On the Edge of Sahyadris: Bhimashankar trek

Ahupe Ghat a place behind Bhimashankar-Ghonemal(घोनेमाळ )-Damdamia(दमदम्या ) situated between Bhimashankar and Durg-Dhakoba very much behind the Dimbhe Dam backwaters
A Heavenly place to have a joy walk over the clouds from a small tribal village till the topmost point

From Pune side, the trek is not much climb.it is hardly a climb of 100 to 150 meters and around 2 kms walk whereas from Konkan, it is a extensive trek of around 800 meters of steep straight climb with around 10 kms walking behind Gorakhgad in Konkan

Base villages :
Dehri/Khopivali in Murbad Taluka Dist Thane
Ahupe village , Ambegaon(Ghodegaon) Taluka Dist Pune

How to Go to Ahupe
1) From Pune

Reach Manchar on Pune-Nasik Highway, take left towards Bhimashankar
Ghodegaon(घोडेगाव ) is 13 kms on that road.Further from Ghodegaon , reach Dimbhe(डिंभे) colony which is 10 kms from Ghodegaon
Further approx 1 km ahead from Dimbhe colony, the bhimashankar road takes sharp left turn towards the ghat (पोखरी घाट ) just from this point, you will see Dimbhe dam wall to your right and one small road going towards Dimbhe dam wall
Follow this road , this is the road going to Ahupe(आहुपे) village which is 48 kms from Dimbhe dam wall
The road is throughought the hilly regions behind the backwaters of Dimbhe dam
After 2 hours , you can reach Ahupe village

From Ahupe village, the topmost point is hardly 100 to 150 meters.Little bit higher than Parvati(पर्वती) in Pune hence anyone with family can also come here(Only beware of final point because it is very narrow strip with valley from 3 sides just like Arthur seat point of Mahabaleshwar)

From Pune,you need to have your own vehicle because beyond Dimbhe Dam, chances of getting vehicles is very less.There are jeeps from Ghodegaon till Ahupe but very few hardly 2 to 3 in a day and buses only in Morning.
After the afternoon 12:30 pm, there is no bus to return back(The Ahupe-Shivajinagar 12:30 pm bus via Pimpri Chinchwad is the last bus from here)

Overnight staying in Ahupe

For overnight stay , there is a bus from Manchar around 4:00 pm which reaches Ahupe around 7:00 pm
Stay can be made at many places Just before Ahupe village, there is an old temple in thick forests called Gram daivat (ग्राम दैवत मंदिर ) of Ahupe
One can stay here overnight
Also in Ahupe village, there is an School , where one can stay
Bhimashankar is 15 kms walk from from here through the sanctuary and circumventing Damdamia mountain

2) Reaching Ahupe From Konkan Mumbai/Kalyan

From Kalyan, take bus to Murbad and get bus to reach Dehri(देहरी ) /khopavli(खोपावली ) the base villages of Gorakhgad in Konkan

Ahupe and Gorakhgad are having common trek routes.
Climb Half the Gorakhgad till Der Mata Mandir(देर माता मंदिर ) and from there , follow the steep route going down in forests overlooking Gorakhgad , you will join one route coming from Khopivali and then the route becomes very steep and ferocious.After 3 to 4 hours of climb, you will reach the topmost point of Ahupe and further to Ahupe village

About Ahupe ghat
Ahupe ghat is having 16 points as per the local people.It is the Mahabaleshwar of Tribal area

Ahupe ghat is a route used by tribals to descend to konkan
There are many ghat routes to descend in Konkan nearby Ahupe

1) From Ahupe village, there is Ahupe Ghat
2) Further, between Ahupe and Damdamia , there is another ghat route called as bail ghat( बैल घाट ) which is a route of animals(गुरांची वाट) to descend down in Konkan
3) Also from Ahupe, there is a route behind Damdamia(दमदम्या डोंगर ) ->Sakhar Maachi( साखर माची पठार ) to Siddhagad and to descend in Konkan
4) From Ahupe, Done(डोणे ) village is around 6 kms .From Doni village, there is one ghat route to descend in Konkan called as Done Daar(डोणे दार ) which is also known as Trigundara ghat(त्रिगुणदरां घाट ) and further the trek route goes to Durg Dhakoba to Amboli in Junnar

