This
was my first trek and for most of my colleagues so we decided
to select a trek point which would be easy for beginners so
that everyone completes it, turning it as a catalyst for the trekking journeys
to come ahead in this summer vacation. After a discussion to choose trekking
point for beginners, we selected karnala near panvel and
decided to trek it on 16 June 2015 with my colleagues.
We group
of 8 people decided to meet on the eastern side of Juinagar railway
station at 7:30 am as one of our colleague resides there so it was our meeting
point, we all gathered as decided had our breakfast then boarded an
auto-rickshaw to reach the nearest bus stop named Fisher Rose Mount Co. on Sion-Panvel expressway as the frequency of buses from
expressway towards karnala is better than Panvel bus depot.
The
auto drivers here allow four passengers to ride, generally it should be three but
we were happy as allowing four made our job in two auto's as our group was of
eight members, I was seating beside auto-driver and three of my colleagues
seating on the back seat which reminded me of the auto-ride in my native
place where at least 4-5 people overload the auto-rickshaw.
We
travelled through Hanuman mandir marg and reached near Sion-Panvel expressway
in 10 minutes. It was an share rickshaw with charge of Rs.10 per head it,
dropped us opposite to D.Y Patil university 100 metres away
from our destination, we took a left turn and reached to other side of the road
by crossing it to reach the bus stop.
We
boarded a bus going to bhor which was not the correct bus it happened due
to miscommunication with bus-conductor, he heard khandala
instead of karnala and allowed us to board the bus on realizing it we got down
at an unknown area probably it was Bherle village adjacent to
Sion-Panvel expressway. Thanks to “ketan” who realized that the bus was not on
the right way else we would have reached Khandala.
We then
walked alongside Sion-Panvel expressway searching for bus
stop, luckily we found it within five minutes, and from here we boarded a bus
towards Panvel bus depot which is adjacent to Panvel station as we were sure
that there will be buses from Panvel depot to Karnala fort.
 |
| Panvel ST depot |
The bus ticket from Panvel to karnala is Rs.13,
Bus will drop you at entrance of Karnala bird sanctuary. If
you are in a group of eight or more you can hire a “tum-tum” till
karnala bird sanctuary, it will cost around Rs.200 from panvel if
possible try to book the “tum-tum” service for return journey
as the frequency of ST buses halting near Karnala exit point is not good.
 |
| A board on the left side of bus dropping point |
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| Karnala bird sanctuary parking and entry charges. |
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| Karnala Bird Sanctuary vehicle parking charges |
Bags are checked here for
non-biodegradable items such as plastic bottles, plastic bags etc. and
some refundable deposit is collected from you if you carry
such items, which specifies the condition that if the number of counted
non-biodegradable items are same as what you got in while entering the
sanctuary then complete deposit is refunded. We had some plastic
bottles but don’t know why the personnel checking our bags left us without
collecting any refundable deposits. I guess there was shortage of receipts that
are issued against your refundable deposits which left us with a warning that
maintain cleanliness and preserve the beauty of forest.
 |
| Entrance of Karnala bird sanctuary |
After walking for 5-10
minutes there is a canteen and on the left side of it there are many boards
that provide detailed information about the birds visiting here and the
observatory points from which these birds can be spotted and much more. There
are also rabbits and some caged birds such as peacock, black kite etc.
 |
| Enchanting Black Kite |
The day was Tuesday on 16th June and we saw about 40 trekkers throughout the journey, we started the trek at 9:30 am in the morning, there are various routes to reach the fort we took the route that passes from the backside of canteen.
 |
| Route at the backside of Canteen |
 |
| Two small crabs hiding below the stone |
There
were stones painted with distance
left to reach the fort, the first stone which we encountered indicated
that the distance was 2.15 km so we geared up for the experiences to come
ahead. We took our first break after 600
meter which was followed by three more breaks at
an average distance of 600 meters.
 |
| Waiting spots |
You will see three such waiting spots if you take the route
passing from backside of the canteen.
At least 2 litre’s of water is
needed for each person, there were many groups which we met who were facing
shortage of water, so please carry sufficient amount of water and first
aid kit specially medicines for headache, painkiller, dettol and
bandages.
The trekking point is for beginners but try to wear stretchable trousers as there are some points on the route where you would feel
uncomfortable wearing jeans especially on those wide distant stairs.
We ascended slowly and did not made an haste to
reach the top of the fort, we had four breaks, first break
for rest which was of 10 minutes, second break for eating
which was of 15 minutes, third and fourth break
for rest which were of 10 minutes each and the photo shoots time
which was collectively around 15 minutes.
It was a sunny day with no signs of rain when we
started and after covering half the distance suddenly there were clouds of
rain, the breezy and roaring winds made us exhilarated and
finally the rain droplets busted out the summer heat. The wonderful
path, relaxing breaks, mind boggling scenes and the feeling of rain droplets
made the first trek a remarkable one.
We then reached the peak point at 1:00 pm. The scenic view from
this point is worth the pain you took to reach here. You can have an amazing
360 degree view from this place with naked eye at least till a
distance of 20-22 kilometers on an average sunny day.The centre peak is
the most difficult to trek and only recommended for experts, beginners cannot
make it without safety gears.We didn't tried to climb over there but it will be
in my TO-DO list for the next visit.
 |
| View from the top point |
There are many points which can be seen from here such as Matheran,
Prablamachi, Mumbai- Pune expressway and around seven rivers but
it’s difficult to locate the points from here, remember to check out the Google
maps before visiting this top point and try to get an compass with
you so that you can easily locate the spots which you are viewing, a binoculars
can give you a more better view.
From top to bottom: Mehatab, Bithi, Vishal, Neha, Me, Aakash, Mukesh, Ketan.
After seeing the vast depth of the mountain it
was feeling like jumping down with a parachute.We were completely covered by
the monsoon clouds, thick fog and the swirling sound of breeze made the
complete scenario a bliss.
We enjoyed our trekking experience by seeing the views
from a height of 1440 feet and then finally decided to start
descending at 2:50. While descending down we took only one break after 300
meters at a small tent and no other break at all after that don’t know
what pushed us to that limit may be the achievement of completing the first
trek successfully, and reached base at 4:10 pm.
 |
| Trek route |
We had a long break of 1 hour at the canteen by having tea, coffee,
Onion pakoda, another item available in canteen was “poha” which we didn’t
tried as we were left with many snacks brought with us for trekking.
The canteen menu is not costly Onion Pakoda plate
was Rs.25 with 6-7 pakodas, Lemon juice for Rs.10, tea and coffee for Rs. 10
and Poha for Rs. 20. There is no other eatable item available nearby at
least till one km outside the entrance gate of Karnala bird sanctuary, so be
ready with all the items you need before proceeding the entrance gate.
There is no drinkable water at the base available, there are 4 bore well taps
which you can use for non-drinking purpose, packed water bottles are available
in canteen.
We left the canteen at 5:20 pm and reached the bus stop opposite
to entrance of Karnala bird sanctuary at 5:30 pm, the frequency of bus is
very bad and we waited eagerly till 6:10 pm for a bus towards Panvel
station which dropped us near Panvel station at 6:40 pm.
The Karnala trek is the best for an enthusiastic
beginner as it doesn't exhaust you and leaves back some energy to think about
the next trekking point. Now planning ahead for our next trek to “Kalavantin
fort”.
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