Trek The Sahyadris

The Sahyadri range is the northern part of the Western Ghats, a major mountain range of India, well known for its flora, fauna and mountain tops. It runs parallel to the Arabian Sea and forms a long wall, which gathers to it monsoon clouds and has much thick forest. The Western Ghats runs from Narmada river (Bharuch) in the north to almost tip of Kanya Kumari, the southernmost point of India. It extends from north to south for about 1700 km encompassing three ranges as part of its range. The northern part of this range, from the Tapi river near Surat to the Terekhol creek in Goa is called the Sahyadri. The Sahyadri range is 640 km long, north to south, and is 10 to 20 km in width on east-west axis. The height varies between 900 to 1650 m. Later the Western Ghats continues southwards to the Attari Range of Goa and the Nilgiri Range, which has many higher summits though it is gentler.

The main aspect to note about the Sahyadris range is its rocks and geological formations. The edge of the Sahyadri range generally runs north to south with many sub ranges running in the east-west axis from this main range.

Trekking in the Range

Trekking in the Sahyadris has its own charms; it is endowed with numerous delightful routes, both easy and difficult, forts and pinnacles that provide countless avenues to trekkers of all levels. There is the tremendous opportunity to discover the rich cultural heritage of Maharashtra, as most of the spots have both cultural and mythological background and famous tales of heroism associated with them. In a trekking outing you come closer to the Mother Nature and experience her bounty in terms of the flora and fauna first hand.

Many youngsters like me were introduced to the art of trekking at a young age. For many of us love for the Sahyadris began gradually and later, developed into a passion for high mountains.

There are several other aspects of the range which you discover as you trek along. In fact the Sahyadris have made contributions to every aspect of human life, particularly in Maharashtra; art, history, literature and music. It almost seems like a dream that such a great range exists right near to Mumbai. But the dream of this range is real and many city dwellers like me have learnt from the Sahyadris that there is a more to life than what seems real. Since he was 15 years old, Harish Kapadia has trekked in the Sahyadris climbing its mountain tops, forts, visiting lakes and trekking the entire range in about 45 years of trekking.

Based on the above experience, Harish wrote his classic book Trek The Sahyadris which is now in its 5^th edition. Almost a generation or two of trekkers, climbers and mountain lovers of this range has used it. When first published in 1977, the edition was sold out in a week! Now in 2013 it is still in print and used by many.

Few memories