Irshalgad is accessible by an easy to moderate trek which may have been under the Maratha rule
of Shivaji Maharaj. (‘Irshal’ means a pinnacle and ‘gad’ means a fort)
In the monsoon season
when I felt it wouldn’t rain I decided to do the Irshalgad trek.
I disembarked at Panvel station to board a State
Transporst bus to Chouk Railway station bus stop. ST buses from Panvel to
Karjat go via Chouk.
From Chouk bus stop walk towards Nanivali village which is accessible by crossing the railway track and approx. a comfortable 2.3 kilometres walk and the starting point of this trek.
At the start point a board
is seen.
From this point follow a
wide well defined path till Irshalwadi village.
A view of Irshalgad seen few distance
from staring point.
Halfway on this path the
view below looks green in monsoon.
Further the path
climbs a steep ridge and then tapers to an easy ascend till Irshalwadi village.
Nature’s beauty makes one
forget the hard toil put on the trek.
From Irshalwadi village
head towards a temple dedicated to a local deity.
Direction signs and a small
waterfall can be seen on the path to Irshalgad.
As I moved towards the top
there was a heavy downpour and strong winds which made me abandon the trek.
The feeling of not
completing the trek made me very sad but as I was descending the nature’s view
and its cool breeze made me forget all my regrets.
At this point I looked up
at Irshalgad and decided to come back again to get on the top.
