Up on Peb

Wow, i can’t believe i am finally writing down my first experience on hiking after about a year when i went up to Vikatgad or popularly known as Peb fort. But today i felt like sharing the wonderful, marvelous and the most inspiring experience i had which has, for good, changed my life forever.

Peb fort is located near Neral railway station of the central railways. This trek offers all, which means, it offers ladder, rock patches, caves, dense forests and ridge walking and most enjoyable during monsoon.

We were a group of 12 people going with the experts who conduct treks on the western ghats. I still remember the date, it was 31st Aug’14 i.e. right at the peak of monsoon in Maharashtra.

To reach Peb, one can take a rickshaw to the base village Anandwadi from Neral which takes about 15 minutes. And then from Anandwadi the trek starts.

The day was cloudy and humid, without any rain. Within the first hour of the trek, we were all drenched, not by the rains but by our own sweat. We reached a plateau, took a break of 10 minutes there and then again strted and reached a waterfall where everyone was busy standing below it to beat the heat. Then again the trail started and all of a sudden downpour starts. The remaining of the day, it rained cats and dogs, although it was very well welcomed by us. All of our tiredness went away and we started with higher spirits. In the middle we reached to a point where one has to climb up a ladder, and right from the face of ladder there was a waterfall. So i can say literally, we had to climb up a waterfall. Trekking a little further there came a ridge where both sides were steep and one has to walk on the narrow path on the ridge, but the beauty on both sides were remarkable. I don’t remember i have seen such beauty in Mumbai. Finally we have reached to the top most point where there is a temple where the padukas of Swami Samarth is kept. From the top it felt like we were not on top of a mountain but are clouds. We can see, and feel the clouds beside and underneath us. The base of the mountain was not visible because of those clouds and heavy lashes.

It was during that moment, when i was on the summit of Peb, my love for climbing mountains and insatiable desire of trekking started which has resulted in me trekking all over the country and finally the mighty Himalayas. As they say, don’t climb a mountain to show the world but, climb a mountain to see the world. The world is a beautiful place and the best way to look at the world is from the summit of a mountain. The confidence you feel when you have reached on top of a mountain after going through so much of struggle cannot be explained. And the beauty of the world from there makes you forget your tiredness and fills you with energy.

Experiences like this makes you understand that happiness is not materialistic, but in the small joys of life.