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-   -   Kaas (Maharashtra) -The Plateau of flowers (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travelogues/66887-kaas-maharashtra-plateau-flowers-3.html)

Oh, you missed really something.
I should have answered your query earlier.
Bamnoli is the place where you will be at the edge of koyna dam backwater and could have enjoyed boating.
The raw jungle present at other edge of backwater consist leopard, tiger, bison, deer etc.
ye to pahali zaaki hai, bahut kuchch baaki hai.

Its not just Maharashtra but called Maharashtra Unlimited.
see the following clip which i had unloaded one year ago.[ Sorry genesis for ot on his thread]
YouTube - maharashtra unlimited new


That is medha route. Though it is scenic and shortcut, road condition is bad compared to wai panchagani route.

Wow !! Mind blowing pics.
Did not know such a scenic place exist in Maharashtra :Frustrati

Thanks genesis for the beautiful pics which reminded me of my memories..

I have spent all my childhood in Satara and Kaas/ Bamnoli/ Thoseghar were school picnic spots for me! These are definitely beautiful places and even 2 years before they were way less crowded than typical places around Pune.


Some adventurous routes which I explored > 5 years back with my friends in the town:
Satara-Kaas-Bamnoli-Tapola-Mahabaleshwar:
On a bajaj super + HH splendor and later in an Alto.
The Bamnoli-Tapola section was (is?) a broken section around the Koyna backwaters. We were all red after we reached Mahabaleshwar on the 2 wheelers.
An offroader would be best.

Mahabaleshwar-Kaas-Satara:
On a bajaj super + samuria (or shogun don't remember).
This a different route from above :). From Mahabaleshwar you have to start towards suman motels. I don't know if exists today, but you have to take a right on Mahabaleshwar-Medha-Satara road.

This route was strictly for 2 wheelers then. Sections of road were around 2 feet wide with very tall grass (beyoud our height) at many places. So even a off-roader 4 wheeler will not help if it is still so. At one place we had to lift our bikes due to a landslide! There was barely place to walk with a deep valley on other side!


There are some other such routes to Mahabaleshwar but they are still unexplored by me.

And let me also introduce the best place within this region - Vasota fort. No vehicles, No shops, No people (some trekkers may be), No water (up there) but no habitat! Minimum 7 echos guaranteed from the echo point! And they start after you have lost hope.. It was unbelievable and shocking for me when I heard it back.

You can find a lot of info if you search on google about this.

From Bamnoli/Tapola you have to take a "launch" to Tapola. There are places beyond/around Vasota which I have not explored.

About hotels in Satara - There are some decent ones Hotel Maharaja (belongs to my friends family)/ Rajatadri and there are others as well.

So I 'think' I was on the road you mentioned but on it starting at Kaas. It is high through the hills with NOTHING on either side. We reached quite a distance on that road since one villager said it went to Mahabaleshwar but 30 minutes later another shepherd told us that the road was blocked due to a landslide ahead and only a bike may make it through. In regular season it is used by 'milk' jeeps as a short cut. Some points have pretty bad rock outcrops with soft red mud on the sides waiting to suck your tires in when you try to avoid the rocks. For reference it took slightly less than an hour to cover 10 km once we headed back.

Wow that place looks nice and nice photography too.

If you took a right on the plateau just before the final descent to Kaas (from Satara) , thats the road. Yes when we were there, we saw only a Tata 407 truck carrying milk on the Kaas side of road which is way better than on the Mahabaleshwar side.

Bingo! Right on the plateau just before final descent to Kaas and then slip sliding away and occasionally slithering up slopes and then all the way back. Nothing on either side, surrounded by fog with occasional dilapidated houses and some roadside shrines.

last time when i went to kaas, bamnoli, i saw that route toward mahaby. it was tar road but we had not tried it. next time, i will be on this route surely.

The photos are awesome. Seeing those made me remember my trip a few years ago to this magical place. This has a very un-Maharashtrian terrain and it is just out of this world. Kaas is awesome. I hear that it is being promoted by the state government to develop a hill station "New Mahabaleshwar". This would spell doom for the place. It is so beautiful as there is no human populace living there. I really wish they leave it untouched.

An interesting feature was the presence of occasional roadside shrines. Other than a cubbyhole with some idols, one small clearing under a huge tree had some old stone columns, on which were carved symbols of shivlings and feet. The sight of water droplets dripping from the tree onto the columns even if there was no rain around was truly amazing.

Roadside Shrine


Idols


Treeside Shrine


Stone Columns


At the Feet of the Lord


Offerings

Excellent stuff. One can feel that wet moist!

Wet moist describes the mood of the day perfectly. Accentuated by what you would describe in Bengali as 'Tip Tip Brishti :)'
Was getting quite cold up there also. A light sweater would have been nice.

Thinking of a day out at Kas this week, starting from Pune at 6 am. What would you suggest as must see places, if I want to start the return from Kas by 2? I expect to reach by 9. I am more interested in one great place for a picnic as opposed to seeing how many things I can see in a day. It will just be my wife and I, so that is a factor too.

I would have breakfast at Virangula (if they are open at that time :)). Drive to Kaas. You will keep halting once you see the flowers.
Take the side road (which appears around 3 km before Kaas lake) and coast for around 1 - 2 km if you can and walk around.

Then drive a little ahead on the main road and go on the walk to Kaas lake.

I did not go to Bamnoli but ashishpallod suggests going to the place.

Given that you want to start the return by 2 I would skip thosegarh falls which is in the opposite direction, have lunch at Satara and head back.

Noted and thanks! We will pack a picnic lunch, because I am not so keen in lunching in Satara. And/Or stop at Milestone on the way back, if I remember that should be on the right side of the road on the return journey.