PEB (Vikatgad) Trek....

PEB (Vikatgad) Trek

“Some people walk in the rain, others just get wet.” It's Raining all around world ..!! There are numerous ways to enjoy the monsoon, but nothing can beat the thrill of going on a trek and enjoying the misty mountains and the green landscape. Monsoon is the best time to trek anywhere in the Sahyadris.

I did same on last Saturday 2nd July, Trek to Peb (Vikatgad). It's planned on the day before night cause mine trekking buddies busy with their own activity. I m in dilemma situation yes/No-till last and finally decided to go with Mumbai Trekkers. It is my First trek with of them. But I know personally MT leaders As I did few treks with them so no doubt in my mind it will be fun.

History About Vikatgad
Fort Peb, also known as Vikatgad is situated at a distance of 3-4 km on the west side of Neral. The fort derives its name from the Goddess ‘Pebi’; The fort is also named as ‘VikatGad’ for its supposed shape of the Elephant Headed God, ‘Ganesh’. The fort also has a temple dedicated to Swami Samartha on the top and has the footwear or 'Padukas' worn by the great saint kept on the top. Historical references clearly indicate that Shivaji Maharaj used the caves on the fort as silos for grain storage.

A sleepless night, Day Started very Early in morning with half sleepy eyes boarded on 6.04 karjat train from bhandup headed towards Neral. I met MT Leaders, The compartments is filled of with Trekking Peoples. Why not its weekend time, It is raining continues from last 2 days. So all nature lovers and trekking enthusiasts pack your bags and get ready for the monsoon trekking.

At around 7:30 we reached Neral station, Welcome with a drizzle of rain.We had a small breakfast and Tasty Tea at a local eatery and then move towards Fanaswadi (which is the base of the fort) with share Auto where we actually start of the trek. We Reached them around in 15- 20 mins and With the intro of 40 People and instruction from leaders, we start the trek. Many of freshers but energetic.

We started toward fort Peb with across a small Jungle path. Alongside Giant Electrical Towers (these are key signs of the route). We did Group Pic on the plane plateau and move towards. As We are moving ahead raining get more heavily (Its Same throughout the Trek). So results of this route becoming a waterfall route. so footwear that can grip wet rocks is essential.We started entering into the dense forest. As we moving ahead we hear the waterfall sign as it gets louder once we close to theirs.
We witness the alluring white stream cascading over the top of rocky outcrops. Oh full of Joy. You will forget the passing of time while soaking in the nature's beauty. We Enjoy their around half hour , Leaders have to push us . We kept moving up , Get out from dense jungle and reached the open panorama view point in about 45min-1 hour. The scenery opens up to a visual delight. What glimpse of nature, Wow. Is like We were walking through the clouds. Singing in the rain, such a glorious feeling. Power of Wind sing same in all of us ears.

Finally, we reached a rock patch . These are actually two patches bundled into one .which is difficult for some of the trekkers. But leaders take well initiative so all are crossed well. After few walks Within a while, we halt reached at a cave. It had a shrine of God and was a good place for shelter. We did tasty lunch their and after a 45min- 1Hr Move towards in heavy rain to Ladder part which we have to ascend. The water stream is scattered through the top of the ladder thats make more joyful for us to climb. One by one we climbed up and in 20-30 min we reached the top of the fort ie Temple point. We were reach the 2100 ft height, the topmost pinnacle of the mountain. we reached atop where there was a temple of Swami Samartha. It had padukas of him in it. It was heaven. All we could see around was clouds and fog.

After spending some time there we started descending with the route to Matheran. It is Start with the get down on stairs. Everything seemed to be smooth. But it's raining heavily throughout the day which made it difficult to walk in the wet soil. As we moved further we had to climb down on two stairs, There was heavy fog everywhere , for few seconds its get visible clearly. We had to cover a long inclined trail to Matheran where we encountered many waterfalls and ridges. It was exciting and adventures. We accumulated at matheran train track point. We encouter with the cold roar of the wind and Rain. It is difficult to stand their.

Then We walked gradually following the tracks , that was headed towards (Dasturi NAka). On the way to Matheran, we also came across a huge statue of Ganapati painted on the rock surface, locally known as "Kadevarcha Ganapati" as its is a corner of a hill. Wow...what a creation.. !!Nature is great...!! Once we reached to view point (as their bell )...FOG dismiss for few minute and we are able to get blessed from Ganpati. It took us 45 minutes of walk to reach the main road. We take a cup of Tea and catch local transport get down the Matheran Ghat to reach Neral station. Zigzagging and zooming down the ghat, we reached Neral in no time and were on our way back home. :)

Overall a new and different experience all together!!! Thanx to Trkkersssss-participants.Special Thanx to Mayur , He is with me throught the Trek. , Thanx to Ameet Shet , Kartik Mehta , Adithya Subramanian and one more mine friend.. I forgot the name.. Maaf karde :P

Thanks a lot, Mumbai Trekkersssss for arranging such a memorable and exciting trek with well managed....Looking fwd more trek with u guys...!!!
C ya soooon...!!
Keep Trekking...Keep Smiling..!!!!

PC : Kartik Mehta :)