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| On top of Alang fort |
For any seasoned hiker in Sayhadris, it is not Kalsubai, the
highest mountain of the state that holds the greatest challenge. Rather, its
Kalsubai’s formidable neighbours, that strike the serious trekker in awe. I am
talking about the holy trinity of Kulang, Madangad and Alang – the three forts
that rise mightily and involve heavy-duty trekking.
Having climbed Kulang several years ago, Alang and Madangad had been on me
and my brothers’ wish lists but not having done serious rock-climbing, they had
remained out of reach. Now that one of us knew how it was done, we were raring
to go.
Except our adventure sputtered right from the start in
characteristic fashion of people dropping in and out of the hike (myself
included!). Finally we were reduced to three when we boarded the last local to
Kasara. A jeep had been arranged to take us to Ambewadi, the base village.
Arriving at five, we slept for an hour and got up groggily in cool morning. A
little before seven we started for the far off but clear sharp silhouettes of
Alang and Madangad.
After a walk across dried fields, we started climbing a
forested hill. The climb took us over a ridge falling from Alang. After a flat
walk, the incline took us by surprise but once on top, we had to take a long
traverse through thick forest that was cool and green. The long traverse soon
ended and it was back to climbing on a steep incline over loose soil and scree.
Most of the climb was among tall karvi shrubs. Finally we reached a series of
broken steps that gave the first indication of a fort on the gigantic mountain.
The steps lead to cave from where, one can continue either
to Alang or to Madangad. We decided to first do the latter and took a right,
traversing another long stretch of the mountain edge. Finally one reaches the
point between Alang and Madangad from where one can see the Ghatgar-Bhandardara
catchment area. Moving on, we started traversing the smaller Madangad mountain
till we finally reached the steps of this crumbling fort.
The steps at Madangad are steep and large, climbing like a staircase
to heaven. The staircase twisted and turned until it finally reached a blown
off face where our first rock climb (about 30m I think) started. This was my
first big rock climb and went off smoothly. On the top more steps continued
till we reached a broken entrance that led to the grassy top. Madangad has a
small, handsome top – it’s a small, slanting area bounded on all sides by steep
edges and gives fantastic views of Alang and Kulang. On top there are few water
tanks and a cave.
After sightseeing, it was time to go down and having never
rappelled before, I took some time to get into the act. However once I started,
it was cool and I felt it was easier than climbing up. Luckily my two
experienced companions were well prepared with all equipment and friendly
advice!
We made our way back to the cave and after lunch, moved to
tackle Alang. A small rock patch was
just a teaser to the main 50m climb which was daunting. My brother negotiated
it easily but I had some tense 15 minutes which felt like eternity when I was
stuck 30m off the ground trying to get a hold on a almost vertical rock face.
It took some time, before all three of us finished this patch and then on we
had to climb some more exposed steps before we reached the top.
Alang has a semicircular shape and its flat top extends
spectacularly. There are caves some of which are clean and inhabitable. There
are also some tanks, most of which hold impotable water. We rested in the cave
and cooked and talked about the eventful day. The sun had set by the time we
reached the top so we could not see around much but later after dinner we went
off to search water and stumbled upon seven impressive water tanks on the fort.
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| Alang, Madangad & Kulang silhouettes |
In the morning, it was very cold and since I had done a
short night tour of the fort, I slept on while my brother went to see the
beautiful sunrise. In the morning we
surveyed the surroundings and in the hazy winter light, we could make out
Ratangad and Ajoba far off in the distance. Going down we thought would not
take much time but I did not have the nerve to rappel down 50m and kept on
having false starts. Finally they belayed me down to save time! A few scrapes
and bruises down, there was nothing left but to move on! We were behind our
time schedule having started around nine and it was noon but we were still
descending. Luckily the forest around Alang was shady and going back was
easier. By two-thirty we were back at Ambewadi where we had started.
This was my second rock climbing trek, having done
Harischandragad by a tricky route. However here the rock climbs were much
longer and difficult. While I won’t be the first person to suggest technical
climbs in future I did enjoy the thrills of this trek. It was also an
appropriate crackling way to end a great year of hiking! Hope the new year
brings equally memorable experiences.
Photos at: https://picasaweb.google.com/115394767952469723630/AlangMadangad?authuser=0&feat=directlink
