Hike to Shirota Lake, Maharastra

[archer]

Jan 3rd 2000 was the first time that I hiked up to Shirota lake at the age of 13 with my school. Today, after 14 years and more than 15 treks to Shirota lake, I still have the excitement to see the first view of the lake from what we call the WOW point (pictures ahead). Shirota lake is located in the lonavala region. TATA has a dam built at one end and a duct at the other end to release water.

I planned this hike with a close friend from Bombay and had informed about 5 people from Lonavala about the hike as back up. the closest civilization from shirota camp site is about 2 hours away. Shirota has no electricity of source of food. We need to be self sufficient. Water from the lake is clean and can be drunk.

We took the 6:20am ST from dadar ST bus stop. The ride was one to remember. I suffered more hits and aches on the bus ride than on the entire trek. Reached Lonavala at 8:30am, had breakfast at Ram Krishna. We bought some bread and cake for our meals from the local bakery (nothing like having mawa cake and coffee for breakfast, while you sit by the lake at 8am). The trek starts at Jhorewadi village. It can be reached via rickshaw from lonavala. One needs to head towards pune on the old highway(NH4). The third village after lonavala is called Vaksai. At Vaksai, take a left and keep driving staright. You will hit Jhorewadi. That is the last village on the road and cant me missed. There is a temple at the end of the road, which is where you need to get off.

The hike started from here. We loaded our packs, checked our walkies and whistles and were ready to roll. To the left of the temple is a trail that leads up towards some electric poles. There are three main markers that need to be remembered. The first is a pink house just behind the temple. The trail is exactly behind the house and should not be missed. This trail will lead you to a Y fork that can be seen straight ahead. A bunch of electric poles are erected along the Y fork(which is the second marker). The hike up should take about 30mins are reasonable walking speed.

Once you reach the Y fork, walk up to the top where there is a plateau (false peak). There is a little pond where you will get spring water at this point. From the plateau, one needs to walk till the third electric pole, then take a left(this is the second marker). Do not miss this marker.

Once you take a left at the pole you should be able to see Andhra lake to your left within 5 mins of walking. you need to continue to walk straight till you hit a couple of date palms (marker 3) . This walk is flat and there is hardly any shade along the way. At the date palms, there is a trail that takes you straight down. The descend down to the duct should take about 25-30mins. There are a couple of good spots where you can camp near the duct. If it starts to raining, you can move into the duct to sleep.

Unfortunately, we missed the last part of the trail and landed about 2km to the right of the duct. We found a good spot and decided to setup camp there instead of walking the additional 2km back to the duct. I was carrying the bowie that i got from Jonah. It proved to be really handy to cut wood for campfire as well as for cooking. Setting up camp and the tent took about 30mins. The rest of the evening was spent in and around the lake. Dinner was served at 8pm ( sweet corn soup and pav bhaji) by the campfire . 9pm to 12 midnight we were out by the lake gazing that the stars (it was 1 night after no moon). There were some clouds but still had a pretty clear sky.

The next day, breakfast was mawa cake and coffee. 10:30am we cleaned up and were ready to bid adieu to shirota for another year.

Here are some pics.

http://picasaweb.google.com/paraggad/Sh ... IXKpubgmwE#



Hope you all like the place. If anyone is interested in going to shirota, i can give you the numbers of some locals who can guide you with the trail and help you setup camp.

Parag

[dr.jayakumar]

sure its beautiful.

[nagarifle]

hi archer nice one, you back for stay or going to the west again?

[archer]

Hi Nagarifle,

I will be heading west on the 12th of this month. Was back while school was closed for Christmas.

Parag

[shooter]

Hi archer i like your avatar on picassa. Its really cool. why not use it on ifg too?

oh and

[timmy]

Looks great, Archer, thanks for sharing the trip and the pics!

[Vikram]

Archer,

Splendid report and a splendid location.Quite close to the metro too.Thank you for sharing the pictures.

Best-
Vikram

[Sakobav]

Archer,

Splendid report and a splendid location.Quite close to the metro too.Thank you for sharing the pictures.

Best-
Vikram

[hvj1]

Hello Archer,
Great Pics and very interesting, liked the dog.
BR

[tumulbuch]

Hello archer,

Thanks a lot for the guidance on reaching Shirota.

We (3 of us) did attempt this trek a few weeks back. Unfortunately, we missed the second marker (Y fork). Got a glimpse of Shirota from top but could not find a way to go down. Thus, camped on top and returned next day. Will definitely attempt once again soon.

Cheers!

[xl_target]

Somehow I missed this post.
Great photos, Archer. What a beautiful lake!

tumulbuch, do you have any photos to post?

[ckkalyan]

Nice post archer...great travelogue!

A few more tips on how to navigate the Y fork and I would have made it!

[Amir]

I am really interested in this place.
By any chance can you re-post the photo link
the current one is invalid now.