Vikatgad(Peb ) with Garbett point ( Matheran ) trek - Oct 13

Was feeling down last Saturday for missing the Lonavala -Bhimashankar trek. One which I really wanted to do. So I thought I must do something innovative on Sunday to make up for it. A frnd got in touch and thats how 3 of us Adarsh, Vishal and I planned to trek to Vikatgad (Peb) a fort near Matheran. We met at Sai Shraddha hotel outside Neral station where I had a plate each of idli wada and batata wada sambar. There is a reason for mentioning this. We hired an auto from Neral to the base village. My friends had done this trek earlier and knew the route. I was doing it for the first time and had to merely follow them. The adventure began right from the base village. Instead of starting from Fanaswadi we started from Takachiwadi. We lost our way on atleast 3 occassions and had to cross some difficult rock patches and make our own way until we connected to the right route. At one point of time we even thought we were lost but we were not to lose hope. We had two landmarks in mind one was an electricity tower on a plateau and other an V shaped valley which helped us make our way through the dense forest and take a traverse on a hill. Peb is known for the temple of goddess Pebi and as a meditation place of Swami Samarth. This trek became a challenge for me due to no mercy shown by the rain god and the sambar that was jumping in my stomach. It was an amazing feeling when we reached the top. The foggy sky, the green mountains. After having a quick snack we proceeded towards Matheran crossing one mountain to another through overgrown plants and there are two iron ladders on the way erected by the Britishers in those days. We reached Matheran and we were greeted by heavy showers. Before that we had to walk on the toy train track for about 3 kms and also got to watch the huge Kadyavarcha Ganapati. We continued our trek to Garbett point inspite of having a long day on the mountains. But it was a sight to behold. Amazing experience again in the fogs. After that we returned to base village Neral and had some tasty misal and fried rice again at Sai Shraddha hotel. Soon we took a local to go to our respective destinations with a feeling of a trek well done. Adarsh Hemrajani Vishal Vijay More