Memoirs of Monsoon 2022 from Charmadi Ghat

The Shiradi Ghat road does not seem to improve in near future. It has been mammoth 15+yrs and the stretch has not seen all weather motorable road. Thanks to all the administrations so far, the future also looks grim for this stretch. No improvements will be seen for sure. This makes to drive through the splendid Charmadi Ghat if we are opting for car transport. Even though the terrain is tough and dizzy, the beauty flushes all the traumas out of your mind. This year too we rejoiced amidst the monsoon rains and divine greenery. Despite the torrential rains, we captured clips and pictures to celebrate the glory of nature and monsoon! Here are limited captures of those numerous seasonal waterfalls located throughout the Kottigehara-Charmadi stretch. Watch the video at end for detailed presentation of monsoon charm at Charmadi Ghat!

My toddlers counted most of waterfalls which was around 50. They enjoyed leg dip in pristine water and drenched in tropical rains!

The fog was extremely dense that visibility was almost nil for few meters. The fog lamp was only savior. Fortunately, every traveler along the stretch switched either fog lamp, head lamp or parking lights. Failing to do would invite terrible accidents in this daunting stretch.

Into the mist towards the invisible future. Do you see anything coming?

These pictures were captured at Kottigehara while savoring tea amidst the beloved rainforest. The KSTDC maintained NISARGA Grand. The taste of the food served was palatable and beyond our expectation. Similarly was the taste of view of hills from restaurant. During our return, heavy rains did not allow us to sip tea here. Massive 150mm was recorded during that day in Kottigehara. Do you see the beauty of nature? No saturation tweaking needed! Monsoon fills the region with diverse colors during monsoon season. Except for White Balance & minor tonal contrast, no other tweaking needed. Monsoon has painted the beloved rainforest to perfection!

While we were chilling out amidst the cool monsoon weather, looks this guy badly wanted some warming up from chilly weather!

Heart of Rainforest! Quintessential of rainforest! Call it the way you like! This giant has been stealing my heart from long time. Finally, I broke the inertia and captured this massive tree which may be hundreds or thousands of years old. Look at its massive trunk! Every tropical rainforest enthusiast would truly be enamored by this sight! Here are pictures with varying tones.

The start of climb at Charmadi village exposes some of beautiful views of Western Ghats as well! Thanks to its onerous terrain, the heavy vehicles will never drive in this route. Only vegetable tempos and KSRTC red buses are the heavier ones in this route! Hence this freshly laid road is guaranteed to last long relatively despite the torrential monsoon season. The only disadvantage is the coiled roads which is difficult for few people to manage while travelling.

There is no 100% happiness anywhere in world, including in this peaceful pristine rainforest. The sadists create chaos by dancing in middle of roads, blocking traffic amidst low visibility. Police personnel nowadays have taken stricter action but they can't be vigil always in this heavy rains. The other part is rampant trash. People throw trash into the forest floor and the sight of huge pile of garbage is terrible. And the last trivial one, my mobile camera's metering (Oppo K10 5G). It blows up unnecessarily the pictures, not only at darker places like this but also at places of good lighting. This over exposure is hard to correct. Perhaps to balance higher shutter speed resulting from rapid torrent, the camera pushed aperture and ISO beyond the need.

Here is a short glimpse of waterfalls that were shot during our drive. My toddlers too enjoyed waterfalls amidst torrential rains.