Bhimshankar is one of the 12 Jyotirlings. And it is also one of the best treks in western ghats. The best thing about this trek is that you get to climb three stairs, that too in really withered condition under gushing water trails, and waterfalls. The trek becomes a bit slippery during monsoon. Sidhi (name mentioned above) is the hindi name for stairs. So basically, One get the jungle, rocks, stairs, waterfalls, etc.. and what not.
Take a train till Karjat Railway station in Pune. You should reach Karjat station in the morning. From there, take a local auto till the base village, Khandas. The journey from Karjat to Khandas is through lush green vegetations, and small hills. One can also see the Andherban forest from the road. The Bhimshankar trek, if done at normal pace will take two days, as you can take rest in the mid way. There are some houses after you cross half of the trek. However, it can also be done in the single day. In case of single day trek, you have to start from the base village by 10AM. Reach the top at around 3-4 PM.
The trek will start from the forest stretch, and then you have to cross a river stream. This stream is pretty harsh during the peak monsoon seasons, and you have to take local's help in crossing it. Right at the stream, there is a snack shop, where you can get maggi, poha and tea.
After crossing the stream, and going for 1km, one reaches the base of the hills from where the fun actually starts. There are three back to back stairs, which as it seems from their physical condition, can break any moment. Crossing them is an adrenaline rushing moment. Right after it, you climb some rocks, and then cross through various waterfalls to reach mid way.
There are some huts there, where you can rest for the night or go on ahead with the next half of the trek. You can see people settling up in their sleeping bags or tents in these huts. When I stayed there, it was raining whole night. After good food and Poha in the morning, you can move ahead.
This part is not so dangerous as it is mostly a walk among the trees on the hills. The fog was upto such an extent that you almost cant see anything apart from the trees till few metres.
After 1-2 hour of trek, you reach the Bhimshankar temple. You can visit the temple, eat all you can, and take a bus back to Pune. The buses come every 1-2 hour so be very wary of the time table. The bus stand is exactly 150 metres from the temple. The view from the route would be just amazing. Don't forget to click as much pictures as you can. One has to take an auto from bus-stand to the train station. Enjoy your journey in train back home.
