1.   What is trekking?

Trekking is nothing more than walking for pleasure in the wilderness, carrying all the things you require to survive in the wild.

2. Does one need to be extremely fit in order to trek?

Not at all. One just needs to be reasonably healthy and have a liking for walking in the wilderness with a sack on your back. This basic level of fitness can be easily achieved by moderate exercise for about 15 minutes on a regular basis. That’s all it takes! Being moderately fit also means that you will enjoy the trek more.

3. How many hours of walking does a typical day of trekking involve?

There is no ‘average’ value which can be given. It depends on the kind of trek, viz, Himalayan, Sahyadri or a Nature Camp. In Himalayan treks, usually 4-5 hours walking is involved. In Sahyadris, it can be stretch to about 6-7 hours. Nature camps generally involve very less walking.

4. What kind of clothes should one wear?

Cotton garments, which are not very tight, nor so loose that you end up getting entangled in them while walking, are preferred. Avoid synthetic garments as they will not absorb sweat and and not allow your skin to breathe. Avoid jeans as they can be a nightmare to carry around in case they become wet.

5. Does one need to purchase expensive shoes for trekking?

No. What you need are shoes with good grip on dry and wet surfaces. While most shoes will have good grip on dry surfaces, they can be extremely slippery on wet ones. You will get such shoes for about Rs. 500-600 in any multi-brand shoe-shop. Avoid buying shoes just before the trek. Use the shoes at least for a week or so before the trek. This will avoid sores and blisters during the trek.

6.  What does one need to carry during a trek?

We will provide a list of the necessary items required when you register for our programs.

7. What about protection from the cold?

It is advisable to use a sleeping bag during a trek. In case you do not have sleeping bags, we rent them out for our programs. For all Himalayan treks, due to the extremely low temperatures, we will provide you with high quality sleeping bags fir for use in sub-zero temperatures. This cost is included in the trek fees for Himalayan treks.

9.  Why don’t you provide sleeping bags for the Sahyadri Programs too?

Simply because in the Sahyadris, sleeping bags, while preferable, are not a must. So we leave the option of using one to you.

10. What about protection from the rain or snow?

You need to carry good quality rain proof clothing to protect yourself from the rain. While trekking, it is more important to protect your sack and its contents than yourself from rain. This is because if all of your clothes get wet, the rest of the trek will be a nightmare. A simple solution to keep yourself AND your sack dry is to use a ‘poncho’ or an ‘irla’. These basically comprise of sheets of plastic which are large enough to cover yourself and your sack at the same time. They also make you look mighty funny in photographs! They are also great to slide on the snow during Himalayan treks without getting a very cold and wet rear end.

11. What about accommodation during the treks?

This again depends on the type of program. For Sahyadri programs, accommodation is either in high quality imported tents, or in caves (yes, you read it right! ) or in temples. No, don’t picturize yourself sleeping in a temple with hundreds of devotees streaming in and out! These temples are all small, obscure ones, which we usually end up having all to ourselves. All our camping locations will be in places where there will be very less human activity other than ourselves. After visiting our camping locations, you will prefer using the caves / temples rather than the tents! In Himalayan treks, accommodation will always be in tents. In nature camps, it will usually be in a dormitory in the sanctuary.

12. Why should one trek with Kolhapur Hikers?

Kolhapur Hikers has extensive experience in planning and execution of treks on a professional basis in the Sahyadris. It is run by mountaineers who have explored more than 100 forts in the Sahyadris. Hundreds of participants from all over India have experienced the mystical beauty of these mountains with us. We will soon be putting up a ‘testimonials’ page.

13. Who are the people behind Kolhapur Hikers?

Kolhapur Hikers is run by people who have grown up visiting the mountains on a regular basis. However, we believe in going beyond just visiting the mountains. We believe in taking an interest in the History, Flora and Fauna of the place. We are, in short, a group of youngsters who are in love with Nature, and want to make you fall in love with it too!

14. I wish to come for your treks. How do I register and pay you?

You can register online on the site on a provisional basis. You can pay us by cash, cheque, DD or RTGS, by visiting our office. In case that is not possible, you can send us the cheque / DD by post. Please draw crossed cheque in favor of ‘Kolhapur Hikers Foundation.’ and NOT ‘Kolhapur Hikers’. In case of out-station cheque which are NOT payable at par in Kolhapur, kindly add Rs. 60/- as out-station cheque processing charges.

