Kalsubai Monsoon Trek - Everest of Maharashtra

 

Journey Date : 24-Jun-2018

Per head cost : 700 Rs

Mode of Transport : Train / Jeep

Short Information about Kasubai Peak

    Kalsubai is a mountain in the Western Ghats, located in the Indian state of Maharashtra. Its summit situated at an elevation of 1646 meters (5400 feet) is the highest point in Maharashtra. The mountain range lies within the Kalsubai Harishchandragad Wildlife Sanctuary. It is visited throughout the year by avid trekkers, Kalsubai temple devotees, and wildlife enthusiasts alike. Kalsubai is a 6.6 KM long trek.

Travel and Trek Experience

    We started our journey from Dadar railway station (Mumbai) by boarding the Kasara train at 12:15 AM. We reached Kasar at 4:15 a.m. We had already booked a jeep from Kasara railway station to Bari base village of Kalsubai mountain, so we gave a phone call to the driver 10 minutes before we reached Kasara station. Outside the railway station, we board a jeep and reach Bari village at 5:30 a.m. It takes 45 to 50 minutes to reach Bari from Kasara. In Bari village, the villagers will arrange breakfast and lunch for you. We had already asked the driver to make arrangements for it. After having breakfast and tea, we started the trek at 6:30 a.m. Before starting the streak, we gave our lunch order (Veg or Non-Veg) so that after returning from a trek, there was no need to wait for lunch; the lunch would be ready to serve.

Gate - Kalsubai trek starting point

    Due to the rainy season, the climate was awesome, and we are sure that this trek will be memorable. After a few minutes of the walk, we reached the Lord Hanuman temple, and a gate nearby was the starting point of the Kalsubai trek route. We headed forward, and in the next few minutes, we reached the plateau. This was the first plateau, and you will get such a plateau after every few metres of climbing. We took some rest and started climbing the mountain. After we reach the midpoint of the trek or mountain, due to clouds or fog, we are not able to see the route and also not be able to guess how much distance is remaining to reach the top.

Lord Hanuman Temple, at base village Kalsubai

    We reached the first ladder, one by one we climb the ladder. There are a total of four ladders in this trek after we climb the 3rd ladder we reach around 1300 meters of height. we decided to take some rest and have some food, there are small shops where you will get hot Maggie, pakode, tea, etc. The hot tea and pakode give us the energy to climb the last part of the trek also to keep our body warm from cold wind and rain. Having hot pakode, Maggie, and tea in the rain is one of the best experiences.

4th Metal Ladder

    When we reached the 4th ladder we waited for around 30 minutes because there is no space to accommodate on top of the peak, first we allow people from top to come down so that space can be freed on top. Note: In the monsoon season almost all trekking groups visit Kalsubai, some groups come with 200 - 300 peoples or more than that. We started climbing the ladder from one side from the other side people from the top are coming down. We reached the topmost point of a mountain or we can say the topmost point of Maharashtra as Kalsubai is also known as Everest of Maharashtra.

    The view from the top is beautiful, all the sides of the mountain are covered with clouds, feel like we are in heaven, or like we are standing on the island between the ocean of cloud. The area on the top is very small only 45 to 50 people can accommodate, there is a small temple on top of the mountain of Mata Kalsubai. we took some photos and spent only 15 to 20 minutes and started descending.

Bari village view from top

Rock Steps - a way to heaven

    While descending you have to be more careful, due to rain, the land become slippery, at someplace you have to sit down and slide. It takes around 4 hrs to reach the top and 2 hrs 30 Minutes to reach the bottom of the mountain. we reached the village house at around 12:30 PM, change our clothes got fresh and order for lunch, as I mentioned earlier we have given order of lunch before we start the trek, hence lunch is ready when we return from the trek. we had lunch and with the same jeep, we reach Kasar railway station, but unfortunately, we missed 5:00 PM Kasar - CSMT local. we wait for the next 1 hr and at around 6:00 we board Kasara - CMST local and reach Dadar station at 10:00 PM.

   

Places to see nearby

Bhandardara Dam

Ratangad

Harishchandragad

Prabalgad

Harihargad

Hide and Seek of mountain into the clouds

Milestone

Group photo