Devkund Rappelling - Dec 8, 2019
Anu and I signed up for a day of rappelling at Devkund falls with Bhagwan Chawale, an Everest summiter. He runs an organization called The Alpinist which promotes trekking and adventure activities in the Sahyadri Mountains. This turned out to be an extremely exciting experience.
Here is a link to an 8-min Youtube Video shot by one of the participants which gives a great overview
Devkund Falls is a waterfall located near Bhira, in Raigad district, India. It is a 'plunge' waterfall pouring massive amounts of water on the rocky surface underneath. It is a popular spot for one day picnics.
We started at 4.45 am from Pune and reached the starting point at around 6.45 am. Bhagwan briefed the entire group of 35-40 people.
We walked for 1.5 hours to reach the point at which we were to start rappelling. It was a slightly downhill trek. The weather was beautiful. Not a cloud in the sky and cool December weather in Pune.
We finally reached the starting point of the rappelling at 8.20 am. This is the starting point of the Kundalika river.
This was the Sahyadri scenery at the starting point.
We waited for nearly 3.5 hours till about 12 pm at the starting point with all the equipment, helmets, harnesses and all.
There were two stages in which we rappelled. The first stage was a cliff about 150 ft tall.
We came down to a point between the two cliff. This was a staging point for the next cliff face. We rested a little. Our hands and legs were still shaking from the first rappelling.
We got harnessed for the second cliff which was about 300 ft high. The second cliff face was about 25 ft to start with and then it was an overhang of about 275 ft vertically down to the lake "Devkund". What you see behind Anu is about 300 feet drop. Here is a link to a video of Anu coming down the 2nd cliff face.
That's me going down the second cliff face. It was scary. Initially we were worried about being suspended in air 275 ft above the ground. But coming down suspended in the air was easier than rappelling against a cliff face. Here is a 55 second video of Samir coming down the second cliff face.
While coming down, I also got wet in the waterfall. I calmed down enough to stop midway and getting wet in the water falling from the above.
Here is a video of Anu doing the last part of the descent down the 2nd cliff face. Anu was very happy and excited after the rappelling was complete. This was the first time, we had done such tall rappelling. We reached Devkund at around 1.45 pm.
Everyone took a dip in the cool Devkund. It was very refreshing.
After the dip we changed into regular clothes, with just some trekking left.
We took a picture with some of our co-participants.
We then walked about 1.5 hours and came to a village called Bhira in Raigad district. Some great scenery along the way.
In total, we walked about 13 kms on that day. We reached Bhira by 3 pm. We ate lunch around 3.30 pm.
We finally left Bhira at 6 pm and arrived in Pune by 9.30 pm. It was a wonderful experience, totally worth it!
A big cheer to Bhagwan Chawale's team for making the rappelling safe and fun.
Devkund Falls is a waterfall located near Bhira, in Raigad district, India. It is a 'plunge' waterfall pouring massive amounts of water on the rocky surface underneath. It is a popular spot for one day picnics.
We started at 4.45 am from Pune and reached the starting point at around 6.45 am. Bhagwan briefed the entire group of 35-40 people.
We walked for 1.5 hours to reach the point at which we were to start rappelling. It was a slightly downhill trek. The weather was beautiful. Not a cloud in the sky and cool December weather in Pune.
We finally reached the starting point of the rappelling at 8.20 am. This is the starting point of the Kundalika river.
This was the Sahyadri scenery at the starting point.
We waited for nearly 3.5 hours till about 12 pm at the starting point with all the equipment, helmets, harnesses and all.
There were two stages in which we rappelled. The first stage was a cliff about 150 ft tall.
We came down to a point between the two cliff. This was a staging point for the next cliff face. We rested a little. Our hands and legs were still shaking from the first rappelling.
We got harnessed for the second cliff which was about 300 ft high. The second cliff face was about 25 ft to start with and then it was an overhang of about 275 ft vertically down to the lake "Devkund". What you see behind Anu is about 300 feet drop. Here is a link to a video of Anu coming down the 2nd cliff face.
That's me going down the second cliff face. It was scary. Initially we were worried about being suspended in air 275 ft above the ground. But coming down suspended in the air was easier than rappelling against a cliff face. Here is a 55 second video of Samir coming down the second cliff face.
While coming down, I also got wet in the waterfall. I calmed down enough to stop midway and getting wet in the water falling from the above.
Here is a video of Anu doing the last part of the descent down the 2nd cliff face. Anu was very happy and excited after the rappelling was complete. This was the first time, we had done such tall rappelling. We reached Devkund at around 1.45 pm.
Everyone took a dip in the cool Devkund. It was very refreshing.
After the dip we changed into regular clothes, with just some trekking left.
We took a picture with some of our co-participants.
We then walked about 1.5 hours and came to a village called Bhira in Raigad district. Some great scenery along the way.
In total, we walked about 13 kms on that day. We reached Bhira by 3 pm. We ate lunch around 3.30 pm.
We finally left Bhira at 6 pm and arrived in Pune by 9.30 pm. It was a wonderful experience, totally worth it!
A big cheer to Bhagwan Chawale's team for making the rappelling safe and fun.
1 comments
Damm exciting :-)
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