15. Can you please help me with understanding what these Difficulty and endurance Grades are, and how you define / allocate a rating on them? Is there any standardized (HMI or other such) rating system that is in existence?

Difficulty grade deals with the actual climbing difficulty.

Endurance Grade deals with the stamina requirement and total physical strength required.

One might have to walk 10 Km on straight road in a trek then its difficulty will be (1 easy) but endurance required will be higher (3 medium to high). That’s the difference between Difficulty and endurance

Now lets consider difficulty level….

Parameters on which this is decided are as follows

1. Season and climbing route (some route might be easy is summer/winter but difficult in rains or vice versa) eg. Harishchandragad in rains is hardest(5) and in summer comes to medium to high ( 3.5)
2. Difficulty level is always 3 or above if we are going to encounter any rock patch
3. Difficulty rating of rock patches depends upon the height of rock patch, available holds, risk involved
4. Difficulty rating also depends on number of rock patches we are going to encounter.
5. Some places there might not be rock patches but slippery scree or steep mud route which might be risky….then that adds to the difficulty level.

Difficulty level doesn’t reflect in climbing conditions

At some treks we might make free climb on an easy rock patch

At some treks we might climb very hard rock patch with the help of trekking equipments.

Then second case is more difficult than first case but still first case is risky than second case. Our ratings doesn’t indicate these conditions. Anyway we always carry safety equipments with us but do not use it unless it is very necessary.

Endurance grade Parameters

1. Total straight distance walk involved
2. Total height climb involved
3. Number of hours required to climb the mountain
4. Water availability on the trek route
5. Available resting time..

Whenever the total climbing time exceeds 2.5 Hrs we put the rating 3 and it goes on increasing according to the parameters I have mentioned above.

Anyway these parameters are revised after each trek, all parameters are reviewed … participant feedback is taken into consideration and then rating is altered. There isn’t any fixed scale on which we can rate the forts but experience and above parameters decide the ultimate rating.

However do not compare these ratings with the with the ratings of hardcore climbing activity. They have entirely different and little bit complicated system for the difficulty ratings. Their easiest level will be still categorized as hardest of regular trekking.

1. What are the dangers that could come in way during treks about which I should be aware of?
2. First and foremost danger is that if you are not paying proper attention to the route and your walking you might slip. The surfaces over which you walk could be of many types solid rock, fractured rocks, grassy, sandy, tar, dry mud, wet mud, forest litter etc. You need to pay attention to your steps carefully and walk otherwise losing your grip over the ground might lead to injuries ranging from minor scratch to fracture and if you are exposed to high heights then you may fall down and it could result in death. All these problems could be avoided by just paying attention to the road and tackling it confidently and intelligently.
3. When you are trekking outdoors you must be aware of various types of insects and animals that could cause you pain.
4. While walking quiet frequently trekker comes across a hornet, wasp, honeybee or bumble bee nest/honeycombs. These insects can get disturbed with smoke, sudden and fast motions or loud sound and the one who disturbs these insects pays its price dearly. So best is to avoid such acts and keep a lookout on such things in outdoors so that you do not make any mistake in ignorance.
5. While peeping or putting hand in any rocky crack or a crack in wood just look carefully before you touch it. Also while sitting on any stray rock, while stopping to drink water in any natural water source you must look around. Snakes and Scorpions are two threats in such acts. In India we have wide variety of snakes and scorpions. Very small percentage of total species in India are actually venomous snakes but they occur in pretty good numbers and hence we must be careful. Most of the scorpion species are venomous and its bite could be potent for human beings. It is not necessary that every time you come across a snake or scorpion who are venomous but it is better to be cautious. Taking care of these factors is also important while selecting camping spot. It should be away from activity area of reptiles. Spraying strong odor chemicals around your campsite would prevent at least 90% chances of reptile penetration in your campsite.
6. When you walk in jungles where there is good mammal sightings you must be cautious against variety of animals. In India you must take precautions from solitary Indian Gaur (wrongly known as bison) or Gaur flock with fawns, Elephants, Sloth bear, Leopard, Tiger, wild buffalos, domestic buffalos but which are not used to human presence except their owners. Among these I would say herbivorous animals are more dangerous than carnivorous animals. You must take more precautions against elephants, gaurs, bears than any other animals. It is best to be alert from all these animals and keep safe distance even if you have a direct encounter