A mid summer waterfall

Last weekend I went down the canyon valley at Lonavala with VRangers. This valley, also called the Ulhas/Bela/Tiger valley can be seen from the Mumbai-Pune Expressway. It was an overnight trek. 2 unique aspects of this trek were
1. Instead of climbing a mountain, we were going down a valley, so it started with a descent and ended with a climb.
2. There is an amazing waterfall in the valley. One does not see active waterfalls in and around Mumbai, this time of the year… this made the trek very lip smacking

I had also heard that this trek is quite a handful and having done 2 tough ones in the last 1 month, was really looking forward to testing my aukaad on this one.

The Journey began at CST at 11 pm. We were to headed to Lonavala in the Chennai mail. There were 32 people of which some were boarding at Dadar, some Thane, some Kalyan and some coming directly to Lonavala from Panvel. Many were first timers with VRangers. Once again, hats off to the organizers for being able to smoothly handle such a motley crowd.

A Train journey to hell
Chennai mail was better than Mahanagri express. However is it not saying much. The general compartment was packed to the brim. We were able to get in and make some space for ourselves. Since there were about 20 of us (strength in numbers) we were able to squeeze out place for 6-7 and survive. There were quarrels and chaos across the compartment. We were lucky to be next to the emergency exit window. Our friends in Thane boarded from this window. Some junta decided to risk boarding the reserved compartments. They had to pay about 30 Rs fine each. Considering the general ticket was Rs 40, I think it was a smart call.
As uncomfortable as we were in the train, you cannot suppress a gang of 20 odd out to have fun. Kartik was completely in his element initiating singing of the corny songs. Majid was up to his crazy tricks. We even took out the cameras and took some snaps. Time flew by and soon Lonavala arrived. As good boys and girls, most of us exited from the door. Some still choose to use the window. The journey was not that bad. Only 1 mobile lost, 1 screen broken and one set of batteries misplaced... not to mention, all the free full body massage.

Singing on roads
Lonavala station at 2 am was almost deserted. However, we arrived with a bang. Soon the police arrived and told us to behave. We had chai, a round of introductions and set off towards our night halt, which was half way to Khandala. Once again the peace of the night was disturbed. We took on some stray dogs in barking competition. A lot more shady songs were sung in transit. Kartik was at his creative best thinking them all up. My performance at the bonfire in the earlier trip became by bugbear as Kartik insisted that I sing along and complete all songs.

Sleeping with the bugs
We took the Rajmachi turn and stopped on the side road and rested there. It was 4 am now and Sudhir, our lead, mandated that we rest for 2 hours. It was quite stuffy and I opened up my sleeping bag to accommodate 3 people. Sleeping in the middle of a road was again something new and for the first time in my trekking career, Odomos was called for.

Morning surprise
After a very vital 1.5 hour shut eye, I woke up to folks hard at work getting breakfast organised. These guys had hardly slept, collecting sticks to start the fire, chopping vegetables etc. Supermen, all of em. This time, VRangers decided to treat us with a unique breakfast. There was no Pohas. We had boiled corn, veg sandwiches and tea. I helped a bit in the tea making. All got comfortable munching the wonderful breakfast and before we realised, we were running behind on schedule. Finally at 8 am, the trek began.

A beautiful view
Immediately on starting, we reached a point from where the view was brilliant. We could see the Dukes Nose, the expressway and a rail tunnel in a distance and our waterfall down below. Most folks got their profiles clicked here. Sudhir got us all in for yet another round of introductions, and gave strict instructions, most of which we soon forgot.

The descent begins...Follow the stream
Soon the descent started. we were going down a dry waterfall. There was a small stream accompanying us. This little baby would soon swell into a full blown rage as soon as the rains begin. Going up or down a waterfall is great fun. We were jumping from one rock to another. My brand new shoes were getting quite an induction. The group kept diverging and converging again when the people ahead took breaks. Descent has always been my problem and I had to work hard to maintain good pace without getting bruised. This took a bigger toll on my shoes. The descent kept getting fabulous. There was a section where one had to round a jutting rock with a small ledge to keep your feet and a short fall behind. Since one was at an obtuse angle, this was quite tough and Sudhir tied a rope swing behind for support. Much as I wanted to do the entire trek without rope, this was one (any only) section, where I had to use the rope.

