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Page Type:
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Trip Report |
|---|---|
Lat/Lon:
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56.94324°N / 96.33187°W |
Date Climbed/Hiked:
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Jul 18, 2015 |
Activities:
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Hiking |
Season:
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Summer |
Previous Day
It was Amit, Poorva, me, Manasi and Yuvaan, who had planned on hiking up Torna.
All packed at Khanapur
Camping Site
We had just bought a new car, and we were all excited about taking it out for the hike.
Parked car - in the open
Climbing atop a tree...
Trail starts
Up the mountain we go
The car was a 5-day old car, and
I was not very sure of parking it on the road for two reasons – one – any
drunkard could come at night, and crash into it, and leave, without us knowing
about it.
Up we go
in trouble.
Rice field we walked past
we decided to go to the other side of the pass, to see if we could see a temple
in a village, where we could park the car, and spend the night.
Yuvaan and Manasi climbing up
surprisingly – all the temples were closed, so we couldn’t find a place to rest
for the night. Finally, we decided to go to the senior citizen home that my
aunt owns at Khanapur, where we could crash for the night.
Rest Stop
climb up to the pass, and again, drive all the way back to Khanapur.
In hindsight, it proved to be a
good decision. In the morning, we were all rested and fresh.
Amya and Poorva
breakfast, and we headed to the base village of Torna – Velha. We got a spot
near the beginning of the trail, where we could park the car, and we started
the hike.
Hiking Torna
At first, the hike traverses around fields, where rice has been planted, and then it takes a steep climb up a ridge. The ridge is covered with greenery everywhere, and the trail is almost masked in the bushes which is a result of the recent rains.
Yuvaan and Manasi
All of us
Middle - high wind - section
After a while, Yuvaan started feeling hungry, so we unwrapped the parathas that we had taken along, and munched our way on the trail.
Middle section
At the entrance
thousand feet below.
Flanks of Torna
that was bound a piece of cloth (saree, to be specific) which also people were using to go up. While climbing, the only concern I had in my mind was – how to negotiate this while coming down?
Three of us - Yuvaan clicked this.
literally – walk in the clouds! The entire fort was engulfed in clouds, and it was impossible to see and assess what was in front of you within a few feet.
Small door to the fort
A ten minute hike up the trail led us to the newly constructed Mengaai temple. Mengaai is the name of the goddess, which is worshipped here. The temple was in a ruined state, when I had visited Torna in 1998, but now, it was a very nicely constructed temple. We went inside after removing our footwear, and I lit the stove. We all had a nice cup of tea, along with the snacks that we had got along. There was a group of students who had come, and while climbing up, had gotten all wet in the rains. I offered them some tea, but had to take water from them to make the tea. With our tummies full, we thought of roaming around on the fort.
Little bit of History
Almost one and a half hour away is a part of the fortification called Budla-Maachi.
Dam view
Cooking
Mengaai Temple
The trail
We saw the possibility of looking around, but everything was so white-washed that it was impossible to go around. So, we decided to take a call to return back to the base. On the way down, I was worried about the rock patch, but there was a group of people coming up, who supported wholeheartedly. They took care of Yuvaan descending, and I helped out Manasi and Amit and Poorva.
Cute little bushes
Climbing down
Within half an hour, we were able to see the base, but it had gotten dark. On the way down, we met the same group of people to whom we had offered tea. Most of the students were from out of Pune, and had never climbed a hill before, leave alone in the rainy season! So, they were terrified to walk down the trail. Some of the girls were actually sitting down, to come down. When they saw Yuvaan going down in full speed, they were shocked to the core.
Rain everywhere