[mohan]

Seeing this section of the Mumbai OTR discussion,a little subdued since many days ,bursts of acticvity seen intermittently, thanks to the efforts taken by Tejas and Dev ,I decided to make a small attempt at infusing some enthusiasm on the board.
Off-roading to me dosent neccessarily mean clearing deep potholes or pits filled with slush,but to my mind it means venturing out far in wilderness where very few vehicles could dare go.
There are many dense forests close to my residence and I do happen to go very often,in fact we have a small "forest group" which include forest rangers too.

So our small group has decided to invite you guys for a "Wilderness trail".

The trail starts from Kashid Beach Murud (From Alibag 40 km)



This trail will then go through forests (not the protected wild life sanctuary)









Passes through various streams.





It winds through tortous paths;



Then takes us to a large perennial water fall and a dam .
Unfortunately I do not have the photographs as the path will be opened up in 7 days.
The trail then takes you along lush green fields and mountains of dark red soil.











The winding trail is lined by golden grass which sways rhythmically with the breeze. The sunsets are very beautiful.The skies are usually crimson.







At place you would find discarded relics:





I had the fortune to end my day in a field ,on a fool moon day.



The trail ends near a Forest lodge.
40 km trail would take almost 6 hours and en-route we could have food near the large dam or waterfall.

We could retire in the forest lodge in the evening ,have some food and drinks with a camp fire and relax the night.
The next morning to have breakfast and to check out.
So it means we could do the trail on Saturday and come back home on a Sunday.

The real purpose is not hard-core offroading.
The real goal is to be in close viccinity to nature and to enjoy the forests.
At some points on the trail only 4 wheel drive vehicles can negotiate.
Although all soft-offroaders can negotiate easily and without damage.

I will be posting some more photos and videos.
Would need more suggestions and inputs.

[gsferrari]

Doc...couldn't help smiling reading your post. All I can say is - WHEN? Let is just be a casual drive through the wilderness.

[vinod_nookala]

when is this happening?...long time i met you all guys

[Desmosedici]

The pics are very inviting Doc. When is the plan?

[davids4x4mm550]

WOW awssooom thats what comes to my mind looking at these pics,
Im game let me know the dates
MM550
David + Tina

[ladak.imran]

Sounds good to me! Just say when.

[genesis]

@Mohan:
My suggestion for dates would be to do a Childrens's Day OTR starting on Saturday the 13th of November through Sunday the 14th of November (Chacha Nehru's birthday!).

7th/8th is diwali weekend and the weekend of 26th is Munnar where quite a few folks plan to go.

The rock quarry thing on the second day sounds tempting now but unless we do it really really early (which i seriously doubt) it may be very very hot. You may want to ask the mods to set up a poll if people want a 2 day or 1 day/night outing.

I personally am happy being one with nature for a day.

[ladak.imran]

I was thinking the same thing!
Cycling through the forests will be amazing!
We can load em up in someones car and do this.

[davids4x4mm550]

Cool im getting my bike too but not sure if i will be able to do the whole ride

[mohan]

@Genesis:
The idea of Children's day OTR seems good however I am out of country on these days.


Those who want to motorcycle around ,most welcome.
So,looking at the dates in between the earliest we can do the OTR is on the first week-end of December.(That is- 6th /7th December)
That gives us more time to plan.
However we would have to book "The Forest Lodge" at least 15 days in advance.
I had a talk with the owner Mr.Wasim , last minute bookings may not be possible . There are 15 double rooms and we could put up more tents. So we would like to know how many couples are expected.


Regarding all other issues and controversies all I can say is "leave it to me".
I know exactly what I am doing.

Help me with "naming" this OTR.

Personally I welcome Cougar on-board these dates so that he can be sure I am not violating forests.Let him be the "observer" for all the trip.
Our Local Environmental Protection Group(LEPG) do need folks like him.

As you well know guys,I never do any OTR without the consent of the "Forest department".

Tejas,Allan, Dev,Rahul & Vinod who have arranged OTR's in the past know that.

Sometimes I insist Forest rangers to come with me to ensure that we do not violate forests.

So please let us know, way in advance.

[davids4x4mm550]

Originally Posted by mohan

fiThose who want to motorcycle around ,most welcome.

i was talking about my MTB cycle doc

[genesis]

Originally Posted by mohan

@Genesis:

So,looking at the dates in between the earliest we can do the OTR is on the first week-end of December.(That is- 6th /7th December)

The first weekend of Dec is actually 4/5 which is the weekend after Munnar.

Can I propose we do Dec 11/12 and call it the Green Thumb OTR.

People/Vehicles will barely be back from Munnar (it is a 2 day haul at the minimum and more if vehicles are trucked back).
And selfishly speaking, I personally will be back only on the 5th!

[genesis]

@Mohan: If the lodge is available can we close on Dec 11/12 as the proposed date so that people can confirm availability/make plans.

@jeepers/gyps(ers?)/cyclists/jong(er?): Any other dates come to mind given Nov 26/28 some people are in Munnar and it takes time to get back and recover.

I do want to see Guru/Allan/Tejas pedalling uphill for extended periods on their fancy/shmancy offroading bikes.

[genesis]

Originally Posted by xtreme power

...stuff deleted...
let the confirmations flow now
...stuff deleted...
XTREME POWER

Allan + Nethra + Cycle + Gypsy without free flow
Soumya + 1 + CJ3B

[mohan]

@Imran- Yes I wont let you guys down! Never have!

So lets fix it up to December 11 and 12th.

Would start planning accordingly and would like to know whether I could place the group comfortably.
This time I want to make sure that the stay is comfortable.

So Please start confirming :

1) Mohan (Gurkha)..4 pax.
2) Mandar(Gurkha)..3 pax.
3) Imran (Gypsy)..? pax.
4) Soumya (CJ3b)..2(counting Priti in).
5) ALLAN(Gypsy)..2
6) GS(Gypsy)..?
7) David (jeep)..2