Trekking

Trekking Dec 2008 :: Kalavantin Durg [Trekking around Panvel]

All I know is.. “Google is my friend”, whenever I am in search of some interesting place to trek.. I can only do is Google it out. Since I had recently been to Prabalgad, I had an eye for doing a winter trek to “Kalavantin Durg”.

Do Google search for images of Kalavantin Durg (Kalavantin Pinnacle)click here

All I could comment was “Amazing Place, Amazing Snaps”.. I heard from my subconscious mind was to visit this place asap.. And we had Mallik making plans for the same. The plan was to be executed on 6th Dec 2008. We all gathered at Dadar Stn @5:30 a.m., planned to meetup a few fellas at Kurla Stn. headed towards Panvel. Got down at Panvel Rly Stn, moved towards Panvel bus depot to take the 7AM bus to base village of Thakurwadi( Bus fare: 10 bucks each).
The distance shall be around 30 mins (~15-20kms). You can go via Mumbai Pune Highway-Shedung Phata to Thakurwadi. Then proceed to Prabalgad or Kalavantin. The Stairs are full of scree n a little bit broken route.

Kalavantin Durg, near the Panvel region, adjacent to Prabalgad Fort. The 3-hour long trek takes you to Prabal Machi Village, where rock-cut steps lead you to the top of the fort. Its located very close to Panvel, is a medium difficulty trek, but if you dare to visit during rains, its gonna be really more challenging.

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Trekking Sep 2008 :: Prabalgad [Trekking around Panvel]

I very eagerly longed for a Trek to Prabalgad and JanSeva Samiti was scheduled to go there on 28th Sep 2008. I had Ruturaj, Amol, Gauri, Neeraj, Swati and Vikrant joining in for this trek. But somehow Amol Rajoba and Ruturaj had to cancel their plans and Gauri ditched at the last moment! This trip had fascinated me, bcoz I always wanted to catch a glimpse of Kalavantin Durg, which if possible would have been an additional trek on the same day.

Also not to forget the sight of lovely Lavender Karvy’s – once-in-eight-years bloom. Karvy flowers bud… The purplish blue flower with a tinge of pink is in the bloom right now and it is a dazzling sight. What makes it even more beautiful is the fact that it blooms only once in eight years. The life history of Karvy plants is interesting. Each year the plant comes alive with the advent of Monsoon,and once the rains are over, what is left behind is dry and dead-looking stems.This pattern repeats itself for seven years. In the eighth yr, the plant explodes into mass flowering. All throughtout the patch it seemed like the honey bees were busy collecting the Karvy nectar (this flower also has special honey with significant medicinal values).

Kalavantin Durg (my next trekking destination..this Winter – I am bound to go there on a Biking and Trekking event) Take a look at the gallery – If you can zoom in to notice the stairs to the top – Kalavantin trek its gonna be difficult for amateurs. Places visible in this stretch are : Malanggad, Ganesh-Kartik, Navra Navri-cha-dongar, Chanderigad, Vikatgad(Peb), Nakhind, Matheran (Panorama Point) .. and other misc places around. Also, Salman Khan’s abode ( with two private lakes and his farm houses) a bird’s eye view of this place can be seen in the gallery.

On top of it, I found the Swarovski Crystals repository.. and a different view of those glittering diamonds.. entirely beautiful and irresistible – I had to capture them, you need to take a closer look at them – you wouldn’t wanna count them. Tats all I can say – you can seee the world through crystal eyes and experience the fascinating world of Swarovski crystal :p

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