There she is
After an hour and a half of solid descending, we reached the base of the valley and met the Ulhas river. We then walked upstream and met the first small waterfall. Some folks went in immediately. But Soniya advised us to move ahead as the main one was much much better. We followed her advise (after all, this is her 4th time to the canyon) and a small set of 6 of us moved on. Soon we reached the waterfall. What a sight it was. Massive, white, loud, humongous, fantabulous and very very inviting. Soon all of us were in.

Thande thande paani se
We got the first movers advantage. Since the place was slippery, folks who came in late had to wait till we moved out. Sitting under the falls was awesome fun. The water was hitting our backs at full force making it red. Even in April, the waterfall had a lot of force. I conjecture that this baby would be completely inaccessible in monsoons and even early winter with the base flooded and the river swelling up many fold. At the base of the falls, was a nice little pond. It was about 16 feet deep in the middle and 4 feet in the sides, perfect for the meek among us to frolic in the sides and for the adventurous guys to jump off the rocks into the centre. We all spent more than an hour in the water until Colonel Sudhir came and pulled us out.

Haila.. Bhel
After drying of and changing, we were met with yet another surprise. Sudhir and gang had carried all ingredients and were making some wonderful dry Bhel for us. It was yummy with a great mix of raw mangoes, tomatoes, etc etc. Playing in water makes you hungry and the bhel was very welcome.

Let the climbing begin
Well bathed and well fed, we filled our bottles at the next stream and set off at 12 noon for the climb back. We crossed a river and SO the climb began. This is where things got more kickass. I love climbing, and believe that I am pretty good at it. Having heard that this was a challenging climb, I had decided to set good pace and stay in the lead pack. The climb is quite steep and sharp. There are a couple of sections which are quite tough and some people required assistance there. Most amazingly, since we were climbing a dry waterfall, there is no saying which rocks would get shifted in the next monsoon and how much easier or difficult the sections would become next year. Its a new challenge every year.

Mosambi Khush Hua
Climbs are always more taxing and the sun was at its peak. Despite this, most of the people in my group of 8 had not filled up enough at the stream. Soon we were running out of water. I had done a smart thing to take my napkin and put it over my head, below the cap. This made me look more stupid and blocked a bit of my view, but helped block a lot of the heat. However, it was still taking a toll. I had also forgotten to carry Oranges for this trip. At this time, some wonderful soul brought out some sweet limes. We freaked out on those. To my memory, atleast 5-6 were gobbled up. We left a lot of evidence for the trailing group in the form of the peel. We managed to reach up with our limited resources by 2 pm.

Food
Our group of 8 waited for the trailing pack for almost 30 minutes and then decided to head off to Lonavala an wait there for lunch. In Lonavala too, we shopped for chikkis, meandered around and even waited an hour in the hotel staring at other people eating. Finally the rest of the gang arrived. We realised that they had been tp-ing around, having golas and clicking snaps and having a blast the last 1 hour while we waited to eat. Then, all of us ate our thaalis. Food was lousy but being as hungry as we were, we lapped it up. Despite all the exhaustion, once again we began signing.

Back to singing in the train
After food, a few left to catch STs. Most of us went to Lonavala station to take the next train back. We caught the 6.10 pm Trivandrum Express. This train was also jam packed and we just added to the mess. However, we made amends by entertaining all around. Kartik had made a mistake by switching my tape on previous night and I just couldn't shut up now. The train got empty in Kalyan and we got place to sit and sleep.

N so it ends
Finally the train reached Dadar and all got off and went their respective ways. I had met some more cool new people, made a few new friends. Most importantly, enjoyed a great trek and a waterfall in middle of April. Canyon Valley is a great trek for early summer. I will definitely be doing it again.

Thanks Sudhir and Co for giving me yet another wonderful weekend!