Mapping the Sahyadri to rescue India’s ancient mountain trails from being forgotten

Long before roads brought people closer, trails scripted a region’s history. They took traders and scholars across the high passes. Resourceful kings, familiar with the terrain, strategised important battles and claimed territories along the way. For the locals who lived in these regions, survival depended on the link provided by these pagdandis.

Once different modes of transport replaced foot journeys, the functionality of most trails was lost over time. Those that survived were in places where roads still hadn’t reached; some gained popularity with hikers like Jaipur-based Manvendra “Manav” Singh Shekhawat, 34, who soon arrived at the idea of documenting them.

In 2021, Shekhawat began exploring trails in the Sahyadri mountain range of Maharashtra. He returned each winter to walk different sections and over four years, hiked about 1,500km in all. While looking for a longer trail for his next project, he arrived at the thought of stitching a route through the Sahyadri.

“The idea was to make hiking accessible for everyone. This is possible only when there is strong infrastructure and safety information in place. And the first step towards it is to map the route,” Shekhawat says.

Around the world, there are well-documented trails that run through stunning wilderness landscapes, frequented by hikers and runners alike. The Appalachian Trail in the US is around 3,500km long; Te Araroa runs over 3,000km from the north of New Zealand to its southern tip. Mountain ranges in India too have a network of trails, though most are accessible only through guided treks or while walking alongside a helpful local.

Shekhawat’s first brush with trails was in 2013, when he set up base in Delhi while appearing for civil services examination. The weekend jaunts took him across Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand; the exposure was enough reason to set aside books and work towards a career in the outdoors. He pursued wilderness, mountaineering, skiing and paragliding courses, then put his learning into practice as a trekking guide.

But he soon realised the gap in outdoor education and looked to address it. He honed his skills by exploring the mountains around Manali. He then embarked on a project to link the high passes of Ladakh, and document (on YouTube and Instagram) high-altitude lakes in Ladakh and Himachal Pradesh. Two years ago, he climbed eleven 6,000-metre peaks over a period of 10 days in Ladakh. The leg work was vital for his latest project, the Epic Sahyadri Trail.

Since January, Shekhawat has been walking different sections of the Sahyadri, starting his hike at the trailhead in Gadgadsangvi, around 25km from Nashik. He’s been documenting the route on Open Street Maps, making note of everything from forks on the trail to natural water sources, places to camp, view points and villages en route to stock up on supplies and enjoy the comfort of a homely meal. Think of it as a Google Map for trails, which he intends on making accessible this month through a platform called HikeX (www.hikex.in, short for Hiker Information and Knowledge Exchange) that he co-founded in 2023 along with Shubrank Mukhiya.

“We want to lower the barrier to entry and get more people to explore the outdoors. One aspect of HikeX is documenting these routes and making the information accessible for everyone. The other is to educate them through practical outdoors courses, equipping them with the necessary skills to thrive in the wilderness and explore the trails safely and independently,” Mukhiya says.

As part of their research, the duo first looked up popular routes across the Sahyadri that are in use even today. They then referred to Survey of India maps, blogs and video logs to find links between sections which existed, but had not been mapped. During his previous visits, Shekhawat had noted routes that only locals knew of, which he explored this time around.

“Every trail that I’m walking is made by someone thousands of years ago. And there was a reason for it. I’m just documenting these routes before they get lost,” he says.

For instance, he had a hard time navigating the Savtya Ghat section between Katkarwadi and Adharwadi near Tamhini Ghat, simply because locals had started taking the road. The hike up Kalmanjacha Dhara, a remote gully strewn with boulders, too required all his attention under a hot sun.

There’s the mapping work on one hand, and then there’s the blissful company of solitude in the vast wilderness that Shekhawat has been exploring over the last few weeks. Besides a bout of food poisoning around a month into the expedition, it’s been smooth sailing for Shekhawat, given the experience he’s gathered over the last few years.

“I had to be mindful about preserving my body at the start. But now that I’ve acclimatised, I feel at one with the landscape and these days, I am simply flying on certain sections,” he says.

Once back to their base in Jaipur, Shekhawat and Mukhiya will have their task cut out as they sift through the data to understand the most feasible link between two spots. While the idea is to stitch a 2,000km, continuous trail, Shekhawat would have walked much more, considering he’s exploring offshoot sections as well. The distance may seem overwhelming, but he believes hikers can approach it as small chunks that can be traversed over a period of time until they eventually finish the entire route. Access to these trails is one aspect of the project, but the idea is to create opportunities for locals to earn livelihoods and dissuade them from migrating in search of work.

Shekhawat’s long-term vision has been inspired by what he’s observed on the trails. He has often come across a rock wall with steps cut in it, which makes it possible to climb it. He finds it fascinating how a stranger made the effort to carve out the feature and is looking to leave a similar impact through his projects.

“Our work should outlive us, that’s what makes it worth it,” Shekhawat says.

The southern-most point of Shekhawat’s hike is Mahimandangad and he is looking to finish his exploration at the hill station of Mahabaleshwar. There’s a good chance there won’t be strawberries to relish this time of the year, but there’s a sweeter reward in store for the outdoor community in the time ahead.

Shail Desai is a Mumbai-based freelance writer.