Jivdhan - Naneghat
Day 1 :: Jivdhan
If I remember correctly I was planning this trek for more than a year. I remember planning this trek with Shiva and Xitija when we all returned from Ratangad - Harishchandragad. Even this is time Xitija dropped out... but I made it. Though we did not climb Naneghat from the konkan side and then climb Jivdhan, the more traditional approach,it was a good 2 day trek not at all hectic just a liesure walk.. Jivdhan is a small fort but very stratigically placed to act as the gaurd of Naneghat. Naneghat is an ancient trade route which connects the Deccan plateau to the sea. The ghat has all the equipment still in place to collet toll from the traders using the route. The switch back arrangement and the width of the route is very well designed and paved with stones. So in its glory days this pass would look like real state of art engg feat.
Ratangad
Jivdhan from Nana-cha-Angtha		 I was not sure to embark on the trek even after alarms woke me up on chilly Saturday morning, but the passion for trek kicked me out of the cozy warm bed, in the next hour I found my self on shivaji nagar bus stand for another trekdi trek Manali was leading this one. I met 20 other fellas with the same zeal for trekking.We took the 0715 ST bus to Junnar where we had misal pav for breakfast.We then the next bus to Ghatghar and reached ghatghar by 1200. Jivdhan stands bang in front of ghatghar, the route to the fort starts by traversing the fort on the eastern face till you reach a crack which is pretty obvious.At the top of the crack one can see remains of the fort wall. Climb up in the direction of this crack till you reach the steps carved in the rock. If you are good enough at your stamina it should be 40-60 mins since you left ghatghar. As always trekking is not a race so enjoy the climb at your own pace and reach this point. After the first few well defined steps comes a small 10 ft vertical rock patch which can be easily climbed with the help of the steps carved in them.after this patch there is a another small patch whch is fairly easy and then you are done. 10 - 15 more steps and your are on Jivdhan. All this looks very simple and it is really simple in seasons other than rains. In the rains this will be a waterfall and the rocks would breed moss and become green and slippery. Avoid heavy rains or be very cautious while climbing.
Once you are on the top your should find the food grain store wher you can live in for the night.This place initially looks dicy to stay in but there is no other shelter on the fort. Also there are water tanks 10 feet away from this place. This place according to the locals is an abyss. The story goes like this, this place wqas used to store food grains probably collected from Naneghat as toll, the British burnt all the stock to ash so the place is full of ash. only the outer two rooms are pretty clean and can be used the inner rooms are full of ash and actually not usable.When we were there the outer room the "living room" had damp floor so this would be very wet in rains. The grass outside is dry this time of the year and can be spread on the floor to make this usable. This 1st bedrooms is usable and can accomodate around 20- 30. The secont bedrooms though full of ash can be used and can acoomodate another 20- 30 easily. But I laways like the idea of staying in the Naneghat cave which is more clean. There are 4-5 water tanks just 10 feet or so from the shack, the water in 2 of them is good and drinkable. I dont think there will be enough water in the summers. We all settled here around 1400 for lunch and then passed our time chatting and knowing each other. Some ppl collected there remaining sleep. We all had black tea courtesy Manali and set out to take a look around the fort around 1700. The most scenic view happens to be on the western side of the fort which opens up when you climb the hill behind the shack. This is the top most point on the fort, from here you will clearly see Nana-cha-Angtha,adjecent to which naneghat is located. To the far west of the fort one can get a clear view of "Vanarlingi" also known as "Khada parshi" pinnacle rising from the base jungle. The pinnacle is cut off from the main Jivdhan massif and is a rock climbers challange. The view of the setting sun is fantastic and the cool wind blowing always reminds me of the Animal Song...I waana live like an animal... sand at my feet wind in my ... after the fort tour we returned to our shack with dried wood for the campfire. Temp had already dropped and it was time to get into full clothes.As it became dark the starlite sky was dazzling and at around 1900hrs moon rose from the east and its charm wiped of many stars. We had a quick round of mimickry,hindi,marathi songs and off we went to cook dinner...after a potato rassa and bread we all hit bed at around 2230..

Sunrise		 Water
Camp site		 Wakdi Peak
Folds
Day 2 :: Naneghat
I remember waking up at around 0630, many of us were awake by the same time. I went out to take few sunrise snaps. It was chilly and beautiful,the site of the rising sun and the orange colour fading away as the mighty star rose is always great, be it himalayas be it sahyadris..After some black tea and biscuits we packed ourselves towards Nanaghat. The route to Naneghat is from the western side of Jivdhan fort, and If I am not wrong the name of the gate/Darwaja is "Kalyan". The door is blocked by a huge landslide,there is space only for one man without his back pack. This hole is easy to tackle and every one of us did it without any trouble. The structure of the door is worth a look. The door is carved in hard black igneous rock. The groge takes us down in the valley be a bit careful till you reach the end of the gorge.Its not difficult but then some part requires care.From here you can traverse along the jivdhan massif to the base of the Vanarlingi. the views of the valley are real nice from here. The route then enters the jungle an a well beaten path and there are stone carved steps in the between. the route thru the jungle is well beaten and its difficult to get lost also if you find urself lost some how get out of the jungle on the left side towards Naneghat.Once your are in the clear just follow towards Nana cha Angtha and you will reach Nanaghat.We reached Nanghat by 1300 but it was very very slow. actually this distnce is not more than 2-3 hrs. We should have been hwere by 1100 max. Anyaways, after we reached Naneghat cave we planned to make some pohey for lunch. The Naneghat cave is huge and clean like your own living room. There is somthing carved on the walls in Brahmi script and probably dates back to 2000 yrs.There are around 2-3 caves here but this is used for lodging the other caves are small and mainly used for cooking. Naneghat as I said is a switch back type route that enters into the dense jungle below in konkan.I along with a few guys went up on to Nanacha angta to take a birds eye view of the konkan below. I tried to imagine the trade route scene in the olde days, nanacha Angtha would act as the watch post,machan on the activities happening below.It was a very diferent feeling and the strategic importance of the Jivdhan fort in the bkground is obvius.

Naneghat trade route		 Walls
Nana-cha-angtha		 Climb
Naneghat cave
We returned to the cave in 30 mins and after we cooled off with ice cold water in the tanks near the cave we set pace towards ghatghar by 1400. and reached the bus stop by 1445hrs. Waited for the bus till 1700 and then reached Junnar by 1800. I reached home by 2200hrs after completing a long awaited trek. The next time I will get back her will be in monsoon next year to climb Nangeghat from Konkan Vaishkhare side.As heard from fellow trekkers this is much more happening trek.


Team Trekdi
Vanar Lingi
Getting down Jivdhan

Location : Junnar
Getting there :(ST bus) Pune - Junnar - Ghatghar
Best time to visit : All year, Avoid Heavy Rains,harsh summers
More Photos : Jivdhan - Naneghat

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