After arriving in India on Oct 25, we spent the first few days adjusting to the new time zone. By the weekend, we felt better and decided to hike to the Kalsubai, which is the highest peak in Maharashtra at 1646 m (5400 ft).
Kundan, his six-year-old daughter Khushi, his 13-year-old nephew Palash and his friend Santosh would also join us on the hike. It had been two years since I met Kundan. Our last hike was Markha Valley Trek in Ladakh.
Ahmednagar to Bari
Kalsubai part of the Western Ghats mountain range lies in the Kalsubai Harischandragad Wildlife Sanctuary right along the border of Ahmednagar and Nashik District. The hike starts from the village of Bari, which is about 167 km from Ahmednagar via the Alephata route.
We left our place in Ahmednagar at 6 am, and it took us almost four hours to arrive at Bari. The drive from Bota to Rajur on State Highway 21 was the slowest, and sometimes I wondered if we were lost. But Google confirmed that we were on the fastest route. Fastest at times meant 15-20 km/hr.
Hotel Sahyadri
Kundan and co. were already in Bari. At one and half hours, it was a relatively short drive for them from Nashik. Kavya gets carsick, so she had not eaten anything since we left, and now she was hungry. We asked around, and the villagers confirmed that we could stop by a place for breakfast after a short hike up.
After a 20 minute hike, we arrived at Hotel Sahyadri, a local farmer’s house that caters to trekkers. We didn’t have such ‘hotels’ back in 2003, when Kasturi, Kundan and I first started hiking around Pune. Then, it was typically one or two people selling lemonade or buttermilk.
Now, Maggi (instant noodles) seems to be the go-to food in the Western Ghats, as it is on Himalayan Treks. We didn’t buck the trend, and, soon we all had our own hot bowl of Maggi. After a long 30-minute break, we were back on the trail.
Bari to Kalsubai Peak
People typically start their hike early in the morning as the trail is quite exposed. But, we had a late start. It was 11 am, and even at 24 C, it was exhausting, especially for the kids.
An old lady nonchalantly walked past Kavya and offered some words of encouragement. She was walking barefoot and has probably done so all her life.
After hiking for about forty minutes, we were at our first ladder. There are about four ladders placed on the trail to help people safely climb up some steep sections. However, given the number of people, these ladders were often bottlenecks on the route.
Higher up on the trail, we had company – monkeys. Unfortunately, the monkeys had gotten used to being fed and were aggressive. Especially if you were carrying a backpack and had any food or packaging visible.
About two hours into the hike, we were at a relatively flat section and had a clear view of the Kalsubai Peak.
It was a short hike now to the final ladder. Here again, we had to wait as it was a bit crowded.
Finally, at 1:15 pm, we arrived at the peak. There were quite a few villagers at the Kalsubai Devi temple. Not sure if there was a special occasion or it was a busy Sunday.
From the peak, we had some good views of Sakira Peak and Bhandardara backwaters.
Descent
Palash had spotted an alternate route to the peak on the way up. It was a short but steep scramble down on the Southside of the peak. I went down first and then others followed. It would have been challenging for Khushi, so Kundan took her down the ladder route.
We continued our hike along the Southeast Ridge and then joined back the main trail.
Soon we were at the ladders section. It was relatively less busy than our hike up.
After the ladder section, Kavya, Palash and I sprinted down to the farmer’s house we had stopped earlier in the day. We placed an order for lunch for our group.
With Kavya and Kasturi 
Santosh, Khushi, Kundan and Palash
We sat inside and had a delicious meal of chapati (whole wheat bread), matki (moth beans), pithla (made from chickpea flour), daal (lentils), and locally grown rice for lunch.
It was late in the afternoon and much more pleasant to be outside. We hiked down to Bari while enjoying the views of the village and the rice fields.
In total, the hike was just under 8 km out and back with an elevation gain of 800 m. It was Khushi’s first hike and to be honest I was skeptical whether she will be able to do this hike. But she did really well and now has a great story of hiking to the highest peak in Maharashtra.
Resources:
Trail Guide: India Hikes
Kalsubai Peak Video: Raanvata (beautiful footage and information about the region in Marathi)
Weather: Yr.No | India Meteorological Department
Disclosure: The links I have shared in the post and under the Resources section are not affiliate links.
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Interesting reading your account. I first hiked to Kalsubai in Dec 1978 when there were no crowds, no staircases and no signboards! We spent the night outside the little shrine on the summit – it got quite chilly and windy in the night so we had to take shelter and huddle in the shrine! We did not have sleeping bags in those days…. but carried heavy blankets and sheets to cover ourselves!!
1978…wow! It must have been quite an experience going up to Kalsubai peak before ladders and any support infrastructure. Thank you for sharing your experience.
Well written and beautifully described. Had hiked in 2009 and this was really refreshing to go through the experience.
Thank you! It must have been much peaceful back in 2009.
Hi Shashi, thanks for sharing this experience. We are planning to drive down from Mumbai, and stay the night night close to the trek start point, to veer off the car journey’s exhaustion. Would we find a good place around to take a nap, before we start to hike up there? Any suggestions on the
Alark – sorry for the delay in responding to your comment. In the village, where the trek starts you should be able to find an accommodation. The place where we took lunch break (Hotel Sahyadri) also offers accommodation. Hope you have a good trip.