An Unfinished Trek to Gorakhgad Fort

by - November 01, 2017




















Anurag's week off always equals to a plan – either in the woods or in a fancy restaurant. For him, sitting ideally on holidays means wasting the day. So he asks his friends and I end up being his only companion, credits to my joblessness. Earlier we had planned on camping but since he had his work at 1 pm the next day, we had to settle down for a day-trek. We planned to conquer the Gorakhgad Fort, which is near Murbad, some 50 km away from Kalyan.

We were to meet at 7:30 am below my building, but as always, he was late and the revised timing was set an hour later. I had woken up at 6:15 and so I sure was annoyed at him! Another mishap on his way to my house was his Royal Enfield's punctured tyre, due to which, we had to leave around 9:30 instead.


The traffic near Kalyan was crazy and we were stuck for around 30 minutes in it. Back of the mind, I knew the trek would get cancelled. We still somehow reached the base village Daheri. After asking the locals, we got the way to the fort. The trek starts from Gorakhnath temple and we started ascending at 12:00 pm!

The first part of the trek is through a jungle. Sometimes the trail would get so narrow, you wouldn't see the floor. Also, a word of precaution: I wouldn't recommend individual trekkers or a group of three or below for this trek unless you are fully geared. The jungle is not dense, but I would still suggest to not go with fewer people. A group of five or beyond would be ideal. 


This time, for some reason, I was out of stamina. Maybe it was the contact lenses or the fact that it was a pricking sunny afternoon, but I was stalling after every 2 minutes. We hardly covered 1/4th of the trek, when I asked Anurag if we could go back. I was feeling like a loser for giving up, but climbing under the energy-sucking sun made no sense at all. He agreed and when we had stopped for some refreshments before beginning to descend, we heard a wild boar!

I was terrified and given my history with animals, I was mortified too! We rushed downwards, while still hearing the wild boar's moans. I had carried a kitchen knife – the one I carry on treks and camping. I took it out and gave it to Anurag when we were still rushing down. Now you know why you need a lot of people?


We then lowered our speed and shortly thereafter, we could hear a local Guruji on the speaker from the Gorakhnath temple. We knew we were nearing the base. Finally, relieved, we reached the base. The trek was a disappointment but I was happy to shake some legs. We both have decided to come back some day and this time, wake up earlier! Whenever I would try this trek again, I would share its details, because I don't have an expertise on this fort yet to write anything here.

However, do ask me anything if you wish to know, and I would try my best to answer.


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