The whole region between Durg Dhakoba till Bhimashankar is a flat plateau of height between 800 to 1200 meters with mountain peaks on top of the plateau and thick forests in between and small tribal hamlets situated in these forests

Livelihood of local people
The local tribal people grow rice in fields and usually collect honey, medicinal herbs from forests for selling in markets at konkan and at Bhimashankar and they hunt for food.They usually catch fish,crabs and hunt wild pigs , rabbits etc

Places to see in Ahupe
As said earlier, Ahupe is having 16 points showing different views from Bhimashankar, Siddhagad,Gorakhgad , Durg Dhakoba , There is a big flat plateau everywhere on the edge of konkan with steep rock faces everywhere

Trek Combinations to and From Ahupe

1) Gorakhgad trek can be associated with Ahupe Ghat since Gorakhgad and Ahupe has common routes
2) Ahupe-Damdamia-Kondhwal-Bhimashankar(15 kms walk through dense bhimashankar sanctuary)
3) Siddhagad-Bail ghat(बैल घाट)-Damdamia-Ahupe
4) Ahupe-Doni-Durg-Dhakoba-Amboli

Here are some photos along with Map

Myself at top with Gorakhgad and Machhindragad pinnacles seen down in the valley

Dimbhe dam backwaters

Roads along with backwaters of Dimbhe in the ghat

Myself

Mahesh

Nearby Ahupe Village

Deep valley below not seen because of fog and dense trees below

Ashramshala in Ahupe Village.This is a school till 10th Standard

On way to Ahupe ghat top point

Approaching topmost point of Ahupe ghat

Huge waterfalls everywhere

Steep Rock Faces and deep valleys with huge waterfalls

A view of Gorge with huge waterfall in valleys.This is just half.This much part only was fitting in Camera

Still not got full picture.Half of this waterfall is still falling in valley which could not be picturized due to fog.Just dared to look below on the edge and take photograph

There was fog below us hence visibility of valley was less while reaching top

Waterfalls , huge valleys and Bhimashankar, Ghonemaal Plateau Damdamia seen behind in fog

Mahesh

Approaching Topmost Point

Towards Topmost Point

Gorakhgad and Machhindragad below in the valley and view of Konkan

Rice fields in Ahupe Village.We also saw how people were catching crabs in rice fields

Ahupe Temple just near the entrance of village

Ahupe Temple.A good place for staying for around 4 people

Ahupe Village entrance

Near Ahupe Gram daivat Temple.A small temple in forests

Cloudy in the valley

Towards the topmost narrow point.deep valley in Konkan

Durg and Dhakoba seen far ahead from Ahupe top

Waterfalls in valley with Damdamia and Bhimashankar lost in fog

House in Ahupe. We were greeted with cup of tea

Gigantic Waterfall falling into Konkan

Bhimashankar trek from Khandas near Karjat.The King of all treks

The reason why I am calling it as king of all treks is because

1) Very long walk(Almost 12 to 15 kms from base village through long and difficult route)

2) Never ending steep climbs till the end

3)All aspects of a trek is covered like Crossing ferocious rivers,walking long distances,steep climbs,rock climbing and all this through a wildlife sanctuary

Height in meters(1008 meters)

Height from Base village:(850 meters/ almost 2.5 times more climbing and 10 times difficult than Rajgad,Raigad,Sinhagad)

Total time takes for the trek: 3.5 hours

Grade Rating: Easy from Ganesh ghat and moderate to little difficult from Shidi ghat(Ladder route)

Base village: Khandas Taluka Karjat dist Raigad

Well I earlier planned Ganesh ghat the easy route for Bhimashankar and conveyed this trek plan through email to all colleagues but finally only 3 people including me were ready hence after reaching Khandas,We decided that we will be using Shidi ghat to reach Bhimashankar and that day,it already rained early morning and weather was clear hence no possibility of heavy rains till we reach the top hence Shidi ghat was finalized and the easy Ganesh ghat route was cancelled.

Also now I am looking to do Durg-Dhakoba trek soon.Reason because if I do this trek,There will be a record against my name of trekking each and every mountain continuos in Sahyadris right from Salher-Mulher-Mangi Tungi till Bhimashankar.Only Durga-Dhakoba near Darya ghat Junnar is remaining in between.

How to reach the base village Khandas

We took Sinhagad express from Shivajinagar around 6:12 am and reached Karjat till 8:00 pm

From Karjat,we took a bus till Kashele 22 kms from Karjat on Murbad road

From Kashele,we and another group of trekkers totally 8 people hired a Omni for 200 rupees(25 rupees each) till Khandas village

We reached Khandas around 10:00 am

From Khandas,it was again a 3 kms walk till the bridge from where the trek starts

We reached around 10:45 am till the bridge

After the bridge,towards right,the road is to Ganesh ghat,straight is to Shidi ghat and left is to some other village nearby

Bhimashankar has two routes from Khandas village

1) Ganesh ghat:It is an easy route but very very long route traversing the neighbouring Padar fort and reaching Bhimashankar upper Plateau.It takes 4 hours or more through Ganesh ghat.Through this route,from bridge after Khandas,take right and this route traverses through longer way and reaches a Ganesh temple.Further there is a well.From that well,take left towards Bhimashankar.Towards right,there is a tricky road to Padar fort from that well.

2) Shidi ghat:-It is a tough route but well defined one through steep climbs up and down,crossing ferocious rivers,waterfalls deep into the forests,climbing rocks and of-course ladders affixed into rockfaces.One has to be very cautious while going through this route and not recommended for beginners.

(For more details of map routes, see the first photograph where details are given)

We started the trek around 10:45 to 11:00 am from that bridge.The ganesh ghat route was crowded and noisy hence we decided to go through Shidi ghat.Hardly 5% of that crowd were going by Shidi ghat hence it was good one.

Right from the start of that route,the steep climb welcomes you and in 30 minutes of walking,you encounter a waterfall in deep forests and a flowing river over waterfall.

After crossing this river, again the steep climb continues and after 1 hour of trek is finished,you encounter the first ladder affixed in rock.

The scene from this is immaculate from this point.You can see huge waterfalls, clouds sailing all over and greenery everywhere in form of dense forests hide and seek game between sun and clouds going hand in hand

After crossing the first ladder,there are rock patches all over hence after careful climbing of 1 hour and after crossing the remaining 2 ladders,you can reach few huts on a flat pleateau

After reaching here,you reach halfway mark.At this point,the route coming from Ganesh ghat meets the Shidi ghat route.

This point is the halfway/Interval of the trek

At this point,you can get tea/snacks and food also

From here,again the steep climb starts.These steep climbs are like a never ending story.It continues on and on.When we feel like the trek is almost coming to an end,one more steep climb is in your way and this happens almost 10 to 12 times thus the steep climbs are never ending ones

Finally after 3.5 to 4 hours hours of walking from the base village,you finally reach the open ground on the top nearby the stairs of Bhimashankar Temple(You can feel it due to huge noise because in month of Shravan,there are almost 2 lakhs devotees visiting Bhimashankar)

We started the trek around 10:45 to 11:00 am and reached Bhimashankar top around 3:15 pm.We tried to see whether we can get the Darshan but seeing the crowd,it was impossible for us till 5 to 6 hours to get into the temple hence around 4:30 pm,we moved back to Pune to reach Shivajinagar till 8:00 pm

Thus an interesting journey came to an end here

Here are the photographs

Reference Map of Bhimashankar trek from Khandas village.This is just a reference map providing general information of the trek.It does not guarantee accuracy

Khandas village and Bhimashankar in background

The Trek Route.You might be thinking that Bhimashankar is this much high only.But more than half part is not visible due to clouds.This is just 30% part visible and it takes almost 2 hours to complete this part through difficult route.You can see how steep rock faces are there.Ladders are fixed in these rockfaces

The Shidi ghat route

The first Ladder

Anirban on the ladder

Myself on the ladder with our new trek colleague Dipti

Scene from the Ladder route.Yes you have to traverse through such narrow path and steep climbs.It is not easy through this route

This was the trek route.Somewhat difficult on the edges and on the ladders affixed in rock.Also some rock climbing was involved by this route.
Padar fort or Kalavantin Mahal seen behind

A close view of Padar fort neighbouring Bhimashankar.The Ganesh ghat route traverses through this fort and joins Bhimashankar.This fort is difficult to climb