Dhak Bahiri Trek -- Advantageously Easy

Dhak Bahiri (karjat)
Type : Hill Fort
Grade : Medium
Date : 5th Jan 2014.
Height : 2320 feet
Region : Karjat

Dhak Bahiri was now decided to be accomplished, As my previous trek of Alang- Madam gives the next vision towards the Dhak .

Dhak Bahiri is a very demanding trek in Maharashtra due to the thrilling climb it offers. Well as described by some of my trek friends,(Kashi, Sandi) the trek of Dhak Bahiri is a tough one, but I did not found anything such in it. For me it was an OKAY trek, not as much as people described to me.

We decided to do it as a one day trek and we left for Karjat by the first local train.(Thane 6:12-Karjat train) We reached Karjat at 7:15 am and had breakfast of Channe and vadapavs near bus stop. Where we met our ladies dept.(Panwelkars & Kalyankar).We enquired at the S.T bus timings and found that the bus for base village, Sandshi was at next 15 min. Con-dr. announced bus, the journey towards Sandshi started.

We are total 8 now..!!!!

The road ends at Sandshi village and it takes about 30 mins to reach from Karjat.

I had decided from bus itself that we going to ask a local guys from Sandshi aswe are not sure about the rout, as last time our senior citizen got lost in jungle. The village seemed to be very lazy; we asked many people and finally we are on the way. Finally at 8:15 Am we started the trek. All were very excited to reach the Bahiri cave. We had good photo sessions while moving. The route first goes through fields and then suddenly we realized that we lost again, as strip seen ahead,

After some time we realized that, we are not alone who got lost in jungle,

Uffff…..!!! finally after an hour we found the path, hidden behind the sawed wood. And then it goes from the jungle and ends at the base of final climb, while we passed a small temple with TRISHUL and Deepstamb. The heat was on and soon some of us became too slow. We kept on motivating each other by saying we are not even completed half long way to go otherwise, we hve to stay another day in jungle if we reach night and it will be difficult to hold grips. There were lot of spider webs and spiders all the way on the route. Our ancestral (you clled it as Monkeys) are seen commonly.

Once you reach the plateau below the cave, you can see the Cave very clearly and to the right side the pinnacle of Kalkarai. There was a huge crowd inside the cave as it was Sunday and the best season to do Dhak Bahiri.

At 11.50 am we reached right below the cave and now the final climb was to be done. Our local guide told us to remove our shoes right here and mainly ladies not allow above this point.. Then we (Guys only)started climbing the final patch.

There are total two routes to reach Dhak Bahiri, one comes from Karjat side (Sandshi) and other comes from Lonavala side (Jambhivali). The one which comes from Jambhivali is a short cut and it comes from the Kalkarai pinnacle side and then both the routes join at the base of the cave.

There are steel rods and ropes fixed for safety; Dhak Bahiri has become a very safe trek now. There are series of small rock cut steps which needs to be climbed carefully. Climbing these steps will take you to a a very decent height and the cave will be much closer to you now. We all climbed up nicely and easily, there were lot of monkeys who were playing and having fun on these cliffs. Its normal for them, they have awesome grips. Once the steps end, the route goes to right side and the famous bamboo patch of Dhak Bahiri comes. There is a bamboo with its forks//Spikes where you can place your foots and there is a good thick rope for hand holding. Take support of both and climb up smoothly. The bamboo ends up after 8 feet or so and on right side there is a big rock where you now need to shift. Carefully take foot grips and climb up the rock and you are inside the cave. Don’t worry, there is a rope fixed over here too.

We all got into the cave and relaxed ourselves. There is a small temple of Bahiri deity and water tanks too. There are loads of vessels inside the water tanks dipped in the chilling water. People can use them for cooking purpose. The cave was crowded and lot chattering noise was heard. Some groups were making their lunch while some were still sleeping and some were just enjoying the views offered from this cave. We were able to see the Rajmachi(Manoranjan & Other) range from the cave. We had some photos.

We tens about girl we left behind at the base of rock patch with some Beautiful creature of god ;-) (Shushhhhhhhhh!!! Keep secret ..!!)

A group was climbing up and so we had to wait for all of them to enter the cave, once they all climbed up, we started descending. I did not felt anything tough in this climbing, well most of us felt a good difficult patch, Quickly we descended the rock cut steps carefully and reached the jungle below. A lot of time was wasted waiting for the group that was climbing up and so we were running late out of our schedule.

It was 3 pm now and we all were hungry. We came across a good spot On same place I described previously a small temple, We had carried dosa’s + Masaala rice .

We all sat down and started our bhukkadgiri (Lunch). It tastes awesome when you are real hungry. We needed to quickly finish off with our lunch as we wanted to take the 6.30 pm bus from Sandshi village to Karjat. We quickly packed up and started descending. We were running out of water and time now. The whole gang was too slow now .Well we hit the base 15 mins before the bus and refreshed ourselves at a water pump near the village school. We paid off the for the tea @ base and waited for the bus. Soon the noise of bus was heard and it came finally, we all got into the bus and almost all of us were tired . Soon we reached Karjat and headed towards the station. Soon the train arrived and got empty we all settled in and discussed again on same Himalaya trek plan. and kept chit chatting about trekking and such things. And then it was time to say good bye to each other when we reached thane.

Dhak Bahiri was my incomplete trek which was now completed very easily.

people who described the trek to me as very difficult, I don’t agree. Or may be that I did not felt it that difficult. For me it was a easy trek actually. It has become a lot safer now and anyone can do it without any needs of equipments.

Special thanks to,

Lalita & mom- for whole lunch Dosa’s & chatani

Sharvari Kerkar- For Masal Rice.

Sugandhi – to keep my mind busy.

Rashmi + Lalitha + Vinay – for sharing photo’s.

Prakash + Jayant (Baaba)- for sharing thr previous experience of getting lost in jungle.

Abhi- for unnecessary carrying Rope and climbing accesaries.

A 13 year old bacchu (little wonder)- spirit.

Villagers – Who not allowed girl to climb up on final patch.

Unforgettable sent : Chane ahe pan dat nahi, Data he pan Chane nahi..!!!!

Best Regards,

Patalancha Khatyad ladaka,