Trek to Torna

with the rains hiding just around the corner, is it possible to resist the temptation to go on a trek??? i dont think so…

and that is exactly what happened.. cancelling our plans to go to malshej ghat to see the rains (for the uninitiated.. malshej ghat is a hillspot close to mumbai.. where the rains break havoc, literally, much to the delight of the weekend revellers!) .. we decided instead to go on a trek to one of shivaji’s numerous forts around pune .. and enjoy the climate…

the fort that called out to us was torna.. supposed to be one of the most difficult forts to conquer…. and the one that shivaji conquered right in the beginning of his career. Situated at approx 65kms from pune, the trek to torna is easily a one day trip.. a destination that is frequented by many of the trekking clubs in pune…

our day started early in the morn at 5 am.. after about an hr on the road, we reached the village at the foot of the fort, called velhe, at abt 630ish… after a hearty bfast and chai at the restaurant in the village, we set out for the fort at arnd 730. Right from the beginning the fort showed us why is it a difficult fort to conquer… most of the faces are really steep, even the route we took was considerably steep for the foothills of a mountain..

the climate was just rite for a trek… no sun.. loads of cloud cover.. and the possibility of a shower.. real soon… see for urself..

the climb to the top takes about 3 hrs at an average-to-slow speed.. with the tonnes of pit-stops we took enroute.. it took us more..

about 3/4th of the way up.. came this plateau.. with really strong cross winds.. and loads of cloud..and rain…. from then on, we climbed up in clouds. crouching down when the winds got really strong..

the top of the mountain was completely in clouds… the fort does have loads of points to see.. this fort is considered important strateically because is can see 6 or 8 other forts o a clear day.. but the dense clouds prevented us from seeing the sites..

after spending a little time on top, we started climbing down the hill… the red mud on the hill made climbing down some spots reallly diffucult.. walking down some, sliding down some, we reached the bottom of the hill..

after two cups of refreshing ginger chai, and some hot snacks.. it was time to bid adieu to torna.. and make our way back home..