We were surprised to see a bus full of trekkers who’d just reached the place and would soon join us in the trek. On talking to a few of them, we came to know that they had plans to visit Ratangad on the following day.

As we passed though the village a bunch of three-four playful dogs started walking with us towards the summit. We encountered a small stream of water. The water level was around 2-3feet and we made it across to the other side easily. What we didn’t expect was that the dogs would swim across the stream just to trek with us.

We reached a small Hanuman temple which was a few meters from the stream. We decided to get a closer look inside the temple. It was a small temple which had a lot of bells tied on the inside. The rain was pouring and there was no shelter from this point on. We fed the dogs some biscuits and made our way to the top of the mountain.

7. The ladders of death… mwahahaha…

The start of the trek was a little tiresome and the rains weren’t make life any easier for us! After an hour or so, we reached a place from where we could spot the three iron ladders which would help us reach the top. There were painted railings at places which would prevent you from falling off. I was surprised to see railings present at places where there was no evident danger of a fall, but as the strong winds blew over us, we realized that we could use absolutely anything just to hold on!

By the time we reached the first railing, we saw the man who’d traveled on the bus with us. He was making his was on the third iron ladder. The rains were performing a wonderful act of appearing and disappearing in intervals as small as 5minutes. We could capture some beautiful rainbows and some wonderful pictures of the sun-rays piercing through the dark skies!

The first ladder was an easy one. Even the dogs could make their way across the first ladder with ease. There were four dogs with us at that point - Three adults and a younger one which was smaller than the other three.

Ladder two proved to a little difficult for the smaller dog which fell off between the rungs of the ladder. Luckily, there was some ground below the ladder for it to land on. It started to let out cries of pain as everyone else had reached ladder three. I decided to carry the poor guy till the next ladder. It was a good thing that he cooperated with me else we could both have slipped and would’ve fallen of the ladder.

8. The Ladder to nowhere

As we reached the third ladder, the prevalent winds had gotten stronger. The third ladder spanned a good 50ft and was a little crooked as well. Unlike the previous two ladders, this one was exposed to the open skies above as well the green ground below. We feared that we could be thrown off the ladder if we encountered a sudden gush of strong winds. The temperature would be around 9-10°C at that point. We were all feeling cold and were hoping to find a shelter soon.

By the time I’d reached the foot of the third ladder, almost everyone else had crossed it. I saw two dogs at the foot of the ladder struggling to find a shelter from the cold winds and heavy rains. From where I stood, I could not see the top of the ladder. It felt as if it leads nowhere. There was mist all around it. It was difficult enough for me to climb this ladder alone, so the option of carrying a dog with me was ‘out’! I climbed up the ladder to meet Milind who handed me a pack of biscuits. I climbed down the ladder and placed the biscuits on the ground for the dogs and continued my way up the ladder for a second time.

9. Chasing the monkeys away

There was no possible way for the dogs to come up the third ladder, so there had to be another way through which they’d joined us at the top. One of the bigger dogs just started running along the sides of the mountain. We were surprised to see this sudden movement, but we soon realized that the dog had chased away a bunch of monkeys. These monkeys are infamous for their treacherous ways to steal bags from unsuspecting trekkers. They know that trekkers carry food in their bags and snatching their bags from them just happens to be a very common way for the monkeys to find food.

10. The ladder to heaven

We’d gone through a couple of websites to get some info about the Trek. Most of the websites stated that one had to cross three iron ladders to reach the summit. After crossing the third ladder we were a little relaxed that we were very close to the summit. I told Dhaval that we would reach the top in a few more minutes. Though this was the twentieth time I’d said this to him, it was the first time I’d really meant it!

The winds kept getting stronger and the rain didn’t seem to die down either. We couldn’t see beyond a couple of feet ahead of us. There was no way for us to predict how long it would take for us to reach the top. We had barely walked for twenty minutes from the third ladder that we saw a fourth one. This was bigger and more crooked than the last one! Our feet had started to ache by this time and the numbness due to the cold air had sunk all the way inside us. This ladder seemed so tall that it wouldn’t be hard to imagine that it could lead to heaven. We climbed this ladder with utmost precaution and reached to the other side.

11. Reaching the summit

By the time Dhaval, Avinash and I made our way across the fourth ladder; Milind, Sree and Karan had already reached the summit. Winds were so strong by now that at one point I could feel getting blown away with it! We were trying to maintain a low centre of gravity at the last few steps. Within half an hour from the fourth ladder, we’d finally reached the summit at around 10:30am.


There is a small temple of Kalsu Devi on the top which is painted on all sides in orange color. It has no windows and it serves as the only shelter throughout the trek. The entrance of the temple is barely 2ft x 1ft wide and can accommodate at the most four-five people. It is the only place where one could escape the harsh winds and heavy rains. We took turns to rest inside the temple for a few minutes. Apart from Pandurang (Our guide) we all waited outside the temple so that other trekkers would get an opportunity to rest inside.

We started munching on a packet of channa brought by Karan. Avinash, who was all praises about his Nike shoes, almost lost one of his shoes as a sudden gush of heavy winds almost blew it away. I think he was lucky not to be blown away himself! The place was too windy and we were all feeling really cold. We decided to start the descent at around 11am.

12. The way back to Bari

Walking back to the village from the summit was not an easy task. There were three dogs with us during the descent. I still have no clue how they made it all the way to the top and I still wonder what their motivation was to scale this mountain in such a harsh weather. The mist still remained as thick as it was when we started the ascent. We walked for about half an hour before coming across a small tree which gave us enough shelter to enjoy some theplas and Achar brought by Karan, theplas and Jam (Norway wala jisme strawberry ke pieces bhi the) brought by Dhaval and some really delicious parathas and Achar brought by Avinash.


