Duke's Nose

Duke's Nose is a trekker's delight. Last Saturday we went for a trek there. It is barely 5km from Khandala railway station, till the top of the mountain.

From Pune, 9 people from our Group boarded the Sinhgad Express at 6:10 am and got down at Khandala. Khandala itself being a high altitude place, the trek (and rain too) started the moment we walked out of the platform. The way to Duke's Nose is full of lush green hills laden with thick trees and innumerable springs, few of them becoming waterfalls along slope.

You need to cross one or two such waterfalls in your way. Although you cross it when it is yet to be a strong torrent, passing through the gusty water is not only tough, but tricky too. We formed a human chain in which one strong fellow, rested against a rock in the midst if the flow, helped others to cross.

There are a couple of occasions where it is difficult to move ahead and demand presence of mind from the trekker. You may be climbing upwards steadily or in a zig-zag way, at times crouching and suddenly you face a taller than your body rock which will have to be climbed skillfully.

Your footwear has to have a good grip. You keep reaching grassy plains along the mountain's slope where you can relax, take snaps of the mountains and valleys and move ahead. The last few hundred meter path towards the Duke's Nose is quite challenging. Once you reach the top, you will be astonished to see a small Shiv Mandir built there, and the Shivling alongside it.

Return journey is fairly simple. You get down from the backside of the mountain, where slope is not very steep. This is the way most visitors follow, maybe since climbing down along the earlier way is difficult, and it wouldn't be interesting either.

You reach Lonawala from this backside way, from where you can either go back to Pune or prior to that, visit Bhushi dam where all the tourists throng. To reach Lonawala from Duke's Nose, we took a different route, and (un)fortunately had to cross a river by walking on a two-rope bridge. Although it was damn scary, it was really challenging and was the real climax of our trip. We had to cross a 20 feet wide river, flowing in might, and by walking on one metal rope, holding another metal rope overhead! Worth mentioning is the fact that most of us had bags on our back. IT was really tricky-with shoes esp. Photos are a real testimony. This route, however leads to troubled waters (pun intended) as you reach a restricted military area. However one guy from our group had been there, and he promptly displayed our Central Govt ID card, to which the guards at the gate showed respect :)

It is simply refreshing experience, and takes not more than half a day. The snaps can be seen here. These all photos (including the one at the start of the post) are taken from my new cellphone's (nokia 3230) camera. And you will simply put your fingers in the mouth by looking at the clarity. ;-)