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Kaas 2010

2011-03-08T06:32:00.000-08:00

Kaas Plateau - September 2010

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I was fortunate to witness this wonderland twice in 2010, made two visits, one during monsoon and at the end of monsoon.Images compiled are from the trips,

Begonia crenata

Kaas scape

Utricularia Pururascens

Distant view of peteshwar plateau

Millions of flowers of varied size and shape fill this wonderland during monsoon

Eriocaulon tuberiferum

Diphadi midst of impatiens Lawii

Urmodi backwaters

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Stream in between the flower beds,the color of flower beds changes once every week during flowering season (Sept/Oct)

Murudania Simplex

Eriocaulon tuberiferum

"Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance,
I gazed - and gazed - but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought."
-William Wordsworth
Thousands of Impatiens,Smithia dance gently in the open country,welcoming to their wonderland.
Impatiens Lawii

Pogostemon deccanensis

Fragile ecosystem sustain on this lateritic plateau

Cascading waters

Smithia Hirsuta- look at the charm in these beauties

winding road to Kaas

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Bamnoli lake

uncontrolled tourism - Large number of tourist visit this place during the monsoon, they pose great threat to this fragile ecosystem,people come here for picnic leaving the place littered with liquor bottles, plastic plates, covers and cups

Ray of hope - Will this wonderland survive??

This wonderland survives only because of people like Dr. Sandeep Shrotri and his NGO "Raanvata", based in Satara.They are the people with burden to conserve and protect this place from unethical minds.

My special thanks to my friend Mr.Vivek Kale who shared wealth of information about this place and for his time.

Kaas images from my previous visit,
http://samsoncj.blogspot.com/2009/10/kaas-plateau.html
Reference: Flowers of Sahyadri by Shrikant Ingalhalikar.
Equipment:Canon40D with Sigma 150mm and Canon 18-55mm IS lens
For any queries and suggestions please contact me at cj.samson [at] gmail.com

You Do All Things Well

2010-08-07T10:19:00.000-07:00

Love these lines from Chris Tomlin song “You do all things well”

Mountain maker
Ocean tamer
Glimpses of You
Burn in my eyes

The worship of heaven
Fills up the skies
You made it all Said, "let there be"
And there was all that we see

The sound of Your voice
The works of Your hands
You do all things well

As I gaze up on the handy works of my God when I travel to different places, I’m spellbound by the majestic creations. Every creation proclaim the mighty work of the creator
The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord - Psalms 33:5

-Samson CJ

Harishchandragad trek - 2009

2009-12-07T10:19:00.000-08:00

Harishchandragad trek - Majestic though grueling!

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This is my second trek to Harishchandragad and it was a post monsoon trek. On 27 September 09 I and two of my friends left Pune early morning towards the rugged mountains of North Maharashtra, situated in a remote region.Reached Khireshwar, a tiny hamlet situated near the foot of hills around 9:45 am. Harishchandragad is one of the mightiest hill forts, lies in the Ahmednagar region ,Maharashtra, India.One of the best trekking opportunities available in the Sahyadris, having breathtaking views and sites of historical and archaeological significance.The hilltop is an irregular tableland about 5km across.

Mesmerizing view from Tolar Khind pass

Panoramic view of the tough patch of Tolar Khind pass, click here for full view

After the light refreshment we started from the base around 10:15am, since the trek combined with photography ,the pace was very slow, so we reached the Harishchandragad temple by 3:50pm.

Distant view of Pimpalgaon dam backwater, this was shot as we climbed the Tolar khind pass

We had tough time climbing this pass with rucksack full of provision and photography gear,

After ascending this difficult patch ,we reached the plateau at the altitude of 3850 feet (1175 m). we relaxed for some time and was taken aback by the splendid view of Khireshwar village down in the valley with the lake in the background

shot this spider just after the drizzle, felt the need for macro lens!!

