We are planning a trek to Fort Peb or Vikatgad on Saturday, October 9th, 2010. We'll be starting from Thane station. Those who are interested in joining us, may register with their details here, and we'll get back.

Details

Location: Peb is a fort located near Neral; between Panorama Point (Matheran) and Nakhind, to be precise.
Height: About 2100 ft
Duration of the trek: a day and a half
Date: October 9th to 10th, 2010, Sat-Sun

Cost:
The actuals. Mostly - auto rickshaw, train tickets, bus tickets, chai etc. We'll see whether it's convenient to pool it, before the start. Read this.

Brief Introduction:

• It is a moderately easy climb (a bit more difficult than Peth), and is good for beginners.
• There is a well maintained cave on the fort. The cave is occupied by disciples of Shri Swami Samarth.
• One of the adventurous tasks in this trek is to climb a wall of the fort. And a metal ladder is available for support.
• A beautiful waterfall on the way is one of the many attractions here.
• There is a ridge that connects mountains of Matheran with Peb, and one can trek to Matheran. We'll take this route and reach Matheran by Saturday evening.
• During the climb from Neral, Prabalgad, Kalawanti durg, and Irshalgad are visible towards the left. In right one can see Haji Malang, Chanderi and Nakhind.
• One of the routes climbing down stretches along the rail tracks of Matheran Toy Train. We haven't figured out whether we'll take this route. We believe in exploring. :D

Image of the Peb fort from Matheran*

Google Earth Placemark:
Fort Peb / Vikatgad
[Get Google Earth here]

Route:
Meet at Thane station - by train to Neral - walking up till the base of the ridge - trek to the top - trek to Matheran taking the Ridge - staying the night at Matheran - climb down to Neral and back

Timings:
Right now flexible, will update when decided. Tentatively, 6:00 am at Thane.

Warning:
Some of us have gone Peb before, but not taken the ridge to Matheran, we believe in exploring :)

Blogs and travelogues about this trek by other trekkers*:

• http://www.goggi.net/pramod/files/trek_to_peb_fort.htm
• http://trekshitiz.com/EI/EI_DefaultUser.asp?FortName=Peb
• http://kaushal.info/2005/01/11/peb-to-matheran-trek-9-jan-2005/
• http://www.bhramanti.com/peb.html
• http://kaushal.info/2003/08/05/trek-to-peb-3-august-2003/

Images and videos from other trekkers:

• [Video] A trek to the Peb fort and Matheran* - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffedlKbffG8
• [Video] Walking through dense bushes* - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zd0ZpzSfpPI
• Some webshots album* - http://outdoors.webshots.com/album/554206276KPkvDA
• Some IITB gang* - http://www.it.iitb.ac.in/~ajay/snaps.php

To know more about us, go here, or visit our personal sites linked in the copyright notice below.

* All starred content is not ours. The credit for them goes to the websites linked by each of the respective links.