Mahuli the highest point in the Thane district. The forest surrounding Mahuli has been declared as a sanctuary. Once Shahaji Raje, father of Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, had this fortress under his belt. The nearest railway station to Mahuli is Asangaon. One can catch either Asangaon or Kasara Local from Mumbai CST, which could also be caught at Kalyan. Junction. 4 Km. walk from Asangaon station will take you to the base temple in 11/2 hours. 3 hours trek will take you to the summit.

It was the Bright Sunny Day of 13th August '06 when the whole group of Nisarga Brahman decided to trot along on another Trek cum adventure activity To Mahuli. From Powai i Started at 6:15 AM headed to Ghatkopar station(closest fast station from Powai) to take the first fast Train to Asangaon.
It took us more than 1 hr 30 minutes to get to Asangaon Station where we had to wait for others who had taken the next Train. Once the whole group had gathered, Rohit the organizer took a headcount and collected money(250 Rs Each). It was to accomodate the Water Rapelling Equipment and Trainer Fee.

We all started marching on the Railway Tracks(not a very rare sight in mumbai) towards our Destination which was more than 3kms away. The Only GROSS thing about walking on the tracks is if you stamp on the human excreta by mistake and it does not require very careful scrutiny to avoid any human dumplings. It was Irony of Nature, that it had not dripped a single drop since morning inspite of it being Monsoon Trek and Season and it was getting Hotter and Stuffier as we walked along on the tracks. We walked till the next Check post from where we all decided to take a Bus to the Cottage where the Trainer Lived Perhaps, Atleast i thought he lived there.

There we were sitting inside the Bus, wondering 'Wasnt this supposed to be a Trekk, which normally is a walk till your destination?'. The view from the Bus was beautiful. We ogled on as we crossed tree after tree and spring after spring. We were glad the sky had given way to the black clouds and it meant a downpour anytime soon. After 20 minutes of swaying in the bus and ohh-ahing at the beauty of Mahuli we finally gotto the small Cottage house with thatched roof. Heavenly smell of cattle dung only drove us closer to nature.

We had a small photosession while the Villagers were cooking breakfast for us Hot and yummy Poha( dish made out of Puffed Rice, Onions, turmeric, Salt and Chillies) We finally were going to have our Breakfast, hungry like pigs that we were, happy just by the thought and then our Journey begins to the water Rapelling Site which is a Waterfall around 2 kms away from this cottage.

We finished our breakfast, and headed towards the waterfall where we were going to be trained on repelling, ofcourse, not before the life saver instructions from the trainer.After crossing a cpl of Rivers, where the rocks were deade slipery and scary, we were glad
we cud see the waterfall closing. The sight of gushing water from midst of huge rocks was
breathtakingly beautiful Although The fear of having to rapell down it was persistent.We all reached the top having fun and frolic in the small streams on the way. The view was panaromic, and the weather just right!

After a small demo and instructions session from the trainer, We all started rapelling one by one and the fear started to cummulate in me. Finally i gathered all my courage, gripped the descender and the Rope, and decided to go down the 120 feet waterfall. After a little brainstorming from the trainer i was ready to go down on my own. I swayed, i turned around, I cudnt get the grip of rock on my feet most of the time but i kept releasing the rope, afterall i had to go down not up. In a matter of few minutes my feet touched ground, it was
not at all tough thats wat i thought when i got down. I cud do it 100 times all over without getting tired of it. I simply loved it. There was water showering all over due to the gushing wind and the waterfall, almost like it was raining incessantly. The dead slippery Rocks that we climbed to get on to the waterfall were the tougher part. Rapelling is the safest and easiest way to come down a Hill.

After waitng a little for everyone to return we decided to return and to our dismay the rain was washing the rivers with mud and dirt making it tougher to walk than ever before. We struglled to stand on the rocks after a lot of kungfu with the rocks and river water we finally gotto the cottage. We were drenched to the core and had to change without electricity. We rested for half an hr when we realised the last bus back had already left and we wud have to walk 5 kms back to the railway station. Having no second choice we walked on when only small torch came to our rescue to pioneer our way. We walked continously for 1 and half hr without stopping untill we reached the tracks where we cud see the last fast train leaving in front of our eyes. We figured after a while that we had a slow train in another five minutes while we refueled on tea and snacks.

That was the begining of my new found love for an adventure activity Waterfall Rapelling.