Mahuli Fort Trek

Hello everyone, we are back again with another trek. This time we went to the Mahuli Fort, which is around 13 km away from Vasind on the Mumbai-Nasik Highway. So, this we decided on this trek after searching for viable options within the range of 50-100 km from our residence in Powai. As usual we did some research on parking facility, route, area details etc. and embarked on the journey at 6:00 am in the morning.

View after exiting highway

The road is pretty straight forward once you are on the Eastern Express highway. You drive straight for around 42 Kms before you leave highway and go onto smaller roads and villages to reach the Mahuli temple (which was our intended base destination). But unfortunately the map took us to the Mahuli Fort village which is located at the foot of the hills. There is no parking facility in the village and we requested at one of the houses, to park our bike, to which the owner consented.

Dashrath Our Guide

Once parked, we purchased some dry snacks from the only shop in the village and also took a guide (Dashrath) from the village. There are many people in the village who work as guides for people going on trekking. We were glad that we took the guide as this place is vast. Anyway, by the time we started on our trek it was around 8:30 and and it was starting to get hot.

Before starting 3d Hill 

I would like to say right at the start, that the climb is decently steep and tough. Once again we were in our sports shoes, which we regretted later. The visuals from the hill were nice. After crossing two hills, the natural beauty was pretty dry, as per the season, but I could only imagine the scenery once it rained. Having ample amount of water with you is very necessary on this trek, as we needed water very frequently due to the angle of the climb.

Dam view from second hill

Echo point - 3rd Hill

We took small breaks in between. clicked some photographs and after crossing two hills, the real effort started. The third hill was steepest so far and took a lot of energy from us. Additionally, the path was very narrow and dangerous. One misstep and we would have fell to the bottom of the hill. This area was also an echo point and it was lovely to hear hills answering us back.

Bamboo Jungle

The third hill had a pretty bamboo jungle which we loved a lot. There were a lot of fruit trees but unfortunately none of them were bearing ripe fruits for consumption. Almost at the peak of the third hill, we came across a large group of trekkers. They were resting at the Mahuli fort and preparing food for the group. They came with a purpose to clean the area restore the natural cleanliness. In terms of Fort, there is not much besides few remaining walls and gates. We rested there for some time.

Plateau edge - Mahuli

We had exhausted our 2 liter water supply by that time and were out of water. Thankfully there was a water reservoir, which we used to replenish our water supply. I was a little skeptical, since it was not a running water supply but my wife reassured me that water was safe because of the presence of certain human friendly insects that keep the water clean.

Trail from Mahuli Temple

We explored some of the points on the hill and did some photography. From the top of the hill we could see another way to reach our spot. This way starts from the Mahuli temple, which we initially wanted to start from when we were driving towards Mahuli. Also this trail is much more simpler than the one we took from the Mahuli village. From our vantage point we could estimate that the trail was around 5-10 feet wide and clearly visible.

If starting trek from Mahuli temple, stairs are needed to reach Mahuli Fort

Mahuli Fort Ruins

Water reservoir

By now we had achieved our objective, but the hills cover two more forts - Bhandargad Fort and Palasgad fort. We decided to cover Bhandargad fort also, as we were already so far. We rested for a while and then embarked for the Bhandargad fort. We started climbing the 4th hill, which was pretty much flat like a plateau. On this hill there was a water reservoir which we used to cool down our feet and also dipped our t-shurts in water to get some relief from the heat.

Play area for kids in that time

It sustained us for some time. On the last hill the starting point was a little bit of rock climbing, which was fun in a way. We came across various ruins of past in between - play area for children, burials, walls, temple structures etc. By now it was very hot and for a considerable stretch there was not much shade to take refuge to. We finally reached a historical landmark - Kalyan Dwar (Kalyan Gate).

Kalyan Dwar (Gate)

There is a bit of history behind this gate. When Jijabai was pregnant with Shivahji she used this secret exit to escape from the Mughal army. There is no safe way to access the stairs leading away from the doors. People with high AQ (Adventure Quotient) can try to access the stairs with the help of a hanging bamboo, that has been put there for that purpose. But we decided against it, as we were extremely exhausted by that point and it was a tad risky. We both wondered  how the hell Jijabai successfully made escape from that route while being 9 months pregnant.

Kalyan Gate - View of stairs between the narrow gap of two hills

We rested for some time and then went a little more ahead and reached a cave. That was the end of the hill. The inside of the cave was filled with water and it was very cool. We rested there for some time. Even though our guide told us that water was drinkable but due the excessive amount of garbage littered around we decided against it. While resting we exhausted our pack of Parle-G biscuits. We shared it with our guide also. Even though, were exhausted enough to sleep right there, we mustered up energy for the trek back to the Mahuli Fort village. We took a different route back which was flatter that the trek up. We kept walking and walking and walking. By now were completely exhausted and just going on will power.

Anyway, we trekked back the two hills and reached to the Mahuli Fort again. By now the large group of trekkers we met on our way up was eating. They offered us food but we politely declined, knowing that if we ate, we would not be able to make it back to the village. We splashed water on our faces, rested for some time and replenished our water bottles. After small break, we traced our way back to the base village. We crossed the bamboo jungle, echo point hill and then rested for a bit. The descent was more dangerous than the ascent because of the steep angle and also because of loose gravel on the trail. Wearing sports shoes also did not help us a lot. So we had to be very careful as our legs had given up by that time and were hurting a lot. I fell flat on my bottom at least 5 times.

It was an awesome trek - even after so much heat

We finally managed to get to the village and guide took us to his home where he offered us water and cucumbers. We rested for around 30 minutes at his home, paid him 500 bucks, thanked him for his generosity and then took ride back home. In between we stopped at a restaurant to eat something and energize ourselves. We reached back home around 8:00 pm in night.

So, that's about the trek but we learned a lot of lessons from this trek:

• One should practice carrying trekking back, because only during trek you will realize how much 2 liters of water weigh
• Carry a trekking pole for this trek (we are visiting again during rains). For this trek we made do with sticks
• Carry at least 3 liter water per person. We only had 2 liter between us AND the guide
• Carry enough dry snacks, you will need them
• Wear proper trekking shoes with good grip, a must.
• Have lots of willpower - you will need it

Till next time :)

Hill-Skippers

hill.skippers@gmail.com