It was lazy 4th weekend of August 2019. Wifey was in Panchgani with our
little one for her Homoeopathic Seminar and I had nothing to do. The never
ending urge to explore just needs an opportunity and this was a perfect
one.
Was looking for trek where I could easily reach by train and also get to
ride my bicycle for some distance. Quick googling brought Mahuli gad to my
notice which is appx 9 kms from Asangaon station. I got prepared for it. Woke
up at 3.30am, packed my bag with 1 extra set of clothes, 2 water bottles and a
tiffin of omlet + bread. Boarded 4:48am local train from Seawoods for Kurla and
then a 5:28am Kasara local for Asangaon. Apart from a small adventure while
boarding in luggage compartment of local from Seawoods, the journey was smooth and as per plan.
After a cutting chai at Asangaon, I started padelling towards base of
Mahuligad. Crossed Nashik Highway and continued further with Lush greenery all
around. Narrow country road, paddy fields, flowing river, drizzling rain and
lonely me - Absolute Nirvana. I reached base in appx 50mins (including photo
breaks), locked biclycle there and enjoyed 1 quick vada pav. Vada pav vendor
told me that there are just 2 more groups who started before me. After that
chota recharge, I started my walk. Loved the entrance of sanctuary that is at
base of the fort. There was also a Registration Office at base to keep track of
people going up and returning safely. The friendly person in charge of office
briefed me about the path ahead and cautioned me to return well before
sunset. 
I must have started the actual trek at around 8am. Wider path in
sanctuary narrowed down to small footpath after crossing couple of streams by
bridge. Those streams were so inviting to take a dip but I had a full day ahead
for that. I was half wet as it stopped raining and body's heat half dried the
clothes. Flowing stream on the right side, dense forest on the left, crabs and
frogs crossing my path, I was walking non-stop. Initial part wasn't steep and
that helped in warm up. Steadily it became steeper, forest denser and trek
tougher but nothing bothered me. What surprised me the most was there was no
sign of fatigue even after trekking 1 hour. 
I realised that we talk a lot when with friends and that interrupts our natural breathing rhythm thus causing breathlessness. As the breathing was in proper rhythm, there was no sunlight and light drizzles in between; water requirement too was very less than usual. After trekking continuously for 2 hours, it started raining heavily, further cooling me down and I saw a group of 5 boys in early 20s going uphill. After a quick intro I wondered whether to walk with them, but they were playing music on Bluetooth speaker and making lots of noise which turned me off. I soon overtook them and escaped that noise. Height is, even after walking for 2 hours, I had no clue how far the top is as the fort was covered with dense fog. Walking walking all alone, clueless but still fresh and energetic. After 3 hours 15 mins I reached top and then started searching important points to be seen on the fort.
There I came across a group of 3 friends who too were searching for
those points. I found a sensible group to explore the fort. Jio's network was
good so information on net plus few signages on fort led us to Shiv Temple,
Caves, Shivaji Maharaj Smrarak and Kalyan Gate. In those caves, I enjoyed my
tiffin which I also offered to the trio but they being veg, we're happy with
biscuits that they carried. View from cave was too good as rain water was
flowing continuously at the entrance of cave and Kalyan gate in spite of being
close was 50% visible because of rain and fog. What a satisfying experience to
enjoy breakfast at such location with background music of rain! 
We spent 15 mins after breakfast and started descending as there was
hardly anything to see due to dense fog. Those trio were funny people pulling
each other's legs all the way and me just enjoying their jokes. Some part of
fort was clear now as fog shifted elsewhere. We got good chance of photography,
we all clicked each other and progressed further to descend. It was just start
of the descend, trio were leading And I was following them as the path was
narrow for walking parallelly. Still busy chit-chatting we realised late that
the descend was much tougher compared to ascend. After few discussions and
arguments, we concluded that we missed the right path. We again had to climb
back at least 50 meters. Me being last, had to climb up the least. Luckily we
realised sooner and got back on track.
Background leaf turned to skeleton, still adding value..
Process of nature to keep multiplying..
Wild Banana Flower..
