After my first trek to Peb fort, i was itching to go on another one, and the wait was killing me. As quoted by Edmund Hillary “It is not the mountains we conquer, but ourselves” and i was smitten by the feeling of it. Anyways, i came across another group which conducts trekking on the western ghats in India and joined them on a trek to Irshalgad.
Irshalgad is a actually a pinnacle situated in the Karjat region of Maharashtra. It doesn’t carry a lot of history to it however it came under the rule of Marathas, who developed a few water cisterns on the mountain. Climbing Irshalgad is considered to be a difficult one and to reach the top of the pinnacle, rock climbing equipments are required.
Parin was our group leader who had completed a few Himalayan treks by then. He was a supportive and motivating individual, especially towards a few of us who are new to trekking and rock climbing. It was in the month of September, those of you who are aware of the climate of Maharashtra, do know its quite humid during that time, especially if it doesn’t rain. We reached Karjat station and from there we took a rickshaw to the base village Irshalwadi. We were a group of around 15, and before the start itself we were drenched in sweat, although it was only 9 o’clock in the morning.But then we were not the 
one to give up and started our trek. The sun was burning us and our sweat was cooling, however we were losing a lot of water and salt from our body because of it. It took an hour and a half for us to reach a plateau and at that point few of our team members had lost all their energy and motivation to go further, so we all decided to rest for 5 mins,regain our energy, drink some glucose water and start again. Parin was phenomenal in motivating one such girl who wanted to quit at that moment and when the entire group started supporting her, she finally regained her spirits and chose not to quit, but to go further. From the plateau we had to take a rock climbing route to reach to the eye of the mountain. Eye of the mountain because there is a natural hole in a rock, thorough which people can pass. Parin was supporting everyone through the rock climbing route. I was climbing easily but then suddenly in the middle, i heard a sound of something tearing up, and then i realized, gosh, my shorts tore off right from the bottom, making my underwear visible to all those below me. Quite embarrassing, although i didn’t have any choice but to complete the rock patch.Also, i was not carrying any spare pants that i can change on to. Parin came as a saviour again giving me his spare trousers he always carries. Another lesson learnt, always carry spare clothes while trekking to save you from embarrassing situations like this. Anyways we reached the eye of the mountain, and had our lunch there. Then from the eye of the mountain the reach rock climbing patch starts. A sad incident occurred on January 23, 1972 when a guy lost his life falling from the pinnacle. There is a memento on his remembrance at the pinnacle. However, we were extra cautious tying our rock climbing gear and then one by one made our way to the top of the pinnacle and oh my, the view from the top is worth every drop of sweat. When we reached the top suddenly dark clouds surrounded us and started sprinkling. It helped us regain our energy to go downhill since its always considered more challenging then going uphill.
In all, a lovely experience with a lifetime of memory, inspiration and an attitude not to give up. As said, never measure the height of a mountain until you have reached the top, then you will see how low it was.
wandershoi 