Yesterday Prajoo called me up. Guru and his friends had planned a rock climbing session at Mumbra. I was quick to accept the invitation. We decided to meet at Mumbra station at about 07.00 am in the morning. The next day, I was a bit late and missed them. They had already set out for the pinnacle as the time was precious.
The pinnacle is between Kalwa and Mumbra stations. It is known as the "First Step", as the name itself suggests it is the pinnacle to be tried by the fresher.
As per Guru’s advice on the mobile, I started toward the Kalwa station. Though it would have been appropriate to go through the tracks, it was dangerous as the local trains ply every now and then. So I took the Mumbra-Kalwa road. There is a bridge which is now under construction that will connect Kalwa with Dombivali. I crossed the first tunnel after walking some fifteen odd minutes. One can easily locate the Mumbra creek toward the right. Meanwhile, Guru was helping me to find out the way on his mobile.
I had to take a diversion to the left after the second tunnel. There is Nutan’s bungalow to the right. A local advised me to go through the tracks as this way would have saved my half an hour and I decided to follow his advice as I was running out of time.
The tunnel is "C" shaped-very dangerous I suppose! So I had to walk very carefully through this track. The pinnacle is now easily seen after this second tunnel. I started walking toward it. For a moment, I could see my friends at its base adjoining the spur that goes from the Nutan’s bungalow.
But it was bhul-bhullaiya!... I was trying hard but could not find the way. I wasted almost half an hour in finding the mostly hidden way. At last, Guru sent his friend Kiran who guided me up to the spur. By that time, Sandy and Guru had crossed the first rock patch. Kiran’s son, Pralay and Abhinav were relaxing there. I was a bit tired, so took some rest observing the beautiful Kalwa-Mumbra track with plying trains and equally beautiful Mumbra creek. One can easily locate the Devani pinnacle of the Malang fort and the BaaN pinnacle of Mahuli from here.
Meanwhile Abhinav successfully climbed the first rock patch. Now Pralay was ready. He was guided by his father, Kiran, up to the first patch. I was the last man to reach the first rock patch with the water bottles in my small sack. We did not climb all the material as it was safe due to no man’s land!
After the first rock patch, Guru and I did some walking through the thick bushes where Pralay was waiting for us with his father. Guru had fixed the rope to an already placed piton here. Sandy, Shri and Abhinav had reached the top. We took some rest in the shadow of this rock. Soon, Abhinav rappelled down. The next rock patch was a bit risky, so Pralay and Kiran decided to return with Abhinav.
From this point, Guru and I started climbing using the rope that was fixed at the top. It was fun until Guru had a small accident. But he quickly composed himself and bravely climbed the next patch. At one point, we had to cross a cactus. But it was done successfully. The rock patch was somewhat easy by now.
We reached the top where the duo was taking the hot sunbath. Sandy was the most suffered guy there! His body had become red due to the sunburns. There is nothing much at the top. It is a small plateau. But the view from the top is mesmerizing! The Vanardongar (a small hillock beside!), the Mumbra creek, the two bridges going toward Bhiwandi, the tall buildings, Nutan’s Bungalow, the MIDC with newly built Patani center and the railway track- the overall view is simply beautiful!
As it was tremendously hot, we started winding up. Shree was the first man to rappel down followed by Sandy. After reaching the piton place, we waited for Guru. We let Shree to go ahead. After some time, Guru came down rappelling. We collected the rope and then climbed down the first rock patch successfully.
It was a delicious lunch as we were too hungry. We had carried enough water so it was not a problem. After having lunch we started descending down the spur and literally we were gliding through the dried grass.
While going to the Kalwa station, the "FIRST STEP" was, as if, waiving his hands to come back soon!...
do visit the following link for the snaps (taken with the help of NOKIA 6600!)
Do enjoy!
