The Trekking season in Sahyadris for me started with the trek to Nakhind on June 20, 2010. Unlike the other treks which are a walk to fort or waterfall, Nakhind is a hill near Vangani Station(6 Kms from Vangani Station). The USP of Nakhind is the ‘Needle Hole’ or as it is known in Marathi as ‘Needha’.
I had expected rains to welcome us at Nakhind since the rains had reached Mumbai around 15th of June. But to my disappointment we hardly got any. The climate was cloudy most of the time with the sun peeping out of the clouds on some occasions and with no trace of winds, things were pretty difficult for us. The climb to the ridge was little steep and Nakhind being the first trek after 3 months made things even more difficult for me. This trek was a test for my stamina and endurance. After reaching the ridge, I relaxed for half an hour before moving towards the ‘needhe’. But on reaching the ‘Needhe’ it was as if someone had switched the fan for us. A 10 minutes stop at the ‘Needhe’ energised us for the climb down to Vangani. (actually no one wanted to go back to vangani)
The next week trek was to Matheran via Garbet Point. We assembled under bright sun shine at Bhivpuri station. The walk from Bhivpuri station was under the sun and the conditions best suited for practicing photography. On completing nearly 75% of the trek we saw clouds hovering over Matheran and within no time we saw Matheran vanish under the clouds but again the hill besides Matheran(where we were) was deprived of the misty weather which we longed to see.
The next week I visited my friend’s farmhouse in Badlapur. On saturday i.e. July 3, 2010 when we left, there were torrential rains in Mumbai but the outskirts of Mumbai it was just a cloudy weather with no rains. The rains had been eluding me for 3 weeks on trot and i was getting a bit irritated.
Back to treks on 4th week, we started with no hopes of a walk in the rains or mist. I in fact didn’t carry a windcheater. I thought that since it doesn’t rain I might not carry a windcheater (to reduce a bit of weight from my sack). The climate in Lonavala was cloudy. When were reached Malavli we saw large number of people trekking towards Lohagad. After a walk of 5 minutes we saw the famous Vinchukatta of Lohagad fully covered in Mist. I suddenly felt that after 4 weeks I am going to enjoy a nice walk in rains. As I walked towards Visapur, we enjoyed some showers. By the time we reached the COL between Visapur and Lohagad I had enjoyed the first official walk in the rains and by the time I reached Visapur I was drenched. The whole of the fort was drenched. The Fog, the mist and the rains were everywhere all across the fort. After having our lunch, we decided to explore the fort. But after a walk of 5 minutes as we turned back to see the route, we felt lost on the fort as we could not see the route. The fog was so thick that it was actually a walk in the clouds. I enjoyed every bit of my time on this fort. The first rain and fog during 2010 season was atlast witnessed at Visapur and that to after 4 weeks. 
