In the Clouds - Walking up to the Highest Point

Some people feel the rain,
Others just get wet.
-Bob Marley

Walking on the Highest Point trail in Sanjay Gandhi National Park, we truly felt the rain. Some did get wet when it started to rain, they were reluctant to go to the peak, but no sooner were they atop they felt the beauty of the place.

The path up is green every where, the verdant green of the monsoon. Jambhulmal Peak is the highest point in SGNP, and the trail is eponymous. From the car park where the trail started, to the top is an ascent of of about 1500 feet, (approximately 455 metres) over a distance of about 5 kilometres.

About an hour into the walk it began to rain, heavily at times, so we were walking along small waterfalls by the path, this water brought a lot of mud with it, erosion I suppose.

the route up is intermittently a rocky path, surrounded by many hues of bright green...

...through a  gushing stream on the way....

...along the way we go up slick and slippery steps cut by ancients. 

There is water everywhere, brown with eroded soil.  Where it can, it flows, otherwise it puddles.

The vegetation changes as we climb, from broad-leaved trees, flowering teak and wild haldi lower down, stands of bamboo dominate higher up. There are clouds and fog and mist shrouding the top, the legendary view is concealed, but it is wet and beautiful

Irrespective of the vegetation, moss and fern every bit of the way make the path slippery.  More so when coming down when one has to often sit and descend.

On the route down we cross the Kanheri Caves.  Now decrepit and amateurishly renovated, these ancient Buddhist Caves form an elaborate complex which have withstood the ravages of time over centuries.  

It was lovely walk and a wonderful experience.

“After the rain, the sun will reappear. 
There is life. After the pain, the joy will still be here.” 
― Walt Disney Company