We were quite full by the time we’d finished the food. We’d regained energy to walk back downhill but the cold had taken a toll on us by then. We’d all started to shiver and to add to the agony we were constantly being hit in the face by hundreds of drop of water, each striking the flesh like small sharp needles!

Our knees had started to pain and our feet slipping as we made our way down the rocks covered in moss and mud. I decided to climb down the ladders facing them. This way I would exert less pressure on my knees. Karan seemed a little shaky while coming down the second ladder (the third one on the way up!) while Dhaval was so tired that he forgot his fears!

On our way up to summit we’d spotted a place where we could take a dip on our way back, but now we were feeling so cold that we just wanted to get into dry clothes and eat some warm food. The thought of swimming in the cold water didn’t even cross our minds. We hurried on our way back and reached the Hanuman temple at around 12:30pm.

13. A quick dip

We were quite cozy by the time we’d reached the village. We decided to take a dip at the place we’d spotted earlier. We reached the banks and placed our bags on a patch of grass. Pandurang was eager to get back to his routine activities. He asked us for 220 bucks (20 bucks more than what we’d agreed upon!). We paid him the amount (plus 10% service tax) and decided to hit the water.

The current was too strong to swim but we tried to swim anyway! The rocks in the catchment were jagged and sharp. We got out of the water as soon as we started experiencing cramps. We knew that it was time eat some warm village food!

We had a satisfying meal at a villager’s house in Bari. All the items on the menu were ‘Shuddh Shakahari’ but you could opt for chicken or fish. We also ate the ‘Batata ki Sabzi’ brought by Dhaval and the amazing ‘Bombil chutney’ brought by Milind. For dessert, we had ‘Shrikhand’ courtesy of Milind.

We agreed that there was no point in getting into dry clothes as the rains were still pouring down on us. We bid goodbye to the village and made or way back to the bus stop at around 3:45pm.

14. The journey back to Kasara

The lady at the shop at the bus stop told us that the next bus to Kasara would come by 4:30pm. We didn’t have the patience to wait for half an hour. We decided to travel by the next jeep that would come our way.

We saw a packed jeep coming our way. He said he’d drop us off till Kasara, but there was one small problem – there was no space for all of us to fit in. The jeep driver seemed to have no doubt that we would ‘easily’ fit in his vehicle. I’m sure he’d fit in eight adult African elephants in his Jeep if you paid him the right amount for it! Avinash hated the idea of traveling in such conditions, but it was the only way to reach Kasara. The bus service is too uncertain in these parts of Maharashtra. The other passengers were out of the Jeep before we reached a place called Ghoti which is approx. 15kms from Igatpuri.

15. Reaching Ghoti

The Jeep fellow was slow and his riding was pathetic! He was such a miser that he would turn off the engine at every possible downward slope just to save fuel. He dropped us off at Ghoti and said that it wasn’t economical for him to take us all the way to Kasara. We didn’t bother to argue with him as we would’ve ended up wasting our time and energy.

We didn’t bother to negotiate with the other Jeep fellow at Ghoti either. He said that he would start the vehicle only if it is filled up and by filled up he meant about 10 more passengers. We felt that these guys couldn’t be trusted. We started to enquire about the next bus to Kasara at the bus stand.

A bus to Kasara pulled up in the bus stand within minutes of us reaching there. Just about the same time, a guy in a Maruti Omni made us an offer we couldn’t refuse. He said he’d take just the six us of us (No other passenger) to Kasara for just 200 bucks. No stopping, no stalling, just riding all the way to Kasara. We agreed that it was a good deal and we hopped in.

16. Landslides galore!

This vehicle was cozy and clean and everyone welcome the breathing space. We munched on whatever was left in our bags. From dry-fruits to chocolate cakes – we decided to finish off everything. It was raining and the mist still hadn’t lifted. We were doing a ‘90’ on the highway when we experienced the first road block. There was a huge landslide which had blocked most parts of the road. Luckily the bulldozers had already done their job. We negotiated our way through the debris to come across two more landslides on the way to Kasara.


We reached Kasara station at around 5:30pm. Just as we were buying the tickets, we saw a train pull in to the platform. Milind and I stayed back at the ticket counter as the others rushed in to the train to get hold of empty seats for everyone. The train was a 6:15pm slow local for CST. We took our places inside the compartment of the train and recollected the memories of the trek as we went through the pictures in Sree’s digi-cam. We’ll have to wait for the pictures taken by Avinash, as his camera was a film camera and not a digital one.
We reached Dadar station at 8:45pm. We bid goodbye to Milind, who looked like a sleep deprived junkie, as we got off the train. Sree and Avinash boarded the Virar fast local. Karan, Dhaval and I decided to take a slow local to Borivli. The 8:47pm local train (which arrived at 9:05pm) was packed and it took us a lot of effort just to get inside the train! The train was so crowded that Karan decided to board the next one. Dhaval and I managed to find some place to stand in the crowded train without getting our toes crushed by other passengers. Dhaval got off the train at Kandivli.

I reached home at around 10:15pm. A warm shower and a warm meal never seemed so satisfying! All the muscles in my body were aching but it felt great to have been through this wonderful experience. It was indeed an amazing trek – the best one so far, if I may say so myself!

- Vish