Height : Not quite relevant; this one's more about the terrain. You actually climb down all the way, from about 700 m. to about 200 m.
Wow factor : Offbeat - probably the only ravine trek in the region. Ghostly (especially if you don't make it out of the jungle by dusk), and adventurous if you like bouldering.
Difficulty : Moderate with a few difficult / puzzling patches, up to 3 of them technical (- rappelling involved). Lots of bouldering involved. Practically impossible in the rains.
Endurance : 5-8 hours (depending on the number of people, and breaks) of downhill bouldering and rappelling, followed by 2 hours of flat walk.
Travel mode : Local (+ bus/jeep)
Cost : Rs. 1100+ (- we had a professional group manage the entire trip including the jeeps, the snacks, and the rappelling)
Travel mode : Local (+ bus/jeep)
Cost : Rs. 1100+ (- we had a professional group manage the entire trip including the jeeps, the snacks, and the rappelling)
Region : Bhandardara / Igatpuri / Kasara
Trek route : Samrad -> Sandhan valley -> Varpadi/Dehane
My trek date(s) : 27-Apr-2014 / 22-Mar-2015
Diary (of 27-Apr-2014 dotted with updates from 22-Mar-2015) :
Overconfident after a few independent treks last year, I was contemplating doing this trek similarly - without a professional group. Thought I'll buy myself some rope, learn knots and rappelling from Youtube, look up the trek route on blogs, and just get going. Turned out that it wasn't a tough trek, but in retrospect, I'm glad I didn't give in to my foolish ideas. Here's how our day looked:
Overconfident after a few independent treks last year, I was contemplating doing this trek similarly - without a professional group. Thought I'll buy myself some rope, learn knots and rappelling from Youtube, look up the trek route on blogs, and just get going. Turned out that it wasn't a tough trek, but in retrospect, I'm glad I didn't give in to my foolish ideas. Here's how our day looked: