Ahupe Ghat Trek

The view from the Ahupe Plateau must be one of the most enchanting and mesmerizing experience. Lush Greenery with deep valley and waterfalls all around. The magical beauty of Twin Mountains of Machindergad and Gorakhgad can steel your heart. If you are there at the top during early hours of the day one can see  amazing view of valley and plateau bathed in clouds.

➤ Short Itinerary

• Ahupe ghat trek is basically a pass which starts from Khopivali in the Konkan to Ahupe Village in the ghats. Ahupe Village is at the height of 3855 feets.
• The Ghat drops vertically to the Konkan all around the Ahupe Plateau.
• This village is nestled among the mountains from three sides and valley on one side.

➤ Trail Information

Trail Type:

Medium gradients. Initial portion of the Ahupe Ghat trek is a walk through the fields and crossing streams but once after crossing the forest the trek takes you to the base of the mountain and from here onwards the climb is quite stiff.

Ahupe Ghat Trek Account

Few months back when I was planning to do this trek to Ahupe Ghat I asked my friend if she would like to come along. Her first response was Maine yeh naam suna nai…Kya hai udhar? (I’ve heard this name before…what do you find there?). I was speechless as I had no idea . I bluffed and responded with a very general description that it has beautiful scenery, waterfalls and a great view from the top… which is true for most Sahyadri treks. Her query led to me doing some research on Ahupe and finally the day arrived that I actually did it.   About Ahupe Ghat :   Ahupe ghat is basically a pass which starts from Khopivali in the Konkan to Ahupe Village in the ghats. Ahupe Village is at the height of 3855 feets. The Ghat drops vertically to the Konkan all around the Ahupe Plateau. Actually this village is nestled among the mountains from three sides and valley on one side.   The view from the Ahupe Plateau must be one of the most enchanting and mesmerizing experience. Lush Greenery with deep valley and waterfalls all around. The magical beauty of Twin Mountains of Machindergad and Gorakhgad can steel your heart. If you are there at the top during early hours of the day one can see  amazing view of valley and plateau bathed in clouds.

I was given to understand that Ahupe Ghat is a long and strenuous trek so one must start it as early as possible. Considering this I took an early train at 5.18 am from Dadar to Kalyan. It was 6.30 am when we reached Kalyan ST stand.We had a car to take us to the base village Khopivali. Those who want to to take public transport can catch ST buses going to Murbad and from Murbad they can catch ST bus going to Khopivali.   We were five of us Harikesh, Jayesh, Hardik, Pankaj and myself. In an hour we reached Murbad and just as you cross Murbad ST stand take the first right turn.This road goes towards Mhase. We took our first halt at Mhase village for breakfast. How can one resist garam garam vadapaw and the rustic village flavour of Misal. Finishing our breakfast we moved toward Khopivali village. From Mhase we took a left turn and drove for 20 minutes crossing Narivali( Base village for Siddhgad  Trek), Dehri (Base village for Gourakhgad Trek) and within 10 minutes reached Khopivali. A prominent signboard makes it hard to miss this village.   We walked through this village and took a small left and then right and reached the back of the village overlooking vast expanses of paddy fields in front and Machindergad on our right side.

Finding our way from the paddy fields was a little confusing but, as you can see in the picture above, to our right was Ahupe ghat top, Machindergad and Gourakgad.

We took the help of the villagers to get initial directions.  Crossing the fields we found this stream and walked along it for some distance and entered a shady forest section.

It was a pleasant walk. We came across quite a few village women on this trail going to the stream to wash clothes. Hearing this made us hurry and reach the stream. We all jumped in! This was a treat for us as the weather was dry and sunny. Jayesh and Pankaj had different ideas as they didn’t want to get their shoes wet. Those of us wearing floaters had all the fun.

Seeing us wasting time Jayesh called out and said guys lets move or we’ll be late so reluctantly we all came out and moved further.We had hardly walked 2 minutes when we came across the bigger stream and better waterfall than the previous. This waterfall looked better and we were really tempted to dive in, but keeping in mind our tight schedule we just took a dip and clicked some pictures with a promise to return.  On crossing this stream the above waterfall was on our right. We turned right. This detour is important because one wrong turn here and whole trek can get messed up. After crossing this river and taking the right we walked through high growth shrubs and plantations which finally led us to a lovely forest. This forest cover was a relief as it sheilded us from the heat of the sun.

We kept walking through this forest for a while and suddenly reached a large clearing. We had to be careful here because at this point we saw two trails.The to the right leads to the waterfall (25min utes walk) and the other trail on left is the trail to be followed to reach Ahupe Ghat. Our guide left us here as from here onwards the trails is well marked and its very difficult to lose the way.   If you ask me the real treks started now because as you can see in the picture above the top pinnacle is the point where the Ahupe village is.The trek got quite demanding from here as we were only climbing with no respite of flat walks in between.

All the time while climbing the trek offered us beautiful views  of Gorakhgad and Machindergad from different angles.

The climb is through the forest again and all the time the Ahupe Ghat was in front of us. We were gaining height quickly because of the steep ascent.  There was a small stream which was very refreshing. We quickly filled our bottles and our stomachs with water from here. We finished this continuous climb and reached the Ahupe Plateau. One look around me and I exclaimed “Oh my God! What Beauty !”

The trek was totally worth it! I hope the pictures below help you understand my ecstasy. From the top you see lovely valley, a gigantic plateau overflowing with lush greenery and a small village. Mind blowing breeze and the 360 degree view left us mesmerized.  We quickly had our lunch and visited the village temple which was closed. Descending from this trek was a crazy affair because the young guns were sprinting like there was no tomorrow. We reached the base village by 5 pm and started our onward journey home.

➤ How to Get Fit for Ahupe Ghat Trek

Cardiovascular endurance 

The secret to ascending any trail lies in building your cardiovascular endurance. You can begin by jogging everyday. Ideally, you should be able to jog 4 km in 20 minutes before the start of the trek. It takes time to be able to cover this distance in the given time. Start slow and increase your pace everyday. Swimming, cycling and stair climbing without too many breaks in between can help too. Strength This is another area you should work on. You will need to build strength in your muscles and in your core body. You can do some squats to strengthen your leg muscles. Do around 3 sets of squats, with 8 squats in each set. Apart from this, you can add planks and crunches to your work out.

Flexibility

Another aspect that will help you trek comfortably is flexibility. For this, you can do some stretching exercises – stretch your hamstrings, quadriceps, hip flexors, lower back muscles and shoulders regularly. Carrying a backpack, however light, can become a strain after a while. These exercises will help you to be in good shape before the trek. Working out indoors

➤ What to Take on Your Trek

Since it is just a one day trek, you will only need the following things.

• Small 20L backpack
• Two litre water bottle
• A jacket or poncho in case of rain
• Snacks/Lunch

➤ Trek Contribution

About Author

Aashish Chawla is a wandering soul who loves to travel deep and offbeat, trying to connect with rivers, mountains,wilderness,people and cultures. He loves trekking and lands up on some sahyadri trail almost every weekend. Writing and meeting new people always excites him to no end.