Photo Courtesy: Vinay Bavdekar
Finally, this is a post on an true trek. The trek to Duke's Nose was the first trek of the 2009-10 monsoon season. Duke's Nose is a popular trekking destination in the Lonavala-Khandala valley. You can go there and come back on the same day. Remember, the Duke's Nose is locally known as Nagphani. If you need to ask any locals for directions, ask for Nagphani. Only then will you get an answer from them.
How to get there?Take a train upto Khandala station. When you get down at Khandala station, walk along the tracks in the direction of Mumbai. As you reach level crossing, you can see a temple on the right hand side, when facing Mumbai. Start walking on the narrow path besides that temple. You will reach an abandoned railway track going steep uphill. Walk along that track till you reach the Tata Power reservoir. Enroute, you will also see signboards pointing towards the "Nagphani" route. At that point, you will see a small upclimb route towards your left. Take this route and climb the mountain.
Once you reach a flat top, you will come across three routes. One to your left, the one in middle, and one on the right that goes steep uphill. Take that route. We took the route in the middle and got lost, till a local and a trekking group who had already gone to Duke's nose got us back on track. From here, it is a almost well marked path to Duke's Nose. It is possible that you may stray away and reach some other peak. For this, keep asking every person you meet for the path towards Duke's Nose or Nagphani. Also, this route is towards the right side of Duke's Nose, which means if you get lost, try to search towards your left. Most of the path has good foot marks.
You should be able to locate a semi-developed road. Once you locate it, the Duke's Nose is the only hill next to that road. The last upclimb is straight forward in terms of the path to be followed. After your trek, you might want to come back to Khandala or go to Lonavala. Going to Lonavala is easy, but the route is long. To come to Khandala you will have to re-trace your path, which might be difficult.
An alternate path to the trek is to come to Kurvande village from Lonavala and the Duke's Nose is one straight climb from here. This is the easier route, but you may miss out on some very good scenery if you follow this path.
What should you carry: You need to carry everything. Water, snacks, stuff to eat, etc. Nothing is available at Duke's Nose. Infact, once you leave Khandala or Lonavala, nothing would be available. The entire trek lasts for about 5-6 hrs. So, carry stuff accordingly.
How to get there?Take a train upto Khandala station. When you get down at Khandala station, walk along the tracks in the direction of Mumbai. As you reach level crossing, you can see a temple on the right hand side, when facing Mumbai. Start walking on the narrow path besides that temple. You will reach an abandoned railway track going steep uphill. Walk along that track till you reach the Tata Power reservoir. Enroute, you will also see signboards pointing towards the "Nagphani" route. At that point, you will see a small upclimb route towards your left. Take this route and climb the mountain.
Once you reach a flat top, you will come across three routes. One to your left, the one in middle, and one on the right that goes steep uphill. Take that route. We took the route in the middle and got lost, till a local and a trekking group who had already gone to Duke's nose got us back on track. From here, it is a almost well marked path to Duke's Nose. It is possible that you may stray away and reach some other peak. For this, keep asking every person you meet for the path towards Duke's Nose or Nagphani. Also, this route is towards the right side of Duke's Nose, which means if you get lost, try to search towards your left. Most of the path has good foot marks.
You should be able to locate a semi-developed road. Once you locate it, the Duke's Nose is the only hill next to that road. The last upclimb is straight forward in terms of the path to be followed. After your trek, you might want to come back to Khandala or go to Lonavala. Going to Lonavala is easy, but the route is long. To come to Khandala you will have to re-trace your path, which might be difficult.
An alternate path to the trek is to come to Kurvande village from Lonavala and the Duke's Nose is one straight climb from here. This is the easier route, but you may miss out on some very good scenery if you follow this path.
What should you carry: You need to carry everything. Water, snacks, stuff to eat, etc. Nothing is available at Duke's Nose. Infact, once you leave Khandala or Lonavala, nothing would be available. The entire trek lasts for about 5-6 hrs. So, carry stuff accordingly.
