Trekking: Exciting and adventurous trekking and hiking to Peb Fort

By Deepak DSouza, Dombivli
Bellevision Media Network

Mumbai, 24 Sep 2012: Recently, Pravin Fernandes, Animator of youth of Infant Jesus church, Dombivli, asked me if I would join him and 32 youth from the church for a day’s trekking and hiking to Peb Fort.  We have been together in the youth for a long time.

 

It had been a couple of years since I had gone on a  trek.  I was not sure whether I was up to the mark of climbing mountains since I have a desk job and not much active.  Just to check whether I would be able to undertake this rigorous trekking and hiking adventure, I accepted the invitation from Pravin.

 

On 19 September, 2012 we boarded the 06.57 am Karjat train  and reached Neral within an hour.

 

Peb fort is a popular place to hike to from Neral railway station. To climb Peb fort, walk north from Neral station on the west side parallel to the railway line for 1km. From here a road leads west. The road finally goes to Matheran but at some point, before turning off towards Matheran, one has to cut across some fields and start climbing up towards the saddle between Peb fort and a hump to its north. There are two humps between Peb fort and Nakhind.

 

Sometimes one has climb up some nala if one misses the actual route. The actual route passes below some electric power lines and climbs up to the saddle where there is a power transmission tower. From the saddle turn left for Peb fort and right for Nakhind. In fact one can climb up Nakhind first (through another route) and traverse to Peb fort meeting the usual route at the saddle.

 

 

After a short ridge climb from the saddle there is an easy rock climb which leads, after a short traverse (which can be wet and slippery in the monsoon), to the cave with the statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. The cave is west of the mountain, and cannot be seen from Neral. One can see Haji Malang and Chanderi, in the north, from the cave. To the west, one can see the plains of Konkan.

 

The road from Neral was easy till the base of the fort.  We followed the electric towers, through the forests and valleys and finally reached the caves.

 

The cave on the fort is occupied by disciples of Swami Samarth, a great saint. They have contributed a lot to the development on this fort since last ten years. They have managed successfully to keep the cave and the fort clean, and maintained the dignity of the fort.

 

Near this cave are meditation caverns, which are underground. These caverns are still in good condition. One has to crawl into these and only one man can enter at one time. In monsoon two of these are filled with water.

 

On the top we can go by climbing the wall of the fort. A ladder is firmly fixed to the walls since even a slip can lead to certain fall down the valley. As soon as we climb the ladder, we can see steps leading onwards and a Lord Hanuman statue on the right. There is also a cistern of water.

 

On the top we can see some remnants of the old Peb Fort. The main attraction here is the bastion on the topmost part. This faces the mountain of Matheran. Here we can clearly see the ridge connecting mountains of Matheran and Peb. When we stand here we feel that we are on the top of the world.

 

On the other side of the fort is a temple of a deity, Datta Maharaj. His footsteps are seen at the temple that is under construction. While we were at the temple, the temple priest had arrived and chanted prayers.