Trek to Gorakhgad

A good one day adventure trek; with challenging moments a good experience for trekker’s beginners as-well-as seasoned ones. But to be done in company of experienced trekkers and group carrying safety equipments and have a good track record of safety.

Trek Name: Gorakhgad

Scheduled Trek date: October 12, 2014

Duration: One Day (Up Hill 3 hours; down-hill 2 hours)

Altitude: 2150 Feet above mean sea level

Grade: Medium Difficulty 

(Climb – 2 to 3 hours plus till cave, further optional climb till summit temple 60 minutes, total descend time 2 hours).  

Region: Murbad

Base Village: Dehri

Experiences:

Gorakhgad is a small fort at Dehri village near Murbad, named after the saint Gorakshanath.

Trek; Good Rock Climbing Experience for beginners; Cave Temple; a small temple on summit; Good Valtage view from Summit top; A Good One Day Trek (but to be done in company of experienced trekkers with good group).

The second half of the trek beyond the cave is more challenging; involves climbing exposed; steep and broken stairs.

Trek Fee:

Rs.1100/- per head

100% advance payment for confirming your seats. We have to make arrangement for resources and logistics to ensure you have a safe and good experience.

Includes:

Transport; breakfast; evening tea/snacks; trek management; and safety equipments.

Excludes:

Any kind of insurance
Lunch (carry your own packed lunch)
Bottled water
Anything that is not included is excluded.
Resources not utilized will not be refunded.

Cancellation Charges:

Any cancellation one month before trek dates; 25% of total trek fee will be charged towards cancellation charges.
Cancellation between 30 days to 10 days before trek date 50% of the total trek fee will be charged towards cancellation charges.
Cancellation between 9 days to 5 days before trek date 75% of the total trek fee will be charged towards cancellation charges.
Last 4 days no refund for any cancellation request.

The Schedule:

6 am                  Andheri (W) , (near Merwan’s Bakery S.V. Road)

6.20 am             Bandra Kalanagar Juntion

6.30 am             Sion Station (Opposite Sion Lunch Home)

7.00 am             Thane / Mulund Toll Naka on Easter Express Highway

8:00 am             Kalyan

Freshen-up break / packed breakfast

9.30 am             Dehri Village

                          Introduction & Induction for the trek

12.00 pm            Reach main cave

Reach for final summit Temple

1:30 -2.30pm      Community Lunch,

3.00 pm             Start for Base

5.30 pm             Freshen up and start for Mumbai

09:30 pm/10:00 pm  Reach Andheri

The Adventure

To reach Gorakhgad, one can travel to Murbad via Kalyan. Reach village Dhasai from Mhase junction. From here, private jeeps as well as S.T. buses are available to reach the village of Dehri. Village Dehri can also be reached from Murbad via Milhe. Right from Dehri village two prominent pinnacles can be seen. The smaller one is Machchindragad and bigger one is Gorakhgad.

Fort Gorakhgad had strategic importance during the reign of Shahaji Raje. However, no major battle is recorded to have taken place here. It was used in Shivaji’s era to patrol the nearby region and was used as a stopover station during the journey to Junnar via Naneghat which was a very important commercial route. Though small in size, there is enough availability water and a lot of space for accommodation.

Two cisterns can be seen just after emerging through the entrance and the path climbs up further ahead. Further, a small step-way descends down to the large caves that are carved out in the main rock of the pinnacle. The trek to the caves is an easy climb, but the pinnacle is what makes the fort look so tempting to climb.

The top of the fort is very small. There is a small Mahadeo temple with Nandi. A wide region ranging from Siddhagad and Machchindragad up to Ahupe Ghat and Jeevdhan in the Naneghat area towards north can be seen from the fort-top.  

Suggestions for packed lunch: 

Sandwiches; Thepla & Potato Vegetable; Roti; Boiled Eggs; Ready to eat canned food; home cooked roti / dry vegetable; Puran Poli; Bread / Cheese slice / spread; Potato Vada; Bread; etc you can get creative; We will have multi-cultural buffet. You can carry tetra packed buttermilk.

Clothing:

Track pants, dry-fits with shorts; dry-fits or regular full sleeves t-shirt spare shorts, socks, rain wear (if monsoon).

Footwear:

Sports shoes with rubber sole or trekking shoes; carry spare slippers or floaters. No high heals allowed.

Packing your stuff:

Pack all to carry items in Backpack; lightweight on bottom and topside of bag; heavy items towards shoulder and closer to body. Use compression straps if you have them in your backpacks.

Capacity of bag should be 40  liters.

Other essentials in your survival kit

Hand Sanitizer 

Torch

Pocket Knife (Preferably Swiss Knife or equivalent)

Small Towel (light) and carry one cloth, useful for wiping dirt.

Walking Cane / Trekking Pole (should be 65% to 70% of your height – strong and light)

One bundle of 5 mm Nylon or 3 mm Carnamental ropes (around 10 meter).

Goodies & nice to have

You may also carry goodies like camera; small - binoculars, magnifying glasses and pocket field guide, local map, ball pen and small note pad to make most of the trip. 

Eco-Tourism Etiquettes

Camps organized by “Nature Knights” are in the eco / culturally -sensitive area like Sanctuaries, Jungles, and places of Historical importance.

While visiting these places we should blend into the community of Original Inhabitants and respect their culture and sentiments.

We strongly believe in traveling in small groups, and follow the principle leave only footprints and take only memories.