Trek:Karnala Fort

Hey good day!!!
The monsoons are here & whats best way to enjoy it as a monsoon trek. My first monsoon trek this year.
This one was arranged by YHAI, Goregaon group to Karnala fort & Bird sanctuary on 27june 2010, Sunday. Wanted to visit the Sanctuary since long time, so this was like Destined :D.

Karnala was a fort of strategic importance as it overlooked the Bor pass which connected the Konkan coast to the interior of Maharashtra(Vidharba)[1] and was the main trade route between these areas. More details: Karnala fort

We got together at Kurla station at 6:45am. By 7:15am we boarded the local to Panvel. We were 31 of us.

Loved the skylight at Panvel station

From Panvel after breakfast took tum-tum(6 seater auto) to the sanctuary. After introductions & counting the number of plastic bottles we were carrying we started the trek.

Introductions. The sanctuary is very strict about littering so we had to pay deposit for the number of bottles we were carrying

The first stop was near a few cages of rabbits, parrots, peacocks.

Barso re megha megha. The weather was cloudy & ready to pour so we got to see its full splendor.

The trail is through a forest so we were adviced to be as quiet as possible & do our footwork right to avoid injury or sprains. The weather was humid and cloudy. You could notice the coolness increasing as one went further upwords. The slight drizzle & breeze was always welcome.

It was good to be breathless after a long time. The climb upwards was making us thirsty. So please carry enough water for both way of the trek.

The roots of trees formed natural steps & keep the soil from flowing away when these paths become rivulets.

The lush green mountains of Sahyadris. As you can see the dark coloured mountains are having dark clouds above them Dhoop-chaav ka game going on in nature :)

The devi's temple at the base of the fort.

The Karnala fort in clear view now.

This fort was a lookout post to keep an eye on enemy movement around the countryside. So there was always 1 way to reach the fort & that too perilous. Checkout the cave like thing, those are water tanks to store water.

The sole entrance to the fort. Steep steps to climb before you get to the door.

The remains of the fort now. The slits in the wall must be for cannon balls(toofa).

Doorway to heaven :)

After lunch just sat down to chat. It was drizzling when we were finishing lunch. But then it stopped after a few mins. Looking over the valley & plateau spread around us.

Check out the carvings around the door frame. This too was a lil difficult to get a foothold & climb up.

The last leg of the trek, catching our breaths & group snap of the tail end group of trekkers.

Waiting for the tum-tums to take us back to Panvel.

By 5:30 we were on our way back home. Great organisation & superb team work by the club. At the end of trek you can say its an Easy level trek. A must do for first time trekkers.

Please check the YHAI, Goregaon list of monsoon treks for more treks.

Hope to have a great week ahead after a refreshing break. Hope you all do too :)

Bye. Take care. Love to get your comments, so please comment freely. Thanks in advance ;)

Already done:
Sailing at Gateway of India - Oo Mazhi re,apna kinara....
Tour De Web18-2010 - Cycling time!
Mumbai Marathon 2010 -On your mark,get-set-go !
Travel: Raigad Fort Trek 2009 -Har har Mahadev!
Travel- Kanheri caves ! -Peace be unto earth.
Save the Tigers :P -Grr