LohGarh Trek - 23rdAug09

With the onset of monsoons the weather in and around Pune has become very pleasant, ideal for trekking. And so last friday me n 3 of my teammates suddenly planned on going to Malavali on saturday. We decided on meeting at the railway station at sharp 7:15, so as to take the 7:30 lonawala local to Malavali.

Saturday morning began with wake up calls to each other, as we couldnt risk anybodys oversleeping. On reaching station & purchasing tickets, we gotto know that the local is at 8. So we whiled away time in Comesum, having tea & chit chatting. Once aboard the local, it hardly took 70-80 mins to reach Malavali. We started walking from the station towards Lohagrah fort, quite excited & energetic. To our dismay the sun was merciless. We were expecting a pleasant weather and here the sun was in its blazing glory. Anyway we managed to walk n walk, with some rest breaks in between. As we gained height the weather thankfully improved n then we started enjoying our climb.

The scenery around was simply picturesque. After reaching the base of the fort, there were quite a lot of steps, which took us to the fort. The view from the top was breathtaking & the greenery around vivid. We spent quite some time there, clicking snaps, taking in the view all around us, & enjoying the cool breeze. It was so refreshing that we had already forgotten the fatigue of the climb.

During our climb down, after covering half of the distance real quick, due to pleasant weather & downward slope, we took a break to eat. Hot plates of kandha bhaji & poha, followed by tea in a dhaba reminded us of how much starved we were. After relishing all that, we continued our walk downhill. The merciless sun once again greeted us & we tried to beat the heat by soaking in some cool water of a spring.

Finally back to Malavali station, we boarded our 4 o' clock return train. Exhausted & content with our trip we reached back already planning for the next trip :)