Trek to Tikona

THE EXPERIENCE

My fascination for treks stemmed from the fact that my father was a trekking enthusiast in his childhood and teenage years. It took almost 20 years of my life before I developed a passion for it!

Over the past 2 years, I met many people in college who shared this same interest with me. Mahuli, Sudhagad and Karnala were three treks I undertook with my college friends. Come October 2016, I was eager to plan a trek for December once our exams were done. To add to it, I wished to take along a huge group this time, and that meant adhering to a few limitations - trek duration of one day, distance from Mumbai not over 100 km, and a difficulty level of easy to moderate. Along with my co-planner Mihir, I chose Tikona fort as our destination for the trek.

In hindsight, I now firmly feel that getting participants on board, planning each detail of the trip, and making people pay up promptly was the tougher part! Moreover, we ended up having a diverse group - 5 students from the Computer department, 5 students of the Mechanical department, and 5 students from other colleges, who were friends of our friends!

On December 23, 2016, at 4:30 AM, my mother woke me up and said, "Tushar, you might get late for the trek. Wake up now!" I realised I had missed the 4:00 AM alarm, and was suddenly very alert. I packed the important necessities for a trek - sufficient water, lunch, medicines, etc - and set off. 5 out of the 15 participants were to come via Thane, and we caught the 5:40 local to Nerul. Despite it being the everyday route to college, this journey felt special. The early morning chill and breeze at the door of the train was invigorating.

To my surprise, each and every member of the trek was promptly present at Kharghar railway station at the decided time, 6:30 AM. With no further delay, we embarked on a 100 km journey to Tikona Peth village in a rented Tempo Traveller. Having learnt from past experiences and a bit of foresight thinking, I prepared a hand-made map for navigating. We assigned this task to our classmate Harish, who then became our 'navigator' for the day!

Route map from Kharghar to Tikona Peth

Despite our efforts, we missed a couple of turns on the small village roads! Nevertheless, we reached Tikona Peth on schedule at 9:30 AM. The actual trekking trail is about 1 km further down the road after the village. We were greeted with clear skies and a glaring sun. Yet, everyone was in high spirits and we immediately began the easy difficulty trek that was estimated to be a 1 hour climb.

Our ride parked at the base of Tikona

The cool December morning weather soon gave way and the occasional breeze was rejuvenating on an otherwise hot day. Since we knew that it would be a short trek, we had no half-measures, and spent ample time enjoying at each spot. Clicking photos - solo, and in group - was given higher priority. It also gave us an opportunity to mingle with everyone and share a laugh every time someone was a the victim of a joke!

Clicked mid-way through the climb

Most of the climb is a fairly well-marked route having gentle slopes. The geography of this trail is such that we were greeted with breathtaking views in all directions! A few other popular forts of the era of Chhatrapati Shivaji are present in the vicinity - Lohagad, Visapur, Tung, Korigad, etc. A clear day meant that visibility stretched for a very long distance, and we could identify most of these forts. Even in the absence of a high-quality camera, the clear weather and bright sunlight ensured that our smartphone cameras were up to the task.

Lohagad (left) and Visapur (right) forts seen in the distance

A few members of the group were eager to climb faster, and made good progress and got to the top in about 1.5 hour. The rest of us were just ambling along, chit-chatting all the way. The sun was bearing down on us, and with most of us being amateur trekkers, we had to take constant breaks to remain well-hydrated. A small pond on the fort bearing cold clean water was a pleasing sight. We were awed by the expertise & knowledge of the people living over 400 years ago while constructing the fort. The longevity is unmatched - buildings constructed today barely last for 50 years, but these forts have stood strong for centuries. The facilities & utilities provided (ponds, grain silos, etc) ensured that the fort could sustain even harsh climatic conditions.

After pondering for a while over the greatness of the people of that era, we resumed our climb. Having spent close to 2 hours, we decided to complete the remaining part quickly. Clear demarcations and sign boards helped us stay on the correct path. Very soon, we were greeted by a very steep climb that led us to the fortified main gate (Maha Darwaza) and further up to the top. That last stretch was quite strenuous and sturdy cables along the crude steps carved out of the rocks was handy support. Including our long breaks and frequent halts, we reached the top in about 2.5 hours.

The steep climb just before the top

Panoramic view from the top

Once at the top, the astounding 360 degree view gave us a perfect spot for clicking amazing pictures. The satisfaction was tremendous but the time spent in the sun had left us extremely hungry. Just as we were about to settle down at a spot to have lunch that we had brought with us, a monkey jumped from a tree to a spot near us. My friend was startled and literally flung his Lays chips packet in the air out of fear. In a matter of minutes, about half a dozen monkeys arrived and we realised that having lunch over there was out of question. We quickly picked our bags, tucked away our mobile phones, and began descending. The descent was really fast (courtesy the monkeys) and we were back at the base by 1:00 PM.

We then headed to a nearby house with a courtyard that doubled up as a makeshift restaurant. It was very satisfying to munch on the food after a tiring climb. The fresh lime juice we ordered from the restaurant was marvellous. We couldn't stop at one and quite a few of us had a second glass too! After driving down the road for about 15 minutes, we arrived at a larger hotel where the people who hadn't carried any lunch ate to their heart's content. The rest of us were busy in a game of 'Rummy' (a card game).

Contemplating about what to do next, we decided to leave from there and stay on the look out for a place where we could play football. The tiring trek and a heavy lunch made us all drowsy, and it was out of pure fortune that I saw a piece of land that was fairly flat and did not seem like a farm land. All the interested members of the group quickly alighted and we had a nice hour-long game of football. The sapping heat and scorching sun weren't a deterrent and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves!

A group-fie at the end of the game!

The ride back home held no surprises and most of us took a nap as we sped along the Mumbai Pune Expressway. At the end, we had to negotiate a bit with the contractor over the rent to be paid. There was a misunderstanding and he claimed that despite mentioning Lonavala, we had driven much further. I was thankful that I had planned the finances well with my co-planner, and thus we weren't left in a lurch and could settle for an affordable price. The entire day turned out to be a memorable experience, and a great learning curve for me in organising, conducting and managing such an event!

MANAGING FINANCES

We had taken Rs. 500 from every member. We had money collected from 16 people (but 1 could not make it that day), and the total collection of Rs. 8000 was spent as follows:

1. Water bottles (15) - Rs. 300
2. Football - Rs. 300
3. Toll - Rs. 540
• Rs. 99 - Return fare at Kharghar-Panvel toll
• Rs. 180 - One way Expressway toll up to Lonavala
• Rs. 81 - Return fare on old Mumbai Pune highway up to Kamshet
• Rs. 180 - One way Expressway toll from Lonavala
4. Tempo traveller rental - Rs. 6800

I was glad that the entire event was a success and returned home in a great state of mind. The body held up for the day, but the outcome surfaced the next day and we were all facing severe body ache and thus forced to rest. But the efforts and pain were all worth it!