The Tola Khind rock face climb is little tricky,particularly in the monsoon.
Harishchandragad plateau begins after crossing the Tolar Khind pass

This trek was just after the monsoon, so there was lots of greenery all around the plateau, filled with different kinds of flowers with enchanting colors and hues, its was really splendid to walk watching those flowers and other micro life forms.
Angled Pierror Caleta Caleta

First glimpse of the temple,

So after we reached the temple around 4pm, we immediately occupied the cave facing the temple. Then we left our rucksack, started moving north west towards the Konkan kada. The crux of our trek is Konkan Kada which is 2km to the north west of the top. This Cliff is the most interesting point in this fort , which has always fascinated many people for many years, It is a huge semi-circular rock wall with a width of about 400mtrs .

Harishchandragad Temple
This temple is a marvelous example of the fine art of carving sculptures out of stones that prevailed in ancient India. It is about 16 mtr high from its base. Around this temple there a few caves & ancient water tanks,few trekkers were staying inside the temple

Interiors of the inside temple complex

These are the caves where all trekkers used to stay and we stayed in one of these caves

joined with the other trekkers who came from Pune and we started preparing soup and Dhal Khichadi for dinner, it tasted heavenly after a tiring day, after dinner spent time gazing at the clear sky and by 12:30 Shhhhhhhhh!! all were in their sleeping bags.

Most of the caves are situated at the foot of Taramati peak,few are near the temple, whereas some are near the citadel and some far away in the forests.
Next day morning we got up around 5:30 am and started moving towards the Konkan Kada.

the sky was overcast, we had very poor visibility from Konkan Kada.

we waited from 6:30 am to 12 pm for the mist to clear up, but mist cleared only for few minutes but the view for few minutes was breathtaking, unfortunately before i could set up my camera the mist covered up .
The cliff faces west and looks down upon the Konkan. From here, one can have a breathtaking view of the surrounding region and the sun setting. This cliff is not just vertical; it is an overhang, almost like a cobra's hood. We won’t feel any fear if it’s covered by mist but once it’s cleared then it’s the most frightening sight.
View from Konkan kada

It has been climbed many times. Sometimes a circular rainbow (the Brocken spectre phenomenon) can be seen from this point. It can be seen only when there is a bit of mist in the valley, and the sun is right behind the person facing the valley.
One amazing phenomenon that can be observed at this place is the vertical cloud burst, in which the clouds nearing the cliff get sucked into the pit fall area below and are thrown vertically into the sky reaching more than 50 feet. It creates a magical wall that is rising straight from the edge of the cliff without entering the landmass area. The fog show and hovering clouds below the cliff complement the season if one visits.
But during my trek here in 2007 i got decent shots of the majestic konkan kada, check the image below,

From Harishchandragad Trek

Harishchandra gad was surrendered to British regime in May 1818. Col. Sykes has written about observing a ‘circular rainbow’ on the edge of the Konkan Kada, during mist in May. This rainbow was perfectly circular and vividly colored, with Shadow of Col. Sykes, sitting on a horse, in the center of it. Villagers who were with him saw this and the legend grew that the Britishers could ride on clouds!

Flowers of Neanotis montholoni (Tanoti)

this plateau is full of floral treats, i managed to take with my 18-55 lens, one of the beautiful flower in this plateau is Pinda Concanensis
Pinda Concanensis (Panda in Marathi)

Thalictrum dalzellii (Shwetambaram)

Commelina

Pan-Terda on rock patch

Habenaria rariflora

Cyanotis tuberosa (Abhali)

Purple smithia

After having lunch, clicked few pics around temple and cave we started to descend 3:15 pm , We had to maintain fast pace to reach the base before dark , reached the base around 7:15 pm, took refreshing chai at one of the villagers house and left Kireshwar village around 7:30.
Reached pune by 11 pm.

Panoramic view of Harishchandragad plateau,click here for full view

The thrill and fun of trekking coupled with the splendor of the Sahyadris are something to be experienced!

