This is also the time when trekking activities in monsoon begin to slow down and its difficult to find members for a trek. As a result, this trek had just whittled down to three members. So our trio found itself walking from Neral to the electric towers that lead to the pass between Peb fort and adjoining Nakhind. The easy route is to follow the towers and the path is clear. The path then goes round, continuing to the right till you reach a dry waterfall through which the path continues all the way up to the khind.
From this point, turning to the left, one climbs up ridges leading to the fort. By this time of the year, everything is overgrown and we just seemed to disappear in the tall bushes. However flowers are in full bloom and it’s a delight to walk along bloom-strewn paths with the sound of buzzing bees and sight of flitting butterflies. Since it was either drizzling or sunny we did sweat now and then, but the views of the Matheran range were fantastic. One could also see straight ahead the main Sahyadri range up to Gorakhgad and Nane Ghat.
There are caves on the fort (which can be explored by the adventurous if they have a torch handy), water tanks and remnants of walls. Most of the times that I have gone to Peb, the trek stops at a wall section of the fort which has to be climbed to reach the summit. There are nails on the wall and holds carved out on the nearby rock face for climbing up; but the rocks are generally wet and slippery. I have usually moved ahead along the path which traverses along the edge to lead finally to Matheran’s railway line.
The rains in July 2005 were so heavy that they altered landscape around Matheran. As a result the route to Matheran from the fort is supposed to have become bad. Since this route is used by villagers, I suppose' they did some improvements. Firstly there is now a steel ladder up the wall to reach the summit easily.
This was the first time that I properly visited the top of the fort, which has no historical remnants. A small open-air shrine with a flag marks the top. But the real treat is the great views and the flower filled expanses that should not be missed. There is a steep climb where a rope tied to a tree at the top comes in very handy. A clear route from the top leads to a habitation on the fort (we heard there is a sadhu here, but did not stop to verify). From the back side of this hut, the route goes towards Matheran. This was a new route for me and it was made possible due to two big steel ladders that have been installed below a cliff face. One then traverses Matheran till the railway line below Panorama Point. Here too steps have been made, a small temple has been installed and what was once a confusing part of the hike has been made simple. (We often missed the point where one start climbing up to reach the railway). From here on we walked a couple or so kilometers along the overgrown railway track to reach a misty Matheran (near the Dasturi point).
So many times, I get the feeling that forts are being ruined by accessibility and increasing crowds that this was a great surprise. Roads do make forts more easily reachable but the cost of environmental and aesthetic damage makes me wonder if this is worth it. However at Peb, all the improvements are minimal and while they make things easier than before, they don’t spoil the trek in any way. That is a balance hard to achieve and definitely worth appreciating!
link to photos: http://picasaweb.google.com/upsidedownv/PebPanorama
-the monsoon trekker