Trek to Bhimashankar - a night through Ganeshghat

On 31^st December 2004 (I can’t forget the day) we five (me, Gopal , Dhanajay , Sardar and Gopal’s Sir) decided to gather at thane station for a trek to Bhimashakar. But the time at which we left thane station was 1:45pm. The culprit was Sardar and we knew that it will be night when we will reach at peak of Bhimashankar. We reached to the base village “Khandas” at around 4:15. Upon asking to the villagers , how much time it will take to reach to the top, some suggested that we should wait in village instead of traveling at night , while some suggested to use “Shidighat” which we never saw till that time. We asked some elder people if anybody can guide us. One person was ready to come with us with 300 Rs. Charge + dinner + sharing a room for sleeping. We agreed and he took his torch. I was suspecting that his torch battery was not charged enough. So I asked him and he said “ Don’t worry , I’ve used this path 1000 times”. Finally we started at 5:15 . In the meantime I was engaged in taking photos of Ganeshghat and our group.

We were walking without a single stop, and because that was my first trek , I was exhausted. Soon the sun disappeared and it was dark all around , so the guide started his torch. At around 7:30pm , after working for hour or so , his torch refused to light up and we were unable to see anything except the darkness. Dhanajay shouted at guide and said “if we r going to return then we will not pay u a single rupee”. He said he thought that the torch will last for 4-5 hours (that was his experience gained after 1000+ trips !).

Anyway , we decided to find a solution, since he was the only person who knew the road and we were helpless without him , me and Gopal decided not to shout at him and told others to be calm.

Thanks to the Nokia for their marvelous piece “2100” which helped us in that dark night (and also thanks to me for charging it fully before leaving home). The light emitted by Nokia 2100 was sufficient for 4-5 people. We were praying to the almighty Shiva to help us out. I told others to take out their mobiles but then realized that only Gopal’s mobile was capable to provide some light. We were walking fast so as to reach at top in minimum time and three of us including me were unable to walk fast because that was our first trek.

…….. Continued