Reference:
Trek the Sahyadris by Harish Kapadia
Flowers of Sahyadri by Shrikant Ingalhalikar.
Equipment:
Canon40D with 18-55mm IS lens

Harishchangra gad trek - 2007 Picasa link

For any queries and suggestions please contact me at cj.samson [at] gmail.com

kaas plateau

2009-10-13T11:48:00.000-07:00

Kaas Plateau – a wonderland!!
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Panoramic view,en route Kaas. click here for complete view

My desire is to visit the “Valley of flowers” in Himalayas where hundreds of wild flowers of all colors bloom, though I dint get a chance to visit Himalayas but lucky enough to visit the wonderland Kaas ,it was on 17th September 2009 Me and my friend vivek left pune by 7:15am by his car and drove towards the Pune – Bangalore highway, we hit the NH around 7:40 am and on the way to Satara had nice chai and Vada Pav at Sherival a small village on the highway.Reached Kass around 9:30am and was spellbound by the rich flora.

Narrow road from Satara to Kass (25 km approx)

Satara is approximately 100km from Pune on Pune-Bangalore highway after crossing the town the uphill road takes to Kass plateau, this part of western ghat is famous for Flat table top mountains, with lateritic plateaus on top becomes home to millions of tiny flowers, the whole spectale is beyond words. Different types of wild flowers, herbs, orchids, shrubs, insectivorous plants etc., can be seen here.

Kaas - a paradise for flower watching, birding and camping around with a gentle road running across the plateau and flowers of varied colors in millions on either side, the view is simply superb!!

Lush green open land filled with flowers of varied colors and size

Vigna vexillata

Eriocaulon tuberiferum

Kass has a very good bird life with good sightings of Crested Buntings, common Crested Larks and Oriental White-eyes. For the first time I spotted the European roller.
Amazing place for Macro photography, one can go crazy seeing plethora of subjects to shoot.

Utricularia Pupurascens

Purple bed of Utricularia Pupurascens

Bee Pollination

Impatiens Lawii

Welcomed by the Pink carpet

Drossera Indica an insectivorous plant, interesting plant with sticky tentacles

Thunbergia fragrans - Chimine

Argyreia elliptica

There are few other places to be explored nearby like Kaas Lake, Bamnoli ,since we were running out of time and had to go to office that night so we left Kaas around 4:30pm and reached Pune by 7:30pm, the whole day was awesome, day before work was hectic hardly find time to sleep and today whole day went running for flowers, flowers and flowers :) but Kaas has this mesmerizing effect of making you forget all the tiredness, that's true! totally invigorated after my trip.

Murudannia Lanuginosa, अबोलिमा

Exacum lawii

Murudannia simplex,निलिमा

Impatiens Lawii flower

Peteshwar hill with small lateritic platue on top

Pleocaulus ritchiei (Topli Karvi) टोपली कारवी

Utricularia in white

Pogostemon Deccanensis, जांभळी मंजिरी

Grazing cattle

Fast expanding township of Satara - a threat to this fragile ecosystem

Sad sight is that most of the place has been littered with liquor bottles, plastic plates, covers and cups by the unruly tourist who visit this place. State forest department has to take some serious effort in conserving this place by increasing the forest guard to keep a watch or we will be losing this wonderland forever.

Reference: Flowers of Sahyadri by Shrikant Ingalhalikar.
Equipment:Canon40D with 18-55mm IS lens
For any queries and suggestions please contact me at cj.samson [at] gmail.com

Spinning autumn leaf

2009-08-06T02:39:00.000-07:00

Shot this image during my birding trip to Thamini ghat in the Sahyadris, reached the spot around 6am. After spending some quality time observing the avian life , captured few frames of some birds. As the time passed by , birds population started to diminish. As the Sun was at it’s peak, we decided to follow the trail along the falls to shoot some macro subjects of varied interests. Due to the strenuous trekking ,felt exhausted and I sat beside a puddle,lo suddenly my eyes fell upon this exuberant fallen leaf floating gently amidst the ripples all around created by the water bugs(Heteroptera)present in the stream. This wonderful scene made me to think as to how often we are surrounded by the ripples of crisis in our day to day life . Are we facing these crisis as calmly and gently as this little leaf? Or just swept away …..???

It's just my thought,pls share if you have something in your mind!

Let there be light!!

2009-08-02T07:30:00.000-07:00

Craziness for camping gear is not new for me , from kid the love for flashlights and head lamps was there used to fiddle with my dad's collection, after my Avalanche camp (SEACA) in April 2009 felt the need for head lamp and mini flash lights, so did some review of various model available in the market, finally decided to go for Petzl Tikka plus(available in India) or Alp kit gamma(available outside India).

Gamma’s features were appealing thanks to powerful 1- Watt LED spot which should provide enough light for night walk and treks i do, so order one from UK.

was looking for min flashlight especially to have one handy in the pouch or for every day carry (EDC) so fixed Fenix E01, Mini Mag LED and still some more but then the whole in my wallet was getting bigger and bigger :( so rite now only mini mag and E01.(will add the rest later)
E01 was not available so got the Mini Mag LED (2AA flashlight) these are new entrant to my toys collection.
Hope to have great camping season ahead with my toys!!

Features:
Alpkit gamma : Multifuncitional LED hadtorch with three 5mm LEDs plus one 1W LED plus red backlight LED, uses 3 AAA batteries (Duracell supplied), red and green light options for night vision, adjustable elastic headband, strobe mode on all lights plus instant switch off in all modes, water resistant.

Mini Mag LED (2AA flashlight):
LED: 3 watt
Projecting Beam: yes
Focusing Beam : Yes
Batteries required: 2 AA size Alkaline
(Please check the official website for more info)

Trek to Harishchandragad

2007-11-28T05:34:00.000-08:00

Two day trek to Harishchandragad was totally a different experience, this time we joined with Giridarshan trekking club (GTC), its was a awesome experience with GTC team
People from different walks of life joined this trek. We met in Shivajinagar bus stand on 24 Nov 07, around 28 people have turned up.The trek was wonderfully planned and well organized, around 4:45 we reached the summit, then we went to Konkan kada to see the breath taking view and sun set.

We stayed in the cave, next morning after break fast we left to the base village.

Harishchandragad Paradise for Trekkers
There are 3 peaks in Harishchandragad namely Rohidas , Taramati and Harishchandra.

Taramati peak is the highest one in the fort. Many peaks , fort and other beautiful places like Malshej Ghat, Jivdhan, Nane Ghat, Ratangad, Kalsubai etc. can be seen. There are some old caves on Taramati which are used by trekkers to rest and relax. A beautiful temple of 'Harishchandra' is pride for the fort. The temple is very old and some sculptures can also been read. It is said that Sant Changdev stayed here for some time and completed his manuscript - 'Tatwasaar'. The Nandi and Shivling in the temple are really wonderful. A cave nearby is always full of very cold water.

Rajmachi trek

2007-11-02T07:20:00.000-07:00

Rajmachi became my dream destination after knowing about this place from different trekkers and reading more about this place, so planned the trek with my Fujitsu friend's and decided to do a night trek, total team size was four including me because of last minute plan we had to go ahead with this small number.Sundeep my friend from Pune have been to this place before he was our navigator, we took the 11pm local from Chinchwad to Lonavala reached lonavala around 1215am.
This trek was one the toughest trek i did till this date, one should have high endurance even though the terrain is not difficult.

Rajmachi consists of two beautiful peaks namely 'Shrivardhan' and 'Manaranjan'. Rajmachi is very famous fort near twin hill stations in Maharashtra - Lonavala and Khanadala it is nearby 20 Kms from Lonavala but a nice way to reach the fort is from Tungarli Lake.
Shrivardhan and Manaranjan can also be considered as two separate forts. There is one small platue in between them. A temple of 'Bhairoba' is very beautiful. Shrivardhan is 'Bale killa' of Rajmachi. It is almost 3000 feet high. But it was mainly built to keep watch on Konkan area. The other - Manaranjan is 2700 feet high. Manaranjan consists of strong walls, 3 doors and many water tanks. One can see Ulhas river, Dukes Nose (Nagphani), Karnala ,Matheran, Mahuli and Bhimashankar etc. The old caves of 'Kondhavi' on Rajmachi fort are worth to see. The way to fort is long but truly with a good view. One can enjoy a nice forest, Tungarli lake and many waterfalls as well.Rajmachi is one of the good places to visit around Pune. And its the awesome place for trekkers and nature photographers.

Slideshow of Rajmachi trek