Torna A.K.A Prachandgad

I have couple of places left on my agenda for the end of this monsoon. I am not one of the winter trekkers, mostly due to my work schedules and more since I have always believed that Sahyadris are at their best in monsoons. If you are keeping abreast with news related to Sahyadris, you might have noticed that there has been a lot of talk about Karvi blooming. This plant is abundant in Sahyadris and blooms once every 7 years, after which the plant dies to be born again from the seeeds. I had been to Lavasa last weekend for a ride and I did spot the flowers, though I wanted to see the flowers in the full glory which saw me and S ride towards Torna early Saturday morning. If you are looking for a piece of history etc. Google can be of great help. I wouldn't reinvent the wheel here, more so since most of us know it and its easy to get it and is out there.

Easy to reach here from Pune :
1] Take NH4 till Nasarapur [ A little past Natraj ] and take a right from here all the way to Velhe which is the base village.
2] A little secret : Reach Donje Phata [ Sinhagad ]. Take a right towards Panshet and just past Khanapur, take a left to Velhe. The road is not in a great shape so if you are looking for a boring ride, take option 1. If you are one who is always on a lookout for something new this is the way to go. Takes little time as well.

We started climbing 10'ish. To utter surprise, we found 3 chicks trying to figure their way to top. They were IT profressionals and had taken a bus from Pune here. Who said there was no incentive in hiking when you have damsels in distress to save :-) Last time I was to Torna was around in 2002, and lot has changed since then. The temple has been renovated, there is railing now at the rocky part. We ran into some weirdos from Mumbai here. Ran into an enthusiastic father from Pune with his kid who was here to witness Karvi. You can spot as well as identify Rajgad and Sinhagad from here clearly. We finished our Good-Days, visited Konkan Darwaja, looked around a bit, frowned over the drained camera battery and headed back. Took option 2 on the way back and I guess we made it back in 1.5 hr. The Karvi is in full bloom here, too bad to miss it if you care at all because the next bloom will be in year 2014.