Anaddict: Fear Factor...doesn't exist

KORIGAD: View from the narrow peak.. one can see the steps

I am a moderate acrophobic... I guess I was...Acrophobic are those people who are scared of heights. Well I wasn’t one from the beginning but had slowly developed a tendency. On 30^th June we set out for a weekend trip..A short early monsoon one to the Western Ghats. Idea was to climb a fort, stand on top...take everything from the inside and just throw it all away. For me climbing the fort was good but standing on top sounded difficult. I had decided Korigad to be the fort as I had significantly researched about it. I was aware that there is a small trek and then there are steps to climb the fort. We had booked ourselves a car. After the fort we were going to head to Mulshi.

Entrance of the fort

The fort is on your way to Amby valley and is 2.5 km before Amby valley on your left hand side. When I first saw the fort I thought it would be a little difficult but there was no giving up at all. The whole spirit had sprung within me since the time; we went to Bhandardhara and couldn’t climb up even Chotti Kalsubai. I hated the feeling. So I had begun a schedule of brisk walking of 6 km every day since last two weeks to gear up for the climb. This was the second trek of my life, first being in my eight standard high school. The walking distance is around 3 km and then there are steps. Steps, which are on a steep slope with the height of around 1 ½ ft each. The steps keep on getting difficult and the slope steeper as you climb higher. It was tough. I almost stopped after climbing for every 8-10 minutes. Everyone who was climbing was taking similar halts. Well, to tell you the truth that made me more comfortable. The climate was different. When we began climbing the steps, the sun shone bright. As we climbed higher, I don’t remember where he vanished and there were clouds close by. Occasional showers and the natural air conditioner (I am talking about the clouds) were constantly on.

The pond on top of the fort

There are three caves on your right hand side as you climb. The third one has naturally chilled water in it ideal for drinking. Yes, I did drink this water and its potable. Then a few steps away, I decided that it was enough, I thought once, “NEXT TIME.” It started drizzling then and I turned my gaze to the right. I saw a beautiful view of the Amby Valley muffled into fog and the river silently flew its course. I thought to myself, “If this is the view from here, imagine what it would be from top. You wanted to shoot this. COME ON.” I didn’t take a stop after that until I reached the main gate of the fort and then we took these pictures. I stood still when I first saw the scenery on top of the fort.

Green, the grass was green, it danced with the wind

He blew towards the east; the grass danced a ballet with him

He pushed the clouds from west to east and flew pulling a blanket of mist

Everyone enjoyed the cool wind, making the clouds a little jealous of their being

They rose higher to change the game, Lighted and thundered the sky to flame.

There are two temples on top of the fort and a pond which is seasonal and harvests rainwater. The water is clean and people were playing in it. The surroundings look different from various sides of the fort. When you see the videos you, will spot it. The wind blew hard in my face as I contemplated and finally dared for the first time to sit near an edge. It was the most wonderful feeling of my life. I suddenly had a gush of emotions where I started feeling proud of myself. Well we sat there and watched as the clouds and sun performed their dance simultaneously over the valley. There are two canons of olden era lying here. Check them out.

The canon

The journey began from here...

We later started walking towards the other side of the fort which was narrower. Many trekkers must have experienced this but when you walk along the edge, the sight below always walks along with you. I found it disturbing earlier but later learned to ignore it. It did make me feel unbalanced at some points. The other side was beautiful; it overlooked farms and the muddy road that we had taken up for the quest. Exhilarating, I was missing so much. It was 1:30 pm in the afternoon and it felt like 6 am in the morning. We decided to descend after some more photography. This trek annihilated the fear of heights I had developed. We plan to camp here one night in between monsoons. My friend Nilesh Patade had a role to play of a motivator and also a negotiator with me. Without you, I don’t think i would have made it. To all my friends who have certain fears, it’s within you and the strength to vanquish it, it’s within you. You need to decide what you